Ben Wallace-Wells of Rolling Stone uses the story of the rise of Zyprexa, Eli Lilly’s blockbuster schizophrenia treatment, to look into the marketing of medication, the history of anti-psychotic drugs and the ability of the FDA to serve as an effective watchdog without the resources to conduct independent trials. The magazine also provides an interview, in which Wallace-Wells tells a little more about the reporting that went into the extensive report and the conclusions he’d drawn from his research.
Eli Lilly staked its future on Zyprexa, even though it had been shown to cause dangerous side-effects like excessive weight gain and was only approved for the treatment of schizophrenia. The total market for the treatment of schizophrenia and related illnesses sits in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Through off-label prescriptions, careful manipulation of government regulation and aggressive marketing emphasizing the drug’s novelty, Lilly eventually sold more than $4 billion worth of Zyprexa annually.
“The goal for sales reps, according to Lilly’s strategy document, was to ‘expand the market of Zyprexa by redefining how primary-care physicians help reduce mood, thought and behavioral disturbances.’”
