The American Trial Lawyers Association

We'll kick things off today with some depressing news for those of you who are fans of justice. According to Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, has said unequivocally that there will be absolutely no prosecutions of former Bush Administration officials. This news comes on the heels of the release of the former administration's torture memos, which made most of us believe that prosecutions were just around the corner. But the statement from Obama released with those shocking memos included this sentence: "In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution." Obama has made it clear since he took office that he had no intention of prosecuting the former administration, but some of us were still hopeful. Unfortunately, like Bill Clinton before him, Obama is ready to allow the crimes of the Republicans go unpunished, leaving America with a bruised reputation and no remedies.

And speaking of the leftover problems from the Bush Administration, the sour economy has actually had a positive effect on the military. For years the military has been forced to allow below-average recruits to join, thanks to declining numbers of worthy applicants. But due to the recent economic downturn, the Army is seeing an uptick in what it calls “quality” recruits and has halted the practice of giving recruitment waivers to convicted felons and recent drug offenders. Since the Army started handing out numerous waivers to felons and drug offenders, officials say there has been an increase in drug abuse among soldiers in Iraq and afghanistan. There have also been reports that members of US gangs are signing up for the Army and leaving identifying graffiti in the streets of Iraq. Afghanistan's abundent heroin crops are a particular spot of concern for the Army, as any soldier so inclined could easily procure doses of that and other substances. Hopefully, this surge in recruits is the beginning of a new trend. Studies have shown that when the military allows in people who required waivers, morale goes down, and incidents increase. With a new crop of able recruits, soldiers can once again be sure that the guys watching their backs are capable of keeping them safe, which will keep the rest of us safe as well.


And finally today, a new report shows that the government has consistently overlooked massive amounts of waterway contamination stemming from 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals that were legally released into waterways. According to an AP investigation, government and industry officials don't know how many pharmaceutical ingredients – like lithium and nitroglycerin – are released into lakes and rivers that feed into drinking water, because they don't track those chemicals as drugs. But the AP found that 22 pharmaceutical compounds do show up in EPA and Food and Drug Administration records. Drugmakers and federal regulators both say that the manufacturing of these kinds of chemicals doesn't impact water quality. However, the investigation revealed that the release of these chemicals is similar to a “don't ask, don't tell” policy, where the government looks the other way, while the pharmaceutical industry dumps chemicals into our water. Studies have shown that exposure to lithium can cause fluid to build up in the lungs, and that the side effects of the drug become more severe when it is exposed to moisture. That sounds like just the thing we want in our water supply.

Labels: Barack Obama, Economy, Farron Cousins, George Bush, Memo, Military, Pharmaceutical, Poison, Prosecution, Rahm Emanuel, Recruit, Torture, Waiver, Water

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has finally admitted that they were at least a little bit deceptive in how they marketed their drug Zyprexa. Zyprexa was designed to reduce hallucinations associated with schizophrenia and bipolar mania, but evidence shows that the company marketed the drug largely off-label. After all, the market for a drug strictly used by mental patients wasn't exactly a cash cow for the company. Zyprexa is only approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and was being marketed for use in milder cases of bi-polar disorder and for dementia.


The admission of guilt, which is a misdemeanor with the FDA, was for the improper marketing of the drug from 1999 - 2001. In addition, the company has also agreed to pay over $1.4 billion in settlements. $615 million of that will be used to settle the criminal charges and about $800 million will be used to settle the civil investigations.


Here's some history of Eli's Zyprexa settlements from News Inferno:


In 2005, Lilly entered into an agreement in principle to settle about 8,000, or 75 percent, of the claims against the company related to Zyprexa, which involved claimants who asserted they developed diabetes-related conditions from their use of the antipsychotic. Also, atypical antipsychotic drugs, such as Zyprexa, were found to double the risk of heart failure and death, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Said Reuters, that new study raised questions about claims that atypical antipsychotics are safer than older generation antipsychotics.

Labels: Eli Lilly, Lawsuit, Marketing, Off-Label, Pharmaceutical, Settlement, Zyprexa