INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Eli Lilly and 14 plaintiff attorneys agreed to settle in the liability litigation of Zyprexa, a pill used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The settlement covers more than 18,000 claims that the company did not adequately warn patients taking Zyprexa of side effects such as weight gain and increased blood sugar and cholesterol, all risk factors for heart disease.
The dollar amount was not disclosed. About 1,200 claims are outstanding.
Even though the company thinks the claims are baseless, it settled because "we believe it is in the best interest of the company, the patients who depend on this medication, and their physicians," said Sidney Taurel, Eli Lilly chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
The Indianapolis drug company has been the subject of state and federal investigations as well over how it marketed Zyprexa and when it knew about the potentially devastating side effects. After a plaintiff's attorney released documents that indicated Lilly attempted to downplay the side effects, Australian drug regulators ordered Lilly to provide more information about what it knew when about Zyprexa's side effects.
