Zyprexa's Hidden Risks

There is substantial evidence that Eli Lilly allegedly knew about the potentially deadly side effects of Zyprexa since at least 2002 and perhaps earlier. Those who have take Zyprexa and suffered severe side effects including diabetes, hyperglycemia or pancreatitis may have legal options to recover for damages.

Eli Lilly has consistently denied any link between Zyprexa and diabetes. However there is information proving otherwise.

In 2000 the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee revealed that it had received more than 300 reports of adverse Zyprexa side effects. The Committee noted the high number of patients with weight gain (which commonly leads to diabetes) and neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

In 2001 the Baltimore Sun reported that:
"On November 28, 2001, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a letter written by Dr. Elizabeth Koller, an FDA medical officer and Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a Duke University psychiatrist, warning that according to FDA's MedWatch data, patients taking olanzapine [Zyprexa] were 10 times more likely to become diabetic than the general population."

In December of 2001, Dr. Koller published a second study using data taken from the FDA's adverse event reports.The American Journal of Medicine article detailed 384 diabetes-related adverse drug reactions to clozapine, a drug closely related to Zyprexa. Twenty five patients died from diabetes-related complications.

In the July issue of Pharmacotherapy, Koller analyzed 289 reported diabetes-related problems with Zyprexa and found that 225 patients were first time diabetes diagnoses. Twenty-three patients died. Koller's co-author, Duke University psychiatrist P. Murali Doraiswamy, even issued a press release noting that the average age of diabetics in the Zyprexa study was 10 years younger than the average for all diabetics.

Two major warnings on the connection between Zyprexa and diabetes were released in April of 2002. On April 16, 2002 the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued an emergency safety report to Eli Lilly's Japanese branch alerting it to multiple instances of diabetes-related side effects. Zyprexa had caused the death of two Japanese patients and caused several others to fall into diabetic comas or suffer diabetic ketoacidosis. The Ministry forbade any new Zyprexa prescriptions for diabetic patients and ordered Eli Lilly's Japanese branch to advise doctors to carefully monitor any diabetics currently taking Zyprexa. Later that same month, Britain's Medicines Control Agency issued a warning that Zyprexa "can adversely affect blood glucose" after receiving 40 reports of Zyprexa users suffering serious complications including hyperglycemia or diabetes. British regulators also required extensive changes to Zyprexa's warning labels including information about the risks of diabetes and ketoacidosis. The Food and Drug Administration did not take such action until 2003. In the July 2002 issue of Pharmacotherapy, Dr. Koller and Dr. Doraiswamy published another study analyzing the FDA's adverse Zyprexa reaction reports. The study examined 288 diabetes cases, of which 225 patients developed diabetes for the first time after using Zyprexa; 71% of the patients who developed diabetes did so in the first six months of usage. Shockingly, 23 of these patients died.

In August of 2003, doctors from the Department of Veteran Affairs, Boston University and the University of Illinois at Chicago found that those taking atypical antipsychotics like Zyprexa had a much greater chance of developing diabetes than those using older antipsychotics. A study of U.S. military veterans with psychotic tendencies showed that those taking Zyprexa had a 27% greater chance of developing diabetes than those taking older medications. Zyprexa patients were also found to be particularly susceptible to weight gain, which often leads to diabetes.

Following this report, the Public Citizen advocacy group issued a warning in August 2003 for all atypical antipsychotics, including Zyprexa.

In September 2003, a new study reported that patients taking atypical antipsychotics had a much greater risk of developing pancreatitis. Those taking Zyprexa were found to have a nearly 7 times greater chance of pancreatitis than those taking older antipsychotics.
On September 17, 2003 the FDA requested that Eli Lilly update the product labeling for Zyprexa to include a warning about additional information on hyperglycemia and diabetes.
In January 2004, four prominent medical organizations warned about the link between diabetes and atypical antipsychotics, including Zyprexa. The American Diabetes Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity stated that atypical antipsychotic drugs may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol. They also stated that Zyprexa was one of the two drugs "most likely to increase the risk of weight gain, diabetes and lipid disorders".

In March 2004, the FDA ordered Eli Lilly to "add a warning statement describing the increased risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes in patients taking Zyprexa" to all Zyprexa packaging. The warning includes a request that patients who are already diabetic should have their glucose levels closely monitored.

On March 24, 2004 the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pennsylvania opened an investigation into Eli Lilly's marketing practices for several drugs, including Zyprexa.

If you or a loved one have taken Zyprexa and have experienced side effects including diabetes, hyperglycemia or pancreatitis, contact us immediately at 800-966-4999 and see why our law firm has recovered over $100 million on behalf of our clients.

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