Eli Lilly welcomes retraction from British Medical Journal on Prozac

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (AFP) - Prozac-maker Eli Lilly on Thursday welcomed an apology from the British Medical Journal to be published this weekend.
In late 2004 the journal published confidential documents from the drugmaker seeming to establish a link between the drug, prescribed to millions worldwide, and violent or suicidal acts.
The documents cited suggest that Eli Lilly had known about some serious side effects of Prozac's main active ingredient, fluoxetine, since the 1980s and had sought to minimize them.
"The apology and retraction is an important step in gaining closure on this unfortunate event," said Sidney Taurel, chairman, president and CEO of Eli Lilly.
"We accept the apology and retraction with the understanding that both our organizations are committed to providing doctors and patients with accurate information about medication," he added.
The journal says it acted in good faith.
The papers were not presented in a 1994 trial between Eli Lilly and victims of a 1989 massacre in Kentucky that left eight people dead and 12 injured. The man who carried out the crime was on Prozac and later committed suicide.

01/27/2005 19:36 GMT - AFP