FDA & Prescription Drugs

• New ADHD drug warnings from FDA

  Staff Writer | November 23, 2006 8:58 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Today many doctors are prescribing drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. In August 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued stronger warnings for these drugs, especially with regard to amphetamine-containing ADHD drugs and the possibility of sudden death or serious cardiovascular problems. The most serious change applies to amphetamine-containing...

• FDA requires new information with Coumadin

  Staff Writer | November 22, 2006 8:44 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  In October 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a new drug requirement with all new and refill prescriptions of the blood thinner warfarin (brand name Coumadin). The FDA now requires an agency-approved written Medication Guide, with important information about interactions and other dangers involved with taking Coumadin. According to a report on worstpills.org, warfarin...

• Emergency rooms plagued by drug reactions

  Staff Writer | November 13, 2006 3:38 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  According to a recent article in the Winston-Salem Journal, many ER visits each year result from bad reactions to drugs such as Coumadin (warfarin), a much-prescribed anticoagulant or bloodthinner, and others. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently conducted a surveillance program of emergency rooms....

• How Drug Companies Use And Abuse Medical Journals

  Tom Methvin | October 10, 2006 1:33 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carroll Higbee, who oversees all the Vioxx litigation in New Jersey, recently granted a new trial in a Vioxx case won by Merck in 2005. The judge reasoned that Merck had withheld evidence of three deaths from an article that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This evidence skewed the article that may have influenced thousands of physicians when...

• Schering-Plough Settles With The Federal Government

  Tom Methvin | October 04, 2006 1:35 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Schering-Plough Corp. will pay $435 million to settle the federal government's case against the drug maker arising out of the company's drug sales and marketing practices. The federal investigation also concerned the company's clinical trial programs. Schering-Plough will pay $255 million to resolve civil aspects of the previously disclosed investigation, which involves the drugs Intron and...

• Group petitions to FDA to ban some oral contraceptives

  Staff Writer | February 23, 2007 3:45 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Public Citizen, a nonprofit national public interest organization, sent a petition to the FDA earlier this month urging them to ban third generation oral contraceptives that increase the risk of blood clots (venous thrombosis) and death.The petition specifically requests the following:Public Citizen, representing more than 100,000 consumers nationwide, hereby petitions the Food and Drug...

• Rosenberg sounds off on big pharmaceuticals

  Staff Writer | January 19, 2007 10:41 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Columnist Martha Rosenburg delivered a biting, satirical article on January 2 about so-called "New Year's Resolutions for Big Pharma." The article bashes pharmaceutical companies for promoting dangerous or defective drugs to the public without concern for the possible results.

• Birmingham jury gives Merck courtroom victory

  Staff Writer | December 19, 2006 3:08 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  A plaintiff suing drug maker Merck & Co. lost his Vioxx product liability lawsuit Friday. A Birmingham jury said they did not think Merck hid information about health risks associated with using the popular arthritis drug.The 59-year-old plaintiff held Merck responsible for his heart attack in 2001, after using Vioxx.Merck pulled Vioxx from the shelves in 2004 after a study linked the drug to...

• The Risks Of Taking Fosamax Appear To Be Great

  Tom Methvin | October 17, 2006 2:06 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Last month we wrote about the mounting problems associated with the popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax. Since that time it has become most apparent that the problems are widespread. As a result, the Fosamax litigation scene will be very active. Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), a disfiguring condition that leads to the breakdown of the jawbone and loss of teeth, is clearly a most serious matter....