Eli Lilly to pay S. Carolina $45 million

COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Eli Lilly has agreed to pay South Carolina a record $45 million to settle a dispute over the marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, officials say.

"We think that putting the issue behind us is not only in the best of interest of Eli Lilly, but also the patients and physicians who count on Zyprexa as a life-saving drug every day," Eli Lilly spokeswoman Mary Lemons told The (Columbia, S.C.) State in a story published Saturday.

South Carolina was one of 45 states that sued the Indianapolis drug company for false marketing.

While Zyprexa is approved only for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Eli Lilly allegedly urged doctors to prescribe it for depression, dementia and attention deficit disorder, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said Friday.

The $45 million will repay South Carolina the millions spent by state health plans for the drug, and to treat its side effects, in the nearly 64,000 South Carolina patients who used the drug from 1996 to 2007, McMaster said.