@WSJ Plz Cover #DES Shame in @lillypad Annual Report #Lilly #LLY #keepLillyhonest

30 Mar

From Pgs 79-80 – Note DES Info has put important quotes in BOLD.

United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012

Commission file number 001-06351

Eli Lilly and Company

Note 15: Contingencies

We are a party to various legal actions and government investigations. The most significant of these are described below. It is not possible to determine the outcome of these matters, and we cannot reasonably estimate the maximum potential exposure or the range of possible loss in excess of amounts accrued for any of these matters; however, we believe that, except as specifically noted below with respect to the Alimta Hatch-Waxman Act patent challenges, the resolution of all such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or liquidity, but could possibly be material to our consolidated results of operations in any one accounting period.

Diethylstilbestrol Product Liability Litigation

In approximately 90 U.S. lawsuits against us involving approximately 90 claimants, plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of children or grandchildren of women who were prescribed diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy in the 1950s and 1960s. Approximately 80 of these claimants allege that they were indirectly exposed in utero to the medicine and later developed breast cancer as a consequence. We believe these claims are without merit and are prepared to defend against them vigorously.

Product Liability Insurance

Because of the nature of pharmaceutical products, it is possible that we could become subject to large numbers of product liability and related claims in the future. In the past several years, we have been unable to obtain product liability insurance due to a very restrictive insurance market. Therefore, for substantially all of our currently marketed products, we have been and expect that we will continue to be completely self-insured for product liability losses. The DES claims are covered by insurance, subject to deductibles and coverage limits. There is no assurance that we will be able to fully collect from our insurance carriers in the future.

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