Eli Lilly has won its first trial over health risks concerning its anti-psychotic drug, Zyprexa.

It is the first of 40 outstanding patient lawsuits involving the medication that claim the company concealed the drug’s side effects from patients and doctors.

Approximately 31,000 patient lawsuits were originally filed, most of which were covered by a $1.2 billion settlement, leaving 110 patient claims pending in 40 lawsuits.

The case in Los Angeles was filed by the family of a 20-year-old student who died while taking Zyprexa. They said that Lilly hid the medicine’s safety risks whilst marketing the medication for both approved and off-label uses in the US.

The lawsuit also claimed that the pharmaceutical company trained its sales representatives to counteract questions regarding risks of weight gain and diabetes linked to Zyprexa.

In addition to its settlement deal of $1.2 billion, Lilly also paid $1.42 billion for federal off-label marketing investigations and $260 million for state claims.

Pfizer has agreed a settlement agreement with a host of pharmaceutical companies delaying the launch of generic versions of Lipitor in the UK before its patent expiry.

Teva and other companies have agreed to hold off selling the Israeli company’s generic version of cholesterol drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) until May 2012.

Pfizer submitted an injunction at the end of June 2011, with the company commenting at the time that Teva “chose to undertake an aggressive launch of a generic product on a very large scale in the UK”.

Pfizer subsequently issued a statement saying it was “fully sympathetic to the difficult position that many pharmacies find themselves in having purchased generic atorvastatin from Teva/AAH/Phoenix in good faith”.

At the time, Teva offered support to any pharmacies facing legal action over dispensing its generic version of atorvastatin.

A full trial had been arranged for November at the High Court in London to assess the case, but has now been called off. Pfizer hopes that Lipitor will not be challenged again until its patent expires in May 2011.