Gabapentin documents raise concerns about off-label promotion and prescribing

Abstract

Anticonvulsant medications have been widely used for off-label indications. Court documents recently released in the USA suggest that some of the off-label use of the anticonvulsant gabapentin was driven by deceptive and illegal marketing practices. Reliable evidence is not available to support many of the off-label uses of gabapentin. Off-label use of medications can be beneficial, but clinicians and patients should be aware of the quality of evidence available to support such usage.