posted by on Dec 18
Zyprexa is a Diabetes drug made by Eli Lilly & Company. It’s an extremely profitable product for the drug maker, bringing in 4.9 billion dollars in sales just last year. That makes it the top selling product of one of the top drug makes in the world. The drug, however, is at the heart of an ongoing struggle to form a Zyprexa class action lawsuit.
The drug was approved by the FDA to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. It’s heavily marketed by Eli Lilly, and there is strong demand for the drug. The marketing features impressive claims as to the effectiveness of the drug in treating the serious bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. The Zyprexa class action claims that this marketing was exaggerated, which increased demand, which caused the price of the drug to go higher.
The Zyprexa class action was brought by plaintiffs representing unions, insurers, and pension funds who claim that the exaggerated advertising of the effectiveness of Zyprexa caused them to have to pay more for the drug. In 2008, their case was granted class action status. However, that ruling of status has just been overruled and the Zyprexa class action is no longer on the dockets in Federal court.
The Zyprexa class action status was denied because the individuals who purchased Zyprexa did not have enough in common with the insurers, pension funds, and unions who represented the other portion of the group of plaintiffs. For a class action to be certified, the many plaintiffs must have enough in common for them to be represented together as a group. This Fall, the Federal Appeals Court of New York overturned the class action status of the Zyprexa lawsuit, about two years after the status had been granted to the case. Members of the Zyprexa class action plaintiffs had been, among others, the United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund and a group that represent retired NY police sergeants and their families.
