Seroquel Lawyers: AstraZeneca Has Lulled Itself Into a False Sense of Security

(MoneyWatch)  BNET noted recently that AstraZeneca seemed to be winning the war over whether its antipsychotic Seroquel causes weight gain and diabetes. The company reported that of 10,000 cases none had gotten to trial and a sizeable chunk of the remainder had been dismissed.

But plaintiffs' lawyers told The AmLaw Litigation Daily that AZ is fooling itself if it thinks it has the upper hand. Weitz & Luxenberg partner Paul Pennock:

This [litigation] is not just alive and kicking ... It's about to go into full sprint in district courts around the country.

Pennock reveals that there are 20,000 Seroquel cases in the offing. AZ reported just half that number in its Q1 SEC filing. He also estimated that AZ has spent about $700 million defending the drug. Sounds like a lot but probably worth it given that Seroquel makes $1.1 billion in sales per quarter, and despite the publicity sales are still rising.

Pennock believes that Maryland, where recent cases were dismissed, has harsher evidence standards than New York, New Jersey and the federal courts, where the mass of plaintiffs awaits a hearing.

He may well be right. The plaintiffs won the right to get their expert heard in federal court.

• Previously:
• AstraZeneca Seems to Be Winning the War Against Seroquel
• AstraZeneca to Seroquel Patient: You Have Diabetes Because You're Black
• Seroquel Trial: More Emails From MacFadden, AZ's Sex-for-Studies Exec, Emerge
• AZ Seroquel Emails Detail Off-Label Promotion; What Did CEO Brennan Know?
• AstraZeneca Q1: Seroquel Sales Up; Faces 10,000 Lawsuits; Company Thinks It Will Beat the Rap
• AstraZeneca's "Smoke and Mirrors" Man Has New Job in Medical Writing
• AZ Seroquel Trial: Was It "Ghostwriting" or "Professional" Writing?
• AstraZeneca's Seroquel Research Director Confessed to Sex-for-Studies Affairs
• E-Mail: AstraZeneca Knew in 1997 that Seroquel Caused Weight Gain
• Exec Warned AZ on Negative Seroquel Results: "We Cannot Hide Them"; Info Later "Buried"
• AstraZeneca's Sex-for-Studies Seroquel Scandal: Did Research Chief Bias the Science?
• FDA Asks AZ to Tighten Seroquel Label; 9,000 Lawsuits Start Trials Next Week
• The History of AstraZeneca's Mismarketing of Seroquel