ZYPREXA®: DIABETES, RAPID WEIGHT GAIN, AND PANCREATITIS
Zyprexa® is an atypical antipsychotic drug prescribed for the treatment of schizophrenia, Bi-polar disorder and other psychiatric disorders. It has been linked to diabetes and diabetes related complications including coma and death. Zyprexq® has been on the market since 1996 and is used by over 14 million patients worldwide. Zyprexq® is Eli-Lilly Company’s best selling drug with global sales reportedly close to $4 billion per year with more than 7 million prescriptions written annually. Since its approval by the Federal Food and Drug Administration in 1996, there have been hundreds of cases of diabetes in patients taking Zyprexq® and 23 deaths. Zyprexq®.
Zyprexq® has been prescribed to millions of people. In foreign countries, Zyprexq® concerns have been so great that Japan and the European Union required that diabetes warnings be added to the Zyprexq® label. In the U.S. , however, no such warning has been added to Zyprexq®'s label.
At least as far back as 1998, and arguably much earlier, there have been published articles in the mainstream medical literature documenting Zyprexq®’s connection to elevations in blood sugar and eventual diagnoses of diabetes mellitus. In 2001, JAMA published letter authored by a Duke University Scientist and an FDA officer concluded that patients taking Zyprexq® were ten times more likely to develop diabetes mellitus than those who were not. In fact, in 2002, the British and Japanese equivalents of the FDA mandated that Eli Lilly include public warnings about the Zyprexq® Diabetes link. In 2003, a professional consensus development conference sponsored by the American Diabetes Association and the American Psychiatric Association concluded that data had consistently proven that patients treated with Zyprexq® have an increased risk of diabetes. However, it was not until 2004 - months after this conference - that Eli Lilly finally included hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus in the warnings section of the Zyprexq® package insert and sent a letter to doctors warning of the same.
Researchers at Duke University found abnormalities in the blood sugar of patients taking Zyprexq®. These findings included mild elevations in blood sugar (hyperglycemia), onset of diabetes, and diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis associated to Zyprexq® adverse effects reports has been fatal in about half of the cases.
Other studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs at Boston University and the University of Illinois at Chicago revealed similar findings. A study conducted on three antipsychotic drugs, including Zyprexq®, linked the drug to an increased rate of diabetes and other serious diabetic conditions, such as diabetic coma, caused by severe insulin deficiency.
With the exception of the 2004 warning tucked away in the package insert, and the 2004 “Dear Doctor Letter” (that tries to group Zyprexq®’s specific problems with all second-generation antipsychotics), no regulatory action has been taken. Many physicians with cases of adverse reactions have tried to persuade the FDA to issue a prominent “black box” warning on all Zyprexq® packages and labels, but thus far these requests have fallen on deaf ears. Zyprexq® is still widely prescribed, despite the lack of such prominent warnings.
As mentioned above, Zyprexq® causes elevations in blood sugar, which can eventually result in diagnoses of diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia. Other common blood sugar ailments linked with Zyprexq® include hyperglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis (“DKA”), and pancreatitis. Symptoms often occur within six months of initial Zyprexq® ingestion. Common symptoms of these ailments include:
• Excessive eating
• Excessive weight gain
• Excessive drinking
• Excessive urination
• Excessive weakness
• Blurry vision
• Increased heart rate
If you or someone you know has taken Zyprexq® and developed accelerated weight gain, diabetes, or pancreatitis, please contact us for additional information and a review of your case. You may be entitled to compensation for injury caused by Zyprexq®
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