Zyprexa And Off Label Marketing

Zyprexa is an atypical antipsychotic. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Once approved physicians are able to prescribe it for other uses which of course will give them a larger number of patients,even if its effectiveness or long term safety in that population has not been established. The drug is prescribed for the elderly with dementia even after the black box warning of increased death from strokes and infections. Autistic children and adults are given this to correct behavior problems like aggression, anger and obsessive compulsive disorder. Other children had this given to them also.

Lilly ran into trouble by having their sales people actively promote its off label uses and downplaying the known side effects. This was even after their own paid scientists apprised them of the facts.

Weight gain is one such side effect which in some patients came on very fast and extreme. Hyperglycemia, increased cholesterol, eye problems like increased eye pressure, increased triglycerides and the onset of diabetes are other disturbing side effects.

Zyprexa is not the only medication that causes weight gain some other antipsychotics have it also as a side effect. But it seems to be extremely more prevalent in patients on Zyprexa. Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome can present also. It is a condition that presents with high fever, muscle rigidity, sweating unstable blood pressure, agitation, delirium and coma.

There are those that say this medication helps them and that the benefits outweigh the problems. Good physicians will monitor their patients closely, reading the EKGs, labs, including fasting blood sugar to make sure that if they see anything unwanted, they can act on it. Patients also need to make sure that their doctors are vigilant and keep them in the loop if there are any changes.

If you have either type1 or type 2 diabetes it can make it worse. Even if you have no family history it can cause sudden new onset of type 2 diabetes. And as we know it is on the rise and is a very serious disease. It can lead to cardiac problems including heart attacks, coma, kidney failure, blindness, amputations and death. Some clinicians consider diabetes mellitus to be a worldwide epidemic. Some countries population of people living with diabetics to be around 15 to 20% of the population. Poor people in underdeveloped nations do not survive long since they will be without treatment. The increase is believed to be due to sedentary lifestyle, high empty caloric diet and obesity. With these we need to factor in the part that medications play.

Drug company reps have showered doctors continually with trips, gifts, lunches of their choice and other presents.They visit bearing gifts of logo emblazoned pens, pen lights, mugs and note papers. Of course this is not done from the goodness of their hearts. Actually it is expected. Reps always come with food and gifts, they say if they didn't they wouldn't be allowed to speak to the doctors. They also bring samples for the doctor to give out to needy patients.

The problem is that the ordering physician may not look at other cheaper and maybe more appropriate medications. There are a lot of medicines to study, so where do you start? It seems ludicrous that someone would make important decisions just because someone gave them a free lunch. But there is more to it. It seems to work, that is why it still continues.