Delaware News

Delaware announces settlement with Eli Lilly for improper marketing of Zyprexa

Consumer Protection | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | Date Posted: Thursday, January 15, 2009



The Delaware Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a proposed settlement
with Eli Lilly and Company to settle allegations that the company engaged in a marketing campaign
that improperly promoted its anti-psychotic drug, Zyprexa. Under the proposed settlement, Eli Lilly
will pay the states and the federal government a total of $800 million in civil damages and penalties to
compensate Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. Based on the Delaware Medicaid
Program’s utilization of the drug, Delaware’s share of the civil settlement will be $602,000, which will
be split between the State Medicaid Program and the State’s General Fund.

“Unscrupulous marketing practices harm consumers,” stated Timothy Mullaney, Director of the
Delaware Department of Justice Fraud and Consumer Protection Division. “Through this agreement
we’re taking action to ensure compliance with the law and protect taxpayer dollars.”

Between September, 1999 and December, 2005 Eli Lilly promoted the sale and use of Zyprexa,
an antipsychotic medication used to treat certain psychological disorders, for “off-label” uses which
the Food and Drug Administration had not approved, such as the treatment of depression, anxiety,
irritability, disrupted sleep, nausea and gambling addiction. Eli Lilly promoted Zyprexa to
psychiatrists and primary care physicians and also provided money and other items of value to health
care professionals. As a result of these promotional activities, physicians prescribed Zyprexa for
children and adolescents, dementia patients in long term care facilities, and in unapproved dosage
amounts, all of which are uses that were not were not medically accepted indications for which state
Medicaid programs would approve reimbursement.

As part of the settlement, Eli Lilly will also enter a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, which will
closely monitor the company’s future marketing and sales practices.

A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) team participated in the
investigation and conducted the settlement negotiations with Eli Lilly on behalf of the states. The
Delaware representative on the NAMFCU team, Deputy Attorney General Daniel R. Miller, also
serves as President of the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
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Delaware announces settlement with Eli Lilly for improper marketing of Zyprexa

Consumer Protection | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | Date Posted: Thursday, January 15, 2009



The Delaware Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a proposed settlement
with Eli Lilly and Company to settle allegations that the company engaged in a marketing campaign
that improperly promoted its anti-psychotic drug, Zyprexa. Under the proposed settlement, Eli Lilly
will pay the states and the federal government a total of $800 million in civil damages and penalties to
compensate Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. Based on the Delaware Medicaid
Program’s utilization of the drug, Delaware’s share of the civil settlement will be $602,000, which will
be split between the State Medicaid Program and the State’s General Fund.

“Unscrupulous marketing practices harm consumers,” stated Timothy Mullaney, Director of the
Delaware Department of Justice Fraud and Consumer Protection Division. “Through this agreement
we’re taking action to ensure compliance with the law and protect taxpayer dollars.”

Between September, 1999 and December, 2005 Eli Lilly promoted the sale and use of Zyprexa,
an antipsychotic medication used to treat certain psychological disorders, for “off-label” uses which
the Food and Drug Administration had not approved, such as the treatment of depression, anxiety,
irritability, disrupted sleep, nausea and gambling addiction. Eli Lilly promoted Zyprexa to
psychiatrists and primary care physicians and also provided money and other items of value to health
care professionals. As a result of these promotional activities, physicians prescribed Zyprexa for
children and adolescents, dementia patients in long term care facilities, and in unapproved dosage
amounts, all of which are uses that were not were not medically accepted indications for which state
Medicaid programs would approve reimbursement.

As part of the settlement, Eli Lilly will also enter a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, which will
closely monitor the company’s future marketing and sales practices.

A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) team participated in the
investigation and conducted the settlement negotiations with Eli Lilly on behalf of the states. The
Delaware representative on the NAMFCU team, Deputy Attorney General Daniel R. Miller, also
serves as President of the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
###

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.