News tagged with 'Dangerous Drugs'

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for investor fraud lawsuits to continue against Merck over painkiller, Vioxx.   Merck had argued that the statute of limitations expired. The high court will have to determine when you actually start the clock on the two-year statute of limitations. 

Promotion for the painkiller, Vioxx, took the form of entire phony medical journals, court documents reveal in the Australian class-action lawsuit underway.

The FDA is expanding its warning about tainted weight loss products that contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients. In other words, the ingredients are not mentioned on the label and pose serious health risks including, heart attack, stroke and seizures.

Emory University is being investigated by the federal government to determine if the school misled the National Institutes of Health (NIH) when it failed to disclose an Emory psychiatrist’s financial relationship to GlaxoSmithKline.

An FDA expert panel says ban Darvon because it's not effective and has overdose and suicide risks. 

Eli Lilly will have to pay the federal government more than $1.4 billion to settle an off-label marketing scheme for its prescription drug, Zyprexa. The settlement is the largest amount paid by a single defendant in the history of the Department of Justice and was initiated by six former Lilly drug marketing representatives who became whistleblowers over the aggressive off-label marketing for the antipsychotic.

Joan Petty took Vioxx for five years, twice a day.  After three heart attacks and two strokes she has enough energy to charge Merck & Co and its executives with criminal charges over Vioxx and has her day before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

Joan Petty is going after pharmaceutical giant, Merck with a vengeance. The 73-year-old Ft. Pierce, Florida woman says Merck is criminal for manufacturing the medication Vioxx, and she's filed a RICO lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court has Petty's latest brief on the docket for Friday the 16th. 

FDA reviewers have not found an association between Singulair and suicidal thoughts and mood changes. One year ago, some suicides were thought to be linked to Singulair and other the allergy meds, so much so that drug makers were required to update their labels warning of a possible link.  

The FDA has a largely hands-off policy toward requiring compliance with financial disclosures between doctors conducting clinical trial and the drug companies whose products are being tested.  In fact, only one percent of clinical investigators disclose any conflicting interest with drug manufacturers.

Consumers are increasingly turning to generic drugs as opposed to the blockbuster medications-one factor leading a decline in growth of overall spending on health in this country. New authority by the FDA to issue "black box" serious adverse event warnings, might be fueling the trend.

Prescription drug advertisements are supposed to be regulated by the FDA for content, but there are no requirements to review the ads before consumers see them.  So the FDA is asking consumers to help report misleading and false ads with this web site. 

Even before the economy went south, journalism has been suffering from a dwindling advertising base and audience that's gone online. The latest casualty is the Web site, Pharmalot, which covered the pharmaceutical industry extensively with insider comments and insights, delivered by journalist Ed Silverman.

The controversial drug, Seroquel, will have additional application to treat depression in adults if the drug maker AstraZeneca receives approval from the FDA. Seroquel use has been linked to diabetes, and two serious complications known as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Tardive Dyskinesia. 

Nearly one in 25 older Americans — or 2.2 million people — are at risk for serious health problems from taking a dangerous combination of prescription, over-the-counter and dietary supplements, suggests a new nationwide survey.