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Pharmaceuticals Blog

Roche ordered to pay $10.6 million in Accutane trial

Monday, April 28th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

A New Jersey jury awarded $10.6 million to a woman who claimed the acne drug Accutane caused her inflammatory bowel disease.
Last week, Pharmalot and the Wall Street Journal reported that a nine-member, state-court jury concluded that Accutane’s maker, Hoffman-LaRoche Inc., failed to warn the woman that the drug can cause IBD.
Kamie Kendall, 24, began taking […]

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FDA sends harsh warning letter concerning Avandia studies

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

The Food and Drug Administration recently sent a harsh warning letter to GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of the diabetes drug Avandia. According to Pharmalot, Glaxo failed to include nine post-marketing studies in a mandatory report to the FDA. A Glaxo spokesperson is claiming this to be an “inadvertent omission.”
A few months ago, the FDA ordered Glaxo […]

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Connecticut Attorney General sues the FDA over OxyContin deaths

Friday, April 4th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

On March 31, the state of Connecticut filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking stronger OxyContin label warnings.  According to a news release issued by the Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the lawsuit is part of an effort to force the FDA to act on his 4-year-old citizen petition.
In the release, Blumenthal […]

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Lilly to pay $15 million to settle Alaska’s Zyprexa suit

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Eli Lilly and  Alaska’s Attorney General issued a joint statement announcing that Alaska’s case against Lilly for violating the Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act has been settled for $15 million.
The outcome of this case may affect talks between Lilly and other states regarding Medicaid coverage of injuries caused by Zyprexa, such as […]

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Son of OxyContin victim presents painting to U.S. Attorney

Monday, March 31st, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Last July, twelve-year-old Brian Skolek presented U.S. Attorney John Brownlee with this painting:  

Brian is the son of Jill Carol Skolek, who died on April 29, 2002 after she was prescribed OxyContin.  Jill’s mother, Marianne Skolek, has been leading a crusade against Purdue Pharma by speaking out on OxyContin’s dangers. For more about Skolek and her work, […]

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Bisphosphonate drugs and osteonecrosis of the jaw

Thursday, March 13th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Bisphosphonate drugs help prevent bone resorption in patients with osteoporosis, or in patients with advanced forms of cancer that have metastasized to the bone.  Resorption occurs when the bone breaks down and is absorbed into the blood stream.  Bisphosphonate drugs, such as Fosamax, Aredia, and Zometa, among others, prevent this from occurring by affecting the […]

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High Court’s 4-4 tie makes the latest preemption battle a draw

Thursday, March 6th, 2008 by Dawn Mefford

A handful of my posts have addressed the issue of federal preemption.  You can read past blog posts from March 4, 2008, December 17, 2007, August 7, 2007.  In general, preemption is a legal concept which dictates that state laws are inferior to federal law.  Within the last decade, there has been a legal battle […]

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Jarvik responds to Congressional criticism over Lipitor ad role

Thursday, February 28th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

In an update to our Feb. 10 blog, Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the artificial heart, responded to harsh criticism about his role in Lipitor Ads – a role that paid him $1.3 Million dollars over two years.
In a Bloomberg News story, he defended his role by saying that as an MD (albeit not practicing), […]

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Investigations into fake Ketek data continue

Friday, February 15th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

This week, a Congressional committee investigating whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a drug despite knowing a key safety study was plagued by faulty data heard testimony from federal agents, the Associated Press reports.
The Energy and Commerce Committee is looking into allegations that the FDA approved the sinus infection drug Ketek, made by […]

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Finally, drug ads scrutinized

Sunday, February 10th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Even though Dr. Robert Jarvik invented the artificial heart, he was rarely in the public eye. That changed when he endorsed Lipitor, a popular Pfizer cholesterol medicine, in a high-profile advertising campaign.
But now that Lipitor’s effectiveness has come under fire, Jarvik has found himself in the crosshairs of a controversy, the New York Times reports. […]

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Oops! Eli Lilly lawyer accidentally e-mails reporter

Friday, February 8th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Last week, the New York Times broke the story that Eli Lilly & Co. was in confidential settlement talks with the government over improper marketing allegations.  The company immediately accused federal officials of leaking the information.
Portfolio reports what really happened. An attorney at the Pepper Hamilton law firm representing Eli Lilly mistakenly sent an e-mail […]

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Merck will pay $670 million to settle Medicaid fraud claims

Friday, February 8th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Merck, the maker of Vioxx, failed to pay rebates to Medicaid and to other government health programs.  And the company paid kickbacks to doctors and hospitals in an effort to get them to prescribe its medicines.  Now, the drug maker must pay $670 million to settle Medicaid fraud claims raised in two separate lawsuits filed […]

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OxyContin will be highlighted on CBS Evening News

Monday, February 4th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

On Feb. 19, the CBS Evening News will feature a story on chronic pain and how the fear of a prescription medications like OxyContin force sufferers to choose between addiction and pain.
If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of taking a dangerous medication or by the use of a dangerous […]

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Balloon catheters recalled due to deflation problems

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a recall on Jan. 14 of the balloon catheters manufactured by Cordis Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson.  The catheters, used in surgery to clear arteries clogged with plaque, were not deflating properly.  No injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the defect. 
The Associated […]

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Eli Lilly settles 900 Zyprexa claims

Monday, January 28th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

The maker of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa settled another 900 cases, the Indianapolis Star reports. The cases include five that were set for trial in February. That means Eli Lilly and Co. has settled more than 25,000 claims over Zyprexa and that there are still 1,100 cases pending. Not one case has gone to trial.
Pharmalot […]

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Research shows cholesterol drugs don’t work in most people

Friday, January 25th, 2008 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot asked the question, “Who needs those cholesterol pills, anyway?” BusinessWeek had the answer — very few.
Recent studies indicate that three percent of people given a placebo suffered a heart attack. That was compared to two percent of the people taking Lipitor who suffered a heart attack.
If you or someone you know has been injured as […]

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FDA warns against giving cold medicine to children under two

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 by Todd Hageman

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued additional warnings on over-the-counter cold and cough medicines in an attempt to get the attention of parents:  Never give children under the age of two the cold and cough products.  
In October, the FDA’s scientific advisors concluded that the products don’t work in children under the age of […]

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OxyContin Litigation: Marianne Skolek interviewed for Vanity Fair

Thursday, December 6th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Back on Oct. 1, I blogged about Marianne Skolek. Skolek’s daughter, Jill, died of respiratory failure after being prescribed Oxycontin, a powerful painkiller made by Purdue Pharma. Since Jill’s death, Skolek has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Purdue Pharma executives who pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin also lose their professional licenses.  You can learn […]

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FDA will review deaths linked to antibiotic

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Last May, an article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases linked the antibiotic Maxipime to death rates that were higher than those experienced by other antibiotics in the same class. Pharmalot reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now decided to review deaths related to the drug in a process that could take up […]

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Avandia’s new warning creates more confusion

Monday, November 19th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added a baffling new warning label to the popular diabetes drug, Avandia. According to the Associated Press, the warning states that Avandia may or may not increase the risk of heart attacks. Chalk the double-talk up to the FDA’s stance that available studies are too contradictory to tell […]

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How ineffective children’s drugs stayed on store shelves for years

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

“If you are a desperate parent at 10 or 11 o’clock at night on a Saturday and your kid has a cold, what do you do?  You go to the drugstore and see all this stuff on the shelves with pictures of babies and assume it must work.”—Wayne R. Snodgrass, professor of pediatrics at the […]

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St. Louis drug company raided by federal agents

Friday, November 2nd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, federal agents from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Marshall’s Service raided General Therapeutic Corp in St. Louis on Wednesday and seized numerous items. A forfeiture complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office was recently unsealed. The complaint alleged that General Therapeutic Corp “manufactures numerous dietary supplements and over […]

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Wyeth loses three Prempro claims in Nevada

Monday, October 29th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

On October 10, jurors took 12 hours over two days to decide that Wyeth’s Prempro caused cancer in three women, and awarded them a total of $134.5 million in damages, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Two days later, the jury reduced the award by $99 million. According to Pharmalot, when handing down the initial verdict, the jurors […]

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FDA ordered to hand over Vioxx documents

Monday, October 29th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

One of the Plaintiff’s attorneys in the Vioxx litigation, Eric Weinberg, sued the FDA to force the agency to produce documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Pharmalot reports that Weinberg filed 10 FOIA requests between October 2004 and August 2006 seeking “Vioxx media ads, the personal calendar and other information from former FDA counsel […]

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Roche loses another Accutane case

Thursday, October 25th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

A 31-year-old welder who took Accutane for nine years and developed the inflammatory bowel condition known as Crohn’s Disease has won a $7 million verdict against the drugmaker Roche. According to Pharmalot, this was the second case to go to trial against Roche over the acne drug and it was the second case Roche lost.
Pharmalot […]

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Veterans Affairs curbs Avandia use

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs conducted their own review into the effects of the diabetes drug Avandia and decided earlier this month to limit dispensing the drug to their patients, Pharmalot reports.
A GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman told the New York Times that the VA accounts for eight percent of Avandia’s sales.  Before last May, it was […]

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FDA hearings on child deaths from cold and cough medications

Monday, October 22nd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Due to the growing concern that children are dying after taking over-the-counter cold medications, the Food and Drug Administration met last Thursday to discuss whether the over-the-counter medicines are safe and effective, an article on CNN.com reports.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 1,500 children and babies were hospitalized over the […]

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Finally, the Zyprexa warning label is updated

Thursday, October 18th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot reports that Eli Lilly is updating the Zyprexa label to include warnings for weight gain, elevated cholesterol and hyperglycemia. 
Thousands of lawsuits accusing the drug maker of improperly marketing Zyprexa and not properly informing patients of these side effects have been filed. What’s more, Eli Lilly is seeking FDA approval to market the antipsychotic drug […]

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Avandia Gate is going strong. Will there be an Actos Gate?

Monday, October 8th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

On September 13, I wrote about a report in the New England Journal of Medicine confirming that the risk of suffering from a heart attack or congestive heart failure while taking GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia increases. However, the risks were lowered if the person were instead taking Actos made by Takeda. 
However, Bloomberg news recently reported that research contained in […]

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OxyContin maker targeted by Kentucky class action lawsuit

Friday, October 5th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The State of Kentucky and Pike County, Kentucky filed a class action lawsuit against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma on Thursday.
According to the Associated Press, the suit was filed because OxyContin abuse is widespread in the area. The suit seeks millions of dollars damages as reimbursement for the costs associated with drug programs, law enforcement and […]

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Mom who lost daughter to OxyContin goes after Purdue Pharma execs

Monday, October 1st, 2007 by Todd Hageman

On Sept. 12, Pharmalot described a web site set up by Marianne Skolek. Skolek’s daughter died after she was prescribed Oxycontin. Now Skolek is using the power of the Internet to seek justice and as a way to rally other families who have lost loved ones to the drug.  
In addition to the web site, Skolek has also filed […]

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FDA oversight blasted

Saturday, September 29th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

When it comes to ensuring patient safety in clinical trials, the Food and Drug Administration does little according to a report issued by Daniel R. Levinson, the Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services. Summarizing the report’s findings, an article in Friday’s New York Times stated that “federal health officials did not know […]

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AvandiaGate - The Latest

Thursday, September 13th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

According to Pharmalot, the New England Journal of Medicine has published a new report that shows the risk of suffering from a heart attack when taking GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia increases.  However, studies showed that there was an 18% reduction in heart attacks, strokes and deaths in the use of Takeda’s Actos.  Both drugs currently have “Black Box” warnings.
This study […]

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$5.5 Million Award in First Federal Fentanyl Trial

Monday, August 27th, 2007 by Amy Gunn

Jury finds Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries liable in death of 28-year-old
The family of a Florida man has won a $5.5 million wrongful death verdict against two subsidiaries of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in the nation’s first federal trial involving a patch form of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl.
Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, LP, and ALZA Corp. were […]

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New Jersey judge attempts to ease the Vioxx logjam

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

As I said in my Aug. 21 blog entry, over 45,000 Vioxx lawsuits have been filed nationwide. Fewer than 20 cases have actually been tried. Of the last 15 cases that went to trial, only five ended with a verdict for the plaintiff.  And Merck has spent over $1 billion on their vow to try […]

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FDA schedules another review of Trasylol for September 12

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Last September, the Food and Drug Administration reviewed Trasylol. After that, it got interesting. 
Bayer, the company the makes Trasylol, disclosed that two employees withheld information about the side effects.  Pharmalot reports that last week, Bayer insisted that the cover-up wasn’t really a cover-up.  Now, the FDA is going to revisit the issue.
As I explained in […]

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Vioxx cases crawl through the courts

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 by Todd Hageman

An article in today’s New York Times highlights the legal logjam caused by Merck & Company’s vow to fight each and every Vioxx claim filed against it. Already, the company has spent more than $1 billion in legal fees over the course of three years. Despite the soaring legal costs, Merck refuses to consider the […]

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FDA warns nursing moms of codeine risk to infants

Monday, August 20th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning last Friday that cautioned nursing mothers who take codeine to “watch their infants for increased sleepiness or other signs of overdose.”
This warning was prompted after a 13-day-old breastfed infant died as a result of a morphine overdose.  The mother was taking codeine for episiotomy pain.  Genetic testing later […]

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FDA warns parents about giving cold medicine to babies

Friday, August 17th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The FDA’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee will meet October 18 and 19 to discuss the use of over the counter cough and cold medicines by young children.  Until then, the FDA is advising parents to not give their children cold medicine unless they have specific instructions from their doctor.
If you or someone you know has […]

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Vioxx judge orders Merck to produce documents it claimed were privileged

Friday, August 17th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot and Legal Underground report that in the Vioxx multi-district litigation, a federal judge in New Orleans ordered Merck to produce documents it claimed were protected by the attorney-client privilege. The records in question are print-outs of electronic communications and internal company e-mails and attachments. The order was handed down Aug. 14.
This is the latest skirmish in […]

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FDA sends Pfizer a warning letter

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration accused drugmaker Pfizer of running false or misleading advertising in connection with an anti-schizophrenia drug, Geodon for Injection, Pharmalot reports.
On July 16, the FDA warned in a letter to Pfizer that the Geodon for Injection ads omits important risk information such as the possibility of developing neuroleptic malignant syndrome, […]

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Congress gets involved with Johnson & Johnson, FDA over stents

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The Washington Post and Pharmalot report that lawmakers have sent letters to Johnson & Johnson and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking why Cypher stents were allowed to be sold after inspections and studies released as early as 2004 showed numerous manufacturing problems.
The Aug. 13 letters to the FDA and Johnson & Johnson were sent […]

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FDA panel head shares lessons gleaned from Avandia hearing

Friday, August 10th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The chair of last week’s FDA advisory meeting regarding Avandia, endocrinologist Chris Rosen, offered some lessons he learned about the drug approval process. Those lessons, which appear in the New England Journal of Medicine, were summarized by Pharmalot’s Ed Silverman:
Lesson One - Make sure you understand the disease, the studies used to evaluate the treatments […]

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$13.5 million Vioxx verdict upheld!

Friday, August 10th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

On Aug. 7, a New Jersey judge upheld a $13.5 million dollar jury verdict awarded to a man who was injured after taking the painkiller Vioxx.  The judge also denied drug maker Merck & Co’s request for a new trial, according to a Bloomberg news report.
The suit was brought by John and Irma McDarby.  John […]

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Glaxo throws the next punch in fight over Avandia

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot reports that Glaxo, the maker of the diabetes drug Avandia, is sending e-mails to different media outlets bragging about a new study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine by George Diamond and Sanjay Kaul of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.  Their report took aim at a previous meta-analysis published in the New […]

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Researcher takes heat after reporting truth on Trasylol

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Trasylol, manufactured by Bayer, is a drug given intravenously to prevent blood loss during heart bypass surgery.  The drug was approved in 1993 to be used only on high-risk patients.  In 1998, the FDA approved its use on all patients.  Because doctors did not have to ask the patient’s permission to give the drug, few […]

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Accutane Found to Cause Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by John Campbell

In a recent New Jersey trial involving Accutane (a drug used primarily to treat acne), the jury returned a verdict of $2.62 million against Roche Holding AG, the makers of Accutane.  In the lawsuit, Andrew McCarrell, 36 years old, alleged that after taking Accutane, he suffered inflammatory bowel disease.  He alleged that Accutane caused severe […]

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The FDA’s multi-million dollar cash bonuses

Monday, August 6th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Last Thursday, the Washington Post reported that as much as $13.6 million in retention bonuses were paid out to various Food and Drug Administration employees in 2005.  Many of the bonuses went to the highest-paid officials rather than FDA scientists. The payments occurred during a turbulent period at the FDA when the flu vaccine shortage, […]

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OxyContin case impacts U.S. Attorney firing investigation

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The night before OxyContin’s manufacturer agreed to enter a guilty plea on fraud charges, a senior Justice Department official called John L. Brownlee, the U.S. Attorney handling the case, and asked him to slow down, according to a report in the Washington Post. The case settled anyway but eight days later, Brownlee’s name appeared on the […]

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FDA maverick advocates Avandia ouster

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 by Todd Hageman

David Graham, M.D., earned a reputation as a maverick within the FDA during the debate over Vioxx.  He urged FDA to remove Vioxx from the market long before news of the drug’s problems forced Merck to remove it on its own.  According to Reuters, Dr. Graham has now turned his focus on Avandia. He urged […]

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FDA keeps Avandia on the market despite heart attack risks

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Yesterday, the FDA held an advisory committee meeting to determine whether the diabetes drug Avandia should be kept on the market after studies revealed serious side effects.  The advisory committee concluded that Avandia poses elevated risks of heart attacks.  However, the committee decided Avandia should remain on the market but with stronger warnings, the New York […]

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Study suggests Avandia and Actos both pose heart failure risk

Monday, July 30th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

According to PharmaTimes, a UK study suggests that there is a similar risk of heart failure from taking Actos made by Takeda and GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia.
This news comes before today’s FDA panel meeting that will be deciding whether Avandia should be taken off the market or given additional warnings and restrictions.
If you or someone you know […]

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Two governors subpoenaed in Vioxx cases

Monday, July 30th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Republican governors from Mississippi and Indiana have been subpoenaed by plaintiff’s attorneys in the Vioxx multi-district litigation to testify by deposition regarding their past ties to pharma, consultations with the FDA before the new drug label rules were set in 2006, and their positions regarding consumer and state’s rights, the Associated Press reports.
Mississippi Governor Haley […]

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Vioxx caused heart attack in 7.4 months

Monday, July 30th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

As an addendum to my July 12th blog, the New England Journal of Medicine reported on July 25 that the VICTOR study showed that “[Vioxx] was associated with an increased frequency of adverse cardiovascular events among patients with a median treatment of 7.4 months’ duration.”  The study found an increasing risk of cardiovascular thrombotic events […]

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AvandiaGate: FDA has considerable concerns

Monday, July 30th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot reports the FDA is reviewing data regarding Avandia, a drug used to treat Type II diabetes, and finding a considerable amount of evidence that the manufacturer knew of cardiovascular side effects.
If you or someone you know has been hurt as a result of taking Avandia, please call Simon Passanante attorney Todd Hageman toll free […]

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Defective Pain Patch Blamed for Death

Monday, July 16th, 2007 by Amy Gunn

In December 2003, a young Florida man was found dead in his home .  The cause of death?  An overdose of fentanyl from a Duragesic patch the 28-year-old was prescribed following a car accident.  His family recently won a $5.5 million verdict against two subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, Alza Corporation and Janssen Pharmaceutica.  The […]

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Vioxx saga goes international

Thursday, July 12th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Explosive new allegations that Vioxx is even more dangerous than was previously thought are roiling pharmaceutical giant Merck.
As the public waits for the official release of a new study conducted at the University of Oxford known as VICTOR, the Wall Street Journal gave a preemptive peak at the findings. According to the WSJ, the new […]

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Shareholders Sue Avandia Manufacturer

Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

It appears Avandia manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline may have known more about problems with Avandia than it shared with the public.  Shareholders filed a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline alleging it failed to adequately disclose heart risks associated with Avandia to investors. The suit cites a meta analysis, conducted by GSK, that showed Avandia increased the risk of heart […]

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Woman settles claim against Dexatrim maker

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

A woman who suffered an aneurysm and hemorrhagic stroke after taking Dexatrim caplets for several days settled her claim against the diet pill maker for a gross settlement of $700,000.  (Gleich v. Thompson Medical Company, Inc., et al.)
Barbara Gleich, 39, began taking Dexatrim caplets on Aug. 30, 1998. She followed the instructions and took only […]

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OxyContin back in the news

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

It seems OxyContin is always in the news. Rush Limbaugh admitted he was addicted to OxyContin and even Lindsay Lohan has been associated with the drug. 
 
The dangers of the drug were made very clear to the public recently when the drug’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, agreed to pay a $600 million fine for misleading the public about the dangerous […]

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Vioxx litigation update - Barnett

Thursday, June 7th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The Vioxx litigation is back in the news.  On August 17, 2006, a jury in New Orleans returned a verdict in favor of Gerald Barnett for injuries he suffered as a result of taking Vioxx.  Mr. Barnett suffered a heart attack at age 58 and endured subsequent complications.  The verdict was for $51 million.  Of […]

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Update on Avandia

Saturday, May 26th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

The news about Avandia recently has been focused on the new analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine which concluded that Avandia could pose an unreasonable risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular injury regarding diabetic patients for which the medication was prescribed.  However, it really isn’t that new.  John Buse, M.D., president-elect […]

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Consumer Alert: diabetes drug Avandia pulled from the market.

Thursday, May 24th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

As you know, the wildly popular drug Avandia may be in danger of being pulled from the market by FDA.  Many believe Avandia to be the next Vioxx.  It was mostly reported that Avandia may have presented an unreasonable risk of heart attack and death in patients for which it was prescribed.  As the following […]

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