This report is confusing to the many people who know from experience that taking the anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran) is more dangerous than warfarin (Coumadin), the treatment that’s been the standard of care for decades. According to a published perspective in the online March 14, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), […]
Category: Defective Drugs
One would like to think that physicians put their patients first. After all, they make a good salary and should not be swayed by some incentives thrown their way, right? Maybe, in some cases, the answer is no. A group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania wanted to find […]
A Florida grandmother has filed a complaint against the maker of the antidepressant Zoloft over a birth injury suffered by her grandchild. The lawsuit was filed November 28, 2012 in federal court in the Northern District of Florida, which is in Pensacola. According to the complaint against drug maker Pfizer […]
Next spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon look at the very profitable policy called “pay for delay.” Profitability in this case extends primarily to both the brand-name manufacturers and generic drug makers at the expense of the consumer. Estimates are “pay for delay,” costs consumers an extra $3.5.8 billion […]
How much can one bad drug cost a company? Just ask Merck. When its painkiller drug Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004, Merck was facing 27,000 lawsuits which culminated in a $4.85.8 billion settlement. Then last year the U.S Department of Justice reached a $950 million civil and […]
A British Columbia court has agreed to allow a class-action lawsuit to proceed and to be headed by the case of an infant born with a hole in her heart after her mother took the antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine). The mother, Faith Gibson, is suing GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (GSK), the maker of […]
Almost no one believes it’s easy to quit smoking, so when the drug Chantix hit the U.S. market in May 2006, some smokers breathed a sigh of relief they had finally found a way out from the grip of cigarettes. Chantix works by blocking the pleasant effects of nicotine on […]
In a court decision that could open the floodgates for drug promotion, an appellate court has thrown out the conviction of a drug salesman who promoted a drug for off-label use citing his free speech rights. Alfred Caronia worked for Orphan Medical where he sold the narcolepsy drug Xyren. He […]
Once again we are reminded how money talks and drug companies will do whatever it takes to sell their product, even if it is illegal, not to mention unethical. The state of Maine is the latest state expected to receive in excess of $1.2 million from GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) over […]
The death toll and illnesses caused by fungal meningitis linked to a compounding pharmacy continue to rise. The New England Compounding Center (NECC), a Westborough, Massachusetts-based company, is considered responsible for infecting more than 409 people with fungal meningitis and killing 30 people. Everyone received contaminated steroid injections for pain […]
