People with known brain impairments, no less.
Abbott Laboratories settles Depakote case for $1.6 billion
The first suit, filed in 2007 by former Abbott saleswoman Meredith McCoyd, accused the drugmaker of encouraging her and other salespeople to promote the drug in nursing homes and public mental health centers, where a majority of patients were covered by federal health care programs, including Medicaid.
In a release, the Justice Department said Abbott admitted that from 1998 to 2006 it "maintained a specialized sales force trained to market Depakote in nursing homes for the control of agitation and aggression in elderly dementia patients, despite the absence of credible scientific evidence that Depakote was safe and effective for that use."
From 2001 to 2006, the Justice Department said, the company marketed the drug for use in combination with antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia, even though its own clinical trials showed Depakote provided no benefit.
