Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Riskier Drugs Tied to Faster U.S. Approval, Industry Financing
Mar 27 2008 // The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sped up the approval process for new drugs since pharmaceutical firms began to help finance it, which has increased the number of recalls and unanticipated side effects,...
It Figures
Mar 10 2008 // $41 Million A $41 million settlement has been reached between pharmacy benefits management firm Caremark Rx LLC and 29 states over charges that the company and two of its subsidiaries, Caremark LLC and CaremarkPCS LLC...
N.H. Reports Progress in Curbing Underage Drinking
Mar 3 2008 // The rate of underage drinking by high school students has decreased in New Hampshire, as well as the number of outlets selling alcohol to minors, according to a report by a nonprofit advocacy group. However, alcohol...
U.S. Judge Nixes Shareholder Suit Against Pfizer Over Failed Drug
Feb 29 2008 // A U.S. federal judge Thursday granted Pfizer Inc.’s motion to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit that alleged the company hid information and made misleading claims about a failed experimental cholesterol drug in order to...
Calif. AG Settles Antitrust Lawsuit Against Barr Pharmaceuticals
Feb 26 2008 // California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. settled an antitrust lawsuit on Monday that charged Barr Pharmaceuticals with taking $20 million for keeping off the market a cheaper, generic version of the oral...
Employers, Lawmakers Push Doctors to Adopt Electronic Prescriptions
Feb 22 2008 // Motivated by mounting medical costs, lawmakers and executives are urging doctors to embrace a seemingly simple way to save billions of dollars a year: prescribe medications online. Officials in the public and private...
Caremark to Pay $41 Million in Settlement to Washington, Other States
Feb 19 2008 // Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna announced that Washington will receive nearly $1.7 million as part of a $41 million settlement between 29 states and Caremark Rx, LLC, one of the nation’s largest...
Democrats Blast FDA Labeling Rule as Liability Shield for Drug Makers
Feb 10 2008 // Proposed rules limit when drug manufacturers can change warnings labels without FDA approval The Bush administration wants to limit the situations where drug companies can change warning labels when they know of unsafe...
Calif. High Court Rules Employers Can Fire Workers Using Medical Marijuana
Jan 28 2008 // Employers can fire workers found to have used medical marijuana even if it was legally prescribed, the California Supreme Court ruled last Thursday, dealing the state another setback in its standoff with U.S. law...
Democrats Blast FDA Labeling Rule as Product Liability Shield for Drug Makers
Jan 25 2008 // The Bush administration wants to limit the situations where drug companies can change warning labels when they know of unsafe conditions without waiting for government approval. But Democrats charge that the recent...
Supreme Court to Review $6.8M Vt. Verdict Against Drug Maker
Jan 23 2008 // A drug manufacturer won Supreme Court review last week of a $6.8 million verdict in the case of a woman whose arm had to be amputated after she was injected with one of its medications. A jury in Vermont awarded the money...
Vermont Rethinks Law Curbing Drug Firms’ Use of Prescription Data
Jan 17 2008 // A new Vermont law restricting the drug industry’s use of data on doctors’ drug prescribing habits is facing a federal lawsuit and a new round of scrutiny. The law, which was amended in the waning days of last...
S.D. Legislature Rejects Revision of Workers’ Compensation Law
Jan 14 2008 // Rejected in the Legislature Friday was an attempt to revise state workers’ compensation law so injured employees who drink or use illegal drugs on the job must prove that those things were not substantial factors in...
N.Y. Judge Rules Evidence in Celebrex Case Unreliable
Jan 11 2008 // A New York court has ruled that plaintiffs suing Pfizer Inc. over its pain medication Celebrex do not have reliable scientific evidence to prove the drug can cause heart attacks and strokes at the 200-milligram dose, the...
Squabble Over Mich. Drug Law Intensifies After Vioxx Settlement
Dec 23 2007 // More than 1,000 Michigan residents could end up getting part of a $4.85 billion national settlement if they or their loved ones took the painkiller Vioxx. But that hasn’t squelched a firestorm over the state’s...
Squabble over Mich. Drug Law Intensifies after Vioxx Settlement
Dec 17 2007 // More than 1,000 Michigan residents could end up getting part of a $4.85 billion national settlement if they or their loved ones took the painkiller Vioxx. But that hasn’t squelched a firestorm over the state’s...
Union General Offers Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Market in California
Dec 10 2007 // Union General of Concord, Calif., has an “A+” rated carrier offering coverage for facilities specializing in care and treatment of drug and alcohol abusers, including for profit and nonprofit centers and...
Pa. Judge Overturns $3 Million Award in Wyeth Prempro Drug Case
Dec 10 2007 // A woman who claimed that Wyeth’s hormone-replacement drug caused her breast cancer did not have sufficient evidence to show that the company acted negligently, said a judge in Pennsylvania who overturned a $3 million...
Police: Jailed La. Couple Had Home Torched to Get Bail Money
Dec 10 2007 // A Monroe, La., couple already jailed on drug charges now face more trouble over an alleged scheme to have someone set fire to their home so they could collect insurance money to make bail. Orrell M. “Red”...
Workers’ Compensation Prescription Drug Study: Costs Stabilizing
Dec 3 2007 // There are some signs that the workers’ compensation prescription drug share of total medical costs is leveling off – at least temporarily, according to a National Council on Compensation Insurance study updated...
