Zyprexa Lawsuits

Have you, a family member, or dear friend been diagnosed with diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemia, pancreatitis, or diabetic-induced heart attack or coma following the use of Zyprexa? You may want to consider Zyprexa litigation and may want to consult with a lawyer familiar with Zyprexa litigation. If so, please complete the FREE no obligation consultation today.

Researchers have linked Zyprexa to the side-effect of onset of diabetes, hyperglycemia, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome thereby creating enough concern and patient outcry to lead Japan, Europe, and most recently the United States to include warnings about the chronic side-effects and the sometimes-fatal Zyprexa side-effect. (Japan published safety warnings two years before the U.S.) Consumer groups believe that the FDA had done too little too late to warn doctors and patients about the risks of hyperglycemia, diabetes, ketoacidosis, heart attack, and coma from taking Zyprexa.

In November 2001, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and a Duke University Medical Center physician first possibly linked between the Zyprexa side-effect of hyperglycemia in adolescents with the drug. FDA staff members published a report in the December 2001 American Journal of Medicine linking Zyprexa to diabetes. Both Zyprexa reports used information from the FDA's adverse drug reaction database.

Most recently, the FDA has identified at least 384 reports of diabetes linked to Zyprexa, with the majority of cases appearing within six months of starting Zyprexa treatment. This has been a major focus in the Zyprexa litigation.

Consumer advocates claim that the Zyprexa side-effect warnings referencing diabetes, heart attack, coma, and hyperglycemia are buried deep within the adverse reactions section of the drug’s labeling. Patients are less likely to notice the warning when it’s buried in the smallest of fine print than if it were more prominently displayed. The failure to give adequate warnings is one of the core allegations in the Zyprexa litigation.

Researchers have also found preliminary evidence that linked the Zyprexa side-effect and pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation of the pancreas. Studies looked at patients using four antipsychotic drugs and examined all the pancreatitis cases reported to the FDA or written up in medical journals between January 1981 and February 2002. Researchers found more instances of pancreatitis in Clozaril, Zyprexa, and Risperdal patients.

Of the 192 Zyprexa side-effect cases, people using Zyprexa alone had 62 instances within the four antipsychotic drugs. The pancreatitis occurrences resulted in 22 deaths. A definitive link between Zyprexa side-effect and pancreatitis has not yet been established though the findings have raised concern.

Adding to the complexity surrounding the potential Zyprexa side-effect of the drug is the strong connection between diabetes and schizophrenia, noted by scientists since the 1920s. Sufferers of the debilitating brain disorder develop diabetes at a rate up to four times higher than the general population, whether they use antipsychotic drugs or not. People with schizophrenia often lead a sedentary lifestyle, lack good medical care, have poor diets, and high rates of obesity -- all which are risk factors for diabetes.

Eli Lilly has argued that Zyprexa's safety is supported by two Eli Lilly sponsored studies. According to the manufacturer, two studies demonstrate that Zyprexa has no diabetes-inducing effects. According to doctors at the diabetes care center at the University of North Carolina, too few patients were studied to detect a less common Zyprexa side effect.