Sorry, dearest readers, that we’ve been delinquent here at CMM lately getting posts up… We’re trying to get back on the job after binge-working on the aforementioned feature article about the rights of seniors in BC care homes. But we couldn’t let you miss today’s New York Times coverage of the latest on the lawsuit against Eli Lilly regarding its “antipsychotic” drug Zyprexa.  Earlier coverage on this issue (including from CMM about the secret internal documents in the ZyprexaKills.tar.gz file) revealed that Lilly execs had been hiding their knowledge of the drugs dangers and illegally promoting it for uses for which it was not approved. One special tidbit that caught our attention:

“In one marketing effort, the company urged geriatricians to use Zyprexa to sedate unruly nursing home patients so as to reduce “nursing time and effort,” according to court documents. Like other antipsychotics, Zyprexa increases the risks of sudden death, heart failure and life-threatening infections like pneumonia in elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis.”

We can confirm that Zyprexa is being given to the elderly woman in our aforementioned feature being held in a nursing home against her will who has been diagnosed with heart problems and dementia — showing vividly just how stupid and dangerous average doctors and psychiatrists can be when it comes to prescribing psychotropics.

This relatively short NYT piece is worth reading also because it provides a good overview of the broader problem throughout the drug industry — e.g. pointing out that even this proposed $1.4 billion U.S. settlement barely scratches the surface of the profits Lilly’s illegal actions have brought in.