AstraZeneca tried to “bury” adverse medical studies about Seroquel, its blockbuster drug, internal company memos released in an American court case have revealed.
The Anglo-Swedish drugs group is being sued by a total of 9,200 patients, most of whom allege that the Seroquel treatment for psychiatric disorders gave them diabetes. As part of a class-action case before a federal court in Florida, AstraZeneca released 102 documents, including an e-mail in which a member of staff praised a colleague for doing a “great smoke and mirrors job” on company research known as “study 15”, which found that Haldol, a cheaper generic rival, was more effective than Seroquel.
John Tumas, head of the company’s publications team, said that it had “buried” three studies and was considering burying a fourth, called Costar. Mr Tumas said: “The larger issue is how do we face the outside world when they begin to criticise us for suppressing data.” Another e-mail implied that the Costar study showed that Risperdal, a rival medicine, was more effective than Seroquel.
Other documents imply that the company knew that it caused diabetes and weight problems long before it put prominent warnings on its labelling. Wayne Geller, a company doctor, wrote in 2000 that “there is reasonable evidence to suggest that Seroquel therapy can cause impaired glucose regulation including diabetes mellitus in certain individuals”. An AstraZeneca spokesman said that the paper was a draft and Dr Geller later concluded that it did not cause diabetes. The spokesman added: “None of the documents can obscure the fact that AstraZeneca acted responsibly and appropriately as it developed and marketed Seroquel.”
AstraZeneca said that it had provided the US Food and Drug Administration with all the relevant data before each approval of Seroquel. The first two cases brought in Florida were dismissed on the ground that there was no evidence that claimants’ diabetes had been caused by Seroquel. Another 2,300 cases, separate to the Florida action, have been dismissed.
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