Posts tagged Defective Drugs

• Diabetic Foot Gel May Increase Cancer Risk

  Scott Kappes | March 28, 2008 4:33 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  This week the FDA launched an investigation into an increased risk of cancer and death that may be associated with the Johnson & Johnson foot gel, Regranex. The foot gel, approved by the FDA in 1997, is used to treat leg and foot wounds most commonly associated with diabetes. A study found an increase in the number of cancer deaths among patients who had been prescribed the medication three or...

• Judge Dismisses Case Due to Chantix Induced Psychotic Episode

  Scott Kappes | March 27, 2008 11:35 PM | 2 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  A federal judge has dismissed the case of a 25 year-old California man who charged the cockpit of a plane on Thanksgiving forcing an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota. Prosecutors asked for the interfering with an airplane flight crew charge to be dropped against Andrew Smith after psychiatric exam revealed that Smith was suffering from psychotic disorder caused by Pfizer's smoking...

• Alaska's Zyprexa Suit Settled For $15 Million

  Scott Kappes | March 27, 2008 12:05 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Three weeks into the trail, yesterday it was announced that Eli Lilly has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of Alaska over the popular antipsychotic medication Zyprexa. The lawsuit alleged that Zyprexa caused patients to develop diabetes after taking the medication. The state was seeking to recover Medicaid money spent on both the medication itself and the...

• Enbrel Gets Black Box Warning

  Scott Kappes | March 19, 2008 5:30 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  This week Amgen and Wyeth updated the warning label for their rheumatoid arthritis medication, Enbrel, to inform healthcare professionals and patients of an increased risk of infection associated with the drug. The drug already carried a risk of infection warning; however, the update expands this warning to include information about screening and monitoring patients for tuberculosis (TB). In...

• Preemption NOT Extended to Paxil Lawsuits, Judge Rules

  Scott Kappes | March 14, 2008 2:16 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  This week a Pennsylvania judge ruled that federal law cannot preempt a state product liability lawsuit regarding GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Paxil. The ruling was centered on the alleged failure of GSK to warn patients and healthcare professionals about an increased risk of suicide associated with the medication. Judge Allan L. Tereshko concluded that federal preemption does not prohibit...

• Life-Threatening Events Associated with Tussionex

  Scott Kappes | March 11, 2008 8:20 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Today the FDA informed health care professionals of life-threatening adverse events and death in patients taking Tussionex Pennkinetic Extended Release Suspension. According to the FDA website doctors have prescribed the hydrocodone containing cough suppressant to children under the recommended age of six. Additional reports of physicians prescribing the medication at more frequent intervals...

• Black Box Warning Added to Anemia Drugs

  Scott Kappes | March 11, 2008 1:19 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Last Friday the FDA added the strictest warning available to three anemia medications. The black box warning warns of an increased risk of death and tumor growth associated with the medications. Amgen's Aranesp and Epogen and Johnson & Johnson's Procrit have been shown to accelerate tumor growth in patients with several different types of cancer. The drugs had been linked to similar risks in...

• Jury Awards $27 Million in Hormone Lawsuit

  Scott Kappes | March 10, 2008 10:33 AM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Last Thursday a jury ordered Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Upjohn to shell out over $27 million in compensation to an Arkansas woman who developed breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy. The jury ruled in favor of Donna Scroggin citing that the companies failed to provide adequate warnings of the drugs Premarin and Prempro. The jury decided that Scroggin should receive $19.3 million...

• Mother Files Lawsuit Over Birth Defects

  Scott Kappes | March 06, 2008 1:01 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  In September of 2005 Faith Gibson of Canada gave birth to Meah, a beautiful baby girl. Meah was born with a hole in her heart, which required surgery and a seven-month hospital stay. Faith believed at the time that her daughter's condition was just an unfortunate happenstance, but last year after reading an article about birth defects associated with the prescription antidepressant Paxil she...

• Anemia Drugs Cited For Death Risks

  Scott Kappes | February 26, 2008 7:36 PM | 0 CommentsGalveston Bay, TX Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Today an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that commonly used anemia drugs sold by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson raise the risk of death in cancer patients by about 10 percent. The publication, based on new analysis of existing clinical trial data, comes just as the FDA is planning to convene an advisory panel to address concerns associated with the...