Psychiatrist Allegedly Prescribed Seroquel for Weight Loss

Chicago, ILA recent investigation of a psychiatrist who prescribed Seroquel—and was paid by Seroquel manufacturer AstraZeneca to promote and speak about the drug—stirs up old fears about Seroquel side effects and the potential for Seroquel diabetes.

According to an investigative report published on November 11 in the Chicago Tribune, prominent Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein, whom many colleagues call a "genius," was paid nearly $500,000 by AstraZeneca over a ten-year period to travel the nation and promote Seroquel. In return, the drug maker is reported to have enjoyed what the Chicago Tribune described as a "vast customer base" comprised of thousands of mentally ill patients housed in Chicago-area nursing homes.

Various lawsuits have been launched against Dr. Reinstein with regard to an allegation that he over-medicated patients using a variety of different drugs.

There is also some dispute as to the conclusions he arrived at in studies funded by AstraZeneca and two other drug manufacturers, which found that various medications, including Seroquel, help patients lose weight.

However, according to the Tribune, that claim runs counter to established research that links atypical antipsychotic drugs—of which Seroquel is a member—to considerable weight gain. Weight gain and diabetes are two known Seroquel side effects, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003 mandated AstraZeneca to warn patients about diabetes risk and to update the product label with regard to Seroquel's link to diabetes and weight gain.

The FDA said that nearly four times as many patients experienced weight gain while taking Seroquel as those who took a placebo.

The Tribune tells the story of Chanile Hayes, a resident of Chicago's South Side, who came under Dr. Reinstein's care following a nervous breakdown in 1999. She was prescribed Seroquel and told that the medication would help her lose weight. Hayes recalled thinking at the time that the doctor himself could stand to lose a little weight and perhaps should be taking Seroquel himself.

Hayes eventually ballooned from 140 to 300 pounds and developed diabetes within two years of starting Seroquel. She is a plaintiff in a New York lawsuit, one of thousands of people suing AstraZeneca over allegations that the manufacturer concealed Seroquel's links to weight loss and diabetes.

In his response to reporters, Reinstein characterized Seroquel as "generally weight neutral, although some patients gain weight and others lose weight." He wrote that he "would never recommend" that patients take antipsychotics "to lose weight."