VA to Receive Millions from AstraZeneca Settlement over Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Naples, ItalyThe Department of Veterans Affairs is one of a number of federal agencies set to share the multi-million dollar settlement of a fraud case in which noted drug manufacturer AstraZeneca alleged that its prescription antidepressant Seroquel could be used to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In 1997 the Food and Drug Administration approved Seroquel, whose generic name is Quetiapine, for the treatment of schizophrenia, and in 2004 it was cleared for the treatment of mania related to bipolar disorder.

The lawsuit recently brought against Astra claims that the manufacturer sold the drug to healthcare providers as a treatment for other conditions for which it had never been cleared, including PTSD, anger management, anxiety sleeplessness, dementia, depression and more, according to Stars and Stripes.

Astra settled the suit for a reported $522 million, which will be split between the VA, Tricare and several state Medicaid programs that dispersed the medication to veterans and civilians alike. In addition, a small portion of the settlement will go to the Department of Justice to finance further fraud investigations, according to Tricare spokesman Austin Camacho.