FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Doctor Accused of Faking Medical Research for Pfizer and Other Pharmas

  Michael Phelan | January 15, 2010 9:49 AM | 4 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Federal prosecutors filed a healthcare fraud charge against Scott Reuben, M.D., a Massachusetts doctor accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested...

• 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...

• Takeda Pharma Faces Slew of Suits Over Actos Bladder Cancer Claims

  Michael Phelan | December 02, 2011 9:31 AM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  Asia's biggest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., may face as many as 10,000 lawsuits in U.S. courts over allegations that its Actos diabetes drug causes bladder cancer. U.S. regulators...

• New Warning Label for Actos

  Michael Phelan | August 08, 2011 12:11 PM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  The FDA released last Friday newly updated label information for pioglitazone (Actos) and medications that contain Actos. The new labeling warns that use of Actos for more than a year may increase...

• More Bad News About Actos and Avandia

  Michael Phelan | June 27, 2011 9:08 AM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA

  Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a condition in which the retina thickens and swells. DME can lead to blindness. A new study of more than 100,000 people which was presented Sunday at the Amercan...

• 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...

• 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...

• Facts About Fosamax Femur Fractures

  Michael Phelan | February 24, 2012 11:11 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Fosamax, manufactured by Merk & Co., is in a class of drugs called bisphosphonates. Fosamax is a prescription medicine for the treatment or prevention of osteoporosis (thinning of bone) in...

• First Actos Lawsuit Filed

  Michael Phelan | August 08, 2011 9:56 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Last week the first of what will likely be thousands of lawsuits against the manufacurer of Actos was filed on behalf of a Pennsylvania hospital secretary who was diagnosed with bladder cancer in...