Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, is under investigation by the Department of Justice for marketing Evista osteoporosis treatment for other uses not approved by the Food & Drug Administration. The DOJ subpoenaed documents on Evista marketing last month, Reuters reports. “We are cooperating with the Department of Justice and believe that our policies and programs for promoting our products are lawful and proper,” Lilly said in a recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Lilly is embroiled in a scandal over a sampling campaign in Florida that mailed unsolicited samples of Prozac to at least 300 consumers, including a 16-year-old boy. Some recipients filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against Lilly and drugstore chain Walgreens, which mailed the samples (PROMO XTRA, July 10 et al).