ATTORNEY GENERAL MIKE MCGRATH
STATE OF MONTANA

FOR RELEASE: September 6, 2005

CONTACT: Lynn Solomon, 444-0582

McGrath: Grants Available as Part of Off-Label Drug Marketing Settlement

HELENA – Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath said Tuesday that grants are available as part of a 2004 consumer protection settlement with Warner-Lambert, resolving allegations of so-called "off-label" marketing of the drug Neurontin.

The May 2004 settlement with state and federal authorities called for Warner-Lambert to pay a total of $430 million. The company will pay about $40 million to the states, and the settlement requires that the majority of that money fund an educational campaign aimed at prescribers and consumers.

Neurontin is a prescription medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of seizure disorders and pain associated with shingles. It is illegal for pharmaceutical manufacturers to promote the use of their drugs for conditions other than those for which they have been approved, even though doctors may prescribe for such uses.

States or groups of states, academic institutions or not-for-profit organizations with expertise and experience in health or consumer protection issues may submit applications. Projects should aim to educate health professionals – and patients and their families – about the drug-approval process, drug marketing and access to sources of fair and balanced information about drugs.

Non-profits' applications must also include written support for their request from the attorney general of a state in which the organization operates.

Requests for applications are available at www.publichealthtrust.org or at www.naag.org/issues/pdf/20050829-RFA-neurontin.pdf [link outdated as of 6/13/07]. The submission deadline for grant proposals is October 7.

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