FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Message Boards Show Chantix Effects are Real

  Scott Kappes | October 08, 2007 10:20 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Every day I am finding more and more people who have experience drastic side effects while using the drug Chantix, side effects which are not listed in the Chantix warning label. Chantix is a new drug, manufactured by Pfizer, to purportedly help people quit smoking. The results experienced by many of the people who have taken this drug range from severe depression, psychotic episodes and...

• Pharmaceutical Companies Find Allies with Media Firms

  Brenda Fulmer | October 08, 2007 9:37 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  A new bill was recently passed which gives the FDA power to require drug companies to submit TV ads for review before they run. The bill doesn't go far enough, however, since the Agency can only recommend changes, not demand them. Early drafts of the bill gave the FDA authority to block a drug company from advertising medications that contained serious safety concerns. Consumer drug ads have...

• Finally, Lilly Adds Strong Warning Re. Zyprexa

  Joe Saunders | October 08, 2007 6:24 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  After years of mounting evidence that their schizophrenic drug Zyprexa had harmful side effects, drug manufacturer Eli Lilly added a strong warning on the label for Zyprexa. Critics of the drug Zyprexa have been arguing since 2004 that the drug causes significant weight gain as well as elevated blood sugar levels, elevating the risk for diabetes in users. Zyprexa has been heavily marketed in...

• FDA Cracking Down on Unapproved Drugs

  Brenda Fulmer | October 06, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  In late September, the FDA announced that it intends to start cracking down on manufacturers of unapproved drugs that are being marketed in the United States. The Agency announced in particular that it was focusing on companies that are marketing and distributing unapproved cough medications that include the active ingredient hydrocodone. This same ingredient is included in the narcotic drug...

• HRT Sales Representative Whistleblower Admits Improper Promotion

  Brenda Fulmer | October 05, 2007 11:30 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  The Reno trial involving three breast cancer survivors who are suing Wyeth is now nearing the end of its fourth week. The Nevada plaintiffs are suing Wyeth, the manufacturer of Prempro and Premarin, after they each developed breast cancer attributed to their long-term use of combination hormone replacement drugs. Brett Hendricks, a former sales representative for Wyeth, provided riveting...

• Oxycontin Makers sued by Kentucky

  Scott Kappes | October 04, 2007 3:40 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Today Kentucky Attorney General, Greg Stumbo, and Pikes County officials filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, the makers of the highly abused painkiller Oxycontin. The drug has come to be called "hillbilly heroin" due to its overwhelming abuse in states like Kentucky and Virginia. The drug is fitted with a time-release coating but resourceful abusers have developed a simple method to...

• Cymbalta Promotion Halted by FDA

  Scott Kappes | October 04, 2007 12:56 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX

  Eli Lilly and Co., the manufacturer of the fast-selling dug Cymbalta has been issued a letter by the FDA ordering them to immediately stop promoting the drug. The FDA claims that a mailer sent out by the company greatly overstates the effectiveness of Cymbalta and conveniently leave out the most serious risks associated with using the drug. Eli Lilly was asked to "immediately cease"...

• Have You Had an Adverse Reaction to Chantix?

  Scott Kappes | October 03, 2007 3:27 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX

  Over the past month since the Carter Albrecht story hit the press there has been plenty of attention paid to the stop smoking aid Chantix. I am sure that most of it is not the kind of publicity that manufacturer Pfizer was hoping for as they launched their new add campaign. Our law office has been contacted by numerous people over the past month with claims of serious adverse reactions to...

• Numerous Inquiries About Chantix

  Scott Kappes | October 03, 2007 10:49 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  I have been writing over Chantix for just about a month now and our law firm has received dozens of inquiries about Chantix form patients claiming bizarre side effects. Just yesterday we were contacted by a couple that took the drug together and both experienced such bad side effects, including but not limited to suicidal ideation, that they had to stop taking the medication. I saw a report...

• Thousands of Prescription Drugs are NOT Approved by FDA

  Scott Kappes | October 02, 2007 12:53 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX

  I recently read a USA Today article about unapproved drugs on the U.S. market and I was completely blown away by what I found out from it. It turns out that thousands of the drugs that doctors write prescriptions for each day are not approved for sale by the FDA. With all of the controversy and allegations surrounding FDA approved drugs like the recent troubles of Avandia and the colossal...