Eli Lilly & Co. urged doctors to prescribe Zyprexa for elderly patients with dementia, an unapproved use for the antipsychotic, even though the drugmaker had evidence the medicine didn’t work for such patients, according to unsealed internal company documents.
In 1999, four years after Lilly sent study results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showing Zyprexa didn’t alleviate dementia symptoms in older patients, it began marketing the drug to those very people, according to documents unsealed in insurer suits against the company for overpayment.
“By definition, off-label means there is no clear evidence that the benefits of a drug outweigh the risks,” Wolfe said. “The reason why off-label promotion is illegal is that you can greatly magnify the number of people who will be harmed.”Read the complete story on Bloomberg.com
For more Insight into Alzheimer's Disease
Subscribe to The Alzheimer's Reading Room
 Bob DeMarco is an Alzheimer's caregiver and editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob taught at the University of Georgia, was an executive at Bear Stearns, the CEO of IP Group, and is a mentor. He has written more than 600 articles with more than 11,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL. |
More from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
- The Thyroid and Alzheimer's
- Flavanol-rich Cocoa Consumption Improves Blood Flow to the Brain
- A Simple Three Minute Test Can Detect the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's Disease
- Eli Lilly Launches Two Late Stage Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's (LY2062430)
- Dimebon Clinical Trial?
- Are Alzheimer's Caregivers the Forgotten?
- Is it Really Alzheimer's or Something Else?
- Wii a Useful Tool for Alzheimer's Caregivers
- Five Ways to Keep Alzheimer's Away
- 2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures
- The Mini-Cog Test for Alzheimer's and Dementia
- What is Dementia?
- 80 Percent of Medical Bills Contain Errors -- Fighting Mistakes
Follow the Alzheimer's Reading Room on Twitter
