INDIANAPOLIS -- A coroner's report on the death of a 19-year-old woman who committed suicide by hanging herself while taking part in a drug trial did not cite the experimental Eli Lilly and Co. medication as a contributing factor.
Marion County Deputy Coroner Frances Kelly said, as far as she knows, the coroner has never pinpointed drugs as the cause of death except in a case of overdose. A toxicology report on the Feb. 7 death of Traci Johnson indicated no overdose from duloxetine, the Lilly medication, or any other drug, Kelly said Monday.
''It would be just too hard to prove that taking a drug caused a person to take this other action,'' she said.
Under state law, the coroner's office is not allowed to identify any drugs that might have been in Johnson's system because they did not cause the death by hanging, Kelly said.
Police and the coroner's office consider the case closed, she said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a review board at the Indiana University Medical School still are reviewing Johnson's death.
Johnson hanged herself Feb. 7 at Eli Lilly's hotel-like research lab at the medical school, where she had been participating in a study of the effects of high doses of duloxetine.
The FDA has asked for such high-dosage tests recently to test whether patients have difficulty metabolizing antidepressants.
Lilly has said it expects federal regulators this year to approve applications to market duloxetine-based drugs to treat depression and incontinence.
From the time Johnson began the duloxetine trial in early January, her dosages of the drug were increased gradually to a peak, then gradually reduced until she was given a placebo in the four days before her death. Johnson was among the trial participants who were screened and had no outward signs of depression or other illnesses.
Lilly has said it does not believe the drug led to her suicide.
Johnson, a native of Bensalem, Pa., had been a student at Indiana Bible College but withdrew from classes to take part in the drug trial.
Duloxetine is an ingredient in the antidepressant Cymbalta. The drug is widely expected to be a blockbuster for Lilly, with some analysts forecasting sales that could eventually top $2 billion annually.
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