Nobody likes to admit it, but at some point, everyone has been suckered by a product that they’ve seen on television that promises to do this or that. Once we get it home, however, we discover that this miracle product is actually a total dud. We toss it in the trash and chalk it up to another example of “buyer beware.” When it comes to prescription drugs, though, false promises can be extremely hazardous. Two pharmaceutical giants, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, settled two separate lawsuits last month. Both lawsuits involve false claims, illegal marketing and unapproved uses of two highly-profitable and extremely popular medications.
Johnson & Johnson paid out $81 million to settle a case that claimed it marketed the epilepsy drug Topamax for unapproved psychiatric uses. Topamax was thrust into the legal system after a Virginia psychiatrist filed a whistle blower lawsuit that assisted the Justice Department in making its case. His lawsuit claimed that the company promoted Topamax for unapproved treatments for alcohol dependence to weight loss and that Johnson & Johnson gave doctors financial kickbacks. J&J pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge. Six million of the settlement will pay a criminal fine, while the rest of the money will resolve civil claims that the company’s marketing of the drug led government health programs to pay for Topamax for unapproved uses.
AstraZeneca’s false marketing came with a steeper price tag: $520 million. The drug giant had marketed its anti-psychotic medication Seroquel for uses that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved. The suit alleged that AstraZeneca had encouraged doctors to prescribe Seroquel for a myriad of unapproved uses, from post-traumatic stress disorder to anger management. Like the J&J suit, the government claimed the company sweetened the deal for doctors by handing over money to prescribe the drug. AztraZeneca, however, has denied the allegations and agreed to pay the $520 million settlement.
Both Seroquel and Topamax also have faced class action suits from patients who claim the drugs didn’t deliver what they promised.
