Eli Lilly: Litigation may endanger treatment outcomes

Eli Lilly has announced the results of a survey claiming that product liability litigation relating to antipsychotics can put at risk the treatment outcomes of patients suffering severe mental illness.

The questionnaire showed that some schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients will request a change in medication – even if responding well to the drug – if it is featured in product liability litigation advertisements from law firms.

Furthermore, 93 per cent of psychiatrists surveyed reported that their patients had altered their medication without informing their doctor, while 94 per cent experienced patient relapse when medication was discontinued.

Dr Ralph Aquila, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, said: “Many of our patients already struggle with accepting their illness and staying on their prescribed treatment and now they are experiencing new levels of fear due to the increasing incidence of these jarring advertisements.”

He added that this type of reckless advertising is adversely affecting the therapy of mental health patients and disturbing the vital relationship between patients and their healthcare providers, factors that should be considered by attorneys in product liability cases.

In February 2007, Lilly announced that the company had been granted a permanent injunction against Dr David Egilman – an expert witness in the Zyprexa product liability trial – and attorney James Gottstein.