The “Zyprexa Papers”

When I first started blogging in 2007 I was part of an early internet blogging scene that started before social media, in general took off. I hung out with critically oriented bloggers and one of the things we were all into was following the Zyprexa Chronicles on Philip Dawdy’s blog (no longer in existence). It is one of the works that really got me inspired and on the road I’m still on today. Jim Gottstein is a fine lawyer, a fine human being and has done work that no one else could do. (like anyone following their true calling). I was thrilled when I first heard that Jim Gottstein had completed his book on the entire process. Now everyone can read about the essentially critical work that Jim Gottstein brought to us all. Below I’ve cut and pasted an email I received from Jim. Please follow up. Zyprexa is particularly nasty yet many psych meds come to market and harm in very similar ways.

On December 17, 2006, The New York Times began a series of front-page stories about documents obtained from Alaska lawyer Jim Gottstein, showing Eli Lilly had concealed that its top-selling drug caused diabetes and other life-shortening metabolic problems. The “Zyprexa Papers,” as they came to be known, also showed Eli Lilly was illegally promoting the use of Zyprexa on children and the elderly, with particularly lethal effects. Although Mr. Gottstein believes he obtained the Zyprexa Papers legally, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn decided he had conspired to steal the documents, and Eli Lilly threatened Mr. Gottstein with criminal contempt charges. In The Zyprexa Papers, Mr. Gottstein gives a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, including new details about how a small group of psychiatric survivors spread the Zyprexa Papers on the Internet untraceably. All of this within a gripping, plain-language explanation of complex legal maneuvering and his battles on behalf of Bill Bigley, the psychiatric patient whose ordeal made possible the exposure of the Zyprexa Papers

To listen to the podcast, click here.

I have been on a number of other podcasts and there have been some nice reviews.

Heroes and Villains Populate the Pages of “The Zyprexa Papers”, by Susan Rogers, Key Update, May 18, 2020.

“The Zyprexa Papers” is a deep dive into the Bizarro World of psychiatry, Big Pharma, and the judicial system. As Jim writes, “To me, it is crystal clear locking people up and drugging them against their will is not ‘for their own good’ but instead very harmful to them. One of my goals in writing this book is to show this truth.” Mission accomplished.

David Healy, MD, Review on Samizdat Health Writer’s Co-operative, March 21, 2020.

“Many people coming to this book might figure that the Bigley saga plays second fiddle to what is after all called The Zyprexa Papers. A switch from the dizzying heights of New York courtroom drama to an Alaskan backwater. But Bill Bigley’s case is the beating heart of this book. The Zyprexa papers are the bait for Gottstein’s masterly portrayal of how the system treated Bill and will treat you and anyone you know who comes into contact with it.”