Shoulder Pain Pump Litigation Update
Last week a state court jury ruled on the first trial of a shoulder pain pump case anywhere in the country. The jury found in favor of the injured victim, a 38 year old man, in the amount of $5.5 million. The case was Beale v. I-Flow. Mr. Beale suffered from a condition called chondrolysis […]
Big Pharma Enters the Movie Business
Those of us who litigate prescription drug cases have always known that the advertizing done by drug companies borders on the fictional, especially in light of the limited oversight that the resource strapped FDA can muster. But now Glaxo, the maker of the over-the-counter fat-blocking drug Alli, has entered into negotiations with the non-profit group […]
FDA Announces New Effort to Seek Higher Test Data on Medical Devices
The New York Times reports today that the FDA, in a long overdue move, will require stricter test data from the manufacturers of medical devices used in humans. The Agency has long been under fire from Consumer groups and members of Congress who cite increasing problems in recent years with such devices as heart defibrillators, […]
Public Database and New Method Proposed to Enhance Drug Safety for Consumers
In a recent study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine several authors propose a new way of monitoring drugs that could increase the margin of safety for consumers. Utilizing internal documents from the Vioxx litigation, Dr. Joseph S. Ross of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York and others set out […]
Separating Medical Malpractice Reform Myth from Health Care Debate
As thousands of Americans descended on the National Mall this past Saturday to protest President Barack Obamas health care agenda, the rallying cry for tort reform was again a popular theme. Who can forget the so-called medical malpractice crisis in New Jersey back in 2004, when hundreds of doctors in their white coats picketed outside […]
GHOSTWRITING IN MEDICAL JOURNALS MAKES THE NEWS—AGAIN
In my blog post of August 5 I detailed a story about how drug maker Wyeth paid professional, non-physician ghostwriters to formulate articles that were then published by medical journals that doctors read to keep up with the latest changes in medical practice, including new information about prescription drugs.
DRUG COMPANY MARKETING MAGIC: PROFIT OVER PATIENTS
In another exhibition of corporate greed over public good in the pharmaceutical sector, a recently released document (available here) reveals Forest Laboratories extensive effort to market its drug Lexapro to doctors. So whats the rub? Lexapro is much more expensive than other drugs in its class used to treat the same condition—depression—but has never been […]
PFIZER TO PAY 2.3 BILLION DOLLARS TO SETTLE ILLEGAL MARKETING CASE
Yesterday the pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer agreed to pay 2.3 billion dollars to settle civil and criminal lawsuits that alleged it illegally marketed Bextra, its arthritis drug, which has since been withdrawn from the market due to concerns that it caused severe skin reactions and contributed to clotting event, including heart attacks and strokes. Pfizer, which […]
WILL SCARE TACTICS CHANGE BEHAVIOR OF DRIVERS WHO TEXT?
As a follow up to my blog post of August 6, New York State last week passed a law that makes texting while driving illegal. Assuming even reasonable police enforcement of that law, we all know that it will likely have little effect in changing the behaviors of those who insist on texting while driving. […]
Houseboats and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Most people think of carbon monoxide poisoning as coming from automobile exhaust or faulty heating systems and indeed much of it does come from those sources. However, in the summer time houseboats can become a significant source of injury and death from this lethal poison gas.
New Study Finds Risk in Off Label Use of Drugs
In the United States physicians are permitted to prescribe medications to patients to treat conditions that are not specifically listed in the label, or product insert, for that medication. All medication labels must be approved by the FDA, and those labels list the conditions and diseases that FDA believes the drug is safe and effective […]
DRIVING WHILE CELLPHONED? TEXT ME ABOUT IT!
If you drive anywhere in the city of New York (or apparently anywhere else in the tri-state area as well) the sight of a driver with a cell phone pasted to his or her face is common. See that car ahead, speeding up and slowing down for no apparent reason? Get up next to it […]