AstraZeneca dodges another Seroquel lawsuit
pharmafile | April 8, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AZ, Seroquel, US
AstraZeneca has defeated another US lawsuit seeking compensation for diabetes side-effects allegedly caused by its drug Seroquel.
A US Federal Appeal Court upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a case against Seroquel which was first heard in January 2009.
The plaintiff Linda Guinn had alleged that antipsychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) had been the direct cause of her diabetes. She had used an expert witness to prove her case but AZ argued – and the court concurred – that this witness and his testimony should be excluded from the case.
Without this testimony, Guinn could not offer adequate evidence of a direct correlation between Seroquel and her diabetes, and the case has now been dismissed.
AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said: “The appeals court decision echoes earlier federal and state court opinions that found Seroquel could not be proven to be responsible for plaintiffs’ alleged injuries.”
Jewell added: “We intend to continue to defend ourselves against these claims that plaintiffs’ lawyers have been repeatedly unable to prove in multiple courts across the country.”
In 2003, the FDA required atypical antipsychotics drugs to carry warnings about the link between the class and an increased risk of developing type II diabetes.
A large number of lawsuits have emerged in the US since then, with the most prescribed drugs, Lilly’s Zyprexa and J&J’s Risperdal being the most frequent targets.
This is currently the seventh case to be thrown out by American judges. The first to make it to trial, Baker v AstraZeneca, in March of this year saw the jury reject the plaintiff’s claims that Seroquel had caused his diabetes.
The drug has been linked to weight gain in small number of cases but no plaintiff has as of yet proved a link between the drug and the onset of their diabetes.
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