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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former Eli Lilly and Co. sales representative is suing the Indianapolis-based drugmaker in federal court, alleging she was fired after raising concerns about sales tactics used on star seller Mounjaro.
Jennifer Mansion says she saw colleagues repeatedly promote Mounjaro for the so-called off-label use of weight loss, which is outside its FDA-approved indication for treating diabetes. She said in her complaint that she reported those concerns several times to company officials, including Lilly’s human resources department.
The former representative also said she saw a doctor at a Lilly-sponsored lunch promote the drug for weight loss.
Mansion said she was fired from her job on Nov. 9, 2023, just over a year after she was hired as senior territory manager in Dallas and several weeks after she provided proof of the promotions to a supervisor. Her complaint was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Eli Lilly and Co. spokesman Jared Shapiro noted that Mansion had previously tried suing the company in federal court in New Jersey.
A judge there dismissed the case due to a lack of jurisdiction, according to court filings.
“This plaintiff’s claims were dismissed when she tried to bring them in another court, and the same result should apply here,” Shapiro said in an email.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mounjaro to treat Type 2 diabetes in 2022, but it quickly gained a reputation for the weight loss patients experienced while taking it.
Sales for the GLP-1 drug and others in its class like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic soared shortly after they entered the market.
Doctors can prescribe drugs for off-label uses that fall outside what regulators approved. But drugmakers generally cannot promote those uses.
Mansion said in her complaint that when she told a supervisor that she saw a colleague promoting the off-label use, she was told they were not visiting doctors or care providers to tell them “what to write prescriptions for, just to write for Mounjaro.”
She also said she was told not to shy away from promoting the weight-loss benefit because Lilly would soon have approval for that, too.
Regulators wound up approving Zepbound, a version of the drug with the same active ingredient as Mounjaro, for weight loss nearly a year and a half after they OK’d the diabetes treatment.
The two drugs have since become Lilly’s top sellers.
Mounjaro alone has brought in $29 billion in worldwide sales so far this year, according to Lilly’s third-quarter earnings report. Zepbound has added another $14.4 billion.
Combined, the drugs account for 65% of Lilly’s total revenue.
The case is Jennifer Mansion v. Eli Lilly and Co., 3:26-cv-03924-N.
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