Eli Lilly Reaches Accord With States In Privacy-Infringement Case
THOMAS M. BURTON / Wall Street Journal 26jul02
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In the computer case, Lilly had communicated last year with Prozac patients over an e-mail service called Prozac.com5. In one e-mail related to the Web site, the company accidentally included the e-mail addresses of the hundreds of other patients in messages it sent out. Lilly, which apologized for the mistake at the time, has agreed to install automated checks in its software systems that would prevent a recurrence. It also agreed to evaluate these security measures annually and report its findings to the eight states involved in the settlement.
In the more recent incident, Lilly sales personnel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., arranged with a medical group there to send out mailings to patients taking other antidepressants. The mailings, which included a letter from each patient's doctor, also enclosed a free sample -- not ordered by the patient -- of Prozac Weekly, a high-dose, slow release form of the medicine designed as a weekly dose.
Lilly has said this incident was counter to company policy, adding that eight sales representatives or managers were disciplined, with some dismissed. A lawsuit alleging violation of privacy was filed earlier this month in state court in Florida on behalf of some of the recipients of the free samples.
Florida Probes Lilly's Mailings Of Prozac Samples to Patients
THOMAS M. BURTON / Wall Street Journal 8jul02
The Florida attorney general's office is investigating whether Eli Lilly & Co. violated the state's unfair-trade law when Lilly sales personnel allegedly mailed free samples of the antidepressant Prozac to patients taking other depression medicines.
State authorities are in the early stages of the inquiry, said John Newton, senior assistant attorney general. The office has the power to investigate and issue subpoenas under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices statute, and if necessary to levy civil penalties of $10,000 for each incident.Lilly was sued last week in state court in Fort Lauderdale regarding the same matter. The litigation alleged that new "weekly Prozac" pills were mailed, along with a cover letter from patients' doctors, to patients taking other antidepressants. The alleged practice of obtaining a list of depression patients, and then of mailing free samples to them, triggered a furor among privacy experts.
Prozac was the world's leading antidepressant until last year, when it lost patent protection after many years on the market. Indianapolis-based Lilly developed the weekly pill as an easier dosing regimen to help bolster sales in the face of generic competitors.
Mr. Newton said the attorney general's office, in addition to investigating the matter as a possible violation of the state's unfair-trade law, will forward the case to the Florida Board of Medicine. The state's attorney general acts as counsel to the board, which has the authority, in theory, to take action against physicians involved in the case. Members of a Fort Lauderdale medical practice signed a letter to patients which, along with the pills, was mailed out in a Walgreen Co. envelope, according to attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case.
The lawsuit alleged the three doctors and Walgreen, along with a local hospital the doctors are affiliated with, violated the patients' privacy and the state's unfair-trade law.
"This was targeted to people on antidepressants," said Stephen Sheller, a Philadelphia drug product-liability attorney who is representing plaintiffs along with a Fort Lauderdale firm. He said he knows of about a half-dozen people who received the free Prozac in the mail, all of whom live in Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale is located. He said he believes he and other lawyers may have nipped the sales program in the bud.
Mr. Sheller said the incident apparently was a company-sponsored initiative, and not a rogue effort by a single salesman. He noted, for instance, that the mailing contained printed coupons that could be used to obtain free Prozac.
Lilly officials said the episode wasn't a company-sponsored effort and that mailing free samples of prescription drugs violates company policy. Edward West, a Lilly spokesman, said because of the holiday weekend, the company hadn't been able to determine how many sales personnel and patients may be involved, nor had it decided what disciplinary measures might be warranted. Mr. West said the printed coupons are used in another promotional campaign but appeared to have been misused in this instance. He said he didn't know how Lilly sales personnel may have obtained the patients' names.
"We're fairly certain the names came from Walgreen and the pharmacies, not the doctor," Mr. Sheller said, "and that the pharmacies give out names of people on antidepressants." His lawsuit seeks class-action status. Walgreen spokesmen didn't return calls, and neither did the doctors named in the lawsuit.
Eli Lilly Settles Charges With the FTC That It Violated Its Own Privacy Policies
Wall Street Journal 18jan02
Drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to settle U.S. charges that it violated its own privacy policies when it inadvertently released the e-mail addresses of more than 600 people taking Prozac last year.The Indianapolis pharmaceutical company will be required to improve its online security, including providing better training for employees, the Federal Trade Commission said Friday.
The government had charged that Lilly's privacy promises were deceptive because the company failed to back them up with the appropriate security.
"Even the unintentional release of sensitive medical information is a serious breach of consumers' trust," said Howard Beales, the agency's director of consumer protection. "Companies that obtain sensitive information in exchange for a promise to keep it confidential must take appropriate steps to ensure the security of that information."
Mr. Beales said that this is the first time the FTC has enforced a violation of online privacy policies, but that there "will be more."
Lilly spokesman Jeff Newton said the company already has been working to improve its Internet security.
"This was a very regrettable situation from the beginning, something we've apologized for many times," he said. "We're well on our way to fixing this."
By settling, Lilly doesn't admit that it broke any law.
The people taking Prozac had signed up at a Lilly Web site for an automated e-mail reminding them to take their dose of the antidepressant. In June an e-mail announcing the end of the service included the e-mail addresses of all 669 subscribers, a problem the company blamed on human error.
The incident renewed fears among privacy groups about the security of personal information on the Internet.
The American Civil Liberties Union accused Lilly of violating its own Web site privacy policy, which promised confidentiality. The group said the e-mail address information could be used to find a person's real name and other information, including some medical history.
Shortly after the release of the information last summer, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the FTC calling for an investigation. On Friday the group said that it plans to push for a fine in the case.
"By not leveling a fine and ordering damages to be paid to the victims of Eli Lilly's serious privacy breach, the FTC has missed an opportunity to send a message to online medical providers that they cannot be careless with highly sensitive information," said Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the ACLU.
"This is especially important because it is not clear whether federal medical privacy regulations cover online providers of medical information. Thus, those who seek the anonymity of the Internet to access sensitive medical information may be the most vulnerable to privacy breaches," Mr. Steinhardt said.
"The ACLU will be reviewing the settlement agreement, and we plan to ask the FTC to order Eli Lilly to pay a fine and damages to the victims of their privacy violation," Mr. Steinhardt added.
Asked why no fine was levied in the case, the FTC's Mr. Beales said: "Fines are relatively unusual in the context of administrative orders. We didn't think that it was appropriate in this case for there to be a fine."
He said any future violations of the order would be subject to civil penalties.
Eli Lilly Accidentally Reveals Identities of 600 Prozac Users
Wall Street Journal 6jul01
Eli Lilly & Co. mistakenly disclosed by e-mail the identities of 600 people on the antidepressant Prozac to each other and has apologized to them.
The 600 patients had volunteered to receive e-mail reminders to take their medicine or renew their prescriptions through a Lilly Web site called Prozac.com (prozac.com1).The Indianapolis pharmaceuticals company said it sent out an e-mail in late June to the patients that the e-mail service was being discontinued.
However, instead of just directing the e-mail note to each person, the e-mail addresses of all the other patients were attached. The company described the mistake as a programming error. "Clearly, we made a mistake and are sorry about it," Lilly spokesman Jeff Newton said. The incident was first mentioned in the Washington Post.
Lilly said it has received four complaints by e-mail and three by phone. Harvard psychiatry professor William M. Glazer said, "If you give your name to a Web site, everybody knows this can happen. More than a couple of people being upset about this would astound me."
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