Sunday, March 20, 2011
Paying nearly $600 million as a result of lawsuits really isn’t that bad when the product that supposedly got you into trouble earns billions of dollars each year.
That’s the reality for pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca, maker of the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate). On March 10, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $68.5 million as part of the largest multi-state consumer protection settlement on record for unlawful marketing of Seroquel. This is in addition to last year’s $520 million to settle accusations of burying side effect and safety information related to the drug.
But these settlements are easily absorbed by a company that made $5.3 billion just last year selling Seroquel, a drug that was approved for treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychiatric conditions in children and as an add-on for patients taking anti-depressants. However, AstraZeneca has made its real profits on the drug by marketing it for use against symptoms and maladies for which it had never been approved, such as Alzheimer's, autism, obsessive dementia, anger management, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
-David Wallechinsky
AstraZeneca to Pay $68.5 Million to U.S. States Over Seroquel Marketing (by Margaret Cronin Fisk and Jef Feeley, Bloomberg)
Doctors Alarmed by Military’s Use of Mind Drugs on Troops (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
Drug Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million to Settle Fraud Case (by Huma Khan and Pierre Thomas, ABC News)
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