http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/BUSINESS/80326004/0/SPORTS0602By Tom Spalding
Posted: March 26, 2008
Eli Lilly and Co. and Alaska have agreed to settle that state's lawsuit against the Indianapolis drugmaker over the use of Zyprexa.
Lilly will pay the state $15 million and agreed to ensure that Alaska is "treated as favorably as any other state" that may settle with the company in the future over similar claims.
Lilly and Alaska Attorney General Talis J. Colberg announced the settlement in a press release.
Alaska filed a $270 million suit against Lilly in 2006, claiming the company withheld data on the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa's side effects, costing its Medicaid program millions of dollars by increasing the incidence of diabetes.
The trial began March 3 in Anchorage.
In a statement, Lilly general counsel Robert Armitage said the company had a "strong defense", but that settling was in the best interests of all parties.
"Our decision to resolve this case does not change the fact that Zyprexa can continue to improve the lives of patients around the world who are suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," Armitage said.
Zyprexa, which is often prescribed in the U.S. and in more than 80 other countries, is a short- and long-term treatment of schizophrenia and specific bipolar disorders.
Lilly shares closed at $50.17 at the end of Tuesday's trading.
