http://www.druginjuryblog.com Brought to you by Parker Waichman Alonso LLP Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:32:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Four years after Merck released cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, the would-be top-seller has proven to be a marketplace dud. Gardasil ran into two major roadblocks: consumer inertia and politics, rather than science and market demand. The main problem with Gardasil seems to be the equivalent of a design flaw; to be completely ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/09/mercks-gardasil-didnt-live-up-to-promise/ British drug regulators believe the diabetes drug Avandia should be pulled from the market there. According to an AP report, the GlaxoSmithKline drug is likely to become unavailable in the U.K. if the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency goes along with an independent panel of researchers who tell it the ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/08/british-panel-says-avandia-should-be-removed-from-uk-market/ Popular osteoporosis drugs like Boniva, Fosamax and Actonel have been linked to an increased risk of esophogeal cancer, according to a new study from the U.K. Business Week reports, oral bisphosphonates taken over a long period of time have returned anecdotal reports of a link to esophogeal cancer. "What we lack at ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/03/osteoporosis-drugs-linked-to-esophogeal-cancer-risk-by-new-uk-study/ A new study shows the weight-loss drug Meridia increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes among people with a pre-existing heart disease. The SCOUT study was funded by Abbott Laboratories, makers of Meridia, and showed that patients averaging about 211 pounds lost an average of just under nine pounds while ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/02/scout-study-shows-meridia-increases-heart-attack-stroke-risk/ The FDA is reminding healthcare professsionals of an increased mortality risk associated with the use of the IV antibacterial Tygacil. The increased risk was seen most clearly in patients treated for hospital-acquired pneumonia, especially ventilator-associated pneumonia. Risks were also noted in patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections, complicated intra-abdominal infections ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/02/tygacil-linked-to-increase-risk-fda-warns/ Allergan Inc, the maker of wrinkle-smoothing Botox, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a yearslong federal investigation into its marketing of the top-selling, botulin-based drug. Allergan will plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of "misbranding," in which the company's marketing led physicians to use Botox for unapproved uses. The unapproved ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/02/allergan-to-pay-600-million-over-unapproved-botox-uses/ People began discussing troubles they were having with their Avandia prescriptions at online message boards and through blog comments as early as 2003, but were largely ignored by physicians and regulators. According to a report from Wool Labs, an online business intelligence firm, patients with Congestive Heart Failure first began asking ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/02/avandia-dangers-discussed-online-as-early-as-2003/ Abbott Laboratories has recalled bottles of two contact lens solutions in parts of Europe and the Middle East because of poor-fitting caps that could compromise the products' sterility. The products at issue are called Complete Multi-Purpose Solution and Total Care (1) Contact Lens Solution. The issue is related to a potential leak ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/09/01/abbott-labs-recalls-contact-lens-solutions-due-to-sterility-hazard/ Thousands of American soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder have received Seroquel, a potent anti-pyschotic. Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. Seroquel is one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/08/31/seroquel-use-questioned-in-death-of-vets/ The Food and Drug Administration says it is limiting the use of clinical trials which only aim to prove a new prescription drug is no worse than an already-approved drug. When you consider some of the drugs that have been approved and the damage they've done, it's alarming to think other ... http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2010/08/31/fda-limiting-use-of-clinical-trials-proving-drug-is-no-worse-than-another/