Another evil Lilly drug...

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/business/26DRUG.html

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September 26, 2002

Report Is Skeptical of Costly Eli Lilly Drug

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

BOSTON, Sept. 25 (Bloomberg News) — Xigris, a $7,000-a-dose sepsis treatment

from Eli Lilly, should not be widely used until another study confirms its

benefits, according to a report today in The New England Journal of

Medicine.

Xigris, which reached hospital shelves a year ago, is the first medicine to

treat the cause of sepsis, a reaction to infection that causes blood

clotting and organ damage and claims 210,000 lives annually.

" We believe that there is not sufficient evidence at present for it to

become the standard of care, " said the article, written by researchers from

Massachusetts General Hospital, the National Institutes of Health and the

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Today's issue also carries a response from the Food and Drug Administration,

which defends the product's approval.

Lilly, based in Indianapolis, won approval of Xigris based on a study in

which 24.7 percent of those taking Xigris died, compared with 30.8 percent

of the patients getting a placebo. Virtually all the patients who benefited

from the drug had severe sepsis, leading the F.D.A. to approve it for only

those patients.

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[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/business/26DRUG.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 26, 2002

Report Is Skeptical of Costly Eli Lilly Drug

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

BOSTON, Sept. 25 (Bloomberg News) — Xigris, a $7,000-a-dose sepsis treatment

from Eli Lilly, should not be widely used until another study confirms its

benefits, according to a report today in The New England Journal of

Medicine.

Xigris, which reached hospital shelves a year ago, is the first medicine to

treat the cause of sepsis, a reaction to infection that causes blood

clotting and organ damage and claims 210,000 lives annually.

" We believe that there is not sufficient evidence at present for it to

become the standard of care, " said the article, written by researchers from

Massachusetts General Hospital, the National Institutes of Health and the

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Today's issue also carries a response from the Food and Drug Administration,

which defends the product's approval.

Lilly, based in Indianapolis, won approval of Xigris based on a study in

which 24.7 percent of those taking Xigris died, compared with 30.8 percent

of the patients getting a placebo. Virtually all the patients who benefited

from the drug had severe sepsis, leading the F.D.A. to approve it for only

those patients.

Copyright The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy Policy

_________________________________________________________________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com