Articles in Prescription Drugs
Antipsychotics Cause Weight Gain in Kids
Antipsychotic drugs widely used in children caused youths to gain as much as 19 pounds on average after just 11 weeks on the medications
FDA fails to follow up on unproven drugs
The FDA has allowed drugs for cancer and other diseases to stay on the market even when follow-up studies showed they didn’t extend patients’ lives, say congressional investigators.
Yaz Side Effects: Nurse Charges Yaz Birth Control Drug “Altered My Life”
Plaintiff attorneys at Lieff Cabraser today filed a personal injury lawsuit against Bayer Corporation and Bayer Healthcare Pharmacuticals, Inc., for severe side effects from the prescription birth control drug Yaz, manufactured and marketed by Bayer.
Experts: Key drug facts often left off FDA labels
Much of what the Food and Drug Administration knows about a drug’s safety and effectiveness is not included on the label, say two drug safety experts who are calling on the agency to make that information more accessible.
Pfizer Hit With $1.3 Billion Fine For Bextra Marketing
A federal court has levied a record $1.3 billion criminal fine — the largest ever imposed in the U.S. — against Pfizer Inc. subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc. for fraudulently misbranding its anti-inflammatory drug Bextra.
Court upholds $567 million verdict in Fen-Phen Diet Drug Litigation
A federal appeals court rejected challenges to the $567 million attorney fee award in the fen-phen diet-drug litigation, declaring that Chief U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had handled the massive case properly at every step.
Allergan suing FDA over off-label policy
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Allergan Inc., the maker of the Botox wrinkle treatment, challenged the government’s ban on off-label drug marketing to doctors, saying it violates the company’s right to freedom of speech.
Jury Decides Wyeth’s Prempro Caused Woman’s Cancer
Bloomberg news reports that a jury has found Wyeth’s hormone-replacement therapy drug Prempro caused an Illinois woman’s invasive breast cancer and she deserves $3.7 million.
Merck Paying More Than 3,100 Vioxx Death Claims
Merck & Co. is paying claims by the families of more than 3,100 users of its Vioxx painkiller who died of heart attacks or strokes blamed on the drug, according to a law firm administering a $4.85 billion settlement fund.
FDA confirms new infections linked to Tysabri
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the FDA has confirmed three new cases of a potentially lethal brain inflammation linked to the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
FDA requires strong amputation warning on injected sedative promethazine
As noted in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, makers of injected promethazine, a sedative also used to treat nausea and vomiting, are being required to put the strongest warning possible on the product because it can cause tissue damage leading to amputation, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ghostwriting “Rife” in Medical Journals
The New York Times reports that six of the top medical journals published a significant number of articles in 2008 that were written by ghostwriters financed by drug companies, according to a study released Thursday by editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
SC lawsuit over drug marketing spotlights sales irregularities tied to Zyprexa prescriptions
The Indy Star reports that according to notes by sales representatives, Eli Lilly and Co. paid doctors in South Carolina for participating in a speakers program in exchange for prescribing the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa and used golf bets to get more patients on the drug.
Despite record fine for Pfizer, critics assert misleading drug marketing unlikely to end
Pfizer Inc. was hit this week with a record $2.3 billion in fines for the alleged illegal marketing of prescription drugs. Critics say even that eye-popping total is unlikely to end the promotion of prescription drugs for unapproved uses.
Drug giant Pfizer to pay record $2.3 billion fine
CNN reports that the Justice Department has announced that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer “has agreed to pay a record $2.3 billion settlement to resolve criminal and civil liability for illegally promoting certain pharmaceuticals.”
