A brief editorial in the New York Times on the recent Zyprexa scandal concludes with "Lilly contends that it has never promoted Zyprexa for unapproved uses and has always shown its marketing materials to the Food and Drug Administration, as required by law. Both claims ought to be tested in Congressional hearings that should focus on how well the industry complies with existing laws and how effectively the F.D.A. regulates the industry’s marketing materials."
Sounds nice, but methinks a bit naive. My prediction is that nothing worse than a slap on the wrist awaits Lilly. However, sales of Zyprexa are nearly certain to suffer. Somewhere, AstraZeneca execs are licking their chops as this can only help sales of Seroquel, which may be marketed for anxiety, depression, and alcoholism, along with bipolar and schizophrenia before long.
In addition, it is quite possible that FDA saw the marketing materials and did nothing. Nobody has seriously accused FDA of enforcing its regulations on advertising with anything approaching the barest amount of rigor.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
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2 comments:
True,leaked documents don't convey the 'whole picture' but what is compelling is that zyprexa is the 7th some say 5th largest drug sell in the world and Eli Lilly's #1 by their own admission. This is for a drug that can be $2.50 a pill and won't get you high,and is only FDA approved for 1% of the population.
Somebody is pushing zyprexa hard. Daniel Haszard
This is like nailing jello to the wall.There is no real test for mental illness, there is no way to prove a drug is working or not working. As long as the need to drug "mentally ill" people exists, drugs will be used to control their behaviour.
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