Nearly eight years ago, an Allergan (AGN) unit paid $150 million to settle criminal charges of illegally marketing three drugs. Now, the U.S. attorney in Boston is being asked to reopen its investigation after newly unsealed documents suggest the company may have deliberately misled federal officials about a key clinical trial for one of the medicines, undermining the basis for the settlements.
Specifically, the documents indicate Forest Laboratories obscured crucial information demonstrating the Celexa antidepressant was not effective in children. Instead, using what its medical director acknowledged was “a masterful stroke of euphemism,” the company portrayed the study results as positive in materials that were submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in hopes of winning approval for pediatric use, according to the court documents.
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This enrages me. My ten year old daughter was prescribed this for depression despite my concerns about SSRI’s … and had an adverse reaction.