FDA & Prescription Drugs

• The Billion Dollar Antipsychotics Settlement?

  Zev Antell | January 20, 2009 3:49 PM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  According to an article published in last week’s New York Times, goliath drug maker, Eli Lilly appears poised to agree to a $1.4 billion settlement related to marketing and use of its...

• Prescriptions of Antipsychotics to Children Attract Scrutiny

  Zev Antell | December 02, 2008 8:00 AM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  Last week I wrote a short blog touching on the increasing frequency with which antipsychotic drugs like Risperdal and Zyprexa were being prescribed to children. I primarily focused on the use of...

• Anti-Psychotic Drugs Prescribed To Children With ADD

  Zev Antell | November 24, 2008 7:30 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) affects countless school age children. ADD is often treated with drugs like Ritalin or Adderall. Both are widely acknowledged as effective weapons against attention...

• Documents Reveal Bush Administration Top Priority: Exempt Big Business from Civil Justice System

  Michael Phelan | October 16, 2008 11:16 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  According to documents obtained through repeated FOIA requests by the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Bush Administration's attempt to shield big business and Wall Street from the free...

• The New England Journal of Medicine Offers the Supreme Court Some Advice on Drug Company Liability

  Zev Antell | August 18, 2008 6:28 PM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  No drug company wants to face the massive liability created when a Phen-Phen or Vioxx is exposed as being dangerous. Thus, much has been made in the press of the new in-vogue defense employed by big...

• Digitek® (digoxin tablets) Recalled Due to Deadly Manufacturing Defect

  Michael Phelan | May 15, 2008 4:18 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Actavis Totowa (formerly known as Amide Pharmaceutical, Inc.) recalls all lots of Bertek and UDL Laboratories Digitek® (digoxin tablets, USP) as precaution The following is an FDA notice...

• Here's Why Preemption is a Joke

  Michael Phelan | May 01, 2008 11:33 AM | 2 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Aredia, Baycol, Bextra, Celebrex, Fen Phen, Rezulin, Vioxx, and Zyprexa. These are all drugs that were "approved" by the FDA. Does FDA approval mean that the FDA tested these drugs itself? No! The...

• Heparin Linked to More Deaths

  Michael Phelan | March 02, 2008 1:00 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The Food and Drug Administration reported last week that the number of deaths associated with heparin, a brand of blood thinner, has risen. The brand of heparin associated with the problems is made by Baxter International. Baxter produces most of the heparin used in the United States. Heparin is made from pig intestines, which, of course, could be supplied by U.S. farmers. Baxter buys its...

• Avandia Story Follows Predictable Pattern

  Michael Phelan | June 04, 2007 1:49 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  From Fen Phen, to Rezulin, to Vioxx, to Avandia, the story follows a predictable pattern. The Food and Drug Administration, which currently sees itself as an arm of the pharmaceutical industry rather than a consumer protection agency, approves a drug with little more than reliance upon data provided by the drug manufacturer and advice from FDA advisory panels which are increasingly comprised of...

• FDA Warned About Avandia's Risks Seven Years Ago

  Michael Phelan | May 24, 2007 12:19 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Dr. John B. Buse is the chief of endocrinology at the University of North Carolina and is about to become the president of the American Diabetes Association. In 2000, Dr. Buse sent a letter to the FDA warning of the heart risks of the drug Avandia. The letter cited "a worrisome trend in cardiovascular deaths and severe adverse events" among patients using Avandia.A search of the FDA's database...