STAT+: Former Eli Lilly rep claims she was fired for complaining about marketing of Mounjaro diabetes drug

A former Eli Lilly sales representative has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming she was fired after raising concerns about the premature marketing of their diabetes drug Mounjaro. Jennifer Mansion, who began her tenure as a senior territory manager in Dallas four years ago, alleged that she witnessed other Lilly sales representatives promoting Mounjaro as a solution for obesity, despite the drug not yet receiving regulatory approval for such use.

Mansion further claimed that a physician endorsed Mounjaro as a weight loss option during a company-sponsored luncheon, according to the lawsuit filed in a federal court in Texas. The practice of promoting a medication for uses it has not been approved for by the Food and Drug Administration is known as off-label marketing within the pharmaceutical industry.

While physicians are permitted to prescribe medications for unapproved purposes, drugmakers are prohibited from marketing their drugs for those uses.