A woman’s lawsuit against the federal government alleges that incorrect diagnoses and incorrect dosages certain medications caused her sister’s suicide in 2010. The plaintiff in Grese v. United States is demanding $5 million in damages, claiming that doctors and other medical professionals with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)…
A woman must pursue her lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company in the Southern District of Ohio rather than the District of Columbia, according to a ruling in Sheffer v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The plaintiff and her husband brought suit alleging claims including strict liability and failure to warn of potentially…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently warned doctors and consumers about a risk associated with a relatively new drug, Ampyra, used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients who are just beginning to take the drug showed an elevated risk of seizures, and patients with kidney impairments were particularly…
Several groups of doctors and health care officials are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to modify its guidelines for opioid painkiller prescriptions. The proposed changes would include restrictions on “off-label” uses, meaning uses not explicitly approved by the FDA, and limits on the amount of time…
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations of fraud in marketing certain drugs and of failure to report safety data, according to a DOJ press release. The DOJ had filed a three-count criminal…
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has suspended a major pharmaceutical distributor from shipping or selling certain painkillers and other medications from a Florida facility as part of a settlement with the company. Two Florida pharmacies have also had their controlled substance licenses suspended. The DEA’s investigation centered on large…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a reminder to the public of the danger posed to young children by patches containing the painkiller fentanyl. Young children, largely because of their curiosity, are at high risk of exposure to fentanyl if patches are within their reach. The patches…
The founder and chief executive officer of a popular fitness website, Bodybuilding.com, has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Idaho to five misdemeanor counts arising from products sold through the website that the government alleged were “misbranded drugs.” The products allegedly contained various forms of steroids classified as “drugs”…
Three medications with similar-sounding names have caused some confusion, and almost caused some serious injuries, in recent months, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Two heart medications, Pradaxa and Ranexa, have names that resemble each other and PreNexa, a prenatal vitamin available only by prescription. Medication errors with heart patients or…
An Arkansas judge imposed a $1.1 billion fine on Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, after a jury found the companies liable for deceptive trade practices and false claims. The state of Arkansas sued the companies, alleging that they presented false and misleading information to doctors and patients…