Another Big Pharmaceutical Co in trouble for off-label marketing of drug

The PopTort Blog is reporting that AstraZeneca has joined the ranks of drugs companies that have admitted to trying to cash in on popular drugs by promoting their off label use. According to its recently released third-quarter earnings report, AstraZeneca agreed to settle “two federal investigations and two whistle-blower lawsuits” for $520 million over misleading marketing practices involving the “blockbuster psychiatric drug Seroquel.” Other similar cases include Eli Lilly's agreement to a $1.4 billion payment over the marketing of its drug Zyprexa and Pfizer's payment of $2.3 billion (including a record $1.195 billion criminal fine) related mostly to its marketing of painkiller Bextra. Go here for the full story.