Zyprexa is an atypical antipsychotic medication, used to treat the symptoms of psychotic schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (maniac depression). Zyprexa was manufactured and marketed by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and it was approved by the FDA in September 1996.

Risk to Dementia Patients

Zyprexa is not for the use in psychotic conditions related to dementia. Zyprexa may cause heart failure, sudden death, or pneumonia in older adults with dementia related conditions. Elderly patients with dementia related psychosis treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death and have a significantly higher incidence of cerebrovascular adverse events compared with those patients taking placebo.

Zyprexa Side Effects

Zyprexa (as with all neuroleptic drugs) can cause tardive dyskinesia, a rare but life-threatening, neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Other recognized side effects may include aggressiveness, akathisia (inability to remain still), dry mouth, dizziness, irritation, sedation, insomnia, urinary retention, orthostatic hypotension, weight gain (90% of users experience weight gain), increased appetite, runny nose, low blood pressure, impaired judgment, thinking and motor skills, impaired spacial orientation, impaired responses to senses, seizures, trouble swallowing, dental problems, missed periods, problems regulating body temperature and apathy (lack of emotion).

Recently the FDA required the manufacturers of all atypical antipsychotics to include a warning about the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes with these drugs. Evidence suggests that Zyprexa may directly affect adipocyte function promoting fat deposition.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the negligence of a drug company, call 1 (888) 749-5050 or contact us online to discuss your legal options with a friendly and helpful professional.

Increased Risk of Stroke

Citing an increased risk of stroke, in 2004 the committee on the Safety of Medicine in the UK issued a warning that Zyprexa should not be given to elderly patients with dementia. In the U.S., Zyprexa comes with a black box warning for increased risk of death in elderly patients.

Irresponsible Marketing

Zyprexa has been marketed for dementia by Eli Lilly though it has never been shown to help with the symptoms of dementia. According to internal documents obtained by the New York Times, Lilly instructed its sales representatives to suggest that physicians prescribe Zyprexa to older patients with symptoms of dementia. One such document states "dementia should be first message" for primary care doctors, since they do not treat bipolar or schizophrenia, but do treat dementia, Three months after its launch, Lilly's Zyprexa campaign, called "Viva Zyprexa", led to 49,000 new prescriptions. In 2002, the company changed the name of the primary care campaign to "Zyprexa Limitless" and began to focus on people with mild bipolar disorder who had previously been diagnosed as depressed, despite the fact that Zyprexa has been FDA approved only for the treatment of mania in bipolar disorder, not depression.

A New York Times article published in December 2006 reported, "Eli Lilly has engaged in a decade-long effort to play down the health risks of Zyprexa, its best selling medication for schizophrenia, according to hundreds of internal Lilly documents and e-mail messages among top company managers." Most of those documents had been disclosed as the result of lawsuits by the mentally ill against the company, though some had been stolen.

Zyprexa Linked to Weight Gain

The documents given to the New York Times by Jim Gottstein, a lawyer representing mentally ill patients, showed that Lilly executives kept important information from doctors about Zyprexa's links to obesity and its tendency to raise blood sugar -both known risk factors for diabetes.

Lilly's own published data, which it told its sales representatives to play down in conversations with doctors, has shown that 30 percent of patients taking Zyprexa gain 22 pounds or more after a year on the drug, another study showed 16 percent of Zyprexa patients gained at least 66 pounds in one year, and some patients have reported gaining 100 pounds or more. According to the documents, which cover the period 1995-2004, Lilly was concerned that Zyprexa's sales would be hurt if the company was more forthright about the fact that the drug may cause unmanageable weight gain or diabetes.

Enormous Payments

In 2006 Eli Lilly paid 700 million dollars to settle 8,000 lawsuits from people who said they had developed diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa. Then in 2007, Lilly agreed to pay up to 500 million dollars to settle 18,000 lawsuits from people who claimed they developed diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa.

About 20 million people worldwide have taken Zyprexa since its introduction in 1996. If you or someone you know has taken Zyprexa and has experienced any of its negative side effects, please call Goggins & Associates so we may assist you in winning your case.

Call us at 1 (888) 749-5050 or contact us online to discuss your legal options with a friendly and helpful professional.

No Risk - Paid on Contingency

Your consultation is free and we only get paid when you get paid. Your professional law services will cost you nothing until we win your case. There is no risk for you. Call now at 1(888) 749-5050.