Lilly's Weight Problem

Anti-psychotic meds make kids fat.

That's the conclusion of a large study out today as Eli Lilly & Co. and AstraZeneca Plc wait for U.S. approval to sell their drugs to children. Kids in a New York study packed on almost 20 pounds while on the medicines, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lilly's Zyprexa and AstraZeneca's Seroquel were among four treatments studied. Two other drugs were looked at: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Abilify and Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal.

Zyprexa is Lilly's most important and best-selling drug overall with $3.5 billion in revenue last year. The drug produced around $40 billion in sales for Lilly since being approved in 1996.

But this isn't the first controversy involving Zyprexa. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration added a warning to the drug's label stating it causes high blood sugar. In 2004, a medical panel found Zyprexa caused a high number of diabetes cases. The following year, Lilly settled lawsuits involving 8,000 patients for $700 million. In 2007, the company paid $500 million to settle even more lawsuits related to diabetes claims.

Earlier this year, Lilly settled a case with U.S. prosecutors for $1.4 billion. The feds accused Lilly of downplaying the risks of the drug and encouraging docs to prescribe it for unintended uses. Zyprexa is approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults.

So with all this controversy, it would seem the drugs are bad for kids. After all, the study was the largest of its kind, with more than 200 children participating.

That's not the case. While it's an undesirable side effect, a panel advising the FDA earlier this year suggested Zyprexa and Seroquel be approved for kids. And one of the study authors says the drugs can treat serious symptoms in children.

"We're a little bit between a rock and a hard place," Dr. Christoph Correll of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Glen Oaks, New York, tells the Associated Press.