Zyprexa® is linked to diabetes, pancreatitis, and frightening neurological and blood sugar complications. Zyprexa® is an antipsychotic medication prescribed to treat schizophrenia, bipolar mania, hallucinations, and other mental conditions. Zyprexa® is Eli Lilly’s top-selling drug, garnering $2.5 billion in sales in 2002 alone. The drug controls various debilitating symptoms of psychotic disorders, including hallucinations and delusions.

Unfortunately, Zyprexa® carries its own price tag. Clinical studies of patients taking Zyprexa® have shown a strong association between the drug and diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperglycemia, and other blood sugar disorders. Zyprexa® users have also encountered the side effect Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), which is rare, but is not easily diagnosed and can be fatal.

In March of 2001, the FDA demanded that Eli Lilly add a warning to Zyprexa® indicating an elevated risk of diabetes and hyperglycemia. Diabetes is the shortage, or improper use, of insulin in the body, and can result in stroke, heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, amputations, and death. Diabetes is the sixth leading killer of Americans. The symptoms of diabetes make it particularly difficult to diagnose, so Zyprexa® users should watch out for frequent urination, unusual weight loss, excessive hunger and thirst, irritability, increased fatigue, and blurry vision.

Another potentially irreversible side effect reported by Zyprexa® users is tardive dyskinesia, which causes involuntary jerky movements in the body. If not diagnosed early enough, the effects of tardive dyskinesia are permanent, and there is no known treatment for the disease.

Since Zyprexa® was approved, over 6 million people worldwide have used the drug. While the Japanese no longer allow new prescriptions of Zyprexa® to be issued to diabetics, the United States still allows this dangerous practice. Worse, Eli Lilly has been accused of touting Zyprexa® as a safe treatment for psychotic conditions without disclosing the extent of the drug’s relation to blood sugar complications.

If you or a loved one took Zyprexa® and developed NMS, diabetes, hyperglycemia, or any other blood sugar disorder, it is time to end your suffering. Our Philadelphia-based lawyers will assess your history with Zyprexa® and advise you on your legal rights. Contact the Law Firm of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C. and our Philadelphia-based team of experienced Zyprexa® attorneys will review your case.