In this case, its top-selling antidepressant Prozac is even now being regarded as a loser because generic medicines at lower prices are now readily available to patients. In a public health sense, if the drug were a benefit to patients, that should be considered something good -- i.e., more patients have easier access to a lower-priced chemical that does the same thing as Prozac. But in terms of Eli Lilly and pharmaceutical companies in general, that's considered a major problem. They no longer have a monopoly on the drug, and they can't charge whatever they want and generate billions of dollars in revenue for their brand name drug.
None of the discussion about these antidepressants mentions some of the numerous problems found with antidepressant drugs, by the way. One of the problems is that antidepressants are now known to cause people to commit suicide and commit violent acts. This was, of course, swept under the rug for years by both the FDA and pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies were engaging in a cover-up that can only be accurately described as criminal in nature: a crime against humanity.
The big picture of all this is that most antidepressant drugs are fraudulently prescribed and marketed to consumers in the first place. People who have mood swings or feel depressed all the time don't need drugs in order to balance their brain chemistry. Of course, the drug makers and many psychiatrists have made a tremendous amount of money by convincing people they need drugs to balance their brain chemistry. In reality, what people need is exposure to natural sunlight -- a powerful antidepressant therapy that's available free of charge -- avoidance of foods that cause nutritional deficiencies, such as white flour and refined white sugars, and outstanding nutrition from superfoods and superfood supplements containing spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, medicinal herbs and other sources of high-density nutrition. Physical exercise also goes a long way toward reversing and preventing the symptoms of mental depression.
The bottom line is that the drug industry preys upon the public by giving them disinformation about the true causes of depression, and then hooking them on potentially dangerous drugs that are known to increase their risk of violent behavior, including suicides and killing the people around them. But from the point of view of the drug company, it's all about profits -- they've got to come out with the next new big drug to generate more revenues, create more profits for shareholders, and put more money in the bank. It is a sad, sad, system of medicine, and this system continues to grow and expand its influence. There seems to be no limit to the number of patients who are going to be victimized by the drug companies before this whole charade comes crashing down in the years ahead.