Drug company seeks to suppress internal memos

doi:10.1136/bmj.39090.484074.DB

BMJ 2007;334:59 (13 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39090.484074.DB

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Drug company seeks to suppress internal memos

Jeanne Lenzer

¹ Boston

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The drug maker Eli Lilly instigated legal actionagainst a number of doctors, lawyers, journalists, and activistsover hundreds of internal corporate documents and emails saidto have been obtained by them regarding the antipsychotic drugolanzapine (Zyprexa). Eli Lilly obtained a court injunctionon 29 December ordering 16 individuals and organisations tostop publishing the documents and to remove any copies postedon the internet.

The documents created a furore after they wereleaked to the New York Times, which reported that they showedthat Eli Lilly "engaged in a decade-long effort to play downthe health risks of Zyprexa" (www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/business/17drug.html).The New York Times, which is not named in the injunction, saidthat Eli Lilly's chief scientist for olanzapine, Alan Breier,told employees in 1999 that "weight gain and possible hyperglycemiais a major threat to the long-term success of this criticallyimportant molecule."

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