Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Generic Drug Firms Shielded from State Suits: Supreme Court
Jun 23 2011 // The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that generic drug companies cannot be sued under state law over allegations that they failed to provide adequate label warnings about potential side effects. By a 5-4 vote, the justices...
Washington Court: OK to Terminate Employee for Medical Marijuana Use
Jun 16 2011 // A Washington Supreme Court has ruled that it is OK for an employer to terminate an employee for violating its no drug policy, even though the employee is in compliance with the state’s medical marijuana...
Ohio BWC: 7 Workers’ Compensation Fraud Convictions in May
Jun 16 2011 // Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer announced that seven individuals were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges related to defrauding Ohio’s workers’ compensation...
North Carolina Senate Panel Drops Drug Firm Liability Shield
Jun 15 2011 // A North Carolina legislative committee has removed from a liability lawsuit measure a provision that would have given broad product protections for pharmaceutical companies. A Senate judiciary panel has deleted language...
North Carolina House Backs Liability Protections for Drug Makers
Jun 3 2011 // The North Carolina House has voted to give pharmaceutical companies sweeping product liability protections as part of a larger Republican effort to limit liability for North Carolina businesses. The proposed legislation...
$10M Awarded to Girl in Philly Drug Lawsuit
May 31 2011 // A Philadelphia jury has awarded $10 million to a 13-year-old girl after deciding that she suffered a life-threatening drug reaction a decade ago. Attorney Eric Roberson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Brianna Maya of...
North Carolina Weighs Liability Protection for Drug Makers
May 20 2011 // The North Carolina House postponed its planned vote this week on whether to make the state just the second in the country to protect pharmaceutical companies from almost all lawsuits. The legislation would grant companies...
‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Convicted in Ohio of Causing 4 Deaths
May 12 2011 // A Chicago doctor accused of running a pill mill in an Appalachian county where painkillers are a public-health scourge has been convicted in Ohio of causing the death of four patients who overdosed. Dr. Paul Volkman, 64,...
Calif. Attempts to Rein in Workers’ Comp Compound Drug Costs
May 3 2011 // California legislators are considering a bill aimed at reigning in the use of compound drugs in workers’ compensation claims. According to Assembly Bill 378, existing law provides that it is unlawful for a physician...
Fentanyl Often Prescribed in Calif. Workers’ Comp
Apr 29 2011 // A CWCI Research Spotlight Report on the use of fentanyl – the most potent Schedule II opioid – in California workers’ comp finds that More than 1 out of every 5 injured workers in California who are...
Jury in Virginia Hearing $20M Suit Against Botox Maker
Apr 26 2011 // A Fredericksburg man is suing the maker of the drug Botox for more than $20 million, claiming injections to relieve writer’s cramp in his right hand left him brain-damaged and totally disabled. A jury began hearing...
Employers Rewarded for Insuring Early Retirees Under Healthcare Reform
Mar 28 2011 // When President Barack Obama signed his healthcare overhaul into law a year ago, some U.S. companies were quick to flag — and write down — the millions of dollars they stood to lose as a result of one aspect of...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau Receives Nearly $2M from Jailed Doctor
Mar 24 2011 // Ohio workers’ compensation system regulators have received nearly $2 million from an Akron area anesthesiologist who was convicted in 2006 on 56 criminal counts of health care and insurance fraud. Dr. Jorge Martinez...
Ohio Doctor’s Office Raided in Crackdown on Drug Abuse in Comp System
Mar 18 2011 // As part of an investigation into prescription drug abuse in the state, Ohio law enforcement officials and workers’ compensation bureau investigators have conducted a raid on the offices of a doctor in the...
Report Calls Into Question Use of Addictive Narcotics in Workers’ Comp Claims
Mar 11 2011 // A relatively small percentage of medical providers are responsible for writing narcotic prescriptions in California workers’ compensation claims, according to a new report by the California Workers’...
Arkansas Supreme Court: Pharmacy Not Liable for Prescription Drug Mix
Mar 7 2011 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that a pharmacist has no duty to warn a customer about a dangerous mix of prescription medicines or to inquire about physicians who prescribe them, in a case that...
Medical Marijuana Raises Workers’ Comp, Liability Issues for Employers
Feb 21 2011 // Fifteen states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that approve medical marijuana as a medical treatment option, which has increasingly important implications in the workplace. Arizona voters recently passed...
Arkansas High Court: Pharmacy Not Liable for Prescription Drug Mix
Feb 17 2011 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that a pharmacist has no duty to warn a customer about a dangerous mix of prescription medicines or to inquire about physicians who prescribe them, in a case that...
Texas AG: Drug Maker to Pay $170M in Damages for Fraud
Feb 7 2011 // A Travis County (Texas) jury recently returned a record-setting verdict for damages against drug manufacturer Actavis Mid-Atlantic LLC, the Texas Attorney General’s office announced. The jury determined that Actavis...
Medicare Set Asides in Workers’ Compensation
Jan 24 2011 // What Agents & Brokers Need to Know One of the most important services a broker provides its customers is workers’ compensation claims review. Successful resolution and prompt closure of workers’...
