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By Herb Newborg

AstraZeneca Facing Over 25,000 Lawsuits From Seroquel Users Who Developed Diabetes
The lawsuits contend that patients were not adequately warned about the risks of diabetes, while the manufacturer knew of the risk.

AstraZeneca is facing as many as 26,000 lawsuits over its antipsychotic drug Seroquel as the drugmaker prepares for its first jury trial over claims the medicine causes diabetes, that patients were not adequately warned about the risks of diabetes, while the manufacturer knew of the risk, according to court filings.

Many of the suits also claim AstraZeneca promoted Seroquel, approved for schizophrenic and bipolar patients, for unapproved uses. The company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week it faces more than 25,000 claims that Seroquel caused diabetes.

Consumers’ lawyers said they had about 26,000 cases, Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University Law School professor who served as mediator, said in the filing.

A New Jersey judge has set a Feb. 16 trial date for the first of thousands of Seroquel cases filed in that state to go before a jury, according to a December 2009 court filing. Seroquel, which generated sales of $4.9 billion last year, is AstraZeneca’s second-biggest seller after the ulcer treatment Nexium.

In November, a judge in Florida who is overseeing all federal-court litigation over Seroquel ordered the company to meet with plaintiffs’ lawyers and Saltzburg to discuss settlement.

Saltzburg said while the two-day talks didn’t generate a resolution, he expects negotiations will take place at some point between the company and individual users’ lawyers.

“The question is what is fair for plaintiffs and what is fair for AZ,” the professor said in the Jan. 26 report. “The parties are far apart at the moment on resolving that question.”

U.S. District Judge Anne Conway in Florida, who is overseeing pre-trial proceedings in federal Seroquel litigation, said in November that she’d ask a panel of judges to return the 6,000 cases consolidated before her to their home courts for trial.

AstraZeneca officials also noted in last week’s SEC filing that the company has paid about $656 million to defend itself in Seroquel cases. That’s an increase of 28 percent, or $144 million, over last year’s Seroquel defense costs, according to regulatory filings.

The company said in the filing that it had insurance of $521 million to cover Seroquel defense costs as of December. That’s an increase of 22 percent, or $95 million, over 2008.

The consolidated case is In Re Seroquel Products Litigation, 06-MD- 01769, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (Orlando).