On September 5, 2008, a federal judge announced he was unsealing papers relating to Eli Lilly’s antipsychotic drug Zyprexa. The decision was part of a ruling giving class-action status to a lawsuit filed by insurance companies, pension funds and unions that want Eli Lilly to repay them billions of dollars for allegedly hiding the side effects of Zyprexa and marketing it for off-label use.

The papers were placed under a protective court order after they were produced by Eli Lilly in response to a 2004 lawsuit filed by patients who allege the drug caused excessive weight gain and diabetes. Two years later, a reporter for the New York Times reported on some of the papers, writing that Eli Lilly executives withheld information from doctors about Zyprexa’s association with obesity and high blood sugar. Since the report, researchers and insurance companies have filed for copies of the documents.

The federal judge’s release of the papers applies to only a small number of the papers, leaving many left sealed.

Also in September 2008, Idaho joined many other states in filing a lawsuit against Eli Lilly over Zpyrexa, alleging improper marketing that resulted in sick Idaho patients and the spending of a significant amount of money from Medicaid for low-income and disabled people.

Alaska has been the only state thus far to settle its Zyprexa lawsuit with Eli Lilly. The state was awarded $15 million.

Zyprexa is a drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Eli Lilly is also seeking approval to treat the same disorders in teenagers.

Sources: Colleen LaMay, “Idaho presses case against best-selling medication,” Idaho Statesman, September 3, 2008; Mary Williams Walsh, “Judge to unseal documents on the Eli Lilly drug Zyprexa,” New York Times, September 6, 2008.