MO to receive $1.5M from pharmaceutical settlement

Attorney General Chris Koster's office and 37 other state attorneys general have reached a $68.5 million settlement with London-based AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, and Missouri will receive $1.5 million.

The settlement follows a three-year investigation of AstraZeneca, leading to allegations that the company improperly promoted the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to a news release from Koster's office.

“The public has a right to trust that the claims a pharmaceutical company makes about its drugs are honest and accurate,” Koster said in the release. “This settlement will make other companies think twice before resorting to deceiving and misleading consumers.”

AstraZeneca allegedly failed to disclose potentially dangerous side effects of Seroquel and marketed it for off-label medical uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and post traumatic stress disorder.

In addition to the statewide payout, the settlement stipulates that AstraZeneca must post its payments to physicians online, must not give financial incentives to marketing and sales personnel for off-label marketing and must cease promotion of Seroquel to providers unlikely to use the drug for an FDA-approved use, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]