BIG PHARMA HAPPY –

Aug. 17, 2024 – In huge numbers, older people are taking gabapentin (Neurontin)  for a variety of conditions, including itching, alcohol dependence and sciatica. “It’s crazy,” one expert said. Early on, Warner-Lambert, the manufacturer of gabapentin, pushed off-label prescriptions of the drug through aggressive marketing methods that the Justice Department deemed illegal and fraudulent; the company settled the government’s suit for $430 million in 2004. Still, gabapentin use tripled between 2002 and 2015.

It received another boost as opioid use and misuse grew to crisis proportions. “People were searching for alternatives, and this was often the drug they landed on,” Dr. Steinman said. 

CONTINUE@NYTimes