Legal
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NJ Jury Awards Woman $3.35 M in J&J Implant Suit
February 25, 2013 4:48 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
A New Jersey jury has awarded $3.35 million to a former nurse who says Johnson & Johnson's vaginal mesh implant caused severe chronic pain despite 18 unsuccessful repair surgeries. It's the first verdict in about 4,000 lawsuits filed against the health products maker. At least one plaintiff...
Jury Adds $7.8M in J&J Punitive Damages
February 28, 2013 12:18 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
A New Jersey jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay punitive damages of $7.76 million to...
Jury Adds $7.8M in J&J Punitive Damages
February 28, 2013 12:18 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
A New Jersey jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay punitive damages of $7.76 million to...
NJ Jury Awards Woman $3.35 M in J&J Implant Suit
February 25, 2013 4:48 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
A New Jersey jury has awarded $3.35 million to a former nurse who says Johnson & Johnson's...
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French Drugmaker on Trial, Suspected in Deaths
May 21, 2013 2:51 pm | News | CommentsThe makers of a diabetes and weight loss drug suspected in the deaths of hundreds of people went on trial Tuesday, facing charges they misled the public about the product's safety. But after years of delays in one of France's biggest recent health scandals, the proceedings could still be pushed back further.
US Adviser on Board of Firm that Sold Anthrax Drug
May 20, 2013 8:10 am | News | CommentsFormer Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig, who has served as a bio-warfare adviser to the president, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security, urged the government to stockpile an anti-anthrax drug while serving as a director for the company that supplied it, according to a report published Sunday.
Work Stops on Central Indiana Pharmaceutical Facility
May 20, 2013 7:59 am | News | CommentsConstruction has stopped on a pharmaceutical facility being built with a $6 million loan from a suburban Indianapolis city. Greenwood city attorney Krista Taggart says the city could foreclose on the Elona Biotechnologies facility within the next few weeks unless new investors take over the company.
Sanofi Fined for 'Smear Campaign' Against Generic Plavix
May 14, 2013 9:29 am | by Matthew Dennis | News | CommentsFrance's antitrust authority on Tuesday fined Sanofi 40.6 million euros ($52.6 million) for a "smear campaign" designed to limit sales of generic versions of Plavix. The ruling on the drug, which last year generated global sales of nearly 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion), follows a complaint by Teva.
Hospital to Probe East German Medical Trials
May 13, 2013 3:44 pm | by FRANK JORDANS,Associated Press | News | CommentsBerlin's renowned Charite hospital said Monday it plans to investigate allegations that patients in communist East Germany were used as unwitting guinea pigs in medical trials for Western drug companies. Claims that the dictatorship allowed tests that would have been considered unethical or even illegal in the West were first made shortly after German reunification in 1990, but no wrongdoing was found at the time.
Ranbaxy Agrees to $500M Penalty
May 13, 2013 3:25 pm | by ERIC TUCKER,Associated Press | News | CommentsA subsidiary of India's largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $500 million in fines and civil penalties for selling adulterated drugs and lying about tests of the medications to federal regulators, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.
Pfizer Executive Faces Porn Charges
May 9, 2013 6:23 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal authorities in Puerto Rico have arrested an executive at Pfizer Pharmaceutical for allegedly producing child pornography. Officials say 48-year-old Reinaldo Diaz Camacho was charged after Puerto Rico police received information that he was having sexually...
Lawsuit Alleges Merck Discriminates Against Women
May 9, 2013 11:48 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Merck & Co. sales representative is suing the drugmaker for at least $100 million, saying Merck doesn't give women equal opportunities for advancement and punishes employees for taking maternity leave. Kelli Smith, a Merck employee since 2004, says the company's sales plans create...
Vegas Jury Asked to Ignore Hep C Case 'Hysteria'
May 8, 2013 7:59 am | by KEN RITTER,Associated Press | News | CommentsJurors will have to decide if a former endoscopy clinic owner and employees knew they were committing a crime, or if they simply made mistakes when seven of their patients became infected with incurable hepatitis C in 2007 — including one patient who later died, defense attorneys said Tuesday.
US Sues Novartis in NY Again, Cites Doctor Kickbacks
April 29, 2013 8:22 am | by LARRY NEUMEISTER,Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. government sued Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. again on Friday, saying it paid kickbacks for a decade to doctors to steer patients toward its drugs, sometimes disguising fishing trips off the Florida coast and trips to Hooters restaurants as speaking engagements for the doctors.
Pharma Firm Near Win in Quiet Push for Minnesota Breaks
April 29, 2013 8:18 am | by BRIAN BAKST,Associated Press | News | CommentsIn early February, a development agency in Minnesota’s Gov. Mark Dayton's administration made a deal with a giant pharmaceutical company: The state would explore grants and tax breaks that could yield almost 200 high-wage jobs all while keeping Baxter Healthcare Group's name out of the public conversation.
UK Alleges GSK Paid Off Competitors to Delay Drugs
April 19, 2013 8:11 am | News | CommentsBritain's competition watchdog has accused GlaxoSmithKline of paying off competitors to delay launches of their own versions of GSK's best-selling antidepressant, Seroxat. The Office of Fair Trading alleges GlaxoSmithKline concluded agreements which infringed competition law with Alpharma Limited, Generics (UK) Ltd and Norton Healthcare Ltd. over the supply of paroxetine, a cheaper version of Seroxat.
Disbarred Attorney Steps Down from UC Board
April 18, 2013 7:58 am | by DAN SEWELL,Associated Press | News | CommentsA prominent class-action attorney has stepped down from the University of Cincinnati board of trustees after being disbarred in Kentucky. The Kentucky Supreme Court ordered Chesley disbarred in March for his actions in the settlement of a $200 million lawsuit involving the makers of the diet drug fen-phen.
Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Diluted Drugs Case
April 17, 2013 11:53 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsAn attorney for victims of a Kansas City pharmacist who diluted his patients' drugs for more than a decade told a Missouri appeals court Tuesday that previous settlements in the case should be reopened. The arguments involve civil settlements reached more than a decade ago against two drug...
5 French Execs in Breast Implant Scandal on Trial
April 17, 2013 8:12 am | by LORI HINNANT,Associated Press | News | CommentsHundreds of women who received faulty breast implants gathered today in a makeshift courthouse in the south of France for the fraud trial of five executives accused of using cheap industrial silicone to fill tens of thousands of implants that were sold around the world.
Aeterna Zentaris Transfers Cetrotide Manufacturing Rights to Merck KGaA
April 17, 2013 7:57 am | News | CommentsAeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that its German subsidiary has entered into binding agreements with various partners and licensees with respect to the manufacturing rights and obligations for its Cetrotide product. The principal effect of such agreements is to transfer manufacturing rights and to grant a manufacturing license for Cetrotide to a subsidiary of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, in all jurisdictions.
Amgen to Pay $25M to Resolve Kickback Case
April 16, 2013 6:37 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that biotech drugmaker Amgen Inc. will pay $24.9 million to resolve claims it paid kickbacks to increase sales of its anemia drug Aranesp. The Justice Department said Amgen paid kickbacks to Omnicare Inc. and PharMerica Corp., which sell drugs to...
Report: FDA Had Many Complaints on Massachusetts Pharmacy
April 16, 2013 1:35 pm | by MATTHEW PERRONE,AP Health Writer | News | CommentsHouse Republicans said today that the Food and Drug Administration should have acted years earlier to close the Massachusetts pharmacy responsible for a deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated medications. A report issued by Republicans blasts the FDA for failing to act on years of complaints about problematic drugs and practices at the New England Compounding Center.
Report Finds Lax Oversight of Specialty Pharmacies
April 15, 2013 8:00 am | by MATTHEW PERRONE,AP Health Writer | News | CommentsCongressional investigators say pharmacy boards in nearly all 50 states lack the information and expertise to oversee specialty pharmacies like the one that triggered a deadly meningitis outbreak last year. A report released Monday by House Democrats shows that most states do not track or routinely inspect compounding pharmacies.
FDA: Energy Supplement DMAA "Illegal"
April 12, 2013 8:17 am | Videos | CommentsThe Food and Drug administration has issued a warning about DMAA which is prevalent in the product Jack3D. Even though the Food and Drug Administration has stated the product is illegal it has very little legal authority to regulate supplement makers. The FDA has requested all companies that use DMAA to stop - all have with the exception of the company that makes Jack3D.
Repros Reports Issuance of Two Additional U.S. Androxal(R) Patents
April 10, 2013 2:08 pm | News | CommentsRepros Therapeutics Inc. announced two patents representing potentially large commercial indications for its drug Androxal have been issued. The two patents deal with the metabolic consequences of low testosterone and the positive outcomes associated with restoration of testicular function exhibited by Androxal.
Actavis Reaches Agreements with Valeant to Launch Generic Versions of Ziana and Zyclara
April 10, 2013 8:11 am | News | CommentsActavis and Valeant Pharmaceuticals today announced that Actavis has reached settlement agreements with Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, a subsidiary of Valeant, resolving outstanding patent litigation related to Actavis' Abbreviated New Drug Application for Clindamycin and Tretinoin Gel, a generic version of Ziana, as well as Actavis' ANDA for Imiquimod Cream, a generic version of Zyclara.
Dietary Supplement Maker and Government Reach Deal
April 10, 2013 8:07 am | News | CommentsA New York maker of dietary supplements, Kabco Pharmaceuticals Inc., has been ordered to follow federal laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of the products. A Long Island federal judge Thursday approved a deal that the Justice Department reached with Kabco and its CEO and president.
Nevada Jury Orders HMO to Pay $500M in Hepatitis Case
April 10, 2013 8:00 am | by KEN RITTER,Associated Press | News | CommentsA Nevada jury ordered the state's largest health management organization on Tuesday to pay $500 million in punitive damages to three plaintiffs in a civil negligence lawsuit stemming from a Las Vegas hepatitis outbreak. Two companies signed a low-bid contract with the physician who ran the clinic where the outbreak started, despite warnings that he sped through procedures and pinched pennies at his clinics.
Lawyers Ask Hepatitis C Jury to Award $2.5B
April 9, 2013 8:01 am | by KEN RITTER,Associated Press | News | CommentsPlaintiffs' attorneys asked a Nevada state court jury on Monday to put the state's largest health management organization on the hook for a stunning $2.5 billion punitive damage award in a Las Vegas hepatitis outbreak that lawyers called the largest in U.S. history.
