Via KXAN in Austin Texas:

Drug firms paid 'independent' experts

Practice led to AG-whistleblower lawsuit

Updated: Wednesday, 27 Jul 2011, 9:15 AM CDTPublished : Monday, 25 Jul 2011, 10:46 PM CDT

Nanci Wilson

AUSTIN (KXAN) - When Cliff Gay was told to switch medications to treat his bipolar disorder, he never dreamed a significant gain in weight and then to twice-daily injections of insulin would follow.

In 1999, Gay’s doctor recommended he begin taking Zyprexa, which then was a new antipsychotic medication. At the time, Gay says it seemed like a good idea.

“The side effects were going to be less,” he said.

Gay says he immediately noticed a profound change -- not so much in his symptoms, but in his appetite. Within a few months, he put on about 60 pounds, and that was followed by diabetes.

Records maintained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration show that such stories are not uncommon among patients across Texas who, who beginning in the middle to late 1990s, were switched to medications called “atypical antipsychotics."read the rest here.