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Patients taking Zyprexa and other anti-psychotic drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar mania should be cautioned and monitored for signs that they are developing diabetes, according to multiple medical sources.

Zyprexa, generically referred to as Olanzapine, has been linked to diabetes, hyperglycemia, pancreatitis and blood sugar disorders. In addition, Eli Lilly & Co., the maker of Zyprexa, has been accused of failing to disclose to doctors and patients the serious risks and side effects from the drug, including diabetes. Zyprexa is the company's foremost selling drug, accounting for about one-third of the firm's sales.

There have been 288 reported diabetes cases in patients taking Zyprexa over the last eight years, with 23 of them being fatal.

According to a study conducted by Duke University and additional information provided by the American Diabetes Association and the American Psychiatric Association, diabetes, obesity or high cholesterol are of chief concern to patients taking Zyprexa and other atypical anti-psychotic drugs. The patients should be warned that these drugs have severe, undesirable side effects.
 
Federal regulators have also asked the makers of the most common, six antipsychotic drugs to include labeling language about a possible link with diabetes.

Antipsychotic medications have been used since the 1950s. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms by balancing the chemicals naturally found in the brain. Six new antipsychotic drugs, known as atypical anti-psychotics, have been introduced since 1990.