Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Maine Law Restricts Agents’ Cross-Selling of Insurance Products
Apr 20 2007 // Prompted by complaints from Maine consumers, the Legislature has enacted a law to prohibit insurance agents who schedule appointments to discuss Medicare from trying to interest people in other policies. Gov. John Baldacci...
Time Runs Out for Investors’ Securities Class Action Against Merck
Apr 16 2007 // A federal judge in New Jersey has dismissed a securities class action lawsuit brought against Merck & Co. by investors over its one-time blockbuster drug Vioxx because the statute of limitations has run out. Investors...
Mass. extends deadline for residents to buy health coverage
Apr 9 2007 // The board that oversees Massachusetts’ landmark health insurance law voted last month to delay key elements of the plan by a year and a half to give residents and businesses a chance to ramp up their health care...
News Currents
Apr 9 2007 // Mass. extends deadline for residents to buy health coverage The board that oversees Massachusetts’ landmark health insurance law voted last month to delay key elements of the plan by a year and a half to give...
Ark. Man Claims He Was Fired For Not Attending Church
Apr 2 2007 // A Benton County, Ark., man has sued his former employer, claiming that he was fired for not attending a specific church as ordered by his boss. Clifford D. Randel filed the lawsuit in Benton County Circuit Court against...
Class Action Filed Against Manufacturer Over Tainted Pet Food
Mar 28 2007 // Lauri Osborne of Plymouth, Conn. feared the worst when she learned of the national pet food recall. One of her cats had already died from kidney failure and two became seriously ill. All three of the Plymouth woman’s...
Mass. Extends Deadline for Key Health Care Plan Requirement
Mar 22 2007 // The board that oversees Massachusetts’ landmark health insurance law voted this week to delay key elements of the plan by a year and a half to give residents and businesses a chance to ramp up their health care...
Merck Fights Vioxx Class Action Suit Brought by Insurers
Mar 21 2007 // Health insurers and union health plans nationwide should not be allowed to sue Merck & Co. jointly to recover money they paid for Vioxx prescriptions, a lawyer for the drug maker argued this week in opposing a lawsuit...
Health Proposals Would Reduce Uninsured and Costs, Analysis Finds
Mar 20 2007 // Many current Congressional health care proposals could significantly reduce the number of uninsured Americans and also decrease overall health care expenditures including those for insurance administration and prescription...
N.J. Jury Awards $47.5 Million in Vioxx Heart Attack Retrial
Mar 15 2007 // Merck & Co.’s painkiller Vioxx contributed to an Idaho postal worker’s heart attack, a jury in Atlantic City has ruled, reversing the verdict in the man’s first trial and hitting Merck with a total...
Mass. Would Be First to Require Insurers Offer Drug Coverage
Mar 15 2007 // Massachusetts would become the first state in the nation to essentially require all insurers provide prescription drug coverage, under recommendations made Tuesday to the board overseeing the state’s landmark health...
News Currents
Mar 12 2007 // Nevada lawmakers debate policy on drug tests for injured workers Injured Nevada workers could face required drug tests to prevail in insurance disputes, under an industry-backed proposal debated by state legislators. The...
Texas Agent Association, PTA Launch Program to Fight Teen Drinking
Mar 7 2007 // The Texas PTA and the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) announced they have launched a statewide campaign designed to prevent underage drinking. According to the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Texas...
Mass. Health Insurers Agree to Offer $175 a Month Plan Under New Law
Mar 5 2007 // The average uninsured Massachusetts residents could obtain health care coverage for as little as $175 a month under the state’s insurance law, Gov. Deval Patrick announced as he released the results of negotiations...
Nevada Lawmakers Debate Policy on Drug Tests for Injured Workers
Feb 22 2007 // Injured Nevada workers could face required drug tests to prevail in insurance disputes, under an industry-backed proposal debated by state legislators. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee recently heard testimony on...
Study: Allowing Generic Biotech Drugs Could Save $70 Billion
Feb 16 2007 // Patients and health insurance providers could save at least $71 billion over 10 years if there were a regulatory mechanism that allowed for the marketing of generic biotech medicines, according to a new study. Currently...
Mass. Board Reconsiders Drug Benefit in Low Cost Plans
Feb 9 2007 // The board charged with getting insurers to come up with low-cost health care plans is considering a proposal that would allow insurers to offer plans that don’t include prescription drug coverage. The goal is to...
No Punitive Damages in Wyeth Hormone Drug Case
Feb 1 2007 // A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Wyeth will not pay punitive damages to a woman who alleged that the pharmaceutical giant’s menopause drug was responsible for her breast cancer. A jury on Monday awarded $1.5 million...
Pa. Couple Awarded $1.5 Million Against Hormone Drug Maker Wyeth
Jan 31 2007 // A couple who contended that a hormone-replacement drug caused the woman’s breast cancer was awarded $1.5 million (euro1.16 million) this week in a jury verdict in Philadelphia against drug maker Wyeth. The jury also...
California AG Reaches $8 Million Settlement with Bayer Corp.
Jan 31 2007 // California Attorney General Jerry Brown has reached an $8 million, 30-state settlement with Bayer Corp. that will resolve an enforcement action initiated because of Bayer’s failure to adequately disclose safety risks...
