Eli Lilly granted permanent injunction against individuals

Eli Lilly has been granted a permanent injunction against a number of individuals, including expert witness in the Zyprexa product liability trials Dr David Egilman and attorney James Gottstein.

According to senior judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York Jack B Weinstein, these individuals conspired with New York Times journalist Alex Berenson to leak documents from the firm to the newspaper.

Under the terms of these injunctions, these individuals and eight others are prohibited from further distribution of these documents and must return all existing copies in their possession to the court.

Robert A Armitage, senior vice-president and general counsel at Lilly, said: “Lilly is pleased that Judge Weinstein vindicated the rights of Lilly and the needs of those individuals with mental illness, their doctors and their families.”

He added that this decision would help guarantee that patients will not be put off taking medication as a result of inaccurate information, while also ensuring the fair and lawful progress of litigation.

Last month, Lilly announced that it had entered into settlement agreements with 14 plaintiff’s firms currently involved in liability litigation relating to the use of Zyprexa, a treatment indicated for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.