January 31st, 2008 joshua
A doctor reviewing a study on the diabetes drug Avandia leaked a report to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine to GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of the drug.
The move violated the journal’s confidentiality agreement and may have helped GSK prepare its public response to the drug’s side effect of causing heart attacks. The […]
January 31st, 2008 joshua
People living in states giving a plaintiff the ability to wait more than three years to file personal injury lawsuits are currently left out of the proposed $4.85 billion settlement between Merck & Co. and thousands who took the painkiller drug Vioxx, the AP reports..
States like Florida, North Dakota, Missouri, Maine, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah […]
January 30th, 2008 joshua
The rate of drug name mix-ups has more than doubled since 2004, according to a report published by Reuters.
A study done by U.S. Pharmacopeia looked at 26,000 records and found 1,470 unique drugs involved in errors because of having similar brand or generic names.
The article used the example of a heart patient erroneously given […]
January 29th, 2008 joshua
Merck & Co. are swallowing some of their own bitter pills lately. Now, a Connecticut woman is suing the company over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax because she says its causing multiple stress fractures in her legs and preventing proper bone regeneration.
This lawsuit comes on the heels of another lawsuit building against the drug Fosamax. According […]
January 29th, 2008 joshua
Connecticut’s Attorney General is investigating Merck and Schering-Plough over its Vytorin drug, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration said it will investigate a study that shows Vytorin did not do any better job at preventing or reducing arterial plaque than a generic drug. Unfortunately for heart patients dealing with […]
January 29th, 2008 joshua
About 7,000 children visited the emergency room after taking cough and cold medicines, a first of its kind study conducted by the federal government recently found.
The Associated Press reports about one-quarter of these visits were from children given the proper dose of either over-the-counter or prescription cold medicine. Two-thirds of the visits were by children […]
January 28th, 2008 joshua
The paper reports that adverse effects for the drug zolpidem are being investigated by Britain’s medicinal watchdogs. It says six deaths and many reports of psychotic behaviors are linked to Ambien, which is marketed in the UK as Stilnoct.
The 28-year old Ledger was found dead in his apartment last week, the apparent victim of a […]
January 28th, 2008 amy
ConsumerAffairs.com reported January 25 that Celebrex, a popular arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting an enzyme known as COX-2, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart.
University at Buffalo researchers, conducting basic research on potassium channels, found that low concentrations of the drug reduced the heart rate […]
January 25th, 2008 joshua
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is urging the Food and Drug Administration to place stronger warnings on Botox and a similar drug that’s led to death in some patients, and serious injuries in others.
Sixteen deaths have been attributed to Botox and a similarly injected drug, Public Citizen says in a report in the New […]
January 25th, 2008 amy
On January 24, Bayer and the FDA informed healthcare professionals that the current liquid formulation of Leukine, a growth factor that helps fight infection and disease in appropriate patients by enhancing immune cell function, has been withdrawn from the market. Leukine was taken off the market due to an upward trend in spontaneous reports […]
