The text of the class action lawsuit filed against Forest Laboratories regarding their marketing practices is online, in PDF format, and it's an eye-opening list of allegations against the company. The suit alleges that Forest has engaged in a host of marketing efforts to illegally promote two antidepressant drugs -- Celexa and Lexapro -- for off-label use, and engaged in a "rampant scheme to induce doctor to become high prescribers through various forms of illegal remuneration." (In plain speak, they allegedly were paying off doctors to prescribe their drugs.)You can read the entire 200+ page PDF document -- or you may want to skip right to the PDF's pages 98-114, which provide the gory details about "Forest's Dissemination of Half-Truths," "Forest's Illegal Inducements to Physicians" "Lavish Entertainment and Gifts," and more.
Note from Mary: I guess we don't need to wonder why Forest Laboratories hasn't had time to produce and quality-control Armour Thyroid, reformulate Thyrolar to meet USP specifications Forest knew about several years ago and ignored, or respond to any questions about the complete disappearance of most of their thyroid products from the marketplace. They're apparently way too busy coming up with new ways to sell antidepressants, taking doctors to fancy dinners, and figuring out ways to dodge further legal action.
And one has to wonder...since depression is a symptom of hypothyroidism, if Forest Laboratories dumps its thyroid drugs -- and leaves patients permanently unable to obtain Armour and Thyrolar, at minimum, is it yet another insidious marketing effort to create more demand for their antidepressants?)
More About Forest Laboratories and Their Disregard for their Thyroid Product Line and Thyroid Customers
- Armour Thyroid's Spring 2009 Reformulation Causing Problems
- Why is Forest Pharmaceuticals Lying About Thyroid Drug Thyrolar? And What Else Are They Hiding?
- Forest Laboratories: Still Stonewalling Thyroid Patients About Thyrolar
- Forest Labs' Credibility and Thyrolar Status in Question after USP Issues Statement
Image: istockphoto
Hi, I’m repeating my earlier posts here, so I hope I’m not overstepping any rules of any sort – but I jst feel that this cannot be said or shared enough and I hope many many ppl read this and pass it on to their friends and families and even email it to them, as I believe more and more ppl should be aware of whats happening. Something has to be done to help us who are ill with thyroid related problems and I’m at the end of every avenue I have walked down for over 25yrs to try and find a cure or a least feel human again!! Its not jst those in America with thyroid problems who are struggling for their voice to be heard but its all over and here in South Africa too!! This is my story in a nutshell and its also related to this blog:
My Drs here in South Africa told me all was normal with the blood tests on my dose of thyroid meds [eltroxin] while my health and body were going down and I felt awful. 20yrs later they found I had no thyroid left at all bcuz of hashimoto thyroiditis and I nearly died 4 times and I’m now classed as obese as the weight jst piled on [and I was once traumatised and bullied and given a very nasty and unpleasant hour-long lecture on how I must try harder to lose weight by an endo – whose well known here in South Africa – and that its a fallacy that having thyroid problems causes weight gain, she said this a few times and was quite adamant she knew better - yeah, right!!! Like to see her live in my body for a year!! When u can walk in my shoes for a mile, don't presume u know better jst bcuz your the 'expert', in my book its 'experience' not 'expert' that counts! And, by the way, she’s stick thin, very healthy, and has no struggle herself with weight problems!!]. Here in South Africa we cannot get any armour thyroid in any form at all anymore [in fact, my Dr of 20yrs, has never even heard of it!!], it seems to be going off the shelves all over the world, only 2 kinds of meds to choose frm here and one of them is diatroxin – which I’m on now. Makes me wonder if the medical profession wants us to stay ill as it seems it’s the money that talks not the cure. I have a friend whose a pharmacist, whose integrity is unquestionable, and he told my husband and I how his life was threatened bcuz he wanted to expose the medical and pharmaceutical profession here after attending one of their seminars. They talked and debated about making all the medicines weaker, so that there is never a cure or making patients feel better and in that way it will bring more finances in. They used to have eltroxin, but there was no stock of that for months as the minister of health did not sign for any to be shipped here and it can take a year for the new shipment to arrive on our shelves [I was literally told this by our Dr and Pharmacist]. I’ve been hypothyroid for over 25yrs now and never feel good. I am now semi-invalid and mostly housebound with adrenal fatigue, was diagnosed with diabetes 4yrs ago and I have lung, kidney, liver, lymph nodes and parathyroid problems, my spine is also affected with Spondylitis, I also have low DHEA, serotonin and dopamine, all of which [including adrenal fatigue] cause weight gain and obesity. I have extremely high cholesterol [which no statin can bring dwn and I had nasty side-effects with all of them, so I refuse to take them now] and I have really bad odema. I know it all comes frm the thyroid problems, but the Drs have no answers and are not very helpful in wanting to give you any – except more prescriptions.
Outstanding news!
Corruption in some pharmaceutical companies is one of the factors chewing at our healthcare system. Too many drug executives think: Why cure or heal something when we can sell ‘em painkillers, statins and antidepressants for life?
It’s all about profits over patients.
The Lyme disease field reveals much about medical industry corruption! Please watch the DVD Under Our Skin (available at underourskin.com) a primer in various ways of medical industry corruption.
Is a medical society directly protecting Forrest?
It’s not possible to solve the healthcare crisis until we address rampant corruption in the medical field, far and wide.
Diane
Foreat are a corrupt, and disgusting company and the only thing they are concerned about is making as much money as possible. Legal proceedings have been issued from an employee that suffers with depression, who the company have discrimated and bullied at severe levels. Another lawuit against this company, this should go public in the near future.
Is there a class action suit against Forest? I for one have lost 2 years of my life because of this formulation change. How can they get away with not telling patients, drs or pharmacist? I actually called an attorney after reading that I am not the only one with these issues. I was told that noone will take a case like this! Please, how about a petition? Something needs to be done.