Friday, January 16, 2009

Drug Marketing Blow Out: Eli Lilly Fined $1.5B

Eli Lilly has been fined the largest amount for marketing fraud in US History, for their “off-label promotion” of the drug Zyprexa. According to CNNMoney.com, The company had promoted the drug as a treatment for dementia, including Alzheimer’s dementia in elderly people - for which it was never approved, the statement said. The company pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge as part of the settlement, it said in a statement. The sum includes a criminal fine of $515 million, which the Justice Department called “largest criminal fine for an individual corporation ever imposed in a United States criminal prosecution.”
What do you think of this settlement? As a marketer, how would you have done things differently? Share with us here.




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