Astra Lawsuits Over Seroquel Link to Diabetes

Eddie Farah

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"Achieving Balance Brings Strength"

That's the promise of AstraZeneca's Seroquel schizophrenia drug. But 10,000 are claiming the drug brought them severe weight gain and in some cases diabetes.

Warnings about diabetes are now included in the AstraZeneca website, however in November 2006, the FDA sent the manufacturer a letter requiring the stronger warning.

The promotional material raises significant public health and safety concerns through its minimization of the risks association with Seroquel.

The lawsuits claim patients did not receive adequate warning and that the drug was promoted for uses unapproved by the FDA. Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic approved in October 2006 by the FDA for bipolar disorders. Off-label it has been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorders and alcoholism. Many claim it has a similar effect to another anti-psychotic, Zyprexa which has already been linked to diabetes development. Hundreds of millions have been paid to patients taking Zyprexa as a result.

London-based Astra plans to fight the lawsuits insisting Seroquel is safe. And in a news release, it insists the drug will be a leading contender in fighting bipolar disorders by 2010.

-- Decision Resources, Inc., one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that AstraZeneca's Seroquel will overtake GlaxoSmithKline's Lamictal as the gold standard in the treatment of bipolar depression by 2010.

Injured vets returning from Iraq are being prescribed Seroquel and an eight week clinical trial is scheduled for West Palm Beach, Florida. And the AskAPatient blog has lots of mixed reports from users.