5.21.2009

AstraZeneca 'pushed drug for untested uses'

AstraZeneca launched a public relations push to get doctors to prescribe its best-selling psychiatric drug Seroquel for a string of uses that were not approved by safety regulators, according to a damning internal document released yesterday.

The UK's second biggest drug maker is being sued by 16,000 patients in the US for "spinning, skewing and concealing" information on the drug's potential side-effects, including diabetes and weight gain, and lawyers unearthed emails and strategy documents showing what they say are repeated violations of the law.

The company was forced on to the defensive yesterday after more than 230 internal documents were made public, supporting a legal assault that wil cost it hundreds of millions of dollars if successful.

Read more @ The Independent

No comments: