Tag Archives: $520 million

Oh That? Seroquel Marketing Undeterred by This Week’s Deceptive Marketing Settlement

Google the word “depression” and the first search result you’ll get is for the antipsychotic Seroquel XR. Visit WebMD and the home page hosts similar ads for Seroquel XR, above and adjacent to the lead news story. Who would know AstraZeneca inked the largest multi-state consumer protection settlement on record relating to deceptive Seroquel marketing just this week? For $68.5 million? Only a year after inking a similar settlement related to burying side effect and safety information for $520 million with the government? Who would know AstraZeneca has already settled nearly 25,000 personal injury lawsuits pertaining to Seroquel with more to come says ABC news?

First approved in 1997, Seroquel has enjoyed the camel-nose-under-the-tent phenomenon known as indications creep. First approved for schizophrenia, it was later approved for bipolar disorder and psychiatric conditions in children. But it was Seroquel’s 2009 approval as an add-drug for depression that helped it reach its spectacular sales of $5.3 billion in 2010 thanks to the US’ walloping depression “market” of 20 million.

AstraZeneca paying $68.5M to settle off-label marketing charges for anti-psychotic Seroquel

Thursday’s deal is the second multimillion-dollar Seroquel settlement brought by government prosecutors in the past two years. Last April AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million to settle similar allegations brought by the federal Department of Justice.

The new settlement stemmed from a separate three-year investigation led by the Attorney General of New Jersey. As part of the agreement AstraZeneca must publish any gifts or payments to physicians on a public website. The company also agreed to make sure that payment incentives to sales representatives do not encourage off-label promotion.

Allegations of off-label drug marketing have become increasingly common in the past decade, with the drug industry eclipsing all others as the source of fraud-related settlements with the federal government. Approximately 80 percent of the $3.1 billion in penalties collected last fiscal year by the government came from the health care sector, including drugmakers, insurers and hospitals, according to Taxpayers Against Fraud.

Antipsychotic Drug Seroquel— Diabetes Lawsuits Hurt AstraZeneca Profits

Among Seroquel side effects is a reported increased risk of Seroquel diabetes. According to the UK Press Association, AstraZeneca set aside $203 million to resolve approximately 18,000 claims in the US that Seroquel, a schizophrenia treatment, caused diabetes and other serious Seroquel side effects. A further $270 million was reportedly put aside for other claims and to cover AstraZeneca’s legal costs. In August 2010, AstraZeneca said it settled approximately 17,500 lawsuits alleging Seroquel caused diabetes and other injuries for approximately $200 million. The lawsuits alleged the drug maker failed to adequately warn patients about the drugs’ risks.

BNET: ‘The Dog Ate AstraZeneca’s Homework! Evidence on Misleading Drug Ad Disappears From Company’s Files’

AstraZeneca (AZN) says it has lost a crucial internal document that would explain how an ad for its antipsychotic Seroquel misleadingly claimed there was “no weight gain” with the drug and described its “favorable weight profile.” But the company admits it kept the six-year-old envelope that once allegedly contained the ad’s approval certificate, according to a ruling by the U.K.’s Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority.