Re: Zyprexa papers Judge does turnaround, tells Lilly to pay up

[Guest guest]

Many children have been given this med for their autism

Judge Weinstein presided over the case involving Eli Lilly internal

memoes which were released to the NY Times through some complicated

maneuvers by an activist attorney, Times reporter Berenson and a

physician acting as an expert witness on a civil case against the

company. Lilly pressed a case to put a gag on these documents. In the

end, Weinstein sided with Lilly and did seal the content of the

papers, which-- already published and dispersed-- showed that Lilly

knew for a long time that Zyprexa caused massive weight gain,

diabetes and metabolic crisis among other adverse effects. It was a

shocking decision because proof of harm was treated as " trade

secrets " by the judge. Zyprexa is one of the first-on-the-list drugs

prescribed for children with autism and forced down the throats of

autistic individuals in institutions.

Now, all of a sudden, Weinstein is advising Lilly to pay up on class

action suits, establishing that the drug does harm and kill and, to

boot, has bilked medical systems for the high cost of the drug.

Subject: Judge Weinstein Urges Eli Lilly to Settle Zyprexa Lawsuits

To: " Infomail1ahrp (DOT) org " <_Infomail1@..._

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Date: Friday, July 4, 2008, 11:08 AM

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FYI

The Associated Press and IndyStar report that U.S. District Judge Jack

Weinstein, who is overseeing all federal suits involving Zyprexa,

issued a

290-page discussion draft on Thursday stating that he was prepared to

grant

class-action status for the lawsuit brought by Mid-West National Life

Insurance Co. of Tennessee and others. The Judge set a hearing on the

proposed order for July 31.

Judge Weinstein made it clear he believed there was enough evidence

for the

case to proceed to trial, and urged a settlement. Weinstein's draft

cites

two experts' estimates of damages, one of $4.9 billion and the other

ranging

from $3.9 billion to nearly $7.7 billion.

Ed Silverman (Pharmalot) notes that Judge Weinstein's statement

" amounts to

an about-face for Weinstein. "

He notes that in April, the Judge indicated he probably wouldn't allow

patients and insurers who paid for Zyprexa to sue the drugmaker as a

group.

Although he thought the case " ought to be settled. I really think that

we're

not dealing with very much money, " he said at the time.

See:

_http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/04/judge-wants-to-scale-back-zyprexa-_

(http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/04/judge-wants-to-scale-back-zyprexa-)

lawsuit/

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