Zyprexa Settlement. 1.42 Billion Dollars!

Karl Truman

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A WSJ NEWS ROUNDUP
Eli Lilly & Co. agreed to pay $1.42 billion to settle a probe into alleged improper marketing of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The announcement and amount were expected, as Eli Lilly said in October it had set aside $1.42 billion for a potential settlement.

Zyprexa, which is approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, has been Lilly's top-selling drug, garnering the company more than $37 billion in world-wide sales since its U.S. approval in 1996.


Bloomberg News/Landov
Zyprexa, an antipsychotic, isn't approved as a dementia treatment.
The Indianapolis-based company said it will pay $800 million to settle civil suits, including $438 million to the federal government and $362 million to states. It will pay $615 million to resolve the criminal probe and plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation for promoting Zyprexa as a dementia treatment.

The company didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing in the civil cases.

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia have been investigating whether Lilly played down side effects of Zyprexa and promoted it for unapproved uses. The settlement removes the specter of a criminal indictment of Lilly, which could have threatened the company's lucrative business with Medicare and Medicaid.

The company has been resolving thousands of lawsuits as well as state investigations. In October, it agreed to pay $62 million to 32 states and the District of Columbia that had been probing consumer-protection claims.