Recent Broward Law Blog Features

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Iscoe's Firm Files Suit Against AstraZeneca's Seroquel


Gary Thomas Iscoe, pictured to the right, a founding partner of Steinger, Iscoe and Greene, PA, has filed a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on behalf of three clients whose diabetes was allegedly caused by AstraZeneca's drug Seroquel.

Seroquel (quetiapine) is a pharmaceutical drug in the class of atypical anti-psychotics, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997. Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia which include hearing voices, seeing things, sensing things that are not there, mistaken beliefs, and paranoia. Seroquel is also used in the treatment of mania associated with bipolar disorder.

Seroquel has been linked to diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol by the American Diabetes Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Only a few days ago, in a Bloomberg news article dated January 16th, Bloomberg posted the following article stating, "AstraZeneca Plc's antipsychotic drug Seroquel raised by almost 400 percent the risk of developing diabetes when compared with first-generation medications in its class…"

A 2004 article published in Psychiatric Services, a journal of the American Psychiatric Association, reported the increased risk in males who were exposed to Seroquel for at least 60 days. The study, which involved 1,629 patients, compared the exposure of a newer class of antipsychotics including Clozapine and Seroquel with an older class of drugs.

Founded in 1997, Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is a plaintiffs' litigation law firms of near 20 attorneys and 100 legal support staff and investigators. Steinger, Iscoe & Greene has offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Port St Lucie.

The suit has been filed in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida for the 15th Judicial Circuit.

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