Blog Posts in August, 2012
Posted on Aug 31, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Bayer, the manufacturer of the dangerous birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, has settled almost 1900 law suits which allege that the two contraceptives caused patients to develop blood clots which ...
Continue reading "Yasmin Lawsuit Update" »
Posted on Aug 30, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has upgraded an earlier recall of mislabeled Arrow International catheters to class I status. Class one recalls refer to situations where use of a recalled ...
Continue reading "FDA Upgrades Catheter Recall to Class I" »
Posted on Aug 29, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
A new report published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings has revealed that most patients are unaware when their doctor prescribes them off-label drugs to treat their medical condition. Off-label ...
Continue reading "Patients in the Dark about Off Label Prescription Writing" »
Posted on Aug 28, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a case against drug maker Eli Lilly over a dangerous side effect of their anti-depressant medication Cymbalta. The court found that the company's ...
Continue reading "Appeals Court Brings Back Cymbalta Suicide Suit" »
Posted on Aug 27, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued a warning for Medtronic, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, over violations at their facilities. The FDA warning came in July and stated ...
Continue reading "Manufacturing Violations at Medtronic Facilities" »
Posted on Aug 24, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Abbott Laboratories has been hit with a federal lawsuit for allegedly promoting their drug TriCor for uses that it was not intended for. A former salesperson for the company was responsible for ...
Continue reading "Cholesterol Drug Slapped with False Marketing Lawsuit" »
Posted on Aug 23, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Johnson & Johnson, a household product name, is currently facing about 8,000 lawsuits over just one of their products: DePuy ASR hip implants. These hip implants were recalled in 2010 but the ...
Continue reading "Johnson & Johnson to Pay First Settlements in Hip Lawsuits" »
Posted on Aug 21, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin, LLP
A few months ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a voluntary recall of X-Rock, a male sexual supplement which treats erectile dysfunction. X-Rock issued a statement afterwards which ...
Continue reading "X-Rock: Voluntary Recall for Male Sexual Supplement" »
Posted on Aug 20, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued a class 1 recall of certain tracheostomy tubes because there were complaints of leaking and disconnection malfunctions. These tubes are used ...
Continue reading "FDA Recalls Tracheostomy Tubes" »
Posted on Aug 17, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
A diabetes patient who sued drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over its diabetes drug Avandia has received the highest award ever recovered in an Israeli class-action suit against a drug ...
Continue reading "Avandia Settlement becomes Highest Ever Payout in Israel" »
Posted on Aug 16, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
DaVita Inc., a medical company that operates seven dialysis centers across the country, has agreed to pay $55 million to settle charges that they overused Epogen, a costly and dangerous anemia drug. ...
Continue reading "Kidney Drug Whistleblower Suit Settles for $55 Million" »
Posted on Aug 15, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently reached a historical $3 Billion settlement with the federal government over its fraudulent drug marketing campaign and payment of doctor kickbacks. ...
Continue reading "GSK Loveline: Dr. Drew Implicated in Drug Company's Fraud Settlement" »
Posted on Aug 15, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
On July 3, more than five years after the agency was mandated to do so, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a pending rule proposal which will implement a unique tracking system for ...
Continue reading "FDA Finally Rolls Out Medical Device Tracking System" »
Posted on Aug 14, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning on July 23 that the multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra (dalfampridine) can cause seizures in patients who are starting their course of the ...
Continue reading "FDA Updates Seizure Warning for MS Drug" »
Posted on Aug 13, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Two former employees of Merck & Co. Inc. have filed a whistleblower claim in federal court alleging that the drug manufacturer vastly overstated the efficacy of its MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) ...
Continue reading "Whistleblowers Claim Merck Exaggerated the Effectiveness of its MMR Vaccine" »
Posted on Aug 10, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Thanks to a surge in American obesity and the ever-present search for a quick fix to the problem, the weight loss industry has exploded into a $62 Billion a year enterprise, almost double the $38 ...
Continue reading "Weight Loss Trends to Avoid for Your Safety" »
Posted on Aug 9, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Class I recall for the GE Healthcare's Aestiva/5 7900 ventilator because it may unexpectedly overdose patients during surgery, resulting in ...
Continue reading "Ventilators Recalled for Risk of Overdosing" »
Posted on Aug 8, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Stryker Orthopaedics recalled two metal devices used in conjunction with hip implants on July 6, according to an announcement made on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website. The decision to ...
Continue reading "Stryker Recalls Two More Metal on Metal Hip Devices" »
Posted on Aug 7, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
A document newly published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reveals that Amylin, the pharmaceutical company which manufactures diabetes drugs Bydureon (exanatide), withheld crucial safety ...
Continue reading "Pharmaceutical Company Withheld Safety Information on Diabetes Drug" »
Posted on Aug 6, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing the introduction of a new program called "Pre-Sub," designed to give medical device makers early feedback regarding test studies. The ...
Continue reading "FDA to Offer Guidance to Medical Device Makers" »
Posted on Aug 3, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Newly disclosed records have revealed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) engaged in a broad surveillance program designed to capture the private emails of their own disgruntled scientists. ...
Continue reading "FDA Spying Campaign Exposed" »
Posted on Aug 2, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
After a two day advisory-panel meeting, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on June 28 that it officially recommends against the use of metal-on-metal (MoM) hip implants. The 18-member ...
Continue reading "FDA Panel Recommends Against Using Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants" »
Posted on Aug 1, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
Patients who have taken Propecia (finasteride) have been complaining for quite some time of sexual side effects, some as serious as impotence, that persist even after they stop taking the medication. ...
Continue reading "New Study Confirms that Propecia Side Effects May Not be Reversible" »
Posted on Aug 1, 2012 By Arnold & Itkin LLP
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vivus Inc.'s weight loss drug Qysmia on July 17, the second anti-obesity pill given the FDA nod of approval in a one month time period. Prior to the ...
Continue reading "FDA Approves Second Weight Loss Drug" »