UK Journal Retracts Claims About Mishandled Prozac Data

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has retracted a statement it made about Eli Lilly's alleged mishandling of data regarding the antidepressant Prozac.

BMJ published a formal apology for its statement in a Jan. 1 story that suggested Lilly may have known about a potential relationship between Prozac (fluoxetine) and increased suicidality 13 or more years ago, Lilly said. The article said certain documents related to the increased risks "went missing" during a 1994 product liability lawsuit. The story also reported that the FDA was to review these confidential documents, which had been sent to BMJ by an anonymous source.

Following a complaint about the story by Lilly, BMJ conducted a detailed investigation. That investigation found that all of the documents supplied to BMJ were either Lilly documents or were in the hands of Lilly, and had been disclosed during the lawsuit.

"The BMJ did not intend to suggest that Eli Lilly caused these documents to go missing," BMJ said in its retraction. The journal added that it is clear the documents did not go missing. BMJ said it accepts that Eli Lilly acted properly in relation to the disclosure of these documents in these claims.

Although Lilly said it was "disturbed" by the BMJ article, company Chairman, President and CEO Sidney Taurel said, "The apology and retraction is an important step in gaining closure on this unfortunate event."