Alaska - Day 4 - Ex-FDA official blasts Eli Lilly in court - Expert witness says profits came first

[Guest guest]

The company providing video footage of this trial wants $400.00 per day:

http://www.courtroomlive.com/current (which means video will exist for

us in the future)

Maybe one more college try with Anchorage Daily News Senior Vice

President, Pat Dougherty, will convince him there is a demand for live

video of the Zyprexa trial, free of charge to the public. You can

write to Mr. Dougherty here: pdougherty@...

Archived articles on antipsychotics are being compiled here:

http://tmap.wordpress.com/

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/338638.html

Anchorage Daily News

Ex-FDA official blasts Eli Lilly in court

ZYPREXA SUIT: Expert witness for the state says profits came first.

By LISA DEMER ldemer@...

March 8th, 2008

A retired medical officer with the federal Food and Drug Administration

testified Friday that drug maker Eli Lilly distorted the science and

downplayed the health risks of its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa to make

more money.

Gueriguian, who worked 20 years for the FDA and is now a

consultant, was on the stand in Anchorage Superior Court all day Friday

as an expert witness for the state of Alaska.

The state is suing Eli Lilly and Co. to recover costs to its Medicaid

system for what it contends are serious health problems, including

weight gain and diabetes, caused by Zyprexa.

The state says the company failed to warn of troubles because it counted

on Zyprexa to become its next big moneymaker.

Global sales of Zyprexa approached $4.8 billion last year.

At the FDA, Gueriguian worked for the division that oversaw diabetic

drugs, not psychiatric medication, so he wasn't directly involved in

oversight of Zyprexa. Lawyers working for the state hired him to analyze

Lilly documents and e-mails and said it's impossible to get current FDA

employees to testify.

If Lilly could show that diabetes was common for this class of drugs,

then it would no longer be a special problem for Zyprexa, said a Nov.

28, 2001, company document.

Was it comparable? Tommy Fibich, a Houston attorney representing the

state, asked.

Just the opposite, Gueriguian answered.

Zyprexa caused many more such problems than most similar drugs, he said.

" Simply put, it's putting profit over the concern of the consumer, "

Gueriguian told the jury.

In a 2001 guide for sales representatives, the directive from on high

was clear, he said. " Our goal and focus is on creating a market with

Donna. The competition wins if we are distracted into talking about

diabetes, " the guide said.

" Donna " was code for an effort to pitch the drug as treatment for

depression and mood changes, Gueriguian said.

Lilly lawyers didn't get to cross-examine Gueriguian on Friday. After

court broke for the day, Lilly attorney Brenner told reporters the

company turned over its data to the FDA, which approved the drug in

1996. Zyprexa remains on the market in the United States and more than

80 other countries.

" We didn't hide anything, " Brenner said. Regarding Zyprexa, he said,

" there's an ongoing debate being played out in the medical community. "

Some tidbits presented on Friday came from a string of internal Lilly

e-mails generated in 2000. Employees were talking about a meeting with

consultants.

One Lilly employee wrote that the consultants were concerned how the

company handled the issue of whether Zyprexa leads to diabetes.

" I do believe they made a very strong point that unless we come clean on

this, it could get much more serious than we might anticipate, "

Brodie wrote in a Oct. 9, 2000, e-mail to others at Lilly.

The next day, another Lilly employee responded that the real concern

seemed to be about weight gain, and that the consultants wanted the

company to " aggressively face the issue " and work with doctors to help

them manage patients' weight. Even if just 2 percent of patients on

Zyprexa gained a possible 90 pounds, that amounted to 100,000 people,

the employee wrote. " 100,000 people putting on 90 pounds of weight is a

lot. "

Marni Lemons, a Lilly spokeswoman, said Friday that the state's lawyers

are focusing on a few misleading or poorly worded documents out of 19

million pages of records.

One thing the jurors didn't learn: Gueriguian was one of the FDA medical

officers who fiercely fought approval of the diabetes drug Rezulin, made

by Warner-Lambert. It got on the market anyway only to be withdrawn

after dozens of deaths and reports of liver toxicity.

Fibich tried to ask Gueriguian questions about Rezulin, but Lilly

lawyers objected and he wasn't allowed to.

The trial resumes Monday.

+++

25,410 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Video:

Petition:

English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

Spanish http://www.psychsearch.net/votos.html

Italian http://www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html

French http://www.enfantshyperactifs.com/petition-a-signer/

Korean: Know a translator?

Greek: Know a translator?

[Guest guest]

The company providing video footage of this trial wants $400.00 per day:

http://www.courtroomlive.com/current (which means video will exist for

us in the future)

Maybe one more college try with Anchorage Daily News Senior Vice

President, Pat Dougherty, will convince him there is a demand for live

video of the Zyprexa trial, free of charge to the public. You can

write to Mr. Dougherty here: pdougherty@...

Archived articles on antipsychotics are being compiled here:

http://tmap.wordpress.com/

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/338638.html

Anchorage Daily News

Ex-FDA official blasts Eli Lilly in court

ZYPREXA SUIT: Expert witness for the state says profits came first.

By LISA DEMER ldemer@...

March 8th, 2008

A retired medical officer with the federal Food and Drug Administration

testified Friday that drug maker Eli Lilly distorted the science and

downplayed the health risks of its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa to make

more money.

Gueriguian, who worked 20 years for the FDA and is now a

consultant, was on the stand in Anchorage Superior Court all day Friday

as an expert witness for the state of Alaska.

The state is suing Eli Lilly and Co. to recover costs to its Medicaid

system for what it contends are serious health problems, including

weight gain and diabetes, caused by Zyprexa.

The state says the company failed to warn of troubles because it counted

on Zyprexa to become its next big moneymaker.

Global sales of Zyprexa approached $4.8 billion last year.

At the FDA, Gueriguian worked for the division that oversaw diabetic

drugs, not psychiatric medication, so he wasn't directly involved in

oversight of Zyprexa. Lawyers working for the state hired him to analyze

Lilly documents and e-mails and said it's impossible to get current FDA

employees to testify.

If Lilly could show that diabetes was common for this class of drugs,

then it would no longer be a special problem for Zyprexa, said a Nov.

28, 2001, company document.

Was it comparable? Tommy Fibich, a Houston attorney representing the

state, asked.

Just the opposite, Gueriguian answered.

Zyprexa caused many more such problems than most similar drugs, he said.

" Simply put, it's putting profit over the concern of the consumer, "

Gueriguian told the jury.

In a 2001 guide for sales representatives, the directive from on high

was clear, he said. " Our goal and focus is on creating a market with

Donna. The competition wins if we are distracted into talking about

diabetes, " the guide said.

" Donna " was code for an effort to pitch the drug as treatment for

depression and mood changes, Gueriguian said.

Lilly lawyers didn't get to cross-examine Gueriguian on Friday. After

court broke for the day, Lilly attorney Brenner told reporters the

company turned over its data to the FDA, which approved the drug in

1996. Zyprexa remains on the market in the United States and more than

80 other countries.

" We didn't hide anything, " Brenner said. Regarding Zyprexa, he said,

" there's an ongoing debate being played out in the medical community. "

Some tidbits presented on Friday came from a string of internal Lilly

e-mails generated in 2000. Employees were talking about a meeting with

consultants.

One Lilly employee wrote that the consultants were concerned how the

company handled the issue of whether Zyprexa leads to diabetes.

" I do believe they made a very strong point that unless we come clean on

this, it could get much more serious than we might anticipate, "

Brodie wrote in a Oct. 9, 2000, e-mail to others at Lilly.

The next day, another Lilly employee responded that the real concern

seemed to be about weight gain, and that the consultants wanted the

company to " aggressively face the issue " and work with doctors to help

them manage patients' weight. Even if just 2 percent of patients on

Zyprexa gained a possible 90 pounds, that amounted to 100,000 people,

the employee wrote. " 100,000 people putting on 90 pounds of weight is a

lot. "

Marni Lemons, a Lilly spokeswoman, said Friday that the state's lawyers

are focusing on a few misleading or poorly worded documents out of 19

million pages of records.

One thing the jurors didn't learn: Gueriguian was one of the FDA medical

officers who fiercely fought approval of the diabetes drug Rezulin, made

by Warner-Lambert. It got on the market anyway only to be withdrawn

after dozens of deaths and reports of liver toxicity.

Fibich tried to ask Gueriguian questions about Rezulin, but Lilly

lawyers objected and he wasn't allowed to.

The trial resumes Monday.

+++

25,410 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Video:

Petition:

English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

Spanish http://www.psychsearch.net/votos.html

Italian http://www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html

French http://www.enfantshyperactifs.com/petition-a-signer/

Korean: Know a translator?

Greek: Know a translator?

[Guest guest]

The company providing video footage of this trial wants $400.00 per day:

http://www.courtroomlive.com/current (which means video will exist for

us in the future)

Maybe one more college try with Anchorage Daily News Senior Vice

President, Pat Dougherty, will convince him there is a demand for live

video of the Zyprexa trial, free of charge to the public. You can

write to Mr. Dougherty here: pdougherty@...

Archived articles on antipsychotics are being compiled here:

http://tmap.wordpress.com/

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/338638.html

Anchorage Daily News

Ex-FDA official blasts Eli Lilly in court

ZYPREXA SUIT: Expert witness for the state says profits came first.

By LISA DEMER ldemer@...

March 8th, 2008

A retired medical officer with the federal Food and Drug Administration

testified Friday that drug maker Eli Lilly distorted the science and

downplayed the health risks of its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa to make

more money.

Gueriguian, who worked 20 years for the FDA and is now a

consultant, was on the stand in Anchorage Superior Court all day Friday

as an expert witness for the state of Alaska.

The state is suing Eli Lilly and Co. to recover costs to its Medicaid

system for what it contends are serious health problems, including

weight gain and diabetes, caused by Zyprexa.

The state says the company failed to warn of troubles because it counted

on Zyprexa to become its next big moneymaker.

Global sales of Zyprexa approached $4.8 billion last year.

At the FDA, Gueriguian worked for the division that oversaw diabetic

drugs, not psychiatric medication, so he wasn't directly involved in

oversight of Zyprexa. Lawyers working for the state hired him to analyze

Lilly documents and e-mails and said it's impossible to get current FDA

employees to testify.

If Lilly could show that diabetes was common for this class of drugs,

then it would no longer be a special problem for Zyprexa, said a Nov.

28, 2001, company document.

Was it comparable? Tommy Fibich, a Houston attorney representing the

state, asked.

Just the opposite, Gueriguian answered.

Zyprexa caused many more such problems than most similar drugs, he said.

" Simply put, it's putting profit over the concern of the consumer, "

Gueriguian told the jury.

In a 2001 guide for sales representatives, the directive from on high

was clear, he said. " Our goal and focus is on creating a market with

Donna. The competition wins if we are distracted into talking about

diabetes, " the guide said.

" Donna " was code for an effort to pitch the drug as treatment for

depression and mood changes, Gueriguian said.

Lilly lawyers didn't get to cross-examine Gueriguian on Friday. After

court broke for the day, Lilly attorney Brenner told reporters the

company turned over its data to the FDA, which approved the drug in

1996. Zyprexa remains on the market in the United States and more than

80 other countries.

" We didn't hide anything, " Brenner said. Regarding Zyprexa, he said,

" there's an ongoing debate being played out in the medical community. "

Some tidbits presented on Friday came from a string of internal Lilly

e-mails generated in 2000. Employees were talking about a meeting with

consultants.

One Lilly employee wrote that the consultants were concerned how the

company handled the issue of whether Zyprexa leads to diabetes.

" I do believe they made a very strong point that unless we come clean on

this, it could get much more serious than we might anticipate, "

Brodie wrote in a Oct. 9, 2000, e-mail to others at Lilly.

The next day, another Lilly employee responded that the real concern

seemed to be about weight gain, and that the consultants wanted the

company to " aggressively face the issue " and work with doctors to help

them manage patients' weight. Even if just 2 percent of patients on

Zyprexa gained a possible 90 pounds, that amounted to 100,000 people,

the employee wrote. " 100,000 people putting on 90 pounds of weight is a

lot. "

Marni Lemons, a Lilly spokeswoman, said Friday that the state's lawyers

are focusing on a few misleading or poorly worded documents out of 19

million pages of records.

One thing the jurors didn't learn: Gueriguian was one of the FDA medical

officers who fiercely fought approval of the diabetes drug Rezulin, made

by Warner-Lambert. It got on the market anyway only to be withdrawn

after dozens of deaths and reports of liver toxicity.

Fibich tried to ask Gueriguian questions about Rezulin, but Lilly

lawyers objected and he wasn't allowed to.

The trial resumes Monday.

+++

25,410 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Video:

Petition:

English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

Spanish http://www.psychsearch.net/votos.html

Italian http://www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html

French http://www.enfantshyperactifs.com/petition-a-signer/

Korean: Know a translator?

Greek: Know a translator?

[Guest guest]

The company providing video footage of this trial wants $400.00 per day:

http://www.courtroomlive.com/current (which means video will exist for

us in the future)

Maybe one more college try with Anchorage Daily News Senior Vice

President, Pat Dougherty, will convince him there is a demand for live

video of the Zyprexa trial, free of charge to the public. You can

write to Mr. Dougherty here: pdougherty@...

Archived articles on antipsychotics are being compiled here:

http://tmap.wordpress.com/

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/338638.html

Anchorage Daily News

Ex-FDA official blasts Eli Lilly in court

ZYPREXA SUIT: Expert witness for the state says profits came first.

By LISA DEMER ldemer@...

March 8th, 2008

A retired medical officer with the federal Food and Drug Administration

testified Friday that drug maker Eli Lilly distorted the science and

downplayed the health risks of its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa to make

more money.

Gueriguian, who worked 20 years for the FDA and is now a

consultant, was on the stand in Anchorage Superior Court all day Friday

as an expert witness for the state of Alaska.

The state is suing Eli Lilly and Co. to recover costs to its Medicaid

system for what it contends are serious health problems, including

weight gain and diabetes, caused by Zyprexa.

The state says the company failed to warn of troubles because it counted

on Zyprexa to become its next big moneymaker.

Global sales of Zyprexa approached $4.8 billion last year.

At the FDA, Gueriguian worked for the division that oversaw diabetic

drugs, not psychiatric medication, so he wasn't directly involved in

oversight of Zyprexa. Lawyers working for the state hired him to analyze

Lilly documents and e-mails and said it's impossible to get current FDA

employees to testify.

If Lilly could show that diabetes was common for this class of drugs,

then it would no longer be a special problem for Zyprexa, said a Nov.

28, 2001, company document.

Was it comparable? Tommy Fibich, a Houston attorney representing the

state, asked.

Just the opposite, Gueriguian answered.

Zyprexa caused many more such problems than most similar drugs, he said.

" Simply put, it's putting profit over the concern of the consumer, "

Gueriguian told the jury.

In a 2001 guide for sales representatives, the directive from on high

was clear, he said. " Our goal and focus is on creating a market with

Donna. The competition wins if we are distracted into talking about

diabetes, " the guide said.

" Donna " was code for an effort to pitch the drug as treatment for

depression and mood changes, Gueriguian said.

Lilly lawyers didn't get to cross-examine Gueriguian on Friday. After

court broke for the day, Lilly attorney Brenner told reporters the

company turned over its data to the FDA, which approved the drug in

1996. Zyprexa remains on the market in the United States and more than

80 other countries.

" We didn't hide anything, " Brenner said. Regarding Zyprexa, he said,

" there's an ongoing debate being played out in the medical community. "

Some tidbits presented on Friday came from a string of internal Lilly

e-mails generated in 2000. Employees were talking about a meeting with

consultants.

One Lilly employee wrote that the consultants were concerned how the

company handled the issue of whether Zyprexa leads to diabetes.

" I do believe they made a very strong point that unless we come clean on

this, it could get much more serious than we might anticipate, "

Brodie wrote in a Oct. 9, 2000, e-mail to others at Lilly.

The next day, another Lilly employee responded that the real concern

seemed to be about weight gain, and that the consultants wanted the

company to " aggressively face the issue " and work with doctors to help

them manage patients' weight. Even if just 2 percent of patients on

Zyprexa gained a possible 90 pounds, that amounted to 100,000 people,

the employee wrote. " 100,000 people putting on 90 pounds of weight is a

lot. "

Marni Lemons, a Lilly spokeswoman, said Friday that the state's lawyers

are focusing on a few misleading or poorly worded documents out of 19

million pages of records.

One thing the jurors didn't learn: Gueriguian was one of the FDA medical

officers who fiercely fought approval of the diabetes drug Rezulin, made

by Warner-Lambert. It got on the market anyway only to be withdrawn

after dozens of deaths and reports of liver toxicity.

Fibich tried to ask Gueriguian questions about Rezulin, but Lilly

lawyers objected and he wasn't allowed to.

The trial resumes Monday.

+++

25,410 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Video:

Petition:

English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

Spanish http://www.psychsearch.net/votos.html

Italian http://www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html

French http://www.enfantshyperactifs.com/petition-a-signer/

Korean: Know a translator?

Greek: Know a translator?