There was news last week that AstraZeneca was settling at least 200 lawsuits that charged the drugmaker with hiding the risks of its Seroquel antipsychotic and links to diabetes (back story). As it turns out, AstraZeneca has agreed in principle to settle nearly 4,000 such claims ( see page 34). Terms were not disclosed.
AstraZeneca is only the latest big drugmaker to strike settlments with a large number of plaintiffs in ongoing product-liability litigation. Recently, GlaxoSmithKline has done the same concerning lawsuits filed over its Avandia diabetes med and Paxil antidepressant (see here and here). The goal, of course, is to dispense with the litigation before associated costs spiral upwards and further distract managers, all of which combines to unhinge investors if court battles are lost and no end appears in sight.
The settlements, by the way, come after AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million to settle civil charges for off-label marketing of Seroquel, but won some court battles. In April, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the first product liability lawsuit alleging Seroquel caused a patient’s diabetes. A three-judge federal panel ruled that a federal court in Florida correctly dismissed a case brought by a woman because her doctor didn’t qualify as an expert under federal court rules (see here). And in March, a New Jersey state court jury decided against a 61-year-old Vietnam War vet.
As of June 29, AstraZeneca was defending 10,363 Seroquel lawsuits in the US involving 22,412 plaintiff groups, most of which are in state courts, primarily Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Alabama. About 28 percent are in federal court, primarily in Florida, where multi-distriction litigation is housed, although some cases are in California. The settlements were first reported by Mealey's.
Hat tip to Pharmagossip and Soulful Sepulcher
8 Comments
It's not nearly enough for messing with people's health! It's all about the almighty buck. All of the snakes slither away. How disgusting!
This is the drug Charles Nemeroff was caught pimping. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)sanctioned the AZ-sponsored program he ran for commercial bias, for lack of sufficient information about adverse effects of Seroquel, and for failing to discuss comparative efficacy. The MECC was required to yank the program off its website. Good work, Charlie! Make sure all those patients damaged by the drug know where to find you now at U Miami.
Looks like the begining of the end of this sordid little story.
I'm trying to find out the financials.
I understand that some ex-AZ employees were waiting in the wings to testify about what really went on!
That may have tipped the balance.
Like who? Blenkinsopp? or Birkett? I hope someone in that camp does an interview, even if it's anonymously written. I would also like to know the reason the information is to be confidential, at this point AstraZeneca and the Seroquel scandal could use a bit of transparency, rather than waiting for the documents to be uploaded by inquiring and interested citizens.
Gotta love Tony Jewell's spin doctor statement,surely he must have heartburn doing this for a living.
The criminal executives of AZ and other pharmaceuticals, along with their fraudulent clinical research whores who lie to push Seroquel and other harmful and unworkable drugs through the FDA [and into medical journals to push off-label usage], need to be convicted and jailed to stop this. Hey DOJ and state Att. Generals, how about Jail, Jail, Jail and not "Too Big to Nail" B.S. ?
AstraZeneca settles 5000 SEROQUEL lawsuits for $55 million http://tinyurl.com/2ff5ybp
Let me just comment here, that AstraZeneca settling for $10,000 per lawsuit is an atrocity in our public health care system in America.
The innocent victims, who trusted doctors and the FDA (approving the drug for use)have been slapped in the face by AstraZeneca, a billion dollar drug company that marketed Seroquel even though KNOWING this could happen, per internal documents.
AstraZeneca has several COI's with the DOJ and apparently this company is above any law and the injuries and deaths from the use of Seroquel, in my opinion are now placed into the conscious of the people, the Executives that buried the data, skewed the data, and anyone who partakes in defending AstraZeneca at this point, right down to the PR spokesperson, Tony Jewell, who claims "Good Faith".
That use of "Good Faith" comment is the same as blatently looking into the eyes of lifetime injury patients and spitting.
What IS Corporate Integrity?
WHY does the FDA still allow this drug to be sold?
WHO watches over patients and CHILDREN who are prescribed this drug?
typo in my comment above*(CIA)Corporate Integrity Agreement