AstraZeneca sued by 10,000 over Seroquel

AstraZeneca has been sued by nearly 10,000 patients that have used Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), an antipsychotic pharmaceutical, with plaintiff’s claiming that the company had not sufficiently warned of the possibility of severe adverse affects, including weight gain and attendant risk of diabetes.

Bloomberg reports that these lawsuits bear a similarity to those filed against Eli Lilly in relation to its own antipsychotic treatment Zyprexa, with claims the company promoted off-label uses of the drug, according to Howard Erichson.

Mr Erichson, a law professor at Seton Hall Law School, said: “The fact that Zyprexa litigation resulted in a massive settlement has to draw the attention of plaintiffs’ lawyers and plaintiffs themselves.”

The news agency reports that AstraZeneca rejects these claims and would defend itself against the allegations.

Earlier this month, a study from law firm Weitz & Luxenberg argued that the evidence of the efficacy of off-label use of antipsychotic pharmaceuticals was “weak”, while such use also resulted in increased risks to patient health.

Seroquel, a compound already approved for the treatment of bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of depressive episodes in patients suffering from bipolar disorder.