FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Cephalon Settles for Federal Probe into Its Marketing Practices for $425 Million

  Joe Saunders | November 10, 2007 9:58 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  Cephalon Inc. has agreed to pay $425 million to end a federal investigation into its marketing practices concerning sleep and pain drugs. It will also have to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating federal prescription drug laws. Cephalon was sued by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for attempting to delay generic drug competition.For more information on this subject, please...

• Vioxx Settles - Merck & Co. to Pay $4.85 Billion

  Greg Owen | November 09, 2007 6:09 PM | 0 CommentsGlendale, CA

  Merck & Co. have agreed to a $4.85 billion global resolution for claims stemming from claims of heart attacks, strokes and even deaths due to the ingestion of the drug Vioxx. Now these victims can finally be compensated, which will bring an end to the on-going Vioxx litigation. Vioxx was first marketed by Merck & Co. In 1999 to treat arthritis and other types of pain. The drug was made by the...

• Brayer to Suspend Trasyol Marketing

  Pete Strom | November 09, 2007 3:56 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  The United States Food and Drug Administration announced that Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation has agreed to suspend marketing of the drug Trasyol until preliminary results from a Canadian study suggesting an increased risk for death can be reviewed.Trasyol is used to control bleeding during heart surgery in patients with an increased risk for blood loss. In 2006, the FDA strengthened the...

• Merck To Settle Vioxx Claims

  Brooks Schuelke | November 09, 2007 3:13 PM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  In the biggest personal injury news of the year, Merck has agreed to settle most of its Vioxx lawsuits. To learn more about the claims, please refer to Injuryboard's Vioxx resource page.

• Vioxx Suits Settled For $4.85 Billion

  Scott Kappes | November 09, 2007 2:40 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Friday it was announced that a settlement has been reached for the majority of Vioxx litigation. Merck & Co. announced that they will pay just under $5 billion dollars to settle thousands of Vioxx injury cases. The settlement is not a class action settlement and each case will be reviewed before any payment is made. Merck will place the money into a fund, which will be petitioned for...

• Merck Settles Vioxx Suits

  Scott Kappes | November 09, 2007 12:05 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX

  Today Merck & Co. announced that they will pay $4.85 billion to settle the thousands of Vioxx suits. This is not a class action settlement. Merck will place the money in a fund and those who claim to have been injured by the drug will be able to petition for the money. They say that each individual case will be assessed before payment is made. Merck had previously claimed that they fight every...

• Merck Announces Landmark Settlement of Vioxx Claims

  Brenda Fulmer | November 09, 2007 9:26 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  Putting an end of rumors that have been circulating for the past several weeks, Merck announced on November 9, 2007, that it had reached a proposed settlement agreement valued at $4.85 billion to resolve the Vioxx litigation that has plagued the company for years. As early 2000, reports began to emerge implicating Vioxx as the cause of heart attacks and strokes. After these first reports,...

• Physicians to Implement New Drug Screening Codes in 2008

  Brenda Fulmer | November 07, 2007 2:27 PM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  In the United States, nearly twenty million people suffer from substance abuse and addiction, yet more than 95% of patients are unaware of their condition and are therefore not receiving appropriate treatment. As a result of an initiative by the American Medical Association, starting next year, any physician, not just substance abuse specialists such as psychiatrists, will be able to give their...

• FDA Warning Regarding Use of Byetta

  Brenda Fulmer | November 07, 2007 2:15 PM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning directed to healthcare professionals regarding Byetta (also known as exenatide), a medication used to treat individuals with type 2 diabetes produced by the pancreas and glucose made by the liver. There have been several reports of acute pancreatitis in patients who were taking Byetta. Several of the patients required hospitalization...

• Birth Control Pill Linked to Clogged Arteries

  Scott Kappes | November 07, 2007 12:45 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  A report from USA Today claims that a new study has suggested a link between birth control pills and increased risk of artery clogging plaque. The study of just over 1300 women suggest that the likelihood of finding plaques in key arteries is increased between 20 and 30 percent when taking birth control pills. This risk is thought to increase over time. The study also ties this risk to women who...