AstraZeneca, Britain's No. 2 drug maker has been accused of pushing 'off-label' uses of its top-selling psychiatric drug, Seroquel.

According to a damning internal document released May 20, AstraZeneca launched a public relations drive to get doctors to prescribe its best-selling psychiatric drug Seroquel for a number of uses that were not approved by safety regulators.

16,000 patients in the US are suing the company for "spinning, skewing and concealing" information on the drug's potential side-effects, including diabetes and weight gain.

The company was forced to go into a defensive mode when lawyers unearthed emails and strategy documents showing what they say are repeated violations of the law and 230 internal documents were made public, supporting a legal assault that will cost it hundreds of millions of dollars if successful.

A public relations strategy document emailed around the company in February 2001 by a brand manager, Alison Wilkie, said, "2001 communications will focus on increasing the existing off-label usage of Seroquel in (bipolar disorder), estimated to account for around 20 per cent of current prescriptions and growing strongly."

The documents also reveal that David Brennan, then head of AstraZeneca's US business and now chief executive of the company, was informed by an employee that the salesmen were targeting doctors who specialized in treating children, in spite of the fact that Seroquel has never been permitted for use by minors.