Pfizer Recalls IV Drugs That Could Kill Patients
-Fox News
06/04/2010 - Pfizer said Thursday it is recalling intravenous drugs with floating matter in them, warning they could potentially kill weakened patients, after U.S. regulators warned about the worries earlier this week. More>>>

"Shocking" Conditions At Tylenol Plant
-CNN
05/14/2010 - The quality and safety violations that led to the shut down of a Tylenol plant were extremely serious, and could lead to tough action by regulators on drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.. More>>>

Tylenol Maker Scrambles To Fix Quality Problem
-CNN
05/05/2010 - The maker of several over-the-counter drugs, including Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl, said Monday that it is taking "corrective actions" at its U.S. plant after some 40 children's versions of those drugs were recalled for quality concerns. More>>>

Avandia Trial in Trouble
-PharmExec
04/21/2010 - GSK’s Avandia just won’t stay out of the news. Now comes a report from The Wall Street Journal that the FDA is considering dealing the beleaguered diabetes drug another blow by stopping one of its safety trials. The TIDE trial, which received approval in 2007, pits Avandia (rosiglitazone) against Takeda’s Actos (pioglitazone), a drug that as yet hasn’t suffered from the same safety pitfalls. More>>>

Lexus to Recall S.U.V. in Another Black Mark to Reputation
-The New York Times
04/21/2010 - Toyota has added another model to its long list of recalls, just hours after agreeing to pay the largest fine ever imposed by the government against an automaker. Toyota said that it would recall the Lexus GX 460 and the Land Cruiser Prado, which is sold abroad, to fix a problem with its stability control system that was first disclosed last week by Consumer Reports magazine. The recall covers 34,000 vehicles worldwide — of which 9,400 units are in the United States, Toyota said Tuesday from its Japanese headquarters. More>>>

Last defendant in long-running Accutane suit settles
-Madison Record
04/21/2010 - A nearly seven-year old suit over an acne medication is over. The last defendant in a Madison County product liability-medical malpractice case involving Accutane settled as it was set to go to trial on Monday. Plaintiff Jason Peipert had alleged that the acne medication caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease when he was prescribed it in the late 1990s. More>>>

Accutane acne drug dangerous for your health?
-Natural News
04/20/2010 - Accutane, an anti-acne drug manufactured by Roche, is in the spotlight once again for causing a New Jersey man to have to get his colon removed. Following a lawsuit filed against Roche, alleging that Accutane gave him a severe inflammatory bowel disorder, the man was awarded a $25 million verdict. More>>>

Avandia testing faces new questions
- Philadelphia Inquirer
04/20/2010 - U.S. regulators are reviewing the safety of GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s Avandia diabetes drug as they weigh whether to suspend a trial testing the medicine, Bloomberg News reported. The Food and Drug Administration is reassessing a study comparing Avandia with a rival medicine from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., and whether it is ethical to pursue the research after studies tied the Glaxo drug to an increased heart attack risk, according to a letter from FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, dated March 30, the news service said. More>>>

Toyota Agrees to Pay $16.4 Million Fine
-Daily Finance
04/20/2010 - It was perhaps a no-brainer that Toyota Motor (TM) agreed to pay the federal government's record $16.4 million fine for failing to disclose sooner that it knew there were problems with gas pedals in some of its vehicles. Faced with billions of dollars in losses related to numerous safety-recall campaigns, the civil penalty -- the maximum imposable -- by comparison is a pittance. More>>>

State Farm Goes After Toyota To Pay For Acceleration Lawsuits
- U.S. Money Talk
04/19/2010 - Toyota still has not recovered from its recall of 5 million cars. A number of consumers have filed lawsuits against the Japanese auto-maker. The lawsuits attempt to recover medical costs or losses that resulted from problems with sticky accelerator pedals. Toyota admitted to the problems and has fixed many of the pedals from the floor mats. More>>>

Birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin concerns bring lawsuits but few solid answers
-LA Times
04/19/2010 - Yaz and Yasmin complaints focus on the synthetic progestin, drospirenone. Studies have not found an increased risk with these pills, though. When the oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz came on the market in 2001 and 2006, respectively, they were thought to be safer than other birth control pills because they contained a different kind of synthetic progestin. But in a flurry of lawsuits against the pills' maker, Bayer HealthCare, attorneys claim that the progestin contained in the pills, drospirenone, is the cause of health problems, including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the deep veins), strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease. More>>>

Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax Found to CAUSE Leg Fractures
-Foodconsumer
04/19/2010 - “The case reports first surfaced about two years ago -- orthopedists reported that women taking osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates to prevent broken bones were showing up with rare and serious fractures of their thighbones,” The New York Times reports. More>>>

FDA Weighs Halting Avandia Safety Study
-The Wall Street Journal
04/19/2010 - The Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to halt a safety study involving thousands of patients taking GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Avandia diabetes drug, a decision that could also determine whether the drug stays on the U.S. market. Studies during the past three years have tied the medicine to an increased risk of heart attacks. More>>>

Toyota testing all of its SUVs in wake of Consumer Reports' warning
- Los Angeles Times
04/16/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that it had begun testing its entire lineup of SUVs after Consumer Reports magazine warned Lexus GX 460 owners that the vehicle could be prone to rolling over. Engineers in Japan, where Toyota is based, will study all of its sport utility vehicles on test tracks there, the company said. In addition to Lexus SUVs, Toyota will be checking the stability-control system for models such as the 4Runner and the Highlander. More>>>

Toyota delayed Venza recall in U.S. for six weeks, records show
- Los Angeles Times
04/16/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. recalled its Venza in Canada late last year because of floor mats that could entrap the gas pedal, but it did not launch a similar recall in the U.S. until six weeks later, records show. The delay has caught the attention of federal regulators, who last week fined Toyota a record $16.4 million for failing to promptly recall 2.3 million vehicles to correct problems that could lead to sudden acceleration. More>>>

Class action alleges antibiotic causes tendon damage
-Southeast Texas Record
04/16/2010 - An antibiotic sold since 1997 is the subject of a proposed class action that argues the drug causes a higher incidence of tendon injuries. Levaquin, a broad spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic, is marketed as a first-line therapy for common bronchitis and sinusitis infections. It is also approved for the use in treatment of various upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, prostatitis and other bacterial infections. More>>>

Hospira Issues Second Drug Recall in 6 Months on FDA Warning
-Bloomberg
04/16/2010 - Hospira Inc. recalled two drugs for the second time in six months because of manufacturing defects that prompted an April 12 warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Dan Rosenberg, a company spokesman. The drugs -- Propofol, an anesthetic agent, and Liposyn, an intravenous nutritional product -- were recalled on April 1, Rosenberg said. The company told the FDA the products had been contaminated by particulates during the manufacturing process, he said. The drugs are sold to hospitals and doctors. More>>>

Toyota drivers report issues after repair of gas pedal
- USA Today
04/15/2010 - At least 131 Toyota owners report experiencing unintended acceleration after their recalled vehicles were repaired at dealerships, a USA TODAY review of federal records shows. Daily complaints — from three on Monday to 11 on March 5 — to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration come as Toyota continues to contend mechanical, and not electronics, issues are to blame. More>>>

Hylla Holds Final Pretrial Hearing In Accutane Suit
- Madison County Record
04/15/2010 - Madison County Circuit Judge David Hylla held what is likely to be the last pre-trial conference in a medical malpractice suit involving the acne medication Accutane. Hylla settled motions in limine filed by defendant Dr. Daniel Goran and testimony objections raised by his team and attorneys for plaintiff Jason Peipert at the Wednesday hearing. More>>>

Study Sees a Slant in Articles on Drug
-New York Times
04/15/2010 - A new analysis of reviews and articles about the controversial diabetes drug Avandia has found that experts who were paid by its manufacturer have been significantly more likely than others to draw positive conclusions about the drug’s safety and efficacy. More>>>

Yaz revises ad campaign amidst lawsuits
-WISH
04/14/2010 - In the wake of mounting lawsuits, Bayer Pharmaceuticals is issuing new warnings regarding its contraceptives called Yaz and Yasmin. The two birth control pills make big bucks for Bayer. The pharmaceutical giant racked up $1.3 billion from the drugs in the first three quarters of 2009 alone. More>>>

Lexus Stops Selling S.U.V. That Was Called Unsafe
-The New York Times
04/13/2010 - Toyota quickly suspended sales of its 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport utility vehicle on Tuesday after Consumer Reports magazine warned buyers that the model had a dangerous handling problem that could lead to a rollover and possibly “serious injury or death.” More>>>

Toyota Delayed a U.S. Recall, Documents Show
-New York Times
04/12/2010 - The sense of frustration — and urgency — in the e-mail message was palpable. “I hate to break this to you,” a Toyota executive wrote, “but we have a tendency for mechanical failure in accelerator pedals of a certain manufacturer on certain models.” The message continued: “The time to hide on this one is over. We need to come clean.” The message was written in January by Irving A. Miller, then a group vice president for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., to another Toyota staff member. More>>>

Does Isotretinoin Cause Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
-About.com
04/12/2010 - With a new study citing a link between isotretinoin use and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and a recent lawsuit award of $25 million to a patient who developed IBD after using Accutane, it seems only natural that isotretinoin users would be a bit nervous. More>>>

Bayer HealthCare to Put Safety Labels on Birth Control Pills
-Top News
04/12/2010 - Bayer HealthCare announced on Friday its recent move of labeling its contraceptive pills Yaz and Yasmin with added information on the risks of blood clots, aiming to avoid controversies and raise transparency. The company has taken the step forward in the direction under the recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration, following the trend like other oral contraceptives. More>>>

Calgarians join class action $15M lawsuit against Yaz and Yasmin birth control
- Calgary Herald
04/12/2010 - Eight months after Chloe Papparis began taking a birth control pill for acne, she almost died from severe side-effects, she says. The teen started suffering from a bad migraine headache and frequent bouts of vomiting last August. Her family doctor thought it might be swine flu. Six days later, however, Papparis was rushed to Foothills Hospital. Doctors told her she was 24 hours from dying. "When I was in ER, the doctor by fluke said to give me a CT scan. They found five blood clots on my brain," Papparis, now 18, said Thursday. More>>>

Families sue Yamaha for girls' deaths
-Desoto Times Tribune
04/01/2010 - Two sets of DeSoto County parents want to make Yamaha pay for the deaths of their children. Melissa and Richard Lee Bates of Southaven and Aundria and Thomas Dilworth of Olive Branch on Wednesday joined hundreds of other people across the country suing Yamaha for wrongful injury or death. More>>>

Avandia and the Heart: A Reminder That Drugs Can Harm
-The Huffington Post
03/31/2010 - Diabetes is particularly detrimental to the heart, and heart problems are the eventual cause of death for most patients with diabetes. Given this, it is extremely worrisome that Avandia, a drug marketed to treat diabetes, has been found to harm the heart. More>>>

Rocket Scientists Brought In To Investigate Runaway Toyotas
-Technorati
03/31/2010 - We were just mentioning that Toyota's "sudden unintended acceleration" problems are helping to bring the criticality of embedded systems to the general public's attention. Well, now NASA is going to dig its spacey claws into the controversy. The federal inquiry into the cause of the acceleration issues that led to the recall of more than eight million cars worldwide has found the matter so flummoxing that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked NASA scientists to help out with the investigation. More>>>

Orange suit alleges Digitek contained double dose of active ingredient
-Southeast Texas Record
03/30/2010 - An Orange man is suing Mylan Pharmaceutical alleging the prescription drug Digitek has exacerbated his pre-existing heart condition. In his suit, filed March 15 in Orange County District Court, Walter Johnson asserts his Digitek prescription contained a double dose of the active ingredient. More>>>

Toyotas Acceleration Issue Due to Electronics, Experts Say
-BIN
03/30/2010 - After recalling over 8 million vehicles worldwide, Toyota Motor Corp. has been on a PR campaign to repair its reputation as well as repair mechanical issues related to sudden acceleration in its vehicles. But a panel of electrical engineers say that the issue lies in electronics, not mechanical parts, and that Toyota is taking the wrong approach in its investigations, according to a March 23 news conference in Washington. More>>>

Two defendants settle in Accutane case
- St. Clair Record
03/29/2010 - The makers of an acne drug have settled a seven year-old lawsuit brought by a man who claims their product caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease. Defendants Roche Laboratories Inc. and Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. entered mediation with plaintiff Jason Peipert and settled his case against them on March 24. More>>>

Pharma and New York Times are “Puzzled” by Bone Drug Fractures–But Patients Aren’t
-Alert Net
03/29/2010 - “I broke the left femur (shattered it 2 times in 2006 and 2007),” while on Fosamax writes a 72-year-old patient this week on askapatient.com. “I now walk with a walker and the Dr. says it can never be repaired.” “I twisted my left leg while shopping & broke left femur in two places, requiring surgery, pins and a rod,” wrote a 61-year-old patient on the site after taking Fosamax for 13 years. “Then in 2/08 I jarred same side foot coming off a step & developed a stress fracture that won’t heal. I now have a stress fracture on the right side femur after walking on the beach.” More>>>

Toyota’s Prius plague persists
-Nowt News
03/29/2010 - In a Thursday memo to their North American dealers and factory authorized service centers, Japanese Toyota officials agreed to complete accelerator replacements for Prius customers who complain of persistent problems even after qualified mechanics perform the standard recall adjustments. Nationwide, well over 100 Prius owners have reported “unintended acceleration” incidents after certified maintenance personnel completed recall adjustments intended to prevent sudden and uncontrolled acceleration. More>>>

Hernia patch suits head to court Monday
-The Providence Journal
03/29/2010 - The first of more than 3,000 lawsuits accusing a Cranston company of manufacturing and marketing faulty hernia repair patches will head to trial Monday in U.S. District Court. More>>>

Massive Legal Battle Shaping Up Against Toyota
-Voice Of America
03/26/2010 - A panel of federal judges in San Diego, California is expected to rule on whether to consolidate a large number of lawsuits filed nationwide against Toyota. Toyota has been inundated with lawsuits due to safety concerns that have led to the recall of more than eight-and-a-half million vehicles worldwide. Federal judges in California will hear arguments on whether to consolidate more than one hundred lawsuits claiming Toyota is responsible for economic losses suffered by Toyota owners. More>>>

Timeline: Toyota warned of floormat risk since 2007
-Reuters
03/25/2010 - Before launching a full-blown recall in November 2009 to fix the pedal, Toyota had warned dealers in 2007 -- and again in 2008 -- of the risk floormats could jam accelerators open and cause accidents on a broad range of its Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Following are several notices Toyota had issued to its U.S. dealers concerning the issue more than two years before the safety problem became widely publicized, and a series of other events in the run-up to Toyota's recall crisis. More>>>

Is Avandia Harmful for The Heart?
-HSJ
03/25/2010 -Avandia is a diabetes drug that is usually given to senior citizens. It helps control blood sugar levels by making the cells of the body more sensitive to the action of insulin. Avandia is for people with Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. It is sometimes used in combination with other medications, but it is not for treating Type 1 diabetes. 
However, there are recent studies that Avandia is harmful for the heart, and increases the chances of getting a heart attack. More>>>

U.S. lawyers seek consolidation of Toyota suits
-Reuters
03/25/2010 - Lawyers suing Toyota across the United States over cars that have raced out of control lobbied a special judicial panel on Thursday to merge the scores of cases and assign them to one or two courthouses for pretrial proceedings. More>>>

The Truth about Gardasil? It’s Destroying our Girls.
-Age of Autism
03/25/2010 - Back in 1999, the only vaccine on the market for Rotavirus—trade name Rotashield—was recalled by the FDA due to the high risk of intussusception. This recall took place during a very different time in the history of the U.S. vaccine program, when parental confidence in vaccines, at 93%, was extremely high. As I mentioned in my last post, the vaccine program today is a “tinderbox” with a 700% increase in parental concerns about vaccines in the last seven years alone. A full 56% of parents and 60% of moms are concerned about the adverse effects from vaccines. Enter Gardasil, a vaccine that may well be injuring teenage girls at a rate far higher than anything Rotashield ever attained. More>>>

Woman files lawsuit against Bayer for Yasmin health affects.
-Justice News Flash
03/23/2010 - Bayer Pharmaceuticals is facing a lawsuit that contends the drug maker knowingly sold birth control pills that were risky, which led to the plaintiff’s organ failure as a result of taking the pregnancy-preventative drug. The lawsuit was filed in the San Mateo Superior Court, by the plaintiff, Louise Thanos, of Montara, as reported by the San Jose Mercury News. More>>>

Durom Cup fails to adhere to bone, suit alleges
-Southeast Texas Record
03/23/2010 - Plano resident Victor Barakat received a left total hip replacement using a Durom Cup, an implantable orthopedic reconstructive device. Claiming he endured almost three years of pain with symptoms of a loose implant, Barakat underwent a revision surgery in April 2009 to remove and replace the Durom Cup because it had failed to properly bond to the bone. More>>>

Man sues Yamaha Motor Corporation for injuries
-West Virgina Record
03/23/2010 - A Charleston man who claims Yamaha Motor Corporation failed to consider facts and circumstances surrounding the safety of one of its vehicles, is suing after he was injured. Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America and Yamaha Motor Co. LTD were also named in the suit. Christopher Seabolt purchased a Rhino off-road vehicle in May 2008, according to a complaint filed March 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court. More>>>

Take bisphosphonates, break a leg?
Though two reports contend a connection exists between taking the drugs over a long period of time and getting these fractures, the FDA says so such connection exists.
-LA Times
03/22/2010 - Long-term use of osteoporosis drugs seems to change bones in a way that could lead to unusual leg fractures, according to two reports presented earlier this month at a meeting of orthopedic surgeons. Doctors have reported seeing the unusual fractures in some patients on bisphosphonate drugs such as Fosamax. More>>>

Saudi Arabia suspends Glaxo diabetes drug Avandia
-Reuters
03/22/2010 - Saudi Arabia has suspended GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) diabetes drug Avandia for six months, arguing that potential heart risks outweigh its benefits. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) was the first healthcare regulator to take such action. Its decision means detailing and advertising of Avandia is banned and patients on Avandia will be referred to their doctor for consultation. More>>>

NHTSA alerted firm over floor mat problems
- Japan Times
03/22/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. kept the scope of a 2007 recall concerning trapped gas pedals to a minimum, even after U.S. authorities warned the automaker that the problem could affect more vehicles, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials said Friday. More>>>

Fixodent and Super Poligrip Denture Cream Lawsuits Move Closer to Trial
-1888 Press Release
03/22/2010 - On March 31, 2010 attorneys involved in Super Poligrip/Fixodent Denture Cream litigation will appear before Judge Sandra Moss, in Philadelphia to discuss discovery issues to move the cases closer to trial On February 18, 2010, Glaxo "GSK" announced that it would stop manufacturing, marketing and advertising Super PoliGrip denture cream products containing zinc. Procter & Gamble, "PG", which manufactures Fixodent has not followed suit. More>>>

About 1,100 Birth Control Lawsuits Over Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Filed
-Oromo Index
03/19/2010 - The number of birth control lawsuits over Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella filed against Bayer Health Care has risen to about 1,100 cases, according to an annual report released by the drug maker, and the number will likely continue rising rapidly over the next year as thousands of other women are considering claims for serious injuries that may have been caused by side effects of the birth control pills. More>>>

Toyota resisted findings in '07 on potential dangers
- Seattle Times
03/19/2010 - As congressional investigators learned last month, Toyota Motor lobbyists claimed last year to have saved the company $100 million by fending off a 2007 federal investigation into unintended acceleration. Toyota and agency officials dismissed the claim as an idle boast. But a closer look at the 2007 investigation, revealed in agency records and internal Toyota e-mails, shows that after federal investigators at the time diagnosed a number of potential dangers in Toyota cars and trucks, the automaker resisted the findings and in the end escaped a broad recall that could have cost millions of dollars. More>>>

Are Toyota electronic flaws with stalling related to sudden acceleration?
-Examiner
03/19/2010 - According to Reuters, Toyota Motor Corp has told U.S. safety regulators via a letter that it is considering how to fix nearly 1.2 million Corolla and Matrix models at risk of stalling out because of flaws in an electronic system. Note the words, “electronic system.” Be apprised, this admittance by Toyota is no public claim at all that it is also related to sudden acceleration. The early-stage investigation relates primarily to vehicles stalling. However, read the words carefully, and judge for yourself if there might be a possible connection. More>>>

Many Avandia defenders have drug co. ties –study
-Reuters
03/19/2010 - Virtually all of the experts who wrote favorably about GlaxoSmithKline Plc's troubled diabetes drug Avandia had financial ties to drug makers, a finding that shows the need for reform of such relationships, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. More>>>

The Time To File A Paxil Birth Defect Claim Is Running Out
-1888PressRelease
03/18/2010 - It appears that the time to seek compensation for birth defects allegedly caused by exposure to the antidepressant Paxil during pregnancy is running out. Court records indicate many cases have been resolved and have been removed from the docket. Parents who took Paxil during pregnancy and gave birth to a child with a congenital heart defect should act quickly to determine whether they my file a claim on behalf of their child. More>>>

Montara woman sues drug company over birth control pills
-Mercury News
03/18/2010 - A Montara woman has filed a lawsuit against Bayer Pharmaceuticals asserting it sold birth control pills that it knew were risky and that she suffered organ failure as a result of taking them. Louise Thanos took Yasmin birth control pills, which are also called Yaz, from November 2007 to November 2009, but in March 2008 she had major health problems, including gallbladder failure, the lawsuit filed in San Mateo County Superior Court says. More>>>

Toyota faces racketeering claims in consumer suits
-Reuters
03/17/2010 - Lawyers seeking civil damages against Toyota Motor Corp on behalf of U.S. consumers for diminished resale value of recalled vehicles are broadening their cases to add racketeering claims against the automaker. Using federal racketeering laws to amend the consumer class-action complaints, which have grown in number to more than 80 suits in at least 40 states, exposes Toyota to much greater potential liability. More>>>

Lawsuits claim two denture creams are making people ill
-Plain Dealer
03/16/2010 - Go through life and you can't help but worry about your health -- about prescription drugs and their side effects, about finding a lump, about an aneurysm doing you in. But your denture cream crippling you? Add that to the list. Hundreds of people across the United States have developed serious health problems that researchers have tied to zinc in denture adhesives. More>>>

UBS Says Avandia lawsuits pose up to $6B risk to GS
-Ennislaw
03/15/2010 - The UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) reported publicly last week that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC could end up liable for more than $6 billion in settlements and compensation for serious health complications caused by the company’s popular diabetes treatment medication Avandia. The type-2 diabetes prescription drug has been linked with severe heart problems, including heart attacks. More>>>

Leading Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax Could Make Your Condition Worse...
-The Healthier Life
03/15/2010 - The drug Fosamax is used to treat osteoporosis and osteopenia. It is supposed to strengthen bones to offset bone-weakening problems... but ironically, it turns out that it may actually be weakening them even more! Merck, just can’t get away from bad press – or bad medicine for that matter. More>>>

Lawsuit against Yasmin/Yaz birth control pill filed by Canadian women
-Top News NZ
03/15/2010 - Bayer's popular oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin have a number of lawsuits being filed against them by a group of Canadian women. These women have alleged that the warnings on the pills were not adequate as there were cases of stroke and other health problems being faced by women. More>>>

Toyota was asked in 2007 to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration
-LA Times
03/15/2010 - Federal regulators in 2007 asked Toyota Motor Corp. to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration in its vehicles after receiving complaints that vehicles could race out of control, company documents show. Yet the automaker began installing the safety feature, known as brake override, only this January after a widely publicized accident involving a runaway Lexus ES that killed four people near San Diego. More>>>

B.C. residents sue maker of quit-smoking drug
-CBC
03/12/2010 - Three British Columbia residents are suing Pfizer, alleging the drug company's quit-smoking product Champix can cause serious psychiatric reactions. Plaintiff Alicia Pickering, 34, said she was a normal, healthy woman until she started taking Champix to kick her smoking habit. Within days of starting the drug, the married mother of two experienced a dramatic change in personality and was consumed with thoughts of dying, she said. More>>>

Toyota faces a growing number of probes in U.S.
-LA Times
03/12/2010 - As if Toyota Motor Corp. hasn't had enough trouble, the automaker is now facing a new set of interrogators: federal and local law enforcement officials. The FBI, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission -- and even the Los Angeles city attorney -- are all conducting probes into the Japanese automaker. That's on top of investigations from federal regulators, Congress and the news media over Toyota's sudden-acceleration problems. More>>>

Oral Bisphosphonates: Ongoing Safety Review of Atypical Subtrochanteric Femur Fractures
-FDA
03/11/2010 - FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that at this point, the data that FDA has reviewed have not shown a clear connection between bisphosphonate use and a risk of atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures. FDA is working with outside experts, including members of the recently convened American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Subtrochanteric Femoral Fracture Task Force, to gather more information and evaluate the issue further. More>>>

Toyota could face criminal charges related to safety recalls
- USA Today
03/11/2010 - Congressional probes, mushrooming lawsuits and a federal probe into reporting of acceleration defects have raised the risk of criminal charges for Toyota. The legal stakes are high for Toyota, because it is the first automaker embroiled in major safety issues since tough new criminal penalties became law after 2000's rollover recalls involving Ford Explorers and Firestone tires. The Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act for the first time made individuals who intentionally mislead federal regulators about safety defects subject to possible criminal fines and/or prison. More>>>

Bayer Accused in Canadian Lawsuit of Hiding Yaz Risks
-Bloomberg
03/11/2010 - Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, was accused in a lawsuit of ignoring health risks of the contraceptive Yaz and advertising the drug as safe to boost sales. The Yasmin family of birth-control pills, known as Yaz and Yasmin, carries a four times increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism compared with other contraceptives, according to the suit, filed today in St. Catharines, Ontario, by two women. They seek class-action, or group, status to represent all women who used the drugs. More>>>

Long-term use of popular osteoporosis drug may harm bone
-LA Times
03/11/2010 - Medications called bisphosphonates are standard tools for the treatment of osteoporosis. They include Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel and Reclast. But new data released Wednesday raise some concern about whether the drugs are safe for long-term use. More>>>

Hundreds of Lawsuits Claim Paxil Causes Birth Defects
-ParentDish
03/11/2010 - The makers of the antidepressant drug Paxil are facing an increasing number of lawsuits alleging the medication causes birth defects, and one family has already won a settlement of $2.5 million, online investigative news site The Public Record reports. More>>>

Fosamax Scare: Those With Osteopenia Gauge Risk
FDA to Look for Link Between Femur Fractures and Bone-Loss Drugs
-ABC News
03/10/2010 - Twice doctors have prescribed medications for Jeanette McLearen with great certainty, only to second-guess the outcomes. After taking hormone replacement for 15 years, the Warren, Mich., retiree was diagnosed with breast cancer. And now, after seven years of taking the controversial drug Fosamax, she is terrified of bone fractures. Just this week ABC's Dr. Richard Besser reported that Fosamax, one of a class of bisphosphonates used to treat osteoporosis that is supposed to make bones stronger, may actually weaken them after long-term use. More>>>

Toyota Complaints Surged After First Recall
-The Wall Street Journal
03/10/2010 - Public records at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show complaints about speed-control problems with Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles have surged since the Japanese car maker announced in September it would recall millions of vehicles to fix floor mats that can pin the gas pedal in an open position. More>>>

Runaway Prius Round-Up: Latest Incidents Raise New Questions
-MotorTrend
03/10/2010 - If you haven't heard already, a Toyota Prius reportedly accelerated out of control on a San Diego freeway Monday morning, but the event ended safely thanks to help from the California Highway Patrol. Today, another Prius accelerated out of control in New York state and crashed into a stone wall, but the driver's injuries were not life-threatening. The cause of these events has not yet been determined. More>>>

Osteoporosis Drugs, Like Fosamax May Increase Risk of Broken Bones in Some Women
Long-term Use of Popular Class of Osteoporosis Drugs May Have Opposite Effect for Some Women, Experts Say
-ABC News
03/09/2010 - Sandy Potter, 59, of Queens, N.Y., was jumping rope with neighborhood children when she felt her thigh bone snap. "I went up in the air and I came straight down to the ground," Potter said. "The pain was excruciating." Potter, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 48, had been taking the popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax for eight years before breaking her femur. Fosamax, one in a class of drugs called bisphosphonates, is supposed to make bones stronger, and for many women, it is safe and effective. But now there's mounting evidence that, for some women, taking these medications for more than five years could cause spontaneous fractures. More>>>

Woman's Death Blamed on Psoriasis Drug Raptiva
-Courthouse News Service
03/09/2010 - The psoriasis drug Raptiva killed a woman by giving her viral encephalitis, her mother and son claim in Superior Court. Raptiva was pulled from the U.S. market on June 8, 2009 after dangerous side effects and deaths from infections were reported across Europe, Canada and the United States. More>>>

Toyota to Expand Prius Recall
-Daily Finance
03/09/2010 - A day after a highly publicized acceleration incident involving a Prius hybrid sedan in California, Toyota Motor (TM) said Tuesday 2004-09 Prius models will be subject to a future recall to keep floor mats from pinning down accelerator pedals, according to The Wall Street Journal. More>>>

Little Women With Big Voices Expose HPV Vaccine Gardasil Dangers
-PR Newswire
03/09/2010 - Called the "Little Women," six women who have spent the past three years listening, documenting and researching parental concerns about Gardasil have been invited to formally present their information to the FDA on March 12. FDA participants include the Office of Communication, Outreach and Development/Center of Biologics (CBER), Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Office of Vaccines Research and Review. More>>>

Rosiglitazone - A lifesaver or killer drug?
-DNA
03/08/2010 - With its alarming rise and high number of diabetes cases, India is called the diabetes capital of the world — the sugar disease is emerging as an enormous health problem in the country. Various studies have shown that the high incidence of diabetes in India is mainly because of sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity, obesity, stress and consumption of diets rich in fat, sugar and calories. Among the various drugs used to treat the disease, one of it is Rosiglitazone, which is used to treat type II diabetes. However, lately there has been some dispute over the effectiveness of the medicine and its side effects. More>>>

Holland Township crash triggers lawsuit against Toyota based on claim of sudden acceleration
-MLive
03/08/2010 - The lives of Mary Leonard and Charles Herrell intersected 18 months ago, in a chance 65 mph meeting that altered both their courses forever. Herrell, once an active 65-year-old retiree, now ambles around the house and requires daily care from his wife for debilitating injuries — a broken pelvis, eight broken ribs, a broken leg and a punctured lung — that kept him in the hospital for nearly a month. More>>>

More FDA Corruption
-AlterNet
03/08/2010 - FDA and Avandia a diabetes drug linked to 83,000 heart attacks. The FDA’s own research showed Avandia to be associated with a significant increase in heart attack risk, and yet the FDA did nothing to protect the public. The AMA admitted Avandia was dangerous. In its journal “Among patients with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes, rosiglitazone (avandia) use for at least 12 months is associated with a significantly increase risk of myocardial infarction.” More>>>

Number Of Paxil-Related Birth Defect Cases Soar
-The Public Record
03/08/2010 - Since Paxil came on the market in 1992, there have been three separate types of failure to warn lawsuits filed against GlaxoSmithKline over Paxil; birth defects, suicide, and addiction. Roughly 150 suicide cases were settled for an average of about $2 million, and about 300 cases involving suicide attempts were settled for an average of $300,000, according to a December 14, 2009 report by Bloomberg News. Glaxo paid an average of about $50,000 each to resolve about 3,200 cases linking Paxil to addiction problems. More>>>

Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella Birth Control Controversy Surround Bayer
-24/7 Press
03/05/2010 - Controversy continues to surround Yaz and Yasmin, the most popular contraceptive pills in the country and the top-selling pharmaceuticals for Bayer HealthCare. The Food and Drug Administration recently determined advertising campaigns for the pills to be dangerously misleading because they overstate the drug's ability to improve acne and other conditions while understating the dangers posed by potential side effects. Quality control issues at a manufacturing plant that produces some of the hormones in the pills also drew the fire of the FDA, which provided Bayer with a warning letter regarding the problems. More>>>

More owners of Toyota vehicles say recall repairs aren't working
Some of the more than 60 drivers reporting incidents say sudden unintended acceleration has happened to them more than once since having modifications done at dealers.
-LA Times
03/05/2010 - More than 60 drivers have complained of sudden acceleration incidents despite the fact that their cars were repaired by Toyota Motor Corp. in the current recalls, new data released Thursday show. The latest figure, released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, significantly increases the total number of complaints involving repaired vehicles, which was less than 10 on Tuesday. More>>>

4 sue makers of Zicam
- Cincinnati Enquirer
03/05/2010 - Four Ohio residents told a Cincinnati judge Wednesday that they lost their sense of smell after using Zicam Nasal Gel to relieve their cold symptoms. The four made the accusation in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that claims the maker of Zicam, Matrixx Initiatives Inc., knew about the health risks but continued to promote and sell the product. More>>>

Toyota Owners Encounter Acceleration Problems After Recall Fix
U.S. News
03/04/2010 - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received at least seven complaints from Toyota owners who say they are experiencing unintended acceleration even after their cars have been repaired as part of Toyota’s floor mat and accelerator pedal recalls. More>>>

Toyota Sued Over San Diego Accident
-The Wall Street Journal
03/04/2010 - Relatives of a California Highway Patrol officer killed along with his family when a Lexus accelerated out of control have sued parent Toyota Motor Corp. in one of the tougher cases the Japanese car company may face.
In the wake of congressional hearings and recall notices, Toyota has taken a public-relations beating and could be vulnerable on many legal fronts. But many of the other high-profile lawsuits involving unintended acceleration filed against Toyota have circumstances that could give the company another factor to blame. More>>>

As Use of Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants Grows, Studies Raise Concerns
-New York Times
03/04/2010 - About a decade ago, just as a new generation of metal-on-metal artificial hips were starting to be used, some studies noted their potential to produce high levels of metallic ions, causing what were thought to be allergic reactions in some patients. More>>>

Medtronic-induced 'pre-emption' concept takes another hit with ruling on depression suits
-MinnPost
03/04/2010 - Thirteen people died when the 35W bridge collapsed in August of 2007. Their families filed suits against the designers, inspectors and contractors working on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and have so far received settlements from the state of Minnesota and the contractor. Other suits are scheduled for trial in 2011. Coincidentally, 13 deaths have been linked to a recalled heart device made by Medtronic. The next of kin for those deaths cannot sue the maker of that product, however, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling from 2008 that effectively prohibited lawsuits against the manufacturers of medical devices. More>>>

Toyota's fix is a bust, owners claim
New complaints allege sudden acceleration and other problems after recall work.
-LA Times
03/03/2010 - Some Toyota owners have begun complaining that their vehicles suddenly accelerated even after dealerships made repairs to fix the problem, according to reports filed with federal safety regulators. At least seven complaints, filed in the last two weeks with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, allege that after the recall service to modify pedals and replace floor mats the cars still surged out of control. More>>>

Questions raised about ongoing Avandia studies
CTV.ca
03/03/2010 - While health regulators in both Canada and the U.S. wrangle over what to do about the diabetes medication Avandia, some are raising concerns about why clinical studies are still recruiting patients to test the controversial drug. Avandia, or rosiglitazone as it's known generically, was once heavily promoted for Type 2 diabetes because it helps to lower blood-sugar levels in patients. But it has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. More>>>

Ghostbusting in Paxil Birth Defect Litigation
-Health Sentinel
03/03/2010 - A month before the first Paxil birth defect trial against GlaxoSmithKline was set to begin, the Associated Press ran the headline, "Glaxo Used Ghostwriting Program to Promote Paxil," in reporting on a program called "CASPPER," which allowed doctors to "take credit for medical journal articles mainly written by company consultants." More>>>

KV Pharmaceutical Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Two Felonies Regarding Oversized Drugs
-EarthTimes
03/03/2010 - Ethex Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based drug manufacturer, KV Pharmaceutical Company, pleaded guilty to two felonies and was sentenced today in connection with the manufacturing of oversized prescription drug tablets, the Justice Department announced today. The government had charged that, despite having knowledge that the two drugs did not meet required specifications, Ethex violated the law by intentionally withholding this information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More>>>

Toyota Maintains Recall Not Linked to Electronic Systems
-FOX News
03/02/2010 - Toyota officials continued to insist Tuesday that consumer complaints regarding unintended acceleration in their cars has nothing to do with the vehicle's electronic systems as some have suggested. More>>>

U.S. Considers Brake Override System
-The New York Times
03/02/2010 - The Obama administration may recommend that carmakers install a brake override system that is intended to prevent the sudden acceleration episodes that have led to recalls of millions of Toyotas, the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, said on Tuesday. More>>>

Bayer's Birth-Control Problem Is Exploding: 1,100 Lawsuits Allege Yaz Causes Blood Clots
-BNET
03/01/2010 - About 1,100 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer (BAY.DE) alleging its top-selling Yaz birth control pill causes potentially fatal blood clots, the company disclosed in its 2009 annual report. While it was well-known that the brand was attracting litigation — at least 129 suits were reported filed against it in November 2009 — the disclosure indicates that Bayer’s Yaz problem is far larger than previously anticipated. More>>>

Woman Says "Yaz" Caused Blood Clots
-WREG News
03/01/2010 - Vicki Parsons had a near death experience three years ago. In June of 2007, she and her husband were on vacation when she noticed a pain in her foot. Days later she was rushed to the hospital. The doctor came back with bad news. "The doctor came in there and scratched his head and I was like what's wrong. He said you have a massive blood clot in your lungs and in your leg," said Parsons. Puzzled, the doctors ran different tests. In the end, they said it was her birth control. Parsons says she started taking Yaz just three weeks before. More>>>

6 Things You Should Know About Avandia
-U.S. News
03/01/2010 - To the chagrin of many diabetics, the medication Avandia is back in the news because of its possible link to heart problems. A Senate Finance Committee report released on Saturday says that the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, knew the type 2 diabetes drug had possible harmful cardiac effects several years before a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine study initially raised concerns about Avandia. GSK, for its part, says in a press release that it rejects the report's findings, adding that the committee's conclusions on the safety of Avandia are "based on analyses that are not consistent with the rigorous scientific evidence supporting the safety of the drug." More>>>

County files lawsuit against drug giant over diabetes medication
-Mercury News
03/01/2010 - Claiming that a major drugmaker made billions of dollars on a diabetes medication that caused heart attacks and strokes, Santa Clara County on Friday filed a lawsuit charging a decade of false advertising and seeking compensation on behalf of patients and providers in California. More>>>

Data Shows Camrys Not Recalled Also Had Problems
-The New York Times
03/01/2010 - Toyota has recalled six million cars in the United States over concerns about sudden acceleration. But an analysis of government documents shows that many Toyota Camrys built before 2007, which were not subject to recalls, have been linked to a comparable number of speed-control problems as recalled Camrys. More>>>

Doctor Says Fosamax May Increase Risk Of Fractures
- clickondetroit.com
02/27/2010 - Nearly 40 million prescriptions have been written for the popular osteoporosis medication called Fosamax. It's part of a group of drugs called bisphosphonates that are supposed to make bones stronger, but now at least one doctor said there's mounting evidence that these medications could cause spontaneous fractures. More>>>

Toyoda faces critical lawmakers over safety flaws
-Reuters
02/24/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp chief Akio Toyoda said he took personal responsibility for the company's safety crisis and vowed to stay on to make sure customer complaints were taken more seriously. Toyoda, peppered with questions about the recall debacle by sometimes-hostile lawmakers, said again on Wednesday he was "deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced." More>>>

Major Medical Alert: Diabetes drug Avandia responsible for monthly heart attacks and heart failures
-Examiner
02/24/2010 - Good Morning America reported that a Senate report released on Monday shows that the Diabetes drug Avandia is responsible for 500 heart attacks and 300 heart failures monthly. But yet, the FDA has not removed the drug from the market. More>>>

GSK to face FDA meeting over Avandia safety record
-The Independent
02/24/2010 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a public meeting on the possible heart risks of GlaxoSmith-Kline's (GSK) diabetes treatment Avandia in July, the US regulator said yesterday, but it urged doctors to continue prescribing the drug until any new advice was issued. More>>>

Manhattan man sued makers of Zicam for $75 million
- New York Injury News
02/24/2010 - A man from Manhattan has sued the creators of Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel for $75 million for claims that the spray damaged his sense of smell, reported the New York Daily News. More>>>

Test: Toyota electronics go haywire, car careens out of control
-USA Today
02/23/2010 - As congressional hearings into Toyota's recalls begin today, ABC News aired a report last night that is sure to figure into the proceedings. It purports to show how an automotive mechanics instructor was able to wire a Toyota Avalon so that it would roar away on its own in a classic case of unintended acceleration. More>>>

Why We Need Trial Lawyers
-The Wall Street Journal
02/23/2010 - The alleged need for "tort reform" has become a refrain in American political life. Yet for all the demonizing of trial lawyers, the reality is that product-liability litigation has become an ever more important means of keeping consumers safe. Case in point: the current Toyota Motor Corp. recalls, with their attendant revelations of corporate obfuscation. This is only the most recent situation in which lethal defects have gone uncorrected for years at least in part because of insufficient government oversight. More>>>

Dr. Steven Nissen On Diabetic Drug, Avandia, Shown To Damage The Heart
-Vitals
02/23/2010 - Avandia, a controversial diabetes medication, was linked to 304 deaths in the third quarter of 2009 according to a confidential government report obtained by the New York Times. Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the FDA recommend that it be taken off the market. More>>>

Mother keeping up her campaign against Gardasil
- Watertown Daily
02/23/2010 - Lisa Schryver Ericzon's daughter, Jessica F., died two years ago, and Ms. Ericzon says she believes the Gardasil vaccine was the cause. Ms. Ericzon, Omar, has spent the past two years researching the vaccine and connecting with other parents, in an effort to get her concerns about the vaccine heard. More>>>

GlaxoSmithKline pulls denture adhesive, citing risk of zinc overdose
-The Denver Post
02/23/2010 - GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the maker of a denture adhesive that a Bennett woman claims caused neurological damage to her legs, has stopped manufacturing three versions of Super Poligrip that contain zinc because of "potential health risks from long-term, excessive use of the products." More>>>

Tennessee couple to testify at Toyota hearing
- Detroit News
02/22/2010 - The first witnesses at Tuesday's House hearing into Toyota Motor Corp.'s sudden acceleration woes will be a Tennessee couple who reported a serious incident in 2006. Rhonda Smith told Knoxville TV station WATE that she experienced a problem with her new Lexus ES350 in October 2006 that had less than 3,000 miles on it. More>>>

U.S. Urges Glaxo to Pull Avandia on Heart Risks
-Wall Street Journal
02/22/2010 - Confidential studies by Food and Drug Administration officials recommend that GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, a diabetes medicine, get pulled from the market because it is linked to heart attacks. The studies, released as part of a report on Avandia by staff of Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Max Baucus (D., Mont.), also say any head-to-head trial where patients get Avandia and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s diabetes medicine Actos would be "unethical and exploitative." More>>>

Criminal probe launched into Toyota's safety problems
-The Miami Herald
02/22/2010 - Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Toyota's safety troubles, the Japanese automaker confirmed Monday, as the company's leadership braces for tough questions in congressional hearings this week about its recent spate of recalls. More>>>

Paxil Birth Defect Trial - Battle of the Experts
-by Evelyn Pringle
02/22/2010 - In the first Paxil birth defect trial that resulted in a $2.5 million verdict against GlaxoSmithKline in October 2009, the infant, Lyam Kilker, was born with three heart defects; an atrial septal defect, a ventricular septal defect, and an interrupted aortic arch, after his mother took Paxil while pregnant. More>>>

Avandia (rosiglitazone): Ongoing Review of Cardiovascular Safety
-FDA Medwatch
02/22/2010 - FDA notified healthcare professional and patients that it is reviewing the primary data from a large, long-term clinical study, RECORD, on possible cardiovascular risks with the diabetes drug, Avandia (rosiglitazone). In addition to the clinical trial, a number of observational studies of the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone have been published and FDA has been reviewing these on an ongoing basis. More>>>

Remove Diabetes Drug Avandia From Market: FDA Reports
Controversial medicine Avandia raises users' heart risk, leaked documents suggest
-HealthDay News
02/20/2010 - The blockbuster type 2 diabetes drug Avandia raises users' odds for heart attack and heart failure and should be removed from the market, according to confidential government reports. The New York Times on Saturday reported on documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that find that if people now taking (rosiglitazone) Avandia switched to a similar medication, Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be eliminated each month. More>>>

Senate report links diabetes drug Avandia to heart attacks
-CNN
02/20/2010 - The diabetes drug Avandia is linked with tens of thousands of heart attacks, and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline knew of the risks for years but worked to keep them from the public, according to a Senate committee report released Saturday. More>>>

Controversial Diabetes Drug Avandia Harms Heart, U.S. Concludes
-The New York Times
02/19/2010 - Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market. The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009. More>>>

Mother of two victims of runaway Lexus crash to testify before Congress
-The San Diego Tribune
02/19/2010 - The mother of two victims of a runaway Lexus crash in Santee last year will appear before Congress Wednesday as it looks at the federal government’s response to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles. More>>>

I was left in a coma by 90mph Toyota crash TWO YEARS before safety recall
-Daily Mail
02/19/2010 - A rescuer who rushed to help the driver of a crashed Toyota Yaris found the engine 'revving to the limit'. The devastating 90mph smash happened two years before the recall of millions of Toyotas worldwide because of 'sticky' accelerators, faulty braking systems and dangerous floor mats. More>>>

The zinc in Poly-grip denture cream implicated in causing neurological damage
-Examiner
02/19/2010 - A health warning is in effect as GlaxoSmithKline are warning consumers to read the label properly before applying poly-grip denture cream. Apparently the zinc in the mixture may be linked to neurological damage. The major pharmaceutical company has received over 400 complaints of consumers having adverse effects from using the denture cream. More>>>

$100 million lawsuit blames deaths on Toyota
-The Daily News
02/18/2010 - A $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit claims a Clear Lake City couple died after their Toyota Camry’s throttle malfunctioned, causing the car to accelerate and crash into a utility pole. The lawsuit comes as Toyota conducts a recall of 6 million automobiles in the U.S. to repair sticking throttles. It is the largest recall in the automaker’s history and among the top 10 of all time. More>>>

Did Popular Birth Control Drug Cause Death?
-WREG
02/18/2010 - There are a growing number of lawsuits across the country from women claiming to have been harmed by the birth control drug, Yaz. The latest involves the death of a local college student who had been taking YAZ for six months. More>>>

Sudden bone breaks reported in patients taking Fosamax
-NBC News
02/18/2010 - You might have heard of the drug Fosamax. Nearly 40 million prescriptions have been written for the popular osteoporosis medication. It’s part of a group of drugs called bisphosphonates that are supposed to make bones stronger. But now some doctors say there’s mounting evidence that these medications could cause spontaneous breaks and fractures. "I was on my way to work, walking up the hill to catch the bus and I heard a snap. And I didn’t realize that it was my leg until I fell." More>>>

AstraZeneca Faces First Trial Over Seroquel Claims
-Bloomberg
02/18/2010 - AstraZeneca Plc didn’t hide the diabetes risks of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, Chief Executive Officer David Brennan said before the first trial over the medicine began today in New Jersey. More>>>

Toyota Woes Put Focus on Black Box
-The Wall Street Journal
02/17/2010 - Auto Maker Says Its Data Recorder May Not Help in Reconstructing Accidents The safety problems that have engulfed Toyota Motor Corp. are focusing renewed attention on one of the most controversial components in an automobile: the black box. More>>>

Accutane linked to severe skin reactions
-CBC News
02/17/2010 - Rare but potentially deadly skin reactions have been found in people using Accutane to treat severe acne, Health Canada says. The department, in consultation with the drug's manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, released the public advisory on Tuesday. "There have been very rare post-marketing reports of severe skin reactions," Health Canada said in a letter to health-care professionals. "These events may be serious in nature and can result in hospitalization, disability or death," it added in its advisory to the public. More>>>

Side Effects Include Denial
-JewishJournal
02/17/2010 - Why would Pfizer spend $100 million on two-minute TV ads that use a minute of that time admitting that their drug Chantix can cause “changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood,” “weird, unusual or strange dreams,” and “suicidal thoughts or actions”? More>>>

Roche Ordered to Pay $25 Million to Accutane User
-Bloomberg
02/16/2010 - Roche Holding AG, the Swiss drugmaker, must pay $25.16 million in damages to a former user of its Accutane drug who blamed the acne medicine for his inflammatory bowel disease, a New Jersey jury ruled. Andrew McCarrell, 38, won the verdict today at a retrial in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An appeals court ordered the new trial after overturning a $2.62 million award he won in May 2007. McCarrell, a computer technician from Birmingham, Alabama, testified he got sick after taking the drug for acne in 1995. He needed five surgeries, including one to remove his colon. More>>>

Paxil Birth Defects Litigation – First Trial A Bust For Glaxo
-Health Sentinel
02/16/2010 - GlaxoSmithKline has paid out close to $1 billion to resolve lawsuits involving Paxil since the drug came on the market in1992, according to a December 14, 2009 Bloomberg report. But the billion dollars does not cover the more than 600 Paxil birth defect cases currently pending in multi-litigation in Pennsylvania. More>>>

Diabetes Drugs Avandia, Actos Tied to Fractures in Women
-The Palm Beach Post
02/15/2010 - Women who take diabetes drugs known as thiazolidinediones, which include Avandia and Actos, are at a greater risk of bone fractures, a new study finds. Women who took a thiazolidinedione drug for a year were 50 percent more likely to suffer a bone fracture than patients who didn't take the drug, the researchers found. More>>>

Number of Toyota complaints keeps climbing
-CNN
02/15/2010 - A government agency said Monday that there has been a spike in consumer complaints about Toyota cars and trucks in recent weeks, following the carmaker's recall of millions of vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is investigating the allegations, which have yet to be verified, and that a jump in complaints isn't unusual after a recall. NHTSA said that it has received nine new complaints alleging fatal crashes caused by sudden acceleration in Toyota cars since Jan. 27. The accidents occurred between 2005 and 2010 and involved 13 fatalities and 10 injuries, according to NHTSA. More>>>

Teen Says Acne Medication Accutane Caused Disease
-WFTV News
02/15/2010 - The family of an Apopka boy is in the process of filing suit against the maker of the prescription drug, Accutane. It's a medication that treats severe acne. Accutane has been involved in hundreds of lawsuits because of its sometimes deadly side effects. One 17-year-old boy says the drug made him so sick for so long that he can't attend school. More>>>

U.S. Gets Additional Complaints of Crashes of Toyotas
-The New York Times
02/15/2010 - Federal safety regulators said on Monday that they had received complaints alleging that 34 deaths were caused by unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Since late January, when Toyota temporarily halted sales and production of eight models, saying their accelerator pedals could stick, consumers have filed reports about nine fatal crashes that they claim resulted from a Toyota accelerating out of the driver’s control. More>>>

Hydroxycut Linked To Other Cases Of Liver Damage
-Reuters
02/15/2010 - A new study strengthens evidence that the once widely advertised weight-loss supplement Hydroxycut caused serious liver damage in some users. Last May, 14 Hydroxycut products were recalled by the manufacturer, Canada-based Iovate Health Sciences, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to all consumers to stop using the supplements. The warning was based on 23 reports to the agency describing liver damage in Hydroxycut users -- ranging from inflammation to tissue death severe enough to require a liver transplant. The supplement was also linked to one death. More>>>

Toyota Units Sued for Racketeering Over Acceleration
-Bloomberg
02/12/2010 - Four Toyota Motor Corp. units were named in a racketeering lawsuit that claims the companies collaborated to sell cars they knew were unsafe. The defendants include Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., as well as units that produce Toyota’s Camry and Avalon models and handle leasing and engineering, according to a complaint filed Feb. 8 in federal court in Covington, Kentucky. More>>>

Toyota recall: Three questions left unanswered
-The Christian Science Monitor
02/12/2010 - Toyota says a brief shift in its computerized braking system caused consumer concern. But consumer complaints show a potentially deeper problem. Toyota's three-part recall could bring as many as 8 million vehicles into dealerships around the world. From slipping floor mats to sticky accelerator pedals to a fraction of a second's difference in the Prius' braking system, each of Toyota's three recalls had a theme: Drivers were losing control of their surging vehicles. More>>>

Toyota hit by another class-action suit
-CBC News
02/11/2010 - Another class action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of disgruntled Toyota car owners, this time alleging some Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles have defective braking systems.
A Saskatchewan-based firm filed the lawsuit in Alberta Wednesday and intends to file parallel suits in each province. More>>>

Indy woman speaks on birth control suit
-WISHTV
02/11/2010 -Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits have been filed in Indianapolis against Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Women across the country claim that the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin caused serious health effects. One of those women is Gina Miller, the chief financial officer at a downtown Indianapolis company. She's a wife and mother of three young children, and as if all that weren't enough to keep her busy, she also runs up to 35 miles a week. To maintain this schedule, you have to be pretty healthy, and Miller was until she began taking Yaz, a contraceptive. More>>>

Toyota faces massive legal liability
-LA Times
02/11/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive recalls for acceleration and braking problems are creating a huge legal liability for the company -- and Toyota owners may share in the pain. The Japanese automaker faces dozens of lawsuits over injuries and deaths attributed to safety problems, with many more suits expected. Lawyers and legal experts said the lawsuits could be particularly expensive for the automaker if plaintiffs prove that Toyota was aware of problems but failed to correct them. More>>>

Top-selling contraceptive Yaz stirs controversy
-The Daily Aztec
02/11/2010 - Many women have relied on contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancy for more than half a century. And in 2006, one pill claimed to be “beyond birth control,” promising to treat acne and premenstrual syndrome, thus enticing more women to choose this pill instead of others on the market. But a recently filed lawsuits and a $20 million corrective ad campaign for misleading commercials have raised questions about the safety of this pill. More>>>

Toyota Recall Cost to Exceed $2 Billion, Lawyers Say
-Bloomberg
02/10/2010 - Lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, will push the cost of recalls linked to sudden acceleration past a $2 billion company estimate for warranty payments and lost sales, customers’ lawyers say. People who purchased Toyota vehicles in the U.S. have filed at least 41 class action lawsuits against Toyota, seeking damages that range from loss of car value to a return of profits. Toyota faces at least 13 individual lawsuits claiming deaths or injuries caused by unwanted acceleration of vehicles. Customer lawyers said they’re considering filing dozens more. More>>>

Toyota hearing delayed, regulators review Corolla
-Reuters
02/10/2010 - A U.S. congressional committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday to examine recent vehicle recalls and how Toyota Motor Co and regulators responded to reports of safety problems with big-selling cars. Separately, safety regulators said they will continue their probe of brake problems with the 2010 hybrid Prius even though Toyota announced a recall and a remedy. More>>>

Toyota recalls more than 400,000 Priuses, other hybrid cars
-The Washington Post
02/09/2010 - Toyota on Tuesday announced another global recall -- this time involving more than 400,000 Priuses and other hybrid cars with braking problems -- on the same day that the U.S. Transportation Department said it is reviewing driver complaints about hard-to-handle steering on the 2009-10 Toyota Corolla. More>>>

NHTSA warned about Toyota, Lexus models in 2007
- USA Today
02/08/2010 - As Toyota grappled with reports that it was recalling its Prius hybrids in Japan and may do so in the United States, evidence continued to beg whether the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration responded quickly enough to reports of sudden acceleration in some of its other models. More>>>

Hoosier women sue Bayer over Yasmin pill
Birth control pills did serious damage, they say; maker calls products safe
-Indy Star
02/08/2010 - More than 50 women claim in lawsuits filed in Indianapolis that they suffered strokes, heart attacks or other serious health problems while taking the birth control pills Yasmin or Yaz, manufactured by Bayer Healthcare Corp. Across the nation, dozens of lawsuits have been filed in the past few months by women claiming similar health problems after taking the pills. More>>>

Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on Safety Issues
-The New York Times
02/08/2010 - Toyota’s recalls and disclosures in recent months are part of a lengthy pattern in which the automaker has often reacted slowly to safety concerns, in some instances making design changes without telling customers about problems with vehicles already on the road, an examination of its record shows. More>>>

Toyota trouble round-up: What to do now
-CNN
02/05/2010 - Problems with Toyota cars are cropping up faster than the automaker can deal with them. Following two different recalls for problems involving accelerator pedals on various models comes the revelation of braking problems in the iconic Prius. More>>>

N.J. Court Revives Accutane Suicide Suit, Reversing Exclusion of Expert Opinion
-The National Law Journal
02/05/2010 - A New Jersey suit alleging Accutane caused a 19-year-old's suicide is back on track, thanks to an appeals court ruling that gives the plaintiffs another shot at admitting expert testimony that the acne drug causes depression. More>>>

Denture cream, zinc under fire; neurological problems cited
-Louisville Courier Journal
02/05/2010 - Using denture cream might seem like an innocuous thing. But if it contains zinc, you should be mindful of possible health risks, some health-care providers say. Dr. Sharon Nations, a Texas neurologist, and colleagues have seen neurological problems in people who used large amounts of zinc-containing denture cream, such as two or more tubes a week. And similar cases have spawned lawsuits across the country, according to media reports. More>>>

Hospitals Dispute Medtronic Data on Wires
-The Wall Street Journal
02/05/2010 - Some leading hospitals are reporting failure rates for Medtronic Inc.'s fracture-prone defibrillator wires—including among young people—that are significantly higher than what the company has publicly disclosed. More>>>

U.S. Widens Toyota Probe to Electronics
-The Wall Street Journal
02/04/2010 - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood set off a scare by telling Congress that recalled Toyotas shouldn't be driven. He quickly retracted the remark but not before some owners panicked. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday his agency is widening its probe of sudden acceleration complaints in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles to look at the possibility of electromagnetic interference with electronic throttle systems, and said he wants to talk directly with company Chief Executive Akio Toyoda. More>>>

Suspected culprit in Mineral Wells woman's debilitating disorder: denture cream
-Strar-Telegram
02/04/2010 - After a year of seeing doctor after doctor, she finally found out what was causing the symptoms, but she could hardly believe what the physician was telling her. "Within five minutes of seeing him, he asked me if I wore denture cream," said Gilley, 26, who was forced to get dentures as a teenager after a genetic condition ruined her teeth. "I handed him the tube; he told me to stop using it." More>>>

Consumer Reports urges Toyota owners to remove unsafe floor mats
-Consumer Reports
02/04/2010 - While media and public attention has largely focused this week on the Toyota recall associated with sticking accelerator pedals, an earlier issue also poses a serious safety risk to consumers. Floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals, which was identified in an October 2009 Toyota recall and affects some 4.8 million cars, has been connected to several acceleration-related injuries and deaths. More>>>

Got a Toyota? Here's what you should know
Recalls mean you'll need to see your dealer, but you may need patience
-MarketWatch
02/04/2010 - Consumers worried that their Toyotas could be safety nightmares will need to make plans to get their car into a Toyota dealer at the first opportunity. But with millions of cars involved in two recalls, the fixes may require patience on the part of car owners. More>>>

AstraZeneca Facing 26,000 Lawsuits Over Seroquel
-Bloomberg
02/03/2010 - AstraZeneca Plc is facing as many as 26,000 lawsuits over its antipsychotic drug Seroquel as the drugmaker prepares for its first jury trial over claims the medicine causes diabetes, according to court filings. Attorneys for AstraZeneca, the U.K.’s second-largest drugmaker, met with plaintiffs’ lawyers in court-ordered mediation sessions last month to discuss a possible settlement of the Seroquel cases, according to court filings. Consumers’ lawyers said they had about 26,000 cases in their inventories, Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University Law School professor who served as mediator, said in the filing. More>>>

Gardasil Warnings Ignored Says Researcher
-Scoop
02/03/2010 - Julie Smith, researcher and founder of a NZ website set up specifically to give information about the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, www.offtheradar.co.nz says concerned parents have been contacting her wanting to know how they can help to have the vaccine withdrawn from NZ. After last night's Close Up on TV 1 Ms Smith says "Many more parents are making the connection to their child's sudden onset of deteriorating health since receiving the Gardasil vaccine." More>>>

Toyota's Troubles Deepen
Transportation Chief Says Probe Isn't Over; Car Maker Could Face Civil Penalty
-Wall Street Journal
02/02/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp.'s quality crisis deepened Tuesday, as U.S. regulators accused the company of dragging its feet on fixing defective gas pedals and threatened civil penalties and further reviews of Toyota products. The move means that Toyota's efforts to address its biggest-ever safety and public-relations mess are far from over. Last week, the administration indicated it had no issues with how Toyota had responded to the sudden-acceleration reports, which led the company to recall about six million vehicles and have been linked to at least five fatalities. More>>>

Fatal Houston crash leads to lawsuit against Toyota
-Houston Chronicle
02/02/2010 - The family of a Houston woman whose car sped through a stop sign and smashed into a cement wall, killing her on impact a week before Christmas, filed what is likely the third acceleration-related wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota in the nation Monday. More>>>

Toyota Faces New Class-Action Suits Over Acceleration
-Bloomberg
02/01/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, faces at least 12 lawsuits seeking class- action status in the U.S. and Canada connected to the company’s recalls over sudden acceleration of its vehicles. More>>>

Toyota’s Slow Awakening to a Deadly Problem
-New York Times
02/01/2010 - It was the tragedy that forced Toyota, which had received more than 2,000 complaints of unintended acceleration, to step up its own inquiry, after going through multiple government investigations since 2002. More>>>

Factbox: Key facts about Toyota safety recall
-Reuters
02/01/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it had begun shipping replacement parts to dealers to repair some 4.5 million vehicles equipped with faulty accelerators in North America and Europe. The steps were part of Toyota's response to a sweeping safety recall that has hurt its reputation and sales in key markets. Following are key facts about Toyota's safety recalls and the automaker's response: More>>>

Woman sues drugs giant over jab she blames for ruining her life
-DailyRecord
02/01/2010 - A woman claims she has been left wheelchairbound and warned she could die because of a drug given before a routine scan. Doctors have been advised to stop using Omniscan on certain patients since Margaret Roxburgh's ordeal. Now Margaret, 54, is taking the drug's makers to court. She was found to have Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) days after being injected. Omniscan is a chemical marker that works in the bloodstream to help doctors analyse scan results. More>>>

Liver fears over Hydroxycut supplement
-Pharmacy News
02/01/2010 - The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has been urged to reconsider the availability of a weight loss and muscle toning supplement after the first case of it causing liver damage was reported in Australia. A 23-year old man was admitted to hospital in Sydney with severe acute hepatitis, elevated liver enzymes and jaundice after taking Hydroxycut Hardcore daily for 10 weeks, doctors who treated him reported in a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) published today. More>>>

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall Could Total 9 Million Cars Worldwide
-New York Times
01/29/2010 - Toyota said Friday that its recall of eight models in Europe could include up to 1.8 million cars, pushing the total number of vehicles affected by problems with floor mats or gas pedals to more than 9 million worldwide. That is nearly as many vehicles as was sold by all automakers in the United States in 2009. More>>>

Yaz Gallbladder Removal Lawsuit Filed Against Bayer By Woman
-Ennislaw
01/29/2010 - A Michigan woman has filed a lawsuit against Bayer over its popular birth control pill Yaz, alleging that side effects caused her to have her gallbladder removed and suffer blood clots. The Yaz lawsuit was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by Asia Moore. It is among hundreds of other cases pending against the makers of Yaz that involve allegations that the drug maker failed to adequately research the potential side effects of Yaz or warn about the increased risk of gallbladder disease, stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or sudden death. More>>>

Judge refuses to dismiss Fosamax ONJ case, sets trial
-Reuters
01/29/2010 - A Manhattan federal judge refused on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Merck & Co Inc's osteoporosis drug Fosamax caused jaw damage to an Indiana woman during the nearly eight years she took the pill. More>>>

Toyota Expands Unintended Acceleration Recall
Toyota to recall another 1.1M vehicles
- Detroit News
01/27/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. told federal officials late Wednesday it was recalling another 1.1 million vehicles connected to pedal entrapment problems. The move significantly expands Toyota's largest recall ever and comes just one day after the Japanese automaker decided to stop selling eight models that account for 60 percent of its sales volume until it comes up with a fix. More>>>

Toyota recall: What to do if your car's on the list
-CNN
01/27/2010 - Last week Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles, some of them among America's most popular cars, and this week announced it will stop making those models while it works to find a fix for the problem.
But if you already own one of these cars, the automaker says you could safely continue to drive it, as long as you aren't noticing any problems. To make matters even more confusing, most cars involved in this recall were already involved in an earlier, unrelated recall involving gas pedals sticking on floor mats. More>>>

Sudden Acceleration Lawsuit News: Runaway Vehicles
Toyota temporarily halts sales of eight models
-LA Times
01/27/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. has taken the unprecedented step of halting sales and production of eight models -- including its top-selling Camry and Corolla -- saying their gas pedals can get stuck and cause runaway acceleration. More>>>

Toyota temporarily stops selling eight models covered by recall
The affected vehicles, including the top-selling Camry and Corolla, were recalled because the gas pedal can stick and cause unwanted acceleration. Toyota will also stop making them effective Monday.
-LA Times
01/26/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. is temporarily halting sales and production of eight models, including the top-selling Camry and Corolla, that it has recalled because the accelerator pedal can stick and cause unwanted acceleration. The automaker announced the recall of 2.3 million cars and trucks late last week. That came just months after Toyota launched its largest-ever recall -- 4.3 million vehicles -- because floor mats could trap the gas pedal and also cause sudden acceleration. More>>>

Patient Says Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft Device is Dangerous
-Courthouse News
01/26/2010 - Medtronic pays doctors to promote a medical device for off-label uses, and the InfuseBone Graft is "unreasonably dangerous" because its active ingredient can travel from the implant site to the esophagus or trachea, turning soft tissue into bone, a married couple claims in Los Angeles Superior Court. More>>>

Toyota Recall: New Reports of Runaway Toyotas as 2.3 Million Cars Recalled
-ABC News
01/26/2010 - Toyota, which launched the largest auto recall in U.S. history last fall after incidents of random acceleration resulting in fatalities, has just announced an additional recall of 2.3 million vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals. The recall was announced late Thursday afternoon, after ABC News informed the company that the latest in a long series of ABC News investigative reports into sudden unexplained acceleration in Toyotas was about to air. More>>>

Toyota gas pedal recall could affect 2 million European-market vehicles
-USA Today
01/25/2010 - Toyota is expanding its sticking-throttle recall to some 2 million European vehicles, Japan's big Yomiuri daily newspaper is reporting.
The Reuters news service public website says an unnamed Toyota spokesman wouldn't quite go that far. The Reuters item says: "A Toyota spokeswoman said the company was still in the process of considering a recall in Europe, and that no decision had been made." More>>>

Toyota Recalls 2.3 Million Vehicles to Fix Gas Pedals
-Bloomberg
01/22/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. will recall about 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix sticking accelerator pedals, following its biggest recall in the country last year for a similar danger.
The automaker, which said in November it would notify owners of 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles of a defect that may cause floor mats to jam the pedals, said in a statement yesterday that about 1.7 million autos are subject to both voluntary recalls. More>>>

GE Attempts to Silence Doctor Who Warned About Dangers of Medical Imaging Drug
-NaturalNews
01/22/2010 - GE Healthcare, a British subsidiary of multinational giant General Electric, is suing Henrik Thomsen, a senior radiologist and professor of radiology, for sounding the alarm about the dangers of the company's medical imaging drug, Omniscan. After witnessing kidney patients who had received the drug develop potentially fatal conditions, Thomsen publicly exposed the drug's dangers which caused a firestorm of controversy. More>>>

Toyota Issues a 2nd Recall
-The New York Times
01/21/2010 - Toyota Motor issued its second large recall in two months on Thursday to fix a problem with accelerator pedals that can get stuck, causing vehicles to speed up unintentionally. Toyota said that it did not yet have a solution but in the meantime instructed drivers who experience a stuck pedal to brake with “firm and steady” pressure. The recall covers 2.3 million cars and trucks from model years 2005 through 2010 and is separate from a November recall of 4.2 million vehicles that was the largest in Toyota’s history. About 1.7 million vehicles are included in both recalls, including its best-selling model, the Camry. More>>>

Graco stroller recall targets 1.5 million for finger risk
-CNN
01/21/2010 - About 1.5 million Graco strollers have been recalled because they could pose a risk of fingertip amputations and lacerations to children, federal safety officials announced Wednesday. The recall includes certain models of strollers and travel systems made by Graco Children's Products, including the Graco Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and travel systems, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. More>>>

Toyota Tries to Fix its Reputation
- U.S. News
01/20/2010 - Autoblog reports, " Toyota cars are being equipped with brake override systems, that's a fact. The reason behind it isn't the recent and as-yet-unsolved runaway car issues that have plagued the automaker. At least that's what Toyota says; the company maintains that the change was already under development." More>>>

Woman Files Lawsuit Against Yaz Manufacturer Following Stroke
-DrugWatch
01/20/2010 - A woman filed a lawsuit against Bayer HealthCare, the manufacturer of Yaz birth control, after she experienced a stroke and other serious side effects while taking Ocella, a generic version of the oral contraceptive. More>>>

Adverse Reactions from Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents Used During MRI Rarely Occur, Study Suggests
- Health Canal
01/20/2010 - Acute adverse reactions from gadolinium-based contrast agents used during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help improve the information seen on the images rarely occur, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. More>>>

Local Pain Pump Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court
- Las Vegas Business Press
01/19/2010 - A lawsuit was recently filed by a Las Vegas patient over a potentially defective medical device. The case, filed by former orthopedic surgical patient Dorothy Vialpando and her husband, Gabriel, claims the woman's shoulder cartilage was damaged as a result of her use of the Pain Pump medical device. Many others patients have filed similar lawsuits around the country against Pain Pump seller and distributor Stryker Corp., but the Vialpandos' complaint is one of only a few such Nevada cases to date. More>>>

Yaz, Yasmin Birth Control Pills Side Effects Prompt New Round of Lawsuits
-DFW Catholic
01/18/2010 - Jesse, the mother of a newborn in Bloomfield, NE, began taking the birth control pill Yasmin and never suspected it would cause problems. She had talked to her doctor about its possible side effects and he mentioned only blood clots. But after only a few months on the drug, she suffered severe stomach pains, and a medical exam revealed that she needed gall bladder surgery. More>>>

Reports of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota Avalon without floor mats
-CarAdvice
01/18/2010 - The owner of a US-specification 2007 Toyota Avalon has reportedly experienced sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) in his vehicle which was not fitted with a floor mat. The Safety Report blog reported that on December 29, the New Jersey man’s Toyota accelerated along the highway without his input and could not be stopped by the brakes alone. More>>>

Lawsuits claim harm from Pfizer quit-smoking drug Chantix
-Reuters
01/18/2010 - Three personal injury lawsuits were filed against Pfizer Inc on Thursday, claiming its smoking cessation drug Chantix caused attempted suicides and death. The lawsuits, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claim that at the time the plaintiffs took Chantix, Pfizer did not tell doctors and patients about dangers it allegedly knew were related to the drug, including depression and thoughts of suicide. More>>>

Baxter lawsuits spike two years after heparin recall
-Medill Reports
01/18/2010 - Recent weeks have witnessed a spate of lawsuits against the pharmaceutical company Baxter International Inc. in connection with its previously contaminated batch of blood thinner products. The company said Wednesday that it expects recently filed class action lawsuits to be dismissed. But, at any rate, they will have no significant effect on the drugmaker’s financials. Over the past 10 days, 12 lawsuits have been filed against Baxter in federal courts around the country. Meanwhile,more than 50 cases have been filed in Illinois Circuit Court against the Deerfield-based company, according to Bloomberg LP. More>>>

CARRIER AIRV CEILING ASSEMBLY 9999: EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:AIR CONDITIONER RECALLED
-NHTSA
01/14/2010 - CARRIER IS RECALLING CERTAIN AIRV CEILING ASSEMBLIES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 2007 AND 2009, P/NOS 99-00469-11, 99-00469-02, AND 99-00469-17, SOLD TO BE INSTALLED AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT ON VARIOUS RECREATIONAL VEHICLES AND ALSO SOLD AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT. THE HEATER ELEMENT IN THESE ASSEMBLIES MAY BE DEFECTIVE WHICH COULD CAUSE THE UNIT TO CREATE SMOKE OR SPARKS. More>>>

Zicam and manufacturer blamed for woman's loss of smell and taste
-St, Clair Record
01/13/2010 - A woman claims she lost her sense of smell and taste after using a homeopathic remedy. Mary Pat Bollone filed a lawsuit Dec. 31 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Matrixx Initiatives and Zicam. Bollone claims she purchased and used Zicam -- a homeopathic remedy for the common cold manufactured by Matrixx - in March 2008. Because of her use of the product, Bollone sustained permanent loss of smell and taste; suffered disability, loss of a normal life, pain, suffering and extreme emotional distress; and incurred medical costs, according to the complaint. More>>>

Yaz Contraceptive lawsuits going to trial
-UPI
01/12/2010 - The federal courthouse in East St. Louis, Ill., will hold pretrial proceedings for as many as 25,000 lawsuits involving a popular contraceptive, officials say. The lawsuits against Bayer Corp., makers of the contraceptive pill Yaz, have been filed all over the country, but will be handled by U.S. District Chief Judge David Herndon as a multidistrict litigation assignment, the Belleville News-Democrat reported Monday. More>>>

Toyota to Debut Brake Override Software for Unintended Acceleration Prevention
-Automobile Magazine
01/12/2010 - Toyota's unintended acceleration recall debacle continues. First it was the zip-tied floor mats, then the physical pedals were set to be replaced; now we've learned Toyota will add a software solution to future cars to put an end to the unintended acceleration fiasco. By 2011, all new Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles sold globally will have updated software installed on vehicle engine control units (ECU) that puts in place a brake override system, said Toyota spokesperson Mike Michels. More>>>

Zinc blamed for denture-wearers' problems
-Stl Today
01/12/2010 - Zinc in denture adhesives has been blamed in dozens of cases of nerve damage, including that of a North Carolina man who says 20 years of using the glues caused him to become disabled. The products, namely Poligrip brands from GlaxoSmithKline and Fixodent from Procter & Gamble, use zinc as a bonding agent. Scientists have only recently drawn a link between the zinc-containing denture creams and possible neurological problems. More>>>

Acne Meds Accutane & Claravis Took Her Colon, Woman Says
-Courthouse News
01/11/2010 - A woman says Roche Laboratories' acne drug Accutane and its generic form Claravis gave her such a bad case of inflammatory bowel disease she had to have her colon removed. Roche pulled the drug from the market in June 2009, but it was too late for her, Nazeena Gangji claims in Essex County Court. More>>>

Grieving mother blames Gardasil HPV vaccine
-nzherald
01/11/2010 - Rhonda Renata is in no doubt about what caused the death of her daughter Jasmine. The 18-year-old died last September 22 at her family home in Upper Hutt, apparently in her sleep. It was six months since she had received the last of the three injections of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. In the United States, it has been alleged more than 10 deaths are linked to Gardasil. More>>>

AUTOS: Toyota Installing Brake Override In Response To Recall
-SPEED TV
01/11/2010 - Toyota will install brake-override systems on all Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles by year end as a way to prevent unintended acceleration, according to an Automotive News report. In an interview at the Detroit auto show, Yoshi Inaba, president of Toyota North America Inc., told a reporter for the industry newsletter that installation of the system began last month in response to a recall last fall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles after runaway vehicles had caused several injuries and deaths. More>>>

Generic Reglan Tardive Dyskinesia Lawsuit : Not Preempted Judge Rules in Appeal Case
-Ennislaw
01/11/2010 -A federal appeals court said Friday that patients may sue generic drugmakers under state law for failing to provide adequate warnings about their medications potential side effects, extending a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling governing makers of name-brand drugs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Firth Circuit rejected the argument by a generic drug maker that federal law preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim filed by a user of their generic Reglan, who developed a rare neurological disorder known as Tardive Dyskinesia. More>>>

Zicam Caused Lost Sense of smell and taste, woman claims in lawsuit
- St. Clair Record
01/11/2010 - A woman claims she lost her sense of smell and taste after using a nasal spray. Jennifer Glisson filed a lawsuit Dec. 31 in Madison County Circuit Court against Matrixx Initiatives also known as Zicam. Glisson claims she used a drug called Zicam nasal gel manufactured by the defendants in the spring of 2008. But her use of the gel resulted in Glisson's permanent loss of her taste and smell, according to the complaint. More>>>

C.R. Bard finds insurer willing to cover future hernia claims
-MassDevice
01/07/2010 - N.J.-based C.R. Bard settles with an unidentified carrier to secure insurance coverage for possible financial claims resulting from upcoming product-liability trials for its line of hernia-repair products. With the first of what may be a long string of product-liability trials now only months away, C. R. Bard Inc. (NYSE:CRB) has convinced an insurance carrier to again cover potential claims. More>>>

Family alleges man died from tainted Chinese blood thinner
-South East Texas Record
01/07/2010 - The family of an east Texas man who allegedly died after taking a contaminated blood thinner has filed a lawsuit against the drug's manufacturers and the medical facility where the drug was administered.
According to the suit filed Dec. 30, Lloyd James Robinson was administered heparin during treatment at the Lufkin Dialysis center. Robinson then suffered a hypersensitivity-type adverse reaction and died, the suit claims. More>>>

Toyota has most recalled vehicles in 2009
-Examiner
01/05/2010 - For the first time in Toyota’s proud history, the company has led all others in the United States for recalls. According to the Detroit Free Press, safety recalls were up across the board for the auto industry in 2009. 8.6 million vehicles were recalled in 2008, but in 2009 15.2 million were recalled. More>>>

Thinning Bones? How to Tell if You Need an Osteoporosis Medication
- U.S. News
01/05/2010 - To hear Sally Field tell it, reversing bone loss with the drug Boniva is important because you have only "one body and one life." And the 63-year-old actress--who looks around 45 in commercials for the bone-building drug--implies that many, if not most, healthy and fit middle-aged women are on the road to osteoporosis. They're not. More>>>

Dealing with Unintended Acceleration - Runaway Toyotas
-CarAndDriver
12/31/2009 - Lexus and Toyota models were stung recently by claims that faulty floor mats had jammed throttle pedals and were causing wide-open acceleration. Toyota has agreed to a largest-ever recall of 4.3 million vehicles (which could cost $250 million or more) to modify the gas pedals and remove unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mats. Not since Audi was decimated by accusations of unintended acceleration in the late 1980s has the topic of runaway cars received so much media attention. More>>>

New SSRI warning: antidepressants increase risk of stroke and death
-NaturalNews
12/31/2009 - As NaturalNews previously reported the U.S. is a nation on mind altering antidepressant drugs. An astounding number of Americans, some 27 million, are now taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil. As a handful of doctors and researchers tried to warn the medical community and the public over a decade ago when these drugs began to soar in popularity, SSRIs can affect the brain and body in a host of detrimental ways. More>>>

Avandia Heart Attack Risks Lead To Side Effects Lawsuit Local resident's Avandia lawsuit part of national effort
-Gary Post Tribune
12/30/2009 - A local resident's lawsuit against a drug maker for not properly warning patients about how its product increases the risk of heart attacks is joining hundreds of similar lawsuits across the country. More>>>

Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents Possibly Dangerous
-HealthDay News
12/30/2009 - In patients with renal function impairment, the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents is risky because it can lead to the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, according to a study in the January issue of The Journal of Urology. More>>>

Widower sues over wife's death at Brandon hospital
- St. Petersburg Times
12/30/2009 - TAMPA — Mable Mosley checked into Brandon Regional Hospital complaining of shoulder and neck pain on a Saturday last year. The following Tuesday, she stopped breathing. A doctor's report said she choked on her own vomit. After days on life support, Mosley, a 68-year-old county school bus aide for special-needs children, died. On Tuesday, her husband sued the hospital, its corporate owners and seven pharmacists, claiming they dispensed enough pain medicine to kill her. More>>>

Incomplete Seating of a Metal-backed Alumina Liner in Ceramic-on-Ceramic Total Hip Arthroplasty
-OrthoSuperSite
12/29/2009 - Metal-backed modular ceramic bearing systems using a recessed alumina liner in a titanium sleeve were developed to decrease ceramic chipping or fracture due to femoral neck impingement after total hip arthroplasty (THA). However, malseating of the metal-backed ceramic liner has recently been described. The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence, etiology, and clinical relevance of this event. More>>>

2 killed, 2 hurt after car plunges into pond in Southlake
-The Dallas Morning News
12/27/2009 - Two people died and two others were critically injured when the Toyota sedan they were in crashed through a fence and flipped upside down into a frigid Southlake pond. Witnesses reported that bystanders waded into the 6-foot-deep pond to try to save the victims. More>>>

Another Woman Dies of Hormonal Contraceptive in Switzerland from Pulmonary Embolism
-LifeSiteNews
12/26/2009 - The Swiss Federation of Service to Patients (Patientenstellen der Schweiz) has called for a ban on a particular type of contraceptive pill after it was linked to the death last month of a 17-year-old German girl who died in a Swiss hospital. The girl, who died at the University Hospital of Basel, was taking a pill that includes drospirenone, a synthetic progestin, which is a compound included in newer brands, such as Yaz, Yasmin, and Yasminelle. More>>>

Toyota faces questions on safety issues
-LOS ANGELES TIMES
12/26/2009 - During a routine test on its Sienna minivan in April 2003, Toyota Motor Corp. engineers discovered that a plastic panel could come loose and cause the gas pedal to stick, potentially making the vehicle accelerate out of control. More>>>

Stop-smoking drug's side effects can be serious
-sgvtribune
12/26/2009 - What's the most important thing you can do for your health? If you smoke, the answer is unequivocal. Quit! Of course, that is much easier said than done. Nicotine is incredibly addicting. Anything that can help someone kick the habit is a blessing. But some blessings carry a curse. More>>>

AstraZeneca Sharpens Focus on Ethics
-Bloomberg
12/23/2009 - U.S. government fines have made big drug makers "more sensitive than we've ever been" about preventing illegal promotion of their drugs, the chief executive of AstraZeneca PLC said in an interview. AstraZeneca in September reached a preliminary agreement to pay $520 million to settle a U.S. investigation into its marketing of the schizophrenia drug Seroquel, including allegations that the company promoted the drug for uses for which it isn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This practice, called "off-label marketing," is illegal. More>>>

Judges to evaluate Digitek case experts
-TheWestVirginiaRecord
12/23/2009 - Judges from four states will gather in Charleston to help U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin evaluate experts in litigation over heart medicine Digitek. More>>>

Polaris Recalls 2009 – 2010 Sportsman ATVs
-Consumer Affairs
12/23/2009 - Polaris Industries is recalling about 8,500 ATVs from the 2009-2010 model years. The front suspension ball joint stem can separate from the steering knuckle and cause the rider to lose steering control, posing a risk of injury or death to riders. More>>>

Coleman priest says accident was caused by floormat caught in accelerator pedal
-Reporter News
12/22/2009 - A Coleman priest says he is recuperating in San Angelo after a tumultuous chain of events that began when a floormat somehow caught onto the accelerator pedal of his 2007 Toyota Camry — the same scenario that led worried Toyota officials in October to announce a recall of millions of vehicles. More>>>

Osteopenia is neither a disease nor a disorder -- so why are so many women treated for it?
- Minnesota Post
12/22/09 - Any woman who’s been told by her doctor that she has osteopenia (low bone density, but not low enough to be osteoporosis) — and especially any woman who’s taking medication for it — needs to read (or listen to) Monday's National Public Radio (NPR) story on how pharmaceutical companies successfully “changed the definition of a disease and created a whole new category of people who saw themselves as needing treatment.” More>>>

Sudden Acceleration Recall, Floor Mats, and Electronic Throttle Control Problems Tarnish Toyota and Lexus Safety Image
-Ennislaw
12/21/2009 – Recently Toyota motors has had several safety issues leading to a massive recall and has consumers questioning the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. It all started with a 911 call was received from a passeneger of off-duty highway patrol officer Mark Saylor, who was driving a Lexus ES 350 loaner from a dealer. The caller said the sedan was racing out of control at more than 100 mph and Saylor could not stop it. More>>>

Women debate about Gardasil vaccine Side Effects
-Camrose News
12/19/2009 - The high cost and side effects of the Gardasil vaccine are deterring some women from getting the newly developed injection.Gardasil targets women aged nine to 26, preventing against four strains of the HPV virus (types 6, 11, 16 and 18), as well as the several diseases associated with these types, including cervical cancer, abnormal and precancerous cervical cells, vaginal and vulvar cancers, abnormal and precancerous vaginal and vulvar cells and genital warts. More>>>

YAZ, Yasmin lawsuits filed locally against Bayer
-TribLive
12/17/2009 - Bayer Corp. was named in at least a half-dozen federal lawsuits filed this week in Pittsburgh alleging the company's birth control products called YAZ and Yasmin are unsafe and potentially deadly. More>>>

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA issues a voluntary nationwide recall of Propofol Injectable Emulsion
-FDA
12/17/2009 - In July of 2009 Teva Pharmaceuticals USA initiated a voluntary recall of Propofol Injectable Emulsion 10 mg/mL 100 mL vials, lot numbers 31305429B and 31305430B. The product lots identified are being recalled due to the presence of elevated endotoxin levels in some vials within these lot numbers. More>>>

Ennis & Ennis, P.A. Announces Nationwide Free Legal Consultations For Users of Paxil
-Ennislaw
12/16/2009 - Bloomberg news reported yesterday that GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Paxil has paid almost $1 billion to resolve lawsuits over Paxil since it came on the market in 1993. GlaxoSmithKline, the largest U.K. drug maker has paid approximately $390 million for suicides and attempted suicides and another $200 million for birth defect and Addiction cases. Ennis & Ennis, P.A. will continue to investigate and offer free nationwide consultations for users of Paxil who have committed Suicide, Attempted Suicide, Addiction issues and women who have taken Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy who have given birth to children with Birth Defects. More>>>

We Still Don't Know Enough About the Gardasil HPV Vaccine
-WomensNews
12/15/2009 - Gardasil, the HPV vaccine recommended for young women, has just been approved for boys and young men too. Dr. Sharon Ufberg says the stop-go, safety-danger signals means more research, study and discussion are needed. More>>>

GSK's $1B Paxil Problem Highlights Murky Disclosures From Euro Drug Companies
-BNET
12/15/2009 - British drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has paid $1 billion to settle lawsuits related to Paxil. The fact that it was disclosed by Bloomberg and not the company itself illustrates how lousy financial disclosure rules are in Europe and why drug companies based there cannot be trusted to tell the truth about what is going on with their litigation liabilities and, by extension, the safety of their drugs. More>>>

Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella Birth Control Serious Side Effects Risks
-J.Murawski
12/14/2009 - Many women across the nation have sustained serious injury after taking contraceptives under the names Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella. Users of these drugs have reported serious side effects such as strokes, heart attacks, DVT (blood clots in legs), Pulmonary Embolism (blood clots in lungs, and dehydration, leading to kidney stones or gall bladder disease. More>>>

Glaxo Said to Have Paid $1 Billion in Paxil Suits
-Bloomberg
12/14/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has paid almost $1 billion to resolve lawsuits over Paxil since it introduced the antidepressant in 1993, including about $390 million for suicides or attempted suicides said to be linked to the drug, according to court records and people familiar with the cases. More>>>

Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella Birth Control Lawsuits
-TheDailyNews
12/10/2009 - The latest “problem drug” TV commercials about Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella – which are known to cause blood clots, strokes and even death in some women – have been tough to miss. The birth control pills are manufactured by Bayer Healthcare and Barr Laboratories. Meanwhile, attorneys have seen “several dozen cases and we get more every day,” said one lawyer of a mass tort litigation group, which is primarily responsible for handling the multitude of cases. More>>>

Suicide of 13-year-old Secaucus is linked to acne drug, parents say
-The Star-Ledger
12/10/2009 - A 13-year-old Secaucus teen who committed suicide was taking an acne medication that some studies suggested a link to psychological issues, and his parents suspect the drug somehow caused him to suffer a brief psychosis and commit suicide, a report in NorthJersey.com said. More>>>

Toyota Tops Complaints of Unintended Acceleration, Report Says
-The New York Times
12/09/2009 - Toyota’s unintended acceleration problem just won’t go away. Now Consumer Reports takes a look at complaints of unintended acceleration from owners of 2008 models. And the publication found that 41 percent of the complaints, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, came from Toyota owners. More>>>

Injury added to insult: Dyes injected for imaging are more dangerous than the MRIs
-Natural News
12/09/2009 - By now most Natural News readers are aware of the dangers from excessive CT scans, X-Rays, and other imaging health screenings. But what about those dyes injected into your body for the purpose of increasing image contrast and clarity? More>>>

Zimmer Durom Hip Lawsuit - Zimmer Hip Lawsuits
Zimmer Durom Implant Patients Can Join and Seek Legal Settlements
-24-7 Press Release
12/08/2009 - The Zimmer Durom Cup has been marketed in the United States since 2006. Appoximately 12,500 patients have been implanted with the device. The Durom Cup is primarily used in the United States in Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) surgeries and has been used abroad for hip resurfacings. Zimmer Durom Recall may affect hip replacement patients who have been implanted with a Zimmer Durom Cup since 2006. More>>>

Toyota's Big Recall Unlikely to Quiet Critics
-TIME
12/07/2009 - Toyota's announcement last week that it will recall more than 3.8 million vehicles is unlikely to end the controversy over the car's sudden-acceleration problems. Following complaints about the problem — and a deadly accident in California last summer — the company acknowledged that floor mats, if not secured properly, could get stuck under the accelerator pedal, leaving a vehicle's throttle stuck open. Hence the recall, to replace the accelerator pedals and floor mats. More>>>

Levaquin Side Effects Lawsuit News: Tendon Ruptures
Beware of drug's side effects
-Patriot-News
12/07/2009 - Fluoroquinolones, also known as quinolones, are prescribed to people millions of times each year. They are used to treat many types of bacterial infections: respiratory, urinary tract and sinus, to name a few. Like all medications, this class of antibiotics has side effects. What differentiates it from others is that quinolones can cause severe and permanent disability. Even from taking just a few pills. More>>>

Problems Had Been Reported with Loaner Lexus that Killed 4 in Santee
-SanDiego CW6 News
12/07/2009 - Traffic investigators in San Diego County have concluded their investigation into the runaway Lexus that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and his family in Santee, and revealed that a man who had driven the same car had reported an identical problem. More>>>

Study: Toyota receives most complaints about sudden acceleration, followed by Ford
-LA Times
12/07/2009 - Toyota was the target of 41% of all consumer complaints about the problem in 2008 cars, according to a Consumer Reports analysis. Ford received 28% of complaints. Toyota registered far more complaints about sudden acceleration in its 2008 model-year vehicles than any other automaker, a new study has found. More>>>

For Toyota, the real cost of recalls might be reputation
-LA Times
12/02/2009 - The largest recall in Toyota Motor Corp. history probably will put a serious dent in the Japanese automaker’s pocketbook. But the hit to Toyota’s image could prove even more damaging. The company’s reputation as a builder of reliable, trouble-free vehicles has been tarnished by a series of quality problems, including the recall of more than 4 million Toyota and Lexus cars and light trucks to fix a defect that could cause runaway acceleration. More>>>

Bayer sued over birth control Yaz's risks
-The Washington Times
12/01/2009 - After 13 hours of intensifying pain, two trips to the emergency room and two CT scans, doctors finally found what was ailing Lottie Green. In her left lung, the pulmonologist told her, was the largest blood clot they had ever seen and there were others in her right lung as well, she said. Soon after the 41-year-old Bethesda, Md., resident was released from a hospital last month, Ms. Green joined hundreds of other women in lawsuits against Germany's Bayer AG, the maker of the popular oral contraceptive Yaz. More>>>

New Yasmin/Yaz Medical Research
-Drug Recall Lawyer Blog
12/01/2009 - A flurry of new medical articles have come out in the past week regarding Yasmin and Yaz. Here are links and some “talking points.” More>>>

Data point to Toyota's throttles, not floor mats
-LA Times
11/30/2009 - Amid widening concern over acceleration events, Toyota has cited 'floor mat entrapment.' But reports point to another potential cause: the electronic throttles that have replaced mechanical systems. Eric Weiss was stopped at a busy Long Beach intersection last month when he said his 2008 Toyota Tacoma pickup unexpectedly started accelerating, forcing him to stand on the brakes to keep the bucking truck from plowing into oncoming cars. More>>>

Lawsuit claims denture cream caused mystery illness
-TheDenverPost
11/30/2009 - A Bennett woman who had spent her life as a dancer, athlete and coach was barely into her 40s when she began to lose the use of her legs. Doctors and specialists spent two years testing Rae Ann Schmaltz, initially believing she had multiple sclerosis but later looking for anything, including tropical diseases and Lou Gehrig's disease. She endured endless poking and prodding, including 160 blood tests, urine tests, MRIs, even spinal taps. All were negative. And then, prodded by Schmaltz's 19-year-old daughter, they looked in her mouth. Doctors now believe Schmaltz suffers from a copper deficiency caused by an abundance of zinc found in the Poligrip she used to secure her dentures. More>>>

Ennis & Ennis, P.A. Announces Nationwide Free, Confidential, Consultations For Users Of Yaz And Yasmin Birth Control Pills
-PRWeb
11/24/2009 - Ennis & Ennis, P.A. is offering free nationwide confidential consultations for users of Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills who have suffered a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), Pulmonary Embolism, Stroke, Heart Attack or other related cardiac issues or had their Gallbladder removed. Women can call toll free at 1-800-856-6405 or go to the firm’s website at http://www.ennislaw.com and fill out an online case evaluation form. Ennis & Ennis also recommends women who have had these Yaz side effects to go to www.fda.gov and fill out a Medwatch form so the FDA becomes aware of the seriousness of this issue. Attorney Holly Ennis does not recommend discontinuing use of Yaz or Yasmin unless first consulting with your physician. More>>>

Toyota Recalls in the U.S. Test Promise to Make ‘Better Cars’  -Bloomberg
11/25/2009 - Toyota Motor Corp. plans to fix accelerator pedals on about 4 million vehicles in its biggest U.S. recall, as the automaker works to fulfill its president’s vow to “make better cars.” The Japanese company also will install a brake override system on some of the vehicles after drivers reported cases of sudden acceleration, the U.S. Transportation Department said yesterday. More>>>

2 More Claim Zicam Robbed Sense Of Smell
Popular Cold Remedy Blamed
-ABC News
11/25/2009 - Two more Hawaii residents filed lawsuits this past week claiming they have lost their sense of smell after using Zicam, the popular over-the-counter cold remedy. One Hawaii resident filed a suit against the company in July. More>>>

Maytag refrigerator sparks close-call fire in Portsmouth
Fire damage in the kitchen. Started by a malfunction in the fridge.
Maytag has recalled more than 1.6 million refrigerators this year.
- East Bay RI
11/25/2009 - An elderly woman saved herself and saved her house on Tuesday by keeping up with her smoke detectors, said Fire Chief Jeff Lynch, after her Maytag refrigerator caught fire in her kitchen. More>>>

Clarksville Death Linked To Toyota Recall
Family Files $10M Toyota Lawsuit
-NBC News
11/24/2009 - CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- The death of a Clarksville man is linked now to the largest recall ever in Toyota's history. A $10 million lawsuit filed against Toyota from a Clarksville family is the latest development in a two-year investigation by the Channel 4 I-Team into cases of sudden acceleration by Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks. The Tacoma is among of the 3.8 million vehicles recalled by Toyota, as is the Camry. More>>>

Pittsburgh Mother Joins Lawsuit Against Yaz Birth Control Pill
Mom Says Daughter Was Taking Yaz When She Fell Ill
-ABC News
11/24/2009 - A Pittsburgh-based drug company has been hit with a lawsuit claiming it misled women, including a local teenager whose mother says her daughter nearly died from birth control. "She was short of breath, she was having severe chest pains and her face was changing colors," said Dana Kraus of her daughter. Kraus said her 15-year-old daughter, Katie, had been taking the conceptive Yaz for about six months when the teen suddenly felt like she was suffocating. More>>>

Another suit filed against GSK over Avandia in St. Clair County
- St. Clair County Record
11/24/2009 - More than 30 people say GlaxoSmithKline was wrong in selling a diabetes drug without first warning of potential serious side effects from which they or their deceased relatives suffered. More>>>

US lawsuit over Merck bone drug Fosamax dismissed
-Reuters
A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Merck & Co's osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes jaw damage, two months after a jury deadlock led to a mistrial in a similar case. U.S. District Judge John Keenan on Monday found that Bessie Flemings, 74, a Mississippi resident whose primary dentist labeled her oral hygiene as "poor," failed to show that her use of Fosamax caused the death of jawbone tissue, a condition known as osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. More>>>

WILSON: Why Are Toyotas Taking Off?
-ABC News
11/23/2009 - It's a dangerous defect inside automobiles touted for their safety that has led to the largest recall in Toyota history. As Chief Investigator Steve Wilson reports, it’s a potentially deadly problem that seems to affect Toyota Avalons down to the Prius, and even some Lexus models, too. Toyota first said the problem was solved with a recall of 3.8 million vehicles, but some owners and safety experts are saying “not so fast.” More>>>

Ranbaxy recalls drugs for skin disease from US
-IndianExpress
11/23/2009 - Ranbaxy Laboratories has recalled from the US market a batch of 4,348 cartons of Sotret Isotretinoin capsules used in treating skin infections. According to the information available on US health regulator Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) website, Ranbaxy through its US-based subsidiary Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc, has issued a 'nation-wide class III recall' for a batch of Sotret Isotretinoin capsules of 40 mg strength. More>>>

Toyota wrangles with regulator over floor mat recall
Toyota and the government are bickering about a floor mat safety warning, but they both agree on the solution: car owners should remove the mats.
-CNN Money
11/23/2009 - What could have been a heated battle between Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in a game of "he said/she said" quickly cooled. Last month, Toyota and NHTSA warned drivers to remove the mats in certain models or risk a forced-down accelerator pedal that could lead to a crash. Toyota plans a recall to fix the problem, and began sending notifications this week to Toyota and Lexus vehicle owners about the issue. More>>>

Recalled Ford SUV Bursts Into Flames
-KRGV
11/19/2009 - A Donna family says they're left stranded. They're SUV caught fire and they claim they never knew about a recall that might have prevented it. The family says the car was bought used. They never got Ford's recall notice. The 1999 Ford Expedition was sitting in this driveway. It burst into flames. Part of Blanca Villasenor's home caught fire, too. More>>>

Yaz pilots Google sponsored links format
-Medical Marketing & Media
11/19/2009 - Bayer's Yaz is trying out a paid search format similar to that proposed by Google for products carrying black-box warnings. The Yaz-branded sponsored link appears in a yellow-highlighted box atop Google searches on terms including “Yaz,” “the pill” and “birth control.” More>>>

Arkansas man claims diabetes drug caused heart attack
-The Southeast Texas Record
11/19/2009 - An Arkansas man with diabetes but an otherwise clean bill of health claims his diabetes medication Avandia caused him to suffer a heart attack. Kenneth L. Bryan, 58, filed a personal injury lawsuit against GlaxosmithKline on Nov. 18 in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas. Bryan states that around the same time he was given a clean bill of health in December 2003, he began taking the prescription drug Avandia. More>>>

Medtronic gets FDA warning letter after inspection
-Reuters
11/19/2009 - Medtronic Inc. confirmed on Wednesday it had received a warning letter from U.S. health regulators calling for corrective actions based on an inspection of its Mounds View, Minnesota, facility, the headquarters of its cardiac rhythm management (CRM) business, the company's largest unit. The letter from the Food and Drug Administration comes in the wake of problems Medtronic has had with its leads that are used with implantable cardioverter defibrillators, known as ICDs. More>>>

AstraZeneca Judge to Urge Return of Seroquel Cases to Courts
-Bloomberg
11/19/2009 - AstraZeneca Plc may face as many 6,000 trials of lawsuits claiming its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes after a judge said she will recommend sending the cases back to their home courts. U.S. District Judge Anne Conway in Orlando, Florida, who is overseeing pre-trial proceedings in federal Seroquel litigation, said yesterday she’ll urge a panel of judges to return all of the cases to courts across the U.S. for possible trials. More>>>

FDA Demands Updates To Pain Pump Labels; Cites Cartilage Decay
-EasyBourse
11/18/2009 - Federal regulators are demanding changes to labels on devices that deliver pain killers directly to joints after surgery, in response to numerous reports of irreversible cartilage damage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said between 2006 and 2008 it received 35 reports of severe cartilage damage in patients who were given pain-pumps after joint surgery. Nearly all of the reports involved patients who had shoulder surgery and more than half needed additional surgery, including joint replacement. More>>>

Quebec's pregnant women taking dangerous drugs
-The Gazette
11/18/2009 - Physicians have long known that anti-acne drug Accutane increases by 10 times the risk of a congenital malformation if taken by pregnant women. At least six per cent of pregnant women in Quebec take prescription medications that are known to harm the fetus, raising questions about the medical judgment of some of their physicians, especially general practitioners, suggests a new study by Université de Montréal researchers. More>>>

Bayer Tries New Google Drug Ad Format But Lawyers Spoil the Party
-BNET
11/18/2009 - Bayer is trying out the new Google-invented ad format that includes a fixed link to a drug’s risk and side effect information. The ads are for Yaz, Bayer’s troubled contraceptive. The experiment will be closely watched by other drug companies, all of whom are seeking a way to utilize Google ads without falling afoul of the FDA, which previously warned against their use because the tiny, text-based promos do not contain warning information. More>>>

Toyota may shorten gas pedals in acceleration recall
-ConsumerReports
11/17/2009 - Toyota will reportedly offer to shorten gas pedals in up to four million of its vehicles, following the company’s largest recall in history for unintended acceleration. This latest solution, following a recall last month asking owners to remove the floor mats in their vehicles, was reported by the Kyodo News and further covered by Reuters. More>>>

Toyota Ready to Expand Safety Recall Beyond Floor Mats
Reports say carmaker has set aside $5 billion to replace
accelerator pedals
-ConsumerAffairs.com
11/17/2009 - It's not just American car manufacturers who are sometimes slow to recognize and admit safety problems in their vehicles. In September, Toyota grudgingly agreed to recall about 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus models because of reports of unintended acceleration. The company set no land speed records with the recall. Consumers had been complaining about the sudden acceleration for years. More>>>

Yaz Side Effects: FDA Warning Letters
-InjuryBoard
11/17/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent several warning letters to Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for what the FDA termed “misleading” advertising spots it found “particularly troubling” because they served to “undermine the communication of important risk information, minimizing these risks and misleadingly suggesting that Yaz is safer than has been demonstrated by substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience.” More>>>

Toyota may replace accelerator pedals following US floor mat recall
-CarAdvice
11/16/2009 - Following Toyota’s largest-ever recall of some 3.8 million vehicles, over the potential for a loose floor mat to force down the accelerator causing unintended acceleration, Toyota may soon fix or replace the accelerator pedals on up to 4 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the US. More>>>

oyota to fix accelerators in huge US recall
-Reuters
11/15/2009 - Toyota Motor Corp will soon offer to fix the accelerator pedals of up to 4 million vehicles in the United States that are subject to the company's largest ever safety recall, Kyodo News reported on Saturday. Toyota is believed to have agreed with U.S. authorities to voluntarily repair the accelerator pedals, Kyodo said, citing sources familiar with the matter. More>>>

Drug-Eluting Stents Break More Often Than Thought
-DOTmed
11/15/2009 - Drug-eluting stents might break more often than anybody realized, according to a new study in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Although the clinically reported rate of fracture of drug-eluting stents is about 1 or 2 percent, researchers at the CV Path Institute in Gaithersburg, Md. say the true rate could be much higher. More>>>

Daily Dose: The Mysterious Disappearing Accutane
-Woman’s Day
11/14/2009 - Ever since my early 20s I’ve been fortunate to have decent skin (I consider it payback for having pretty bad breakouts during my teen years), but I’ve known several people for whom topical creams just weren’t enough to combat blemishes. That’s when they turned to Accutane (isotretinoin), an oral medication that works wonders for the skin but is known for major side effects, including serious birth defects. More>>>

US judge requests mass tort status for Yasmin birth control pill claims
-Michelmores Medical Negligence News
11/13/2009 - With the growing numbers of claims in the US alleging an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and other severe side-effects from the oral contraceptive Yasmin, a court in New Jersey has requested that the actions be centralised and given mass tort status. More>>>

More Trasylol plaintiffs sue Bayer
-Fierce Pharma
11/13/2009 - Yet another set of plaintiffs has sued Bayer over kidney damage and other injuries allegedly caused by the drug Trasylol, which used to control bleeding during heart surgery. This latest suit was filed in Wisconsin by plaintiffs from Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They're joining dozens of other plaintiffs who've sued Bayer over Trasylol, which was withdrawn from the market in 2007 over safety fears. More>>>

Patients left in dark after medical recall
Thousands of patients affected
-WPRI News
11/13/2009 - Thousands of patients are affected by a hernia patch recall , but some of those patients say they were never told about the potential danger. Diane Conetta of Cranston is one of those patients. "What frustrates me the most is that I wasn't even told. Nobody notified me," Conetta said. Conetta had a hernia patch implanted during surgery in 2005. Two years later, the manufacturer, Davol Incorporated, recalled some Kugel Mesh Patches after receiving reports the plastic ring inside the patch can break. More>>>

Birth control dangers
-Fox News
11/12/2009 - Within the past year both Christine Navarro and Robyn Dunn were rushed to the hospital with life threatening blood clots. At the time Christine was taking the Yaz birth control pill and Robyn was taking its sister birth control drug Yasmin. More>>>

Hospira Issues Nationwide Voluntary Recall of Certain Lots of Liposyn and Propofol Products That May Contain Particulate Matter
-Pharmaceutical Processing
11/12/2009 - Hospira, Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, is voluntarily recalling 85 lots of Liposyn™ II 10%, Liposyn II 20%, Liposyn III 10%, Liposyn III 20%, Liposyn III 30% and 73 lots of Propofol Injectable Emulsion 1% products that begin with the lot numbers 79 and 80 because some of the containers may contain particulate matter. More>>>

Roche stops market Accutane over IBD link
-The Examiner
11/11/2009 - Accutane a sobriquet of the formal isotretinoin, a type of vitamin A, that has been manufactured since 1982. During its registered patent that ended in 2002, was linked to serious birth defects. Women who took it had to sign a consent form, prescribed two forms of oral contraceptives, submit to monthly pregnancy tests, and register with the government. More>>>

Toyota Sued by Consumers Over Sudden Acceleration of Vehicles
-Bloomberg
11/11/2009 - Toyota Motor Corp. has failed to correct a problem with the throttle control system on some of its vehicles, causing them to suddenly accelerate, lawyers for consumers said in a lawsuit. Los Angeles residents Seong Bae Choi and Chris Chan Park, who claim they experienced multiple instances of unintended acceleration, filed the suit as a class action on Nov. 5, seeking to represent all U.S. owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models. More>>>

Birth Control: Bitter Pill
-KTLA News
11/11/2009 - LOS ANGELES -- "I woke up and I couldn't breathe. The pain was unimaginable. I can't even describe it." Christine Navarro, 22, is recalling the worst night of her life. "It felt like someone was squishing my lung, and pushing on the entire left side of my body." And Robyn Dunn, a 31 year-old ultra-marathoner, has a similar memory. "I was having a lot of anxiety, out of breath, and I knew something was wrong, and that I should stop that race. And I've never dropped out of any race in my entire life." Within the past year both Robyn and Christine were rushed to the hospital with life-threatening blood clots. At the time, Christine was taking the 'Yaz' birth control pill. More>>>

Hospira Brand Propofol and Liposyn Products - Recall
-FDA
11/11/2009 - Hospira, Inc.and FDA notified healthcare professionals of the recall of 85 lots of Liposyn II 10%, Liposyn II 20%, Liposyn III 10%, Liposyn III 20%, and Liposyn III 30%, and 73 lots of Propofol Injectable Emulsion 1% products that begin with the lot numbers 79 and 80 because some of the containers may contain particulate matter. The source of the particulate matter has been identified as stainless steel equipment used in the manufacturing process. More>>>

Birth control pill makers targeted in Madison County
- Madison County Record
11/11/2009 - After a birth control pill spent months in the spotlight during commercials aimed at correcting misrepresentations about it, the pill is now at the center of a Madison County lawsuit. Cathy M. Walton filed a lawsuit Nov. 4 against Bayer and its subsidiaries, Berlex and its subsidiaries and an unknown number of manufacturers, alleging her ingestion of the birth control pill Yasmin, which is similar to Yaz, forced her to undergo surgery to remove her gall bladder. More>>>

Pfizer Broke The Law By Promoting Drugs For Unapproved Uses
-Bllomberg
11/05/2009 - Prosecutor Michael Loucks remembers clearly when lawyers for Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug company, looked across the table and promised it wouldn’t break the law again.More>>>

Marshall resident claims denture cream caused zinc poisoning
-The South East Texas Record
11/05/2009 - MARSHALL - A Marshall resident and an Arizona resident believe they are the victims of zinc poisoning and possible neurological damages caused by their ingestion of Super Poligrip Denture Adhesive Cream. More>>>

More claims filed against Medtronic's defibrillators
-The St. Clair Record
11/05/2009 - Three Illinois residents say they are susceptible to sudden shocks after defective implantable defibrillators manufactured by Medtronic were inserted into their hearts. Lillian Tengstrand, Effie Thomas and Marcus Williams filed a lawsuit Oct. 14 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Medtronic, Medtronic USA, Medtronic International Technology and Medtronic Puerto Rico Operations. More>>>

Regulators slam Toyota over 'no defect' claim
U.S. auto safety agency rebukes an assertion that it found nothing wrong in vehicles involved in a massive recall over incidents of unintended acceleration.
- Los Angeles Times
11/05/2009 - Federal safety regulators have sharply rebuked Toyota Motor Corp. for issuing "inaccurate and misleading" statements asserting that no defect exists in the 3.8 million vehicles it recalled after a Lexus sedan accelerated out of control in San Diego County, killing four people. More>>>

Antipsychotic Drugs Can Cause Rapid Weight Gain in Kids
-FNA
11/04/2009 - Results of a new study suggested that prescription of antipsychotic drugs for children could be a factor in their rapid weight gain and may raise the risk for diabetes and heart disease. More>>>

Owners of Toyota Cars in Rebellion Over Series of Accidents Caused by Sudden Acceleration - ABC News Investigation Uncovers Reports of 16 Deaths, Over 200 Accidents; Toyota Owners Demand Answers
-ABC NEWS
11/04/2009 - Refusing to accept the explanation of Toyota and the federal government, hundreds of Toyota owners are in rebellion after a series of accidents caused by what they call "runaway cars." Safety analysts found an estimated 2000 cases in which owners of Toyota cars including Camry, Prius and Lexus, reported that their cars surged without warning up to speeds of 100 miles per hour. More>>>

Toyota says stuck accelerator problem entirely due to floor-mat jams
- USA Today
11/03/2009 - Toyota said today that its cars don't have a rampant sudden acceleration problem for any reason other than driver’s side floor mats that can become lodged under the gas pedal. More>>>

U.S. Declines Investigation on Lexus Car Acceleration
-Bloomberg
11/02/2009 - A U.S. safety board declined further investigation into an alleged defect that may cause uncontrolled acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus ES sedans after the carmaker issued a recall this month for floor mats. More>>>

Take Two Kickbacks...
-Mother Jones
11/02/2009 - So your doctor says it's time to consider that hip replacement. Trouble is, more than a dozen firms make artificial hips, and there've been plenty of recalls—no small inconvenience when the recalled product resides in your pelvis. More>>>

Isotretinoin Use Linked to Increased Risk of IBD: Presented at ACG
-DoctorsGuide
11/01/2009 - Results from a retrospective study presented here at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 74th Annual Scientific Meeting suggest that use of isotretinoin is associated with the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). More>>>

Astra sets aside $520M for Seroquel case
- Philadelphia Inquirer
11/01/2009 - Drugmaker AstraZeneca P.L.C. said yesterday that it had set aside $520 million as part of a tentative agreement to resolve an investigation by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia into the company's marketing practices. More>>>

Suicide Blamed on Acne Drugs
-Courthouse News
11/01/2009 - Parents say their daughter committed suicide because drug companies failed to warn them of the side effects of their acne drugs. Their daughter, whose age is not specified, killed herself after taking Claravis and YAZ for acne, the parents claim in Mahoning County Court. More>>>

Hylla to hear motions in Accutane suit
-The St.Clair Record
11/01/2009 - It's been over a month since Madison County Circuit Judge David Hylla heard arguments in a case over the acne drug Accutane and, with the case's Oct. 19 trial date past, he is scheduled to hear more motions in the suit on Nov. 3. More>>>

AZ's Seroquel Legal Bill Is $1.1B and Getting Bigger
-BNET
11/01/2009 - Let’s look at the numbers behind AstraZeneca’s Seroquel settlement with the U.S. Disrict Attorney in Pennsylvania. The headline number is $520 million, the amount AstraZeneca (AZN) will pay to end a probe of its marketing practices on the atypical antipsychotic, which allegedly resulted in off-label use of the drug in children and the elderly. More>>>

Appeals court reinstates Zicam lawsuit
- East Valley Tribune
10/29/2009 - A federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated a shareholder lawsuit against Scottsdale-based Matrixx Initiatives over what company officials knew about potential dangers from its popular Zicam cold remedy. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that U.S. District Court Judge Mary Murguia was wrong to throw the lawsuit, filed in 2004, out of court. More>>>

Warnings strengthened for Tysabri
-Pharmacy News
10/29/2009 - A growing association between a widely used multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab) and a potentially deadly brain infection has been reflected in strengthened warnings for prescribers and patients. More>>>

Minn. judge dismisses Medtronic heart device suits
-Reuters
10/28/2009 - A Minnesota state court judge has dismissed a batch of lawsuits against Medtronic Inc stemming from the October 2007 recall of the medical device maker's Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads. More>>>

Ennis & Ennis, P.A. is Still Accepting Accutane Cases against Hoffman La-Roche
-OpenPress
10/27/2009 - Ennis & Ennis, P.A. announces today it is still investigating and accepting Accutane cases against the manufacturer of the drug Hoffman La-Roche. David Ennis states, "although Hoffman La-Roche announced in June 2009 that it will no longer sell Accutane due to generic competition and large legal costs defending the drug this does not absolve La-Roche from liability from patients who took the drug in the past and have suffered Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease". More>>>

Bayer Faces Nearly 1,000 Trasylol Cases in Florida
-BNET
10/27/2009 - Bayer faces almost 1,000 lawsuits in a Florida federal district court regarding its anti-bleeding drug Trasylol, according to the docket in the case (1:08-md-01928-DMM). While there have been sporadic reports in local media of people filing claims against Bayer alleging Trasylol contributed to renal failure, there has been little overall publicity to what is clearly a massive multi-district litigation effort going on in Judge Donald Middlebrooks’ Southern District federal court. More>>>

Matrixx says FDA unwilling to change stance on Zicam
-Reuters
10/27/2009 - Matrixx Initiatives Inc (MTXX.O) said the U.S. health regulator has indicated that it is unwilling to reverse its position regarding the warning letter issued on company's nasal versions of Zicam cold remedy. In June, the company voluntarily withdrew two of its existing Zicam products after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter that the products could cause a loss of smell. More>>>

Federal report tied to Toyota floor mat recall released
- Union-Tribune
10/27/2009 - A federal report on the fiery, high-speed Lexus crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and his family found that the accelerator was stuck to an unsecured and incorrect floor mat and that the design of the gas pedal may have contributed to the crash. More>>>

New details in crash that spurred massive Toyota recall
- Los Angeles Times
10/26/2009 - Federal highway safety inspectors have released new details of a fatal car crash that triggered Toyota Motor Corp.’s largest recall, including a finding that the Lexus ES 350 sedan involved had a gas pedal design that could increase the risk of it being obstructed by a floor mat. More>>>

Drugs used during MRI scans that have been linked to a rare disease are being widely used in South Africa.
-Times LIVE
10/26/2009 - An agent used during MRI scans has been named as a health risk for those with kidney problems. But radiologists say local patients have little to fear. US researchers have found that the drugs - contrast agents containing the potentially toxic metal gadolinium, which make scans easier to read - pose health risks to people with impaired kidney function. More>>>

Diabetes drugs may leave heart at greater risk
Working harder to lower blood glucose in Type 2 diabetics doesn't help the heart, studies say.
-LA Times
10/24/2009 - Medications for Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes are very effective at controlling blood sugar levels. You'd think, then, that the drugs would also be very effective at controlling complications of the disease related to those spikes in blood sugar: cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage and amputation of limbs. Surprisingly, though, that has not turned out to be the case for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. More>>>

PML Found in Patient on Rituximab Monotherapy
-Medpage Today
10/24/2009 - A case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has been reported in a rheumatoid arthritis patient taking rituximab (Rituxan) who had not previously received anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy, according to the FDA and the drug's manufacturer. More>>>

Newark woman sues maker of Yaz birth control
- Oakland Tribune
10/23/2009 - A 39-year-old Newark woman has filed a lawsuit this week against Bayer Corp., blaming its popular birth control product Yaz for causing her stroke and other related health issues. Susan Galinis, the mother of 3-year-old twin girls, took the prescription-only product for four weeks in the summer of 2008, and wound up suffering a stroke that caused her to be hospitalized for six months, said her attorney. More>>>

Confusing Choices for Doctors and Type 2 Diabetes Patients
-GEN
10/23/2009 - Given the current worldwide type 2 diabetes epidemic, it’s hard for drug developers to ignore the huge potential for new, better, and safer oral drugs. The U.S. market alone has reached $5 billion annually, and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes continues to rise across the globe. More>>>

Pharmaceutical company behind Yaz forced to air corrective advertising
-Independent Florida Alligator
10/22/2009 - Back in 2008, pharmaceutical maker Bayer released a series of ads for Yaz, a birth control pill. The ads claimed that Yaz can treat various premenstrual symptoms and help clear up acne on skin. But oops-they weren't supposed to say that. The FDA said that these ads made claims that it hadn't approved, and they didn't adequately disclose the health risks associated with Yaz. More>>>

Lawsuits Against Yaz Increasing
-empowerher
10/22/2009 - While all birth control pills have side effects, Yaz and its sister pill, Yasmin (which contains less estrogen) seems to be taking the cake for increasing lawsuits for its effect on women. More>>>

CPSC to address dangers of recreational off-highway vehicles
-ConsumerReports
10/22/2009 - Okay, it's going to be an eventful ride. But before you get on this Yamaha Rhino, the company needs to put a spacer on the rear wheels, remove an anti-sway bar, add extra handholds, and install a half door so you don’t go flying out if the thing rolls over. Because nearly 60 people have died and hundreds have been injured, some seriously, on three models of this vehicle. More>>>

Accutane trial continues with discovery, trial had been set for Oct. 19
- Madison County Record
10/21/2009 - What would have been Madison County's first trial involving acne medicine Accutane has been put off again as discovery in the case continues. Plaintiff Jason Peipert filed notice of another deposition Oct. 13 as the defendants in the case have attempted to bar an unpublished study by the University of North Carolina. More>>>

No patch for deepest cut
-The Boston Globe
10/21/2009 - Then, on the morning of Sept. 28, Leslie got a call from the dean of students. I’m so sorry, he kept saying. Adrianna had collapsed in her dorm room. The 17-year-old died of a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot in her lung. More>>>

Bayer under pressure as birth control pills linked to blood clots
-Deutsche Welle
10/21/2009 - A hormone in some birth control pills made by Bayer may cause dangerous blood clots, studies have found. The pills have been linked to several recent deaths, but a ban is considered unlikely. More>>>

Super PoliGrip Now Contains Zinc Warning: Adhesive has been linked to poisoning
-ConsumerAffairs.com
10/21/2009 - The makers of Super PoliGrip have apparently caved to consumer pressure, adding a zinc-related warning to packages of the popular denture cream. The move by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) comes after dozens of lawsuits and a prominent medical article outlined the danger of zinc poisoning resulting from overuse of denture adhesives. More>>>

Specter of MRI disease haunts GE
-ProPublica
10/20/2009 - In May 2006, medical regulators in Denmark issued a warning that signaled trouble for General Electric. Danish researchers noted that, over a four-year period, 25 patients in Denmark and Austria had suffered a rare and crippling disease after undergoing an MRI, the scanning procedure used to diagnose everything from brain tumors to blown knees. More>>>

Bay Area woman sues Yaz birth control
-ABC News
10/20/2009 - A Bay Area woman says the popular birth control pill known as Yaz caused her to have a stroke which has devastated her life. She is suing the drug's maker, Bayer, to take the pill off the market. More>>>

Thiazolidinediones have a role for appropriate diabetic patients
-Heartwire
10/20/2009 - Although the Rosiglitazone Evaluated for Cardiac Outcomes and Regulation of Glycemia in Diabetes (RECORD) trial and other trials found that rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) increases risk of heart failure and fractures, thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are still useful for appropriate diabetic patients. More>>>

Bayer's Legal Woes: 125 Suits Over Yaz; FDA Allegedly Not Told of Trasylol Study
-BNET
10/19/2009 - Bayer faces more than 125 lawsuits over its Yaz contraceptive and new cases are being filed around the country at a rate of up to up to six a day, according to Courthouse News Service. The cases all claim the same thing: That the new progesterone ingredient that Bayer used for Yaz causes more dangerous blood clots to form than previous formulations. More>>>

Ford SUV catches fire, more recalls made
-WINK News
10/19/2009 - NAPLES, Fla. - Millions of Ford vehicles were recalled this week for fire danger. One Naples man knows firsthand what can happen if the problem isn't fixed. Jose Sosa's SUV caught fire while it was parked in his driveway. He said it was part of a recall last June, but didn't know about it. Ford said four and a half million vehicles could potentially burst into flames without warning. More>>>

Bayer pulls U.S. Trasylol supplies after study
-Reuters
10/19/2009 - Bayer AG is removing remaining supplies of its heart-surgery drug Trasylol from the U.S. market after a long-awaited study found it raised the risk of death compared to two alternatives, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday. More>>>

Report: Toyota faulty throttles caused by more than jammed car mats
-SDNN
10/19/2009 - The deaths of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and his family in a runaway Lexus, its brakes on fire, point to a troubling possibility that millions of Toyota and Lexus autos on American roads have serious throttle control problems, it was reported Sunday. More>>>

Ford recalls 4.5m vehicles on fire risk
A faulty cruise-control switch prompted the Ford recall.
-Bloomberg News
10/19/2009 - Ford Motor Co. said 4.5 million more vehicles may have a faulty cruise-control switch that could cause a fire, prompting the automaker to expand a recall that was already its biggest. More>>>

Pfizer to pay $1.3 billion criminal fine for misbranding its drugs
-NaturalNews
10/19/2009 - In the largest criminal fine ever levied against any drug company in the world, a unit of U.S.-based Pfizer, Inc. was sentenced to pay $1.3 billion in criminal fines and revenue forfeiture. It's all part of a $2.3 billion settlement announced by the Justice Department. The case centers around Pfizer's criminal "off-label marketing" of four drugs, including the painkiller Bextra. After whistleblowers filed lawsuits in three states, the U.S. Justice Department took an interest in the case and prosecuted Pfizer for criminal acts. More>>>

Man Discovers Used Car Was Recalled When It Explodes
-NBC News
10/17/2009 - When Mike Gerrin bought his 2002 Ford F-150, he had no idea that it had been recalled for a faulty part. That is, until the truck burst into flames. It happened on October 7. Gerrin had just taken a quick trip out to pick up a sandwich. He was in his house eating, when he heard what he thought was fireworks. When he looked outside, he saw his truck was in flames. More>>>

U.S. presses Toyota to issue mandatory recall over floor mat
-The Japan Times
10/17/2009 - NAGOYA (Kyodo) U.S. authorities are urging Toyota Motor Corp. to issue a mandatory recall over loose floor mats in some of its cars, stepping up the pressure for the Japanese automaker to admit that the vehicles in question have a safety defect, sources said Friday. More>>>

GSK antidepressant Paxil to blame for baby's heart defects, US jury rules
-Telegraph
10/16/2009 - A US family has been awarded $2.5 million (£1.6 million) in damages after a Philadelphia jury decided that the antidepressant Paxil, known as Seroxat in Britain, was responsible for their son's birth defects. GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the British manufacturer of Seroxat, said it would appeal against the verdict in the case, which is the first of 600 such cases to come to trial. More>>>

Ford expands massive recall by 4.5 million, says National Highway Safety
-Weekly Driver
10/16/2009 - Once week after Toyota recalled 3.5 million cars, Ford Motor Co has dubiously and decisively one-upped the Japanese manufacturer by expanding its massive vehicle recall linked to faulty cruise control switches by 4.5 million vehicles. More>>>

Fire on Ford truck linked to cruise control
-NBC News
10/16/2009 - A Port St. Lucie woman lost her Ford F-150 truck to fire Wednesday night, a fire that investigators trace back to the vehicle's cruise control system. Maryanne Komar said when her dogs started barking at 10:30 p.m., she knew something was wrong. She rushed to the window of her home on the 1500 block of SE Pitcher Rd. That's when she saw her truck, parked in her driveway, engulfed in flames. The flames quickly spread to her boat, which was parked beside it. More>>>

Investigation Of Contaminated Heparin Syringes Highlights Medication Safety Issues
-ScienceDaily
10/16/2009 - An outbreak of bloodstream infections appears to have been caused by the contamination of pre-filled heparin and saline syringes made by a single company, according to a report in the October 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. More>>>

Ford recalls 4.5M vehicles over switch's risk of fire
- Detroit Free Press
10/14/2009 - Ford Motor Co. is recalling 4.5 million vehicles due to a faulty switch that can overheat and catch fire. It’s the automaker’s eighth recall in a decade involving the same switch, which has now resulted in the recall of more than 14 million vehicles. More>>>

Actual Toyota and Lexus floor mat recall announced
-TheExaminer
10/13/2009 - The Feds just released the official floor mat recall notice that affects more than 3 million Toyota and Lexus cars that could be at risk for acceleration problems. A couple of weeks ago the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration took extreme steps and announced a rare warning about the situation--telling car owners to just take the mats out until the manufacturer comes up with a plan to deal with the predicament. More>>>

Pulmonary Embolism Leads To Woman's Death After Using Birth Control
-EmaxHealth
10/13/2009 - Swissmedic, the medical regulatory agency in Switzerland, is looking into the death of a young woman who suffered a pulmonary embolism that appears to be a side effect of her birth control medication. According to the agency, the woman had been using Yaz, an oral medication made by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, for about 10 months when her death occurred in mid-September. More>>>

Glaxo Ordered to Pay $2.5 Million for Paxil Defects
-Bloomberg
10/13/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc must pay $2.5 million over claims that its Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects, a Pennsylvania jury concluded in the first of 600 such cases to come to trial. More>>>

Deaths Linked To Trendy Birth Control Pill
-The Bulletin
10/12/2009 - It was mid-August, 2008, when 24-year-old Tanya Hayes began to experience breathlessness and what her family described as a “nasty, hard cough.” A busy student, Tanya ignored the symptoms until one afternoon when she collapsed in a car park in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Five hours later, she was pronounced dead of a pulmonary embolism. More>>>

Rio Linda widow berates Toyota on safety after crashes
-Sacramento Bee
10/12/2009 - A phone call brought Melodie Bohuchot news so improbable, she thought it must be a joke: Her husband had been killed when a Toyota Camry with a jammed accelerator rear-ended him at 120 mph. More>>>

'Killer' mats pulled back by Toyota
-Beacon Journal
10/12/2009 - Toyota announced the biggest U.S. recall in its history this week. The company is calling in 3.8 million vehicles because of . . . floor mats. More>>>

Maytag Expands Recall of Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard
-NBC News
10/10/2009 - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Maytag®, Magic Chef®, Performa by Maytag® and Crosley® brand refrigerators announced today an expansion of refrigerators recalled due to fire hazard. More>>>

Gulf Stream Motorhomes with Norcold Refrigerators|
- U.S. Recall News
10/10/2009 - GULF STREAM IS RECALLING CERTAIN MOTORHOMES EQUIPPED WITH NORCOLD MODEL 1200LR, 1200LRIM, AND 1201LRIM REFRIGERATORS WITH SERIAL NUMBERS BETWEEN 1273701 AND 1536607, NON-CONSECUTIVELY. A FATIGUE FAILURE IN THE SECTION OF THE COOLING UNIT WHICH CONTAINS THE REFRIGERANT COULD ALLOW THE LIQUID SOLUTION TO SLOWLY LEAK. More>>>

Glaxo Ignored Paxil’s Birth-Defect Risks, Lawyer Says
-Bloomberg
10/09/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc officials intentionally ignored the possibility that the Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects, a lawyer said in closing arguments of a trial over the drug. More>>>

Toyota to Use Zip Ties to Fix Floor Mats
- U.S. News
10/09/2009 - If you're into extreme sports, you're probably fine trusting your life to a bungee cord. How do you feel about trusting it to a zip tie? Automotive News reports, "Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is instructing dealers to attach floor mats to seat frames on the driver's side of select vehicles with self-locking wire ties to prevent the mats from snagging on gas pedals and causing unintended acceleration." More>>>

Toyota tells dealers to tie down floor mats
-Automotive News
10/08/2009 - Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is instructing dealers to attach floor mats to seat frames on the driver’s side of select vehicles with self-locking wire ties to prevent the mats from snagging on gas pedals and causing unintended acceleration. More>>>

AstraZeneca Promoted Seroquel as ‘Weight Neutral’
-Bloomberg
10/08/2009 - AstraZeneca Plc advised its sales force to promote the antipsychotic drug Seroquel as “weight neutral” four years after company research found “clinically significant” weight gains in users, internal documents show. More>>>

Toyota-Lexus Floor-Mat Problem Is Now Officially A Recall
-The Car Connection
10/07/2009 - One week ago today, owners of eight Toyota and Lexus models got an urgent plea from the U.S. Department of Transportation, delivered via the media: Remove your driver's side floor mat immediately, and don't replace it until you've taken your car to the dealer. More>>>

Depression Is a Dilemma for Women in Pregnancy
-The New York Times
10/06/2009 - When Sherean Malekzadeh Allen of Marietta, Ga., learned she was pregnant, she was 43, had been married for two years, had gone through two miscarriages and had all but given up hope of having a baby. But instead of being overjoyed, Ms. Allen was immobilized: panic-ridden, nauseated, listless and thoroughly depressed. More>>>

Toyota's Reputation in U.S. Tarnished by Recall, Lawsuits
-The Chosun Ilbo
10/06/2009 - This fall has been tough for Toyota, which had already been suffering from a strong yen amid the global financial crisis. On Sept. 30 the Japanese automaker recalled 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota cars sold in the U.S. since 2004 because of potentially deadly floor mats. It is the largest ever recall in the company's 72-year history. More>>>

Gas pedal, floor mat may drive big recall
-TampaBayOnline
10/04/2009 - Federal investigators say that of the 102 accidents caused by stuck gas pedals on Toyota vehicles, there are four possible causes involving floor mats: The mats are too long or too thick, they weren't properly secured, the gas pedal design is flawed or the floor geometry is defective. More>>>

Toyota Floormat Recall Could Expand
- US News
10/02/2009 - If your Toyota wasn't included in the massive floormat recall campaign announced yesterday, don't breathe easy yet. In fact, you may want to remove your driver's side floormat as a precaution, even if you haven't been instructed to. The list of affected vehicles may grow in coming weeks. More>>>

Toyota recall in works
-The Spokesman Review
10/02/2009 - Toyota Motor Corp. said it would recall 3.8 million vehicles sold in the United States as it attempts to resolve concerns that floor mats in those cars and trucks could cause their gas pedals to become stuck, leading to uncontrollable acceleration. More>>>

California couple filesTexas suit over tainted heparin
-The Southeast Texas Record
10/01/2009 - While in Bowie County, Tracey Underwood believes she was given multiple vials of contaminated heparin and as a result developed superior vena cava syndrome. Alleging the drug was intentionally contaminated to raise profits, California residents Tracey and Brian Underwood filed suit against Baxter Healthcare Corp., Baxter International Inc. and Scientific Protein Laboratories on Sept. 28 in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. More>>>

Study finds certain diabetes drugs may cause bone fractures
-DrugStoreNews
10/01/2009 - A certain class of diabetes drugs may put patients at higher risk of bone fractures, according to a study published in the online edition of the journal PLoS Medicine. More>>>

Sliding floor mats lead to biggest Toyota, Lexus recall
- USA TODAY
09/30/2009 - Toyota is launching its biggest recall ever to prevent sliding floor mats from jamming accelerator pedals, a problem that may have killed four in the crash of a runaway Lexus. The automaker on Tuesday warned the owners of 3.8 million late-model Toyota and Lexus vehicles to immediately remove any driver's side floor mat. Official notice will go out to owners next week. More>>>

Woman alleges pill caused death of unborn baby, sues drug maker
-The Southeast Texas Record
09/30/2009 - A pregnant woman claiming her birth control pills are responsible for her blood clot and the death of her unborn baby has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the drug's manufacturer. More>>>

Toyota to recall 3.8 million vehicles:
Floor mats may slide, jam accelerator pedal
-The Detroit News
09/30/2009 - Toyota Motor Corp. will recall more than 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota vehicles, its largest ever U.S. safety recall, after drivers reported that floor mats slid forward and in some cases jammed the accelerator pedal, the company and the U.S. government said Tuesday. More>>>

Lilly to Pay Connecticut $25.1 Million Over Zyprexa
-Bloomberg
09/30/2009 - Ely Lilly & Co., the largest maker of psychiatric medicines, agreed to pay the state of Connecticut $25.1 million to settle claims it promoted the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for unapproved uses. The company illegally marketed Zyprexa to treat depression and attention-deficit disorder and for other uses in children never approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. More>>>

On Yaz, Bayer Believes "a Multiple of a Rare Event Is Still a Rare Event"
-BNET
09/29/2009 – The mainstream media has finally woken up to Bayer’s problems on its Yaz contraceptive brands. The New York Times published a story over the weekend about the 74 lawsuits against the company alleging that the pills cause potentially fatal embolisms in users. A close look at recent events at Bayer indicate that the company seems to see the world one way, even though everyone else sees it another. More>>>

Yaz and Yasmin: the Facts Behind the Hype
-TheFasterTimes
09/29/2009 - The New York Times reported September 25 on the controversy surrounding Yaz and Yasmin, two popular birth control pills (BCPs). Part of the controversy stems from problematic marketing and manufacturing processes identified by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the principal concern is whether these medications increase the risk of blood clots. More>>>

Are Yaz and Yasmine Safe? What You Should Know About Your Birth Control
-Twirlit
09/29/2009 - Conflicting reports are out about the safety of Bayer’s popular lines of birth control: Yaz and Yasmine. While a Bayer sponsored study shows the pills are no less safe than other birth control pills in their incidences of stroke or blood clots, some women, their attorneys and other researches argue just the opposite. More>>>

Avandia Study Shows Increased Risk Of Heart Failure
-Ennis & Ennis, P.A.
-J.Murawski
09/28/2009 - Avandia is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Recently however, studies have shown that Avandia significantly increases the risk of heart attack and heart related deaths. More>>>

Oral Contraceptive Linked to Death from Blood Clot
-MedIndia
09/28/2009 - German drugmaker Bayer is in serious trouble after Swiss medical authorities revealed that they are investigating reports that a woman died after consuming a low dose contraceptive manufactured by Bayer. More>>>

Merck Fosamax lawsuit declared mistrial!
-JusticeNewsFlash
09/28/2009 - Manhattan federal judge declares first of nearly 1,500 plaintiffs lawsuits against Fosamax manufacturer a mistrial. Reports of violence and dessention in the U.S. District court jury deliberation room leads to New York federal judge declaring mistrial. More>>>

Diabetes drug could lead to heart failure: Study
-CalgaryHerald
09/26/2009 - New research involving nearly 40,000 Ontario patients is questioning the use of a widely prescribed diabetes drug that an expert in drug safety says should be removed from the market. The study, published this week by the British Medical Journal, found that rosiglitazone — sold under the brand name Avandia — is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and death compared to a similar drug, pioglitazone, or Actos. More>>>

Health Concerns Over Popular Contraceptives
-The New York Times
09/26/2009 - The oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin are the top-selling pharmaceutical line for Bayer HealthCare, largely as a result of marketing that presents them as much more than mere pregnancy prevention. Yaz, in particular, the top-selling birth control pill in the United States, owes much of its popularity to multimillion-dollar ad campaigns that have promoted the drug as a quality-of-life treatment to combat acne and severe premenstrual depression. More>>>

Bayer’s Yaz Consumer’s Death Probed By Swiss Agency
-Bloomberg
09/26/2009 - Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, said its Yaz contraceptive is part of an investigation by a Swiss health regulator into the death of a young woman who took the pill. The Swissmedic agency and an investigative judge are looking into the case of the woman, who died from the effects of pulmonary embolism, Bayer’s Swiss health unit said in a statement posted on its Web site yesterday. More>>>

Study Shows Small Risk of Heart Defect From SSRIs Taken During Pregnancy
-WebMD
09/25/2009 - New research adds to the evidence that babies born to women who take antidepressants during pregnancy have a small increased risk for a specific heart defect. More>>>

Hylla hears motions in Accutane case set for trial Oct. 19
-The Madison County Record
09/25/2009 - A defense motion to bar a doctor's testimony regarding whether he warned patients about the risks of taking acne medicine Accutane was granted Thursday by Madison County Circuit Judge David Hylla. More>>>

Setback for Taxus Liberte Stent
-WSJ
09/24/2009 - SAN FRANCISCO—Heart stents made by market leader Boston Scientific Corp. took a scientific drubbing at a big cardiology conference, after rival products from Medtronic Inc. and Abbott Laboratories appeared safer in several studies. More>>>

Prescription Avandia Has Been Linked To Cases Of Serious Side Effects And Fatalities
The prescription drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) causes an increase in liver problems, heart problems and bone density problems resulting in fractures
-OfficialWire
09/24/2009 - The prescription drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) causes an increase in liver problems, heart problems and bone density problems resulting in fractures. It has been linked to cases of death due to liver failure and heart failure. Patients who have taken Avandia should be aware of possible side effects and should know when to seek treatment for serious Avandia related health problems. More>>>

Hylla to hear motions Thursday in Accutane case
-The Madison Record
09/24/2009 - Madison County Circuit Judge David Hylla is scheduled to hear motions Thursday in a medical malpractice case against a local dermatologist who prescribed the acne medicine Accutane. Godfrey native Jason Peipert sued Dr. Daniel Goran of Edwardsville, Hoffman LaRoche Inc., and Roche Laboratories in 2003, claiming he developed Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder, after using the drug Goran prescribed 10 years ago. More>>>

Coachmen Travel Trailers with Maytag Refrigerators
-US Recall News
09/24/2009 - COACHMEN INDUSTRIES IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2002 THROUGH 2006 TRAVEL TRAILERS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN MARCH 2002 AND JUNE 2005 EQUIPPED WITH CERTAIN MODEL MAYTAG REFRIGERATORS. THE RELAY THAT TURNS ON THE REFRIGERATOR CAN OVERHEAT. More>>>

AstraZeneca Denied Drug’s Diabetes Link Years After Warning
-Bloomberg
09/23/2009 - An AstraZeneca Plc saleswoman told a U.S. doctor the antipsychotic Seroquel didn’t cause diabetes almost four years after the company warned Japanese physicians about the drug’s links to the disease, internal documents show. More>>>

Bone density and osteoporosis
- Kansas City Star Midwest Voices
09/23/2009 - The recent mistrial concerning claims that Merck's anti-osteoporosis drug Fosamax allegedly weakens jaw bone tissue reminds us of the rather complicated issues many older people face in dealing with bone density problems. By some estimates half of all women and one third of all men over 65 will develop bone density problems. More>>>

Tendon / Ligament Injuries and Tendonitis: Symptoms or Side Effects?
-US Recall News
09/23/2009 - Tendon and ligament injuries and tendonitis are often symptoms of conditions or diseases such as, or caused by lifestyle or workplace activities, but could also be side effects associated with certain medications, such as Levaquin. More>>>

Lilly Reaches Zyprexa Agreement With Seven States
-Bloomberg
09/22/2009 - Eli Lilly & Co. agreed to settle, on confidential terms, lawsuits filed by seven states alleging the company improperly marketed its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, a court-appointed official said. More>>>

Medical device firm flies in controversial surgeon
-TheAge
09/22/2009 - A CONTROVERSIAL American surgeon being investigated by the US Senate over his financial ties with medical device giant Medtronic was flown by the company to Australia to lecture doctors at a medical conference last month. More>>>

CALL7 Investigation: Recalled Baby Warmers At Local Hospital
Babies Could Be Burned, Investigation Prompts Changes
-ABC News
09/22/2009 - DENVER -- Swedish Medical Center boasts state of the art care, but the CALL7 Investigators found the hospital still using recalled baby warmers months after warnings and recalls were made public. The recalls were the a result of an incident at a Minnesota hospital in January 2008.
Maverick Werth, just hours old, was placed into what is called a Hill-Rom Stabilet when it burst into flames. More>>>

Glaxo Linked Birth Defect of Fetus to Paxil, Ex-Executive Says
-Bloomberg
09/18/2009 - Officials of GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, said in 2001 that a birth defect in the fetus of a woman taking its Paxil antidepressant likely was linked to the drug, according to court testimony. More>>>

Eli Lilly paid doctors to write Zyprexa prescriptions?
-Justice News Flash
09/18/2009 - South Carolina government lawyers introduced damaging evidence in a court hearing in a lawsuit against the drug company, Eli Lilly. Pharmaceutical sales representatives’ notes reveal South Carolina doctors were paid for prescribing Zyprexa, a now highly debated antipsychotic, to patients. More>>>

Trial opens here in Paxil lawsuit
-Philly Enquirer
09/17/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. for years ignored evidence that its antidepressant Paxil may have caused birth defects, a lawyer told a Philadelphia jury today on behalf of a woman who says that taking the drug during her pregnancy caused her three year-old son's heart problems. More>>>

Heartburn drug may cause brain damage
-STL Today
09/17/2009 -Q. A dear friend was put on Reglan for acid stomach and left on the drug for nine years. The therapy is only supposed to last a few weeks. She now has tardive dyskinesia. Her tongue is enlarged, and she can no longer speak properly. The side effects did not go away when the drug was stopped. Is there anything that can help her? Please warn your readers about Reglan. More>>>

Pennsylvania Poised to be Center of State Court Yaz(R) Yasmin(R) Ocella(R) Birth Control Litigation
- US Newswire
09/17/2009 - Yesterday, Judge Sandra Mazer Moss, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, consolidated all lawsuits filed in Philadelphia that involve Bayer's popular birth control pills, commonly known as Yaz or Yasmin. Philadelphia is likely to be the country's center for state court litigation involving this widely used birth control pill. More>>>

Heart Palpitations, Slow Heart Rate, Low Blood Pressure: Symptoms or Side Effects?
-US Recall News
09/17/2009 - Heart palpitations, slow heart rate, and low blood pressure are often symptoms of diseases or conditions like hormonal changes or Sleep apnea, but could also be side effects associated with certain medications. Below is a list of diseases and conditions associated with symptoms like heart palpitations, slow heart rate, and low blood pressure, as well as a list of medications related to similar side effects. More>>>

FDA Sends Warning Letter to Makers of Yaz – Yasmin
-US Recall News
09/17/2009 - As if the makers of Yasmin / Yaz didn’t have enough to worry about with pending lawsuits related to major side-effects, now they’ve been served a warning letter from the FDA for quality control problems at a plant in Germany that manufactures one of the ingredients in the drug. More>>>

Eight locals sue hip replacement manufacturer over alleged defects
- Bakersfield
09/17/2009 - A hip replacement was supposed to cure Mary Shelton's pain. Instead, the Bakersfield woman replaced one pain with another. Shelton and seven other local folks are suing the manufacturer and distributor of a hip replacement system. More>>>

FDA hits Medtronic sutureless catheter with Class I recall
Design flaw caused leakage, other problems in 10 patients when implant was used with Medtronic IsoMed infusion pumps.
-MassDevice
09/16/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified a letter intended to correct a labeling error made by Medtronic Inc. with its Sutureless Connector intrathecal catheters as a Class I recall, the agency's most severe level of call-back. More>>>

Glaxo Executive’s Memo Suggested Burying Drug Studies
-Bloomberg
09/16/2009 - An executive of GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker, talked about burying negative studies linking its antidepressant drug Paxil to birth defects, according to a company memo introduced at a trial. More>>>

Concern over use of zinc as common cold cure
-IrishTimes
09/16/2009 - It’s back to school time. Along with carrying all their books, some pupils will be bringing home the bugs that are making their way around the school. The search for cold remedies will soon be upon us. The FDA reported that it had received more than 130 complaints from people claiming they lost their sense of smell after using these products. It also demanded that the manufacturer, Matrixx, forward the 800 additional complaints it had received. By law, drug manufacturers are required to send such complaints to the FDA, but Matrixx had failed to do so. More>>>

Merck Case Over Fosamax Ends in Mistrial in New York
-Bloomberg
09/14/2009 - A federal judge declared a mistrial in the first case to go to a jury over claims that Merck & Co.’s osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes so-called jaw death after a lone juror refused to exonerate the company. More>>>

Weight Loss Drug Hydroxycut Reformulated and on Shelves
-ExamHealth
09/14/2009 - Just four months after it was recalled from consumers’ shelves, the weight loss supplement Hydroxycut has been reformulated and returned to a store near you. The popular weight loss product was removed from the market because it was linked to serious liver damage and one death. More>>>

VA ISSUES FURTHER CHANTIX AND ZYBAN WARNINGS
-VA Watchdog
09/14/2009 - "Family members and caregivers should also be alerted to the potential for changes in mood or behavior and contact the health care provider if they observe these changes..."
The VA is the premier organization for promoting smoking cessation programs. However, they tend to push drugs as the "helper of choice" for those veterans who wish to give up the cigarettes. The two drugs used by the VA are Chantix and Zyban (varenicline and bupropion, respectively). More>>>

Medtronic payments to doctor-consultants controversy erupts Down Under
-StarTribune
09/14/2009 - The stateside controversy concerning Medtronic's payments to its doctor-consultants has erupted Down Under. Citing confidential documents, the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia reported last week that the Fridley-based medical technology giant devised a "secret marketing strategy" in 2007 to woo doctors' loyalty by paying fellowship grants. More>>>

Fosamax Plaintiffs Lawyer: Mistrial a 'Shock' to Merck
-Am Law Litigation Daily.
09/13/2009 - To those tracking the first product liability trial accusing Merck's osteoporosis drug Fosamax of causing debilitating jaw bone deterioration, it should come as no surprise that a mistrial was declared Friday. But the lead plaintiffs lawyer's view of the eight-member jury's failure to reach a verdict may be a bit more eyebrow-raising. More>>>

What Is Ulcerative Colitis? What Causes Ulcerative Colitis?
-Medical News Today
09/13/2009 - Ulcerative colitis is a fairly common chronic (long-term) disease that causes inflammation of the colon (the large intestine). It is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that has some similarity to Crohn's disease, a related disorder. More>>>

BMJ: Ingredient in Bayer's Yaz Causes More Blood Clots Than Rivals
-Bnet
09/12/2009 - Folks inside the Yaz brand management team at Bayer have another pill-induced headache this month in the form of a BMJ study that indicates the progesterone ingredient of Yaz is more risky than those in other contraceptives. More>>>

Suicide and Aggressive Behavior Found as a Result Of Taking Anti-Smoking Drugs
-PR inside
09/12/2009 - In January of this year, David Collins killed himself with a shotgun just three months after he began taking Chantix (varenicline) a smoking cessation drug made by Pfizer. Linda Collins who is David Collins widow has filed a lawsuit in Indianapolis against Pfizer over Chantix (Champix in other countries) its side effects and its possible failure to provide warnings to users. More>>>

Medtronic warns about heart device battery
-Reuters
09/11/2009 - Medtronic Inc said it is warning doctors about problems with 6,300 implantable heart devices because the batteries in the devices drain sooner than normal. More>>>

Mistrial Declared In Merck Fosamax Liability Case
-Wall Street Journal
09/11/2009 - A judge declared a mistrial Friday in a closely watched case involving Merck & Co.'s osteoporosis drug Fosamax after a jury failed to reach a verdict amid tense jury deliberations. More>>>

Lilly in dock over improper marketing
-PharmaTimes
09/11/2009 - Eli Lilly is the new drug giant to be raked over hot coals for improper marketing of its drugs. Sales notes were made public for the first time in a South Carolina court this week allegedly detailing that Eli Lilly provided a number of incentives to doctors, such as being paid to take part in speakers’ programmes, in return for prescribing the company’s antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine). More>>>

Is your laxative hurting you?
-Examiner
09/10/2009 - Fleet Phospho-soda is an over-the-counter laxative product that has been manufactured and marketed by C.B. Fleet Company for over a hundred years. These products have been approved by the FDA for use as laxatives in a lower dose and appear to be safe. However, problems began to occur in the 1990’s, when C.B. Fleet Company began teaming up with pharmaceutical companies to mass market the product in double doses to doctors offices and gastroenterologist’s clinics across the country as a preparatory solution for a colonoscopy procedure, something that the FDA has never given approval for. More>>>

Fosamax Judge Rejects Merck Bid To Exclude Experts' Testimony
-CNN
09/09/2009 - A federal judge denied a bid Wednesday by Merck & Co. to exclude the testimony of several expert witnesses and dismiss 24 personal-injury cases over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax. In an order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan rejected efforts to exclude testimony by two doctors on whether Fosamax can cause a severe jaw condition known as osteonecrosis before three years of continuous use. More>>>

Merck loses effort to dismiss 24 Fosamax cases
-Reuters
09/09/2009 - A Manhattan federal judge has rejected Merck & Co's effort to dismiss 24 cases alleging that its Fosamax drug treatment for osteoporosis causes jaw damage. In an opinion released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Keenan ruled that the plaintiffs could introduce testimony by two doctors to show that the drug can cause jaw damage after less than three years of continuous use. More>>>

Despite 98 Suicides and 188 Suicide Attempts, FDA Favors Chantix Over Electronic Cigarettes:
Tobacco Control Expert Dr. Michael Siegel Calls for a Scientific, Not Ideological or Political Response to the Electronic Cigarette Issue
-Emailwire
09/09/2009 - An article in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now acknowledged receiving 98 reports of suicides and 188 reports of suicide attempts that appear to be linked to use of Chantix, a prescription medication for smoking cessation. In addition, the FDA has received reports of patients taking the drug being involved in motor vehicle crashes. More>>>

Jury in bellwether Fosamax case unable to agree
-FiercePharma
09/09/2009 - The jury in the bellwether Fosamax case against Merck said today that they could not reach a decision, but the federal judge presiding over the case sent them back to the deliberation room to keep trying. The jury is to decide whether osteoporosis drug Fosamax caused a woman's osteonecrosis of the jaw--or "jawbone death." The plaintiff is asking for at least $1 million. More>>>

Judge To Give Jury 'Cooling Off' Period In Fosamax Case
-CNN Money
09/09/2009 - A U.S. judge called for a daylong "cooling off" period in a product-liability case over Merck & Co.'s (MRK) osteoporosis drug Fosamax after jury deliberations became tense on Wednesday. More>>>

Yaz/Yasmin birth control pills: Serial Killers?
-Examiner
09/08/2009 - Yasmin is the brand name for a birth control pill that is generically known as drospirenone. It is also a treatment for moderate acne and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in women. Yasmin is produced by Berlex Laboratories, Inc.(this name changed to Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals in 2008) as an oral contraceptive. More>>>

Merck Jury Told to Keep Deliberating in Fosamax Case
-Bloomberg
09/08/2009 - A federal judge instructed a jury to continue deliberating whether Merck & Co.’s osteoporosis drug Fosamax caused a Florida woman’s “jaw death,” after the panel told the judge it couldn’t decide. More>>>

Obama administration may mean tougher FDA recalls
-Examiner
09/08/2009 - Time will only tell if this speculation proves true, but it appears to be the case with reference to the recent actions of the FDA against the popular homeopathic cold remedy Zicam Nasal Gel and Zicam Nasal Swabs. These products have been manufactured by Matrix Initiatives since 1999. More>>>

What's Really in Supplements? Regulators and Physicians Raise Alarms About Dangerous Ingredients in Many Herbal Remedies
-Wall Street Journal
09/08/2009 - When Dan Gerkey was trying to get into better shape a few years ago, he tried out a dietary supplement from a local store that promised to help build his strength. At first, the stuff worked. But after several weeks the police officer, who lives in Fraser, Mich., started feeling exhausted, and his wife noticed a yellowish tinge in his eyes. More>>>

Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug cautions behavioural changes
-Hindu Business Line
09/08/2009 - Pfizer has updated the label on its smoking-cessation product Champix, to alert health professionals of behavioural changes, including depressed moods and suicidal thoughts, reportedly associated with such products. More>>>

Yaz and Yasmin: Potentially Dangerous
-24-7 Press Release
09/05/2009 - Two recently released studies in the prestigious British Medical Journal show oral contraceptives including Yaz and Yasmin cause a dramatic increase in the risk of blood clots. The data indicates users of the pills are 6.3 times more likely to suffer blood clots that can lead to dangerous health problems such as heart arrhythmia, heart attacks and strokes. More>>>

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics and double vision
-Examiner
09/04/2009 - In the September issue of Opthalmology, researchers from the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland analyzed 171 case reports from the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects, World Health Organization, and Food and Drug Administration to determine the association of the antibiotics and diplopia (double vision). More>>>

Suicidal Thoughts and Rage: What are Causing Your Symptoms of Side Effects
-US Recall News
09/04/2009 - Suicidal thoughts and Rage are often symptoms of conditions like clinical depression, and bipolar disorder. Since everyone handles depression differently, the symptoms of this disease manifest in different ways. Extreme anger is a common – but often ignored – symptom of depression, especially in men. More>>>

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer settles with Justice Department, to pay 2.3 Billion in fines
-Examiner
09/04/2009 - In a record settlement, the U.S. Justice department announced on September 2nd that a settlement has been reached in its prosecution of fraudulent activities by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its subsidiaries. The charges included fraudulent marketing and related fraudulent medical insurance claims, as well as kickbacks to healthcare providers for prescribing Pfizer medicines. More>>>

39 Digitek plaintiffs must answer questions
-The West Virginia Record
09/03/2009 - Thirty-nine individuals suing drug companies Actavis Totowa and Mylan Bertek over Digitek heart medicine must answer questions loaded with trouble for their lawyers. On Aug. 26, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Stanley ordered the 39 to admit or deny that their lawyers possessed no medical or pharmacy records when they filed complaints. More>>>

Judge wants 'global settlement' of remaining AG Zyprexa suits
-Legal Newsline
09/03/2009 - U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein recently continued his push to have all state actions filed against Eli Lilly & Co. over its prescription antipsychotic Zyprexa settled. More>>>

Pfizer to pay $2.3 billion, agrees to criminal plea
-Reuters
09/03/2009 - Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a U.S. criminal charge relating to promotion of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines. More>>>

Jurors weigh jaw risk of Merck osteoporosis drug
-Reuters
09/03/2009 - Jurors heard sharply different closing arguments on Wednesday in a trial over whether or not Merck & Co's Fosamax drug treatment for osteoporosis caused a Florida woman's jaw damage. The trial in New York is Merck's first out of some 1,280 plaintiff groups involving almost 900 cases over U.S. lawsuits by patients who claim Fosamax caused the condition known as osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. More>>>

Fosamax Case Goes to Jury
-The Wall Street Journal
09/03/2009 - A lawyer for Merck & Co. told a jury Wednesday that the osteoporosis drug Fosamax isn't the cause of a severe jaw problem suffered by a 71-year-old Florida woman who took the drug for years. More>>>

Some antibiotics can cause double vision
-LA Times
09/02/2009 - Add one more side effect to the growing list of adverse events associated with the family of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones: double vision. The powerful drugs are widely used to treat infections, including bacterial or chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, urinary infections and some skin infections. But they have been associated with a wide variety of side effects, including tendinitis (an inflammation of tendons) and tendon rupture, gastrointestinal problems, liver damage, central nervous system problems and skin phototoxicity. More>>>

Yaz Lawsuits Heat Up – Is a Recall on the Horizon?
-US Recall News
09/02/2009 - Several lawsuits have been filed against Bayer due to serous side effects associated with Yasmin / Yaz. Here we discuss the implications such a lawsuit would have on a potential recall. Both the drugs are oral contraceptives that contain synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progestin, and are associated with side effects including stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder problems, and kidney problems. More>>>

Carter Albrecht's Dad Explains Why, Two Years Later, He and His Wife are Suing Pfizer
-UnfairPark
09/02/2009 -Yesterday in Dallas federal court, Carter Albrecht's parents, Ken and Judy, finally sued Pfizer, claiming that its smoking-cessation drug Chantix played a "direct and proximate" role in Carter's shooting death almost two years ago to the day. More>>>

Merck’s Fosamax Didn’t Attack Woman’s Jaw, Jury Told
-Bloomberg
09/02/2009 - Merck & Co. didn’t cause a Florida woman’s “jaw death” with its osteoporosis drug Fosamax, a lawyer for the company told jurors at the close of the first trial of hundreds of claims over the medicine. Fosamax plaintiffs say Merck, the U.S. drugmaker buying Schering-Plough Corp., misrepresented the drug’s safety and failed to warn doctors and patients that it might hamper blood flow to the jaw, which causes jawbone-tissue death. More>>>

Bayer didn't warn of Trasylol's possible side effects, suit claims
-The St. Clair Record
08/31/2009 - A man and woman have filed a suit against Bayer, alleging they were not warned of possible side effects in a drug used to control bleeding in coronary artery bypass grafting. More>>>

Drivers of off-road vehicles urged to get safety upgrades
-The Miami Herald
08/31/2009 - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it received reports of nearly 60 deaths involving the Yamaha Rhino 660 vehicle and similar ones. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning drivers of recreational off-highway vehicles, and especially drivers of Yamaha Rhinos, to remain vigilant about safety before hitting the trails and while off-roading. More>>>

Drugmakers willing to pay to get doctor's approval
-St.PetersburgTimes
08/29/2009 - There are lots of reasons why your doctor might switch your prescription to a Lilly drug. One of them might be found in a new online database that lists how much Eli Lilly & Co. paid physicians for their expertise during the first quarter of 2009. For the first time, Floridians can see if their doctors juggled patient appointments with speaking gigs for the maker of popular drugs like Cymbalta, Zyprexa and Cialis. More>>>

Medtronic CEO defends paid physician consulting contracts
-FierceHealthcare
08/29/2009 - Lately, medical device companies and pharmaceutical giants have been taking a lot of heat for their relationships with doctors. Critics suggest that it's seldom, if ever, a good idea for doctors to get paid for collaborating with such companies, as the payments essentially come down to a kickback in most cases. More>>>

Studies tipping toward surgery to prevent strokes
-Reuters
08/29/2009 - Surgery may be a better way to clear blockages in neck arteries and prevent strokes than less invasive treatment such as angioplasty, European researchers reported on Friday. More>>>

Dr. David Polly Resigns From American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Board
-DotMed
08/28/2009 - Under intense scrutiny for not revealing a relationship with Medtronic, Dr. David Polly, a well-known spine surgeon, has resigned from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Board. More>>>

AstraZeneca faces lawsuits over Seroquel
-EmaxHealth
08/27/2009 - AstraZeneca sales over $5 billion a year worldwide from its drug Seroquel alone. Recently it has come to the attention of the public of the astronomical lawsuit defense costs as a result of failing to adequately warn about the serious side effects the drug carries. More>>>

First Yamaha Rhino trial under way in Orange
-Southeast Texas Record
08/27/2009 - What could prove to be a landmark case, a dozen Orange County residents have been tasked to decide if Yamaha Motor Co. cut costs and negligently placed a defective off-road vehicle into the stream of commerce. With hundreds of Yamaha ATV suits pending in courts around the country, the outcome of the trial in Orange, which began Aug. 18, may influence how Yamaha proceeds with similar litigation. More>>>

Maytag Recalls Refrigerators Due To Fire Hazard
- TWICE
08/27/2009 - Maytag, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has voluntarily recalled 46,000 refrigerators due to a fire hazard. The refrigerators have an electrical failure in the relay - the component that turns on the refrigerator's compressor - that can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard. More>>>

Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag, Crosley Refrigerators
-ConsumerAffairs
08/26/2009 - Maytag Corp. is expanding its recall of Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley brand refrigerators. An electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor, can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard. The latest recall is for 46,000 refrigerators. About 1.6 million units were recalled in March 2009. More>>>

Stabilet Infant Warmer models 200, 300, 1250, 1500, 200/3000, 2000, 2200/3200, 3000, and 3200 [Dräeger/Hill-Rom]
-FDA
08/26/2009 - FDA notified healthcare professionals of a Class 1 recall of these models of the Stabilet infant warmer because these out-of-date devices may cause serious injury to infants and caregivers due to the possibility that the warmer might be the ignition source for a fire. More>>>

Recalled SUV may be linked to fire
-TheDailyAdvertiser
08/26/2009 - Investigators are looking into whether a faulty cruise control switch could have sparked a fire that destroyed an SUV and two homes in Lafayette on Saturday. Firefighters responded to the 300 block of Macklyn Drive after a 1999 Ford Expedition caught fire under a carport. More>>>

Gadolinium and Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis Symptoms
-US Recall News
08/26/2009 - Gadolinium is a contrast agent used in MRI. Gadolinium can cause side effects ranging from minor skin irritations to debilitating, and sometimes fatal, Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Gadolinium is especially dangerous for patients with poor renal function. Below is a list of side effects associated with Gadolinium, including the symptoms of NSF. More>>>

W.Va.'s Zyprexa settlement unsealed
-Legal Newsline
08/25/2009 - Pharmaceuticals maker Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw over its prescription anti-psychotic Zyprexa. More>>>

Diabetes drug linked to heart failure risk
-UPI
08/25/2009 - Canadian scientists say they have discovered rosiglitazone (Avandia) a type 2 diabetes drug, might be linked with increased risk of heart failure and death. The scientists from the University of Toronto and the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, said the linkage was found among older patients, compared to a similar drug, pioglitazone (Actos). More>>>

ATV rollover injures 23-year-old's face
Alcohol may have been a factor,
-WOOD TV
08/24/2009 - A 23-year-old Kentwood man who was the passenger of a 2008 Yamaha Rhino ATV suffered facial fractures after the vehicle flipped as it was rolling down a hill. He was treated at Spectrum Butterworth Hospital. More>>>

Birth control pill 'Yaz' named in suit against Bayer, Walgreens
-St.Clair Record
08/24/2009 - After a birth control pill spent months in the spotlight during commercials aimed at correcting misrepresentations about it, the pill is now at the center of a St. Clair County lawsuit. Kerry Sims filed a lawsuit Aug. 18 against Bayer and Walgreens, alleging her ingestion of the birth control pill Yasmin, which is also known as Yaz, caused her to experience a blood clot in her lung and infection surrounding the clot. More>>>

Suit alleges Yamaha Rhino at fault in death
-Beaumont Enterprise
08/23/2009 - Twelve people in Orange County are listening to engineers, looking at police photos and following computer graphics that seek to explain the death of a 13-year-old and the possible role of a Yamaha Rhino. More>>>

Researchers decry use of diabetes drug Avandia
-The Canadian Press
08/23/2009 - Some Ontario researchers are calling into question the continued use of the controversial diabetes drug Avandia, saying a competing drug in the same class is as effective and less dangerous. The scientists, from Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, said people taking Actos or pioglitazone for Type 2 diabetes are 23 per cent less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure and 14 per cent less likely to die than people taking Avandia or rosiglitazone. More>>>

Surgeon accused of faking study resigns
-UPI
08/21/2009 - A surgeon accused of faking a study on a bone growth drug used to treat wounded Iraq war veterans has resigned from a St. Louis university, the school said. More>>>

Lilly to Pay $22.5 Million to Settle Zyprexa Suit
-Bloomberg
08/21/2009 - Eli Lilly & Co. will pay $22.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of West Virginia claiming the company improperly marketed its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa. More>>>

Three states have Sept. date for Zyprexa arguments
-Legal Newsline
08/20/2009 - Three state attorneys general who still have Zyprexa lawsuits against Eli Lilly & Co. will have their attorneys in Brooklyn federal court next month to argue their cases and possibly talk settlement. More>>>

Rosiglitazone safety questioned, again, this time in population-based study
-TheHeart.org
08/20/2009 - Toronto, ON - The risk of dying or being hospitalized with heart failure, but not of MI, is lower among older diabetic patients taking pioglitazone (Actos, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America) than in those taking rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline), suggests a retrospective analysis based on outpatient data from across Ontario. More>>>

Stop prescribing killer diabetes drug, scientists warn:
Rosiglitazone, brand name Avandia, has higher rates of heart failure and death than similar alternative
-Guardian UK
08/20/2009 - Scientists say doctors should stop prescribing a commonly used diabetes drug, after studies show that it is linked to higher rates of heart failure and death than a similar alternative. More>>>

Digitek MDL judges deny request to transfer cases to Texas judge
- West Virginia Record
08/20/2009 - AUSTIN, Texas -- Manufacturers and distributors of heart medicine Digitek succeeded in consolidating 19 personal injury suits from 12 counties, but were taught a lesson in judge shopping. On Aug. 5, multi district judges in Austin transferred suits against drug maker Actavis Totowa and distributor Mylan Pharmaceuticals to a pretrial judge, but denied a motion to put Jefferson County District Judge Milton Shuffield in charge of the cases. More>>>

Glaxo's Avandia riskier than Takeda drug -study
-Reuters
08/19/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and death among older patients compared with Takeda Actos, according to Canadian research. More>>>

Diabetes drug could lead to heart failure: Study
-The Vancouver Sun
08/19/20019 - New research involving nearly 40,000 Ontario patients is questioning the use of a widely prescribed diabetes drug that an expert in drug safety says should be removed from the market. The study, published this week by the British Medical Journal, found that rosiglitazone — sold under the brand name Avandia — is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and death compared to a similar drug, pioglitazone, or Actos. More>>>

ATV fun comes with risk
-Journal Star
08/19/2009 - In a risk-averse age in which kids ride in massive car seats and are ordered by their parents to put on helmets for a bicycle ride down the block, there are odd exceptions to public's apparent obsession with safety. A glaring example is the all-terrain vehicle. The public could benefit from a better education on the risks of the little ATVs, some of which can reach speeds in excess of 60 miles an hour. ATVs can be lethal, especially when they are operated unsafely. More>>>

Surgeon Tied to Bone Product Inquiry Resigns
-The New York Times
08/19/2009 - A former Army surgeon accused of falsifying a study on a bone growth product used on severely injured Iraq war veterans has resigned his teaching position at Washington University in St. Louis, a spokeswoman said Tuesday night. The surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, 48, was placed on leave earlier this year while the university investigated charges against him. Medtronic, a maker of the bone growth product Infuse, also suspended his consulting contract. The company paid him nearly $800,000 the last few years. More>>>

The good and the not-so-good of osteoporosis drugs
- North Island Midweek
08/18/2009 - “Do you treat osteoporosis?” asked Patty. “I have been doing some research and I sure want to avoid the Fosamax that my doctor has prescribed for me.” Patty, 65, had recently read an article about the bisphosphonates, the drugs that are used to treat osteoporosis. These include Fosamax, Actonel and Didrocal. The most notable things she remembered from the article were the increased risk of jaw necrosis (death of the jaw bone), increased risk of esophageal cancer and atrial fibrillation. More>>>

Food Safety Forum Focuses On Salmonella, Peanut Butter
-MyNC
08/18/2009 - Earlier this year, a nationwide salmonella outbreak virtually shut down the peanut industry, while plants rid themselves of contaminated peanut butter paste. The outbreak was one of the biggest topics of conversation at the 5th Annual Commissioner's Food Safety Forum Tuesday at the State Fairgrounds. More>>>

Off-label Botox applications linked to deaths
-Grinza
08/17/2009 - Botox, the famous anti-wrinkle drug, has been linked to fatal and severe complications in cerebral palsy patients, a treatment unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Botox and other similar products use a purified form of botulinum toxin that temporarily paralyzes the muscles to stop repetitive movements, preventing wrinkles from forming. More>>>

Eli Lilly Zyprexa Risk Side Effects
-OPENPRESS
08/17/2009 - Zyprexa's many drug interactions, side effects,and effectiveness could not be detected when the drug was FDA approved. They were found only after the drug have been used by millions of people and for a long time.
Eli Lilly has received the largest criminal fine ever against a drug company over their Zyprexa cash cow,add it all up comes to $4.6 billion, in Zyprexa settlements,fines,litigation. More>>>

On mission to sue med-tech makers
-StarTribune
08/17/2009 - As Michele Meyer navigated the hallways of Congress earlier this month, meeting lawmakers and telling her story, she felt as though her daughter Katie was beside her, urging her on. "She would have been right there," said Meyer, of Cambridge, Minn. "She was very outgoing, exuberant, true to herself and her own beliefs." But Katie, 30, died in 2008 after surgery to remove a heart defibrillator wire made by Medtronic Inc. that had been recalled for safety reasons. More>>>

TZDs may increase risk for fracture in men, women
-Endocrine Today
08/17/2009 - Men and women who are exposed to thiazolidinediones may be at increased risk for fractures, especially with pioglitazone. A prospective cohort study examined risk for fractures in 84,339 adults (mean age, 59; 43% women) from British Columbia, Canada, who began treatment with a TZD or sulfonylurea. More>>>

Low-estrogen birth-control pills safer than others
European research finds that oral contraceptives with high doses of the hormone increase users' risk of blood clots
-The Globe And Mail
08/15/2009 - Many women are not using the safest birth-control pills possible, new research suggests. While it is well established that taking oral contraceptives slightly increases the risk of blood clots, two new European studies say that risk varies depending on the type of product chosen. More>>>

Drug companies will get chance to prove bogus claims
-TheWestVirginiaRecord
08/15/2009 - CHARLESTON - U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Stanley will give drug companies Actavis Totowa and Mylan Pharmaceuticals a chance to prove that lawyers filed bogus suits in national litigation over heart medicine Digitek. More>>>

THE most popular oral contraceptive in Ireland is not the safest, research suggests.
-IrishExaminer
08/14/2009 - Yasmin is the preferred choice among Irish women but it carries an almost six-fold added risk of blood clots, compared with women not on the pill. More>>>

Accutane trial set to begin in Madison County
-The Madison St.Clair Record
08/13/2009 - Madison County Circuit Judge Dave Hylla is set to preside over a medical malpractice trial Monday involving acne medication Accutane. Godfrey native Jason Peipert sued Dr. Daniel Goran, Hoffman LaRoche Inc., and Roche Laboratories in 2003, claiming he developed Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder, after using the drug Goran prescribed 10 years ago. More>>>

Area doctors paid thousands by Eli Lilly
-TheRoanokeTimes
08/13/2009 - The drug company Eli Lilly and Co. pumped $60,562.50 into the pockets of Roanoke doctors and other health care providers during the first three months of the year. More>>>

Kanawha woman files suit against diet product maker
-The Charleston Gazette
08/12/2009 - CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of popular weight-loss product Hydroxycut, alleging that they falsely marketed their products as safe and effective dietary supplements. More>>>

Belle Mead woman pitches Medical Device Safety Act to Congress
-MyCentralJersey
08/12/2009 - Several years ago, Jan Beadling was driving with her daughter when she went into cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma. Beadling was rushed to a hospital, and her life was saved, but it was two weeks before Beadling started breathing again on her own. More>>>

Fosamax lawsuits begin
-WHYY News
08/12/2009 - Hundreds of patients who used the osteoporosis drug Fosamax are suing the manufacturer over damage to their jawbones. The first of hundreds of lawsuits against pharmaceutical company Merck will begin in New York. A jury will decide whether the company misrepresented the side effects associated with Fosamax treatment. More>>>

Shoulder Pain Pump Injuries
-24/7 PressRelease
08/11/2009 - Scientific evidence now suggests that shoulder pain pumps temporarily implanted in the joint during surgery may be linked to serious shoulder injuries. The painful resulting condition is known as Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL). More>>>

The US Drug Watchdog Calls Zicam Nasal Gel Or Zicam Swabs A National Disaster That May Have Caused People To Lose Their Sense Of Smell
-PR Web
08/11/2009 - The US Drug Watchdog is intensifying its national efforts to get the word out about the FDA recalled drug products called Zicam Nasal Gel & Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs. According to the group, "Our reasons are pretty simple. We fear these Zicam products are in millions of US homes, and the US FDA has said, use of the products could result in a loss of taste, or smell." More>>>

Misuse of Fluoroquinolones May Be Causing Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
-DG News
08/11/2009 - Use of a fluoroquinolone may be undercutting its utility as a first-line defense against drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), according to a study published in the August 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. More>>>

Merck readies for first Fosamax trial
-Reuters
08/11/2009 - Merck & Co on Tuesday is slated to fight the first of numerous U.S. lawsuits brought by patients who claim they suffered jaw damage from the company's widely used Fosamax treatment for osteoporosis. Some 1280 plaintiff groups, involving almost 900 cases, have alleged jaw problems due to Fosamax, a one-time blockbuster product that recently began facing generic competition in the United States. More>>>

Husband Of ATV Crash Victim Speaks
-KPHO News
08/10/2009 - Although it appears as though Tyler Chase’s Yamaha Rhino was not in a serious accident, a wreck involving the all-terrain vehicle took the life of Tyler’s wife, Jennifer. More>>>

FDA Warns Against Three Zicam Cold Medicines
-24/7 PressRelease
08/10/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises consumers to stop using three Zicam products marketed as cold remedies. The products are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia), a condition the federal agency warns could be long-lasting or permanent. More>>>

Merck Faces First Trial of Claim That Fosamax Attacks Jawbone
-Bloomberg
08/10/2009 - Merck & Co., the drugmaker facing 900 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes the death of jawbone tissue, goes to trial tomorrow in a case that may affect all the others. More>>>

Information Update: Health Canada Removes Purgative Use From Label for Over-the-Counter Oral Sodium Phosphate Products
-EarthTimes
08/06/2009 - Further to the Public Warning issued March 5, 2009, Health Canada is informing Canadians that over-the-counter oral sodium products are no longer indicated for bowel cleansing. These products have either been voluntarily relabelled to remove the bowel cleansing (i.e., "purgative") indication, or discontinued from the Canadian market. Oral sodium phosphate products should only be used as a laxative. More>>>

Off-Roading With Safety: CPSC Reminder to Yamaha Rhino Riders to Stay Safe This Summer
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
08/06/2009 - Summer is here and that means off-road riding is in high season in many communities. As side-by-side recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) continue to gain in popularity, so does the number of reports to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of injuries and deaths involving these vehicles. Even though ROVs have a roll cage and seat belts, CPSC urges all riders and passengers to remain vigilant about safety before hitting the trails and while off-roading. More>>>

Antibotic Type- Please Read. Ive Experienced Adverse effects from Cipro for a UTI
-pgcitizen
08/06/2009 - Fluoroquinolones were originally designed and approved for serious infections which do not respond to traditional antibiotic therapy. However, they are increasingly being prescribed for routine infections that do not warrant such powerful and dangerous antibacterials. More>>>

Yamaha's Rhino: For Some A Deadly Ride
Exclusive CBS News Investigation Finds 59 Deaths, Hundreds Of Injuries Linked To Yamaha's Off-Road Vehicle
-CBS News
08/05/2009 - In the swath of Kentucky called the Land Between The Lakes, the Turkey Bay Off-Highway Vehicle Area is a rugged expanse of hills and woodlands crisscrossed by 100 miles of trails. Test drivers came here in July, 2002, to try out the Yamaha Rhino, a new breed of off-road vehicle then in development, and had a mishap that would resonate years later. More>>>

FDA Safety Information: Stop Recalls Before They Start
-TheLedger
08/05/2009 - Warnings and recalls are necessary components of any system that seeks to protect consumers and their health. Yet these actions - which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has regularly used to warn consumers after specific over-the-counter supplements caused health problems in users - are not acceptable alternatives to effective testing and regulation before such products are sold. More>>>

Bettendorf man testifies in Washington about medical device failure
-Quad City Times
08/05/2009 - Two years ago, Michael Mulvihill was driving through a construction zone in western Ohio when he saw a blue flash and felt a jolt. At first, the Bettendorf man said, he thought that he had hit something in the road. Instead, he said, it was something in his chest - the defibrillator that had been implanted a little more than a year earlier for an irregular heart beat and pulse rate. More>>>

FDA Signs Off On Botox Warning; Changes Generic Name
-The Wall Street Journal
08/04/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it approved a new warning on Allergan Inc.'s (AGN) Botox and a similar product about the possibility of life-threatening breathing and swallowing problems, following up on an earlier announcement about tougher warnings. More>>>

Health 101: Does the FDA approve weight loss supplements?
-Examiner
08/04/2009 - Within the past 12 months over 86 weight loss supplements have been flagged by the FDA as unsafe. Over 70 products tested positive for potentially harmful prescription drugs and chemicals that were not declared by their manufacturers. Fourteen Hydroxycut products were also recently recalled after the FDA reported possible liver damaging side effects. More>>>

Statement By Merck & Co., Inc. Regarding FOSAMAX® (alendronate Sodium) And Rare Cases Of Osteonecrosis Of The Jaw
-Medical News Today
08/02/2009 - Merck is committed to putting patients first and providing accurate information regarding the efficacy, safety and tolerability of our medicines. Merck offers the following statement concerning the osteoporosis medication FOSAMAX® (alendronate sodium) and reports of jaw problems associated with delayed healing and infection of the jaw often following tooth extraction. More>>>

U of M surgeon's ties to Medtronic under scrutiny|
-MPR News
07/31/2009 - A University of Minnesota spine surgeon is now part of a larger look into the financial relationship between doctors and private medical companies. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is asking the U of M for information on Dr. David Polly, a surgeon who was paid more than $1 million in consulting fees by medical device maker Medtronic, which is based in Fridley. More>>>

Patient safety advanced by revised heparin standards
-ScienceBlog
07/31/2009 - Continuing to help ensure the identity, purity and quality of heparin, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention has revised written and physical standards for the widely used blood thinner. More>>>

Merck Won’t Face Punitive Damages in Fosamax Trial
-Bloomberg
07/30/2009 - Merck & Co., facing more than 850 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax may cause irreversible “jaw rot,” won’t face punitive damages in the first trial, a federal judge said. More>>>

AstraZeneca Q2: $593M Seroquel Legal Bill Taps Out Insurance; Income Charges Expected
-BNET Pharma
07/30/2009 - AstraZeneca said its Seroquel litigation costs have exceeded $593 million, and that it has tapped out the extent of its liability insurance. With no more insurance available to cover its bills, the company said it will take charges on its income statement in upcoming quarters. More>>>

Woman Claims Denture Cream Crippled Her
-NewsNet5
07/30/2009 - BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Like most moms, Marianne Chapman plays Xbox with her little one. But unlike most moms, Chapman said she doesn't have full use of her hands to compete. The 31-year-old said the problems started years ago. "I woke up and had no feeling in my hands," Chapman said. More>>>

Spine Surgeon Didn't Disclose Medtronic Pay in Testimony
-The Wall Street Journal
07/29/2009 - In May 2006, University of Minnesota spine surgeon David Polly urged a Senate committee to fund research into the severe arm, leg and spine injuries suffered by soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere. More>>>

FDA Warns Consumers Not to Use Body Building Products Marketed as Containing Steroids or Steroid-Like Substances
Agency issues Warning Letter to American Cellular Laboratories for marketing and distributing potentially harmful steroid-containing products
-FDA
07/29/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Public Health Advisory (PHA) warning consumers to stop using body building products that are represented as containing steroids or steroid-like substances. Many of these products are marketed as dietary supplements. More>>>

U surgeon's deals with Medtronic draw fire
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa also is scrutinizing whether the University of Minnesota adequately oversees potential conflicts of interest.
-StarTribune
07/29/2009 - A top spine surgeon at the University of Minnesota who has reaped more than $1 million consulting for Medtronic Inc. is facing tough questions from a prominent U.S. senator investigating financial conflicts in medicine. More>>>

Bone-building drug led to stress fracture
-The People's Pharmacy
07/28/2009 - Two weeks after I suffered a thighbone fracture that had started as a hairline stress fracture, a friend alerted me to your column citing an article in The Journal of the American Medical Association (Feb. 18). I showed it to my doctors, and we all agreed that my fracture was caused by long-term use (12 years) of Fosamax. More>>>

Antipsychotics pose high risks for older diabetics:
Patients were up to 15 times more likely to need hospital treatment for elevated blood sugar if new to the medications
-GlobeLife
07/28/2009 - Diabetic seniors on newly prescribed antipsychotic medications have up to 15 times the risk of being hospitalized for dangerously high blood-sugar levels as diabetics not taking the powerful drugs, new Canadian research shows. More>>>

Diabetes drug Avandia comes under new criticism
-LA Times
07/25/2009 - The diabetes drug rosiglitazone, already under fire because it has been found to increase the risk of heart attacks, can also produce liver failure and death in some patients, researchers from the activist group Public Citizen said this week. More>>>

Man Says Botox Left Him Crippled
-Courthouse News Service
07/24/2009 - Botox injections for writer's cramp left a man with devastating brain injuries, including "multiple ischemic brain lesions" and "dementing encephalopathy," he says in an $11 million claim against Allergan, which makes the drug. More>>>

Lilly nears another Zyprexa settlement
-FiercePharma
07/24/2009 - Eli Lilly is close to settling another slate of Zyprexa marketing cases. According to the company's quarterly report, it's in "advanced discussions" with attorneys general investigating the company for off-label promotions of the antipsychotic drug. More>>>

Yamaha Rhino suit to proceed in Orange after appeals court denies mandamus request
-The South East Texas Record
07/23/2009 - After a quick trip to a higher court, a wrongful death trial against Yamaha can proceed next month as planned, now that the Ninth Court of Appeals of Texas has shot down the motor company's petition for mandamus. More>>>

Woman Needed New Liver After Taking Recalled Drugstore Diet Supplement
-FOX News
07/23/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration in May warned Americans to immediately stop using the over-the-counter diet drug Hydroxycut because of concerns over liver failure. More>>>

Polaris Recalls 2009 ATVs
-ConsumerAffairs
07/23/2009 - Polaris Industries is recalling about 4,700 2009-model ATVs. The valve assembly can fail in freezing temperatures, causing oil to leak into the exhaust system. This could pose a fire and burn hazard to the rider. More>>>

More Jefferson County suits filed over Digitek dosage
-The South East Texas Record
07/23/2009 - Actavis, UDL Laboratories and Mylan Pharmaceuticals are being sued by at least three different plaintiffs who claim they or their deceased relative took a prescription drug for heart problems that contained twice the approved level of its active ingredient. More>>>

Dangerous Diet Supplements Remain On The Market
-CBS News
07/22/2009 - "Rapid Weight Loss"… "Get the Body You Want"… But at what cost? These powerful claims are being made about a popular diet supplement, but the key ingredient is known to cause liver damage. So why is it on the market? CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine has a serious warning. More>>>

Medtronic Recalls Its Quick-set Infusion Sets
-Diabetes Health
07/22/2009 - Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. is recalling some lots of its Quick-set infusion sets over concerns that they may cause insulin pumps to deliver too much or too little insulin. More>>>

Dräger Initiates a Voluntary Device Recall of Stabilet Contacts Current Users
-FDA
07/20/2009 - Draeger Medical Inc. recommends the removal of Stabilet Infant Warmer models 200, 300, 1250, 1500, 200/3000, 2000, 2200/3200, 3000, and 3200 from service and replacing them with alternative warmers as soon as it is feasible. More>>>

Experts Welcome FDA Order For Warning Labels On Anti-smoking Drugs
-Medindia
07/20/2009 - Smoking cessation experts have heartily welcomed the US FDA’s order for warning labels on anti-smoking drugs Chantix and Zyban. Varenicline, marketed as Chantix and bupropion, marketed as Zyban, might set off changes in behavior — hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and attempts at suicide. More>>>

FDA looks into Xolair side effects
-PharmacyNews
07/20/2009 - A link between an asthma drug and adverse heart and cerebrovascular effects is being investigated by the United States drug regulator. More>>>

Food safety in the age of recalls: What the government is doing to protect us, and what you can do
-DAILY NEWS
07/20/2009 - With 5,000 Americans expected to die and another 75 million expected to get sick this year after eating contaminated food, food safety is a national health concern. Recalls within the past year on contaminated products like cookie dough and peanut butter have brought into focus the fact that increased government oversight, as well as individual self-protective measures, are crucial. More>>>

FDA Investigating Safety of Asthma Drug Xolair
Injected medication may be linked to higher risk of heart attack, stroke, agency says
-U.S.News
07/18/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun a safety review of the asthma drug Xolair (omalizumab) after reports of an increased risk of heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure, and stroke, the agency said Thursday. More>>>

FDA scrutinizing safety of asthma drug Xolair
-CNN
07/18/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it is conducting a safety review of the asthma drug Xolair after data from an ongoing study suggested an increased number of heart attacks and strokes among patients who use it. More>>>

Denture Adhesive Can Be Toxic to Some Patients
-PRWeb
07/17/2009 - A recent report in the medical Journal Neurology www.neurology.org search "denture cream" documented several patients in which zinc poisoning was a result of their denture cream. In the past, dental patients commonly reported disliking the smell, taste, and general messiness of denture creams. More>>>

Kuklo-Medtronic timeline gets messier with new details
-MinnPost
07/16/2009 - The Dr. Kuklo-Medtronic timeline got a little messier last night with new disclosures reported by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Dr. Timothy Kuklo, a former military surgeon, is under fire for allegedly falsifying data in a study of Medtronic's bone-growth product Infuse. More>>>

Medical-Device Suits Allege Kickbacks
-The Wall Street Journal
07/16/2009 - Former employees of certain medical-device makers allege in lawsuits unsealed in a Texas federal court that the companies paid kickbacks to heart surgeons to get the doctors to use their products to treat the heart-rhythm defect called atrial fibrillation. More>>>

Serious Side Effects From Yaz and Yasmin Oral Contraceptives
-Best Syndication
07/15/2009 - If you are taking either Yaz or Yasmin birth control pills, be aware that there could be some severe effects on your health. Those who have elevated blood potassium should not take these pills, because they can raise your blood potassium. A high potassium level in the body can cause: More>>>

Zicam: Homeopathy Fails the Sniff Test
-In These Times
07/15/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has caught itself in a trap of precedent and logic that should force it, finally, to regulate homeopathic products. FDA regulations require that drugs and treatments be “scientifically proven safe and effective. More>>>

Beware of faulty hip replacement parts
-Telegraph Journal
07/15/2009 - Patty Owen is only 41 years old, but has just had her right hip replaced for the third time. Three years ago she went in to have an artificial hip replaced that had kept her going for 18 years because it had simply worn out. But since 2006 she has been in constant pain and unable to return to work. More>>>

Medtronic Recalls 60,000 Paradigm Quick-Set Infusion Sets
-US Recall News
07/14/2009 - Medtronic has issued a recall of specific lots of infusion sets that are for use with MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps. These infusion sets may not work properly, resulting in a delivery of too little or too much insulin, which could result in injury or death. More>>>

The US Drug Watchdog Expands Its National Investigation Of Zicam Gel & Zicam Swabs For Individuals Who Lost Their Sense Of Smell Or Taste
-PRWeb
07/14/2009 - The US Drug Watchdog is expanding its state by state & national investigation of Zican Nasal Gel & Zicam Nasal Swabs because according to the US Food & Drug Administration one application could be enough for a consumer to lose their sense of smell, or taste, potentially for life. More>>>

Lawsuit: MRI dye linked to disease
RI woman among those joining a lawsuit
-WPRI
07/14/2009 - A Warwick woman has joined 516 other plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that make certain dyes used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The woman, who did not want to be identified, was diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in 2006 after being injected with a contrast-agent made with gadolinium. More>>>

Anti-smoking drugs may increase risk of depression
-Examiner
07/14/2009 - Psychiatric issues in patients using anti-smoking drugs has led the Food and Drug Administration to call for the agency’s strongest warning, a “Black Box” warning. More>>>

Zyprexa user claims diabetes in suit against Eli Lilly
-St.ClaireRecord
07/14/2009 - Eli Lilly is being sued by an Illinois man who claims he developed diabetes after taking the antipsychotic medication Zyprexa. Caleb Russell says he began taking drug, which is used to treat schizophrenia and acute manic episodes associated with Bipolar I disorder, at the age of 13 in 2003. A short time after his ingestion of the medication, Russell developed diabetes, according to the complaint filed June 30 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. More>>>

Older schizophrenia drug safer than more widely prescribed ones, study says
-Los Angeles Times
07/14/2009 - Schizophrenics taking the first -- and cheapest -- of a new generation of antipsychotic medications, clozapine, were less likely to suffer premature death than patients taking the newer, costlier and more widely prescribed antipsychotic drugs Seroquel, Risperdal and Zyprexa, says a study published in the British medical journal Lancet. More>>>

No new Alzheimer's indication for Avandia
-FiercePharma
07/13/2009 - Poor Avandia. The GlaxoSmithKline drug failed an Alzheimer's disease trial, dashing the company's hopes of a new indication and up to $300 million in additional sales. "We saw no efficacy in this study, or the two adjunct trials," Michael Gold, Glaxo's vice president of neurosciences, told Bloomberg. More>>>

Medtronic Voluntarily Recalls Specific Lots of
Paradigm® Quick-Set® Infusion Sets In The United States
-FDA
07/13/2009 -  Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) said today (07/10/2009) that it has initiated a recall of specific lots of Quick-set® infusion sets that are used with MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps. An infusion set is a thin plastic tube used to deliver insulin from an insulin pump to a diabetes patient, and is typically replaced by the patient every three days. More>>>

Medtronic Paradigm Quick-Set Infusion Sets
-FDA MedWatch
07/13/2009 - Medtronic, Inc. and FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of a recall of Quick-set infusion sets that are used with MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps because the affected infusion sets may not allow the insulin pump to vent air pressure properly. More>>>

Study cites danger of zinc poisoning from denture creams
-Times Standard
07/12/2009 - If you use denture cream, you might want to sit down while you read this. Remember the old saying, “What you don't know won't hurt you?” That's not the case with some denture creams. Glaxo Smith Kline, the maker of PoliGrip and Super PoliGrip, and Proctor & Gamble, the makers of Fixodent, are being sued because their products contain zinc, a potentially harmful element when taken in high doses. More>>>

Glaxo’s Avandia Fails to Benefit Alzheimer’s Patients in Study
-Bloomberg
07/12/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s diabetes drug Avandia failed to benefit patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a company-funded study. The findings are another setback for Avandia, once the biggest-selling drug for diabetes in the world, and raise questions about the theory that Alzheimer’s is a form of diabetes of the brain. Sales of Avandia haven’t recovered since a study linked the drug to heart attacks in May 2007. More>>>

Medtronic Recalls Insulin Devices
-The Wall Street Journal
07/12/2009 - Medtronic Inc. is recalling three million insulin-infusion sets, estimating that 60,000 of them could cause improper insulin delivery and lead to serious injury or death. More>>>

Hydroxycut recalled: Southeast Texans suing for liver damage
-KFDM News
07/12/2009 - Two Southeast Texans have hired an attorney after experiencing adverse side effects when taking Hydroxycut, a popular dietary supplement that has been linked to liver problems. One death due to liver failure has been reported to the FDA. More>>>

Lawsuit filed against laxative maker over risks
-CTV.ca
07/09/2009 - More Canadian patients are joining a class-action lawsuit filed last year against the makers of an over-the-counter oral laxative, which has been linked to kidney damage in some patients who used it as a bowel preparation prior to having a colonoscopy. More>>>

Honolulu Resident Files Lawsuit Against Zicam Maker
-KHON2
07/09/2009 - A lawsuit was filed in Hawaii against the maker of a popular cold remedy that federal regulators say could damage your sense of smell. Honolulu resident Marvin Yamasaki is filing suit against Matrixx Initiatives, the maker of Zicam. More>>>

Zicam Users File Class Action Lawsuits
-consumeraffairs
07/09/2009 - Users of a recalled cold medicine have filed a pair of class action lawsuits, alleging that, instead of easing their sniffles, the medication permanently impaired their sense of smell. More>>>

Acne Drug Accutane No Longer Sold
Generic Versions Still Available as Isotretinoin
-WebMD
07/09/2009 - Accutane won't be sold any more, drug giant Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. has announced. Generic versions of the acne drug, called isotretinoin, are still available from several manufacturers. But Roche, which has sold the drug to 13 million patients since 1982, will not be one of them. More>>>

Health Canada Warns Against Pain Relief Patch
-AHN
07/09/2009 - Health Canada warned medics against prescribing a pain relief patch which is suspected to have caused 52 deaths in the country from 1992 to 2007. More>>>

C.B. Fleet Says Bowel Cleansers Safe
-EndoNurse
07/08/2009 - LYNCHBURG, Va.—Last year, C.B. Fleet Company voluntarily recalled its over-the-counter products Fleet Phospho-soda and Fleet Phospho-soda EZ-Prep Bowel Cleansing System after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety alert stating that oral sodium-phosphates bowel-cleansing solutions should be available by prescription only. More>>>

Drug that could damage kidneys being sold over the counter here
-Jamaica Observer
07/08/2009 - A drug - Phospho-soda - that could cause severe kidney injury, especially in seniors, is still being sold over the counter in Jamaica, six months after its US manufacturer yanked it off American shelves. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has frowned on Phospho-soda, an over-the-counter (OTC), bowel-cleansing drug, saying it could have "serious, adverse" effects on users and should be sold by prescription only. More>>>

The legal effects of withdrawal
-Irishtimes
07/07/2009 - The withdrawal of Roaccutane, the anti-acne drug, in the US has a huge effect on legal cases against its manufacturer here. The withdrawal last week of the anti-acne drug, Roaccutane, from the US market has “relevance” for up to 10 pending cases here against the drug manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, according to the main solicitor taking the cases. More>>>

5 Risks Linked to Diabetes Medications Like Lantus, Avandia, Actos: Cancer, heart failure, fractures, and eye and liver problems among some diabetes drugs' possible risks
-U.S.News
07/07/2009 - For the 200 million diabetics worldwide, the past few years have brought some disturbing findings about risks that may be associated with certain diabetes drugs. Recent concerns that Avandia (rosiglitazone) might cause cardiovascular problems, for example, have led some experts to call for it to be pulled from the market, although it remains available today. More>>>

Accutane off shelves, but lawsuits live
-THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
07/06/2009 - Since 1982, Accutane has been a godsend and a curse. Millions of people who have used the prescription acne medication call it a miracle. But the drug also has been the target of lawsuits, federal investigations and scientists who say the drug is overused and that its dangers outweigh its benefits. More>>>

Warnings stress need for caution, official says
-PennLive
07/06/2009 - Hershey Medical Center pharmacy officer Kathleen Gaither offers tips for safely using over-the-counter medications and supplements. Yet again, it turns out a familiar over-the-counter remedy isn't as harmless as we assumed. More>>>

FDA: Unregulated Supplements Pose Health Risk to Unaware Consumers
-dvids
07/06/2009 - BAGHDAD – Rows of colorfully designed jars and plastic tubs scream "Shock your muscles" and promise "Get ultra-ripped fast" or "Gain 12 pounds in 2 weeks!" At the end of the aisle, slick magazines line the shelves showcasing the newest methods to gain mass or how to push 20 percent more weight instantly when you use their new technique. More>>>

Diabetes debate
-Indian Express
07/06/2009 - In a new study, GlaxoSmithKline refuses to accept the claim that its product Avandia puts patients at high risk of heart attacks; diabetologists say the final word is not yet out. More>>>

If You Lost Your Sense Of Smell Or Taste After Using Zicam Nasal Gel, Or Zicam Nasal Swabs Call The US Drug Watchdog Immediately
-PRWeb
07/06/2009 - The US Drug Watchdog is leading a state by state & national investigation of consumers who may have lost their sense of smell or taste after using the nasal products called Zicam gel, or Zicam swabs. More>>>

Patients sue maker of medication pumps
-Bloomberg
07/06/2009 - Stryker Corp., a maker of artificial knees and hips, was sued by consumers over claims its pain pumps for delivering medicine after surgeries cause arthritis. The company, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., actively concealed or misrepresented information about the pumps’ safety and efficacy, Glen and Angela Gore said in one of four complaints filed in federal court in Philadelphia. More>>>

Suicide Warnings Required for Anti-Smoking Drugs
-The Washington Post
07/03/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is requiring the smoking-cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban to carry the strongest type of safety warning possible to alert patients that the medications can cause serious mental health problems, including depression and suicide. More>>>

Accutane Finally Removed From the Market Proving Again That Lawsuits Are the Last Line of Defense Against Unsafe Drugs
-ThePopTort
07/03/2009 - Over the weekend Roche Holding, the maker of the dangerous acne drug Accutane took it off the shelves. This is a development that consumer groups have been calling for for years (as noted in Center for Justice & Democracy’s report, The Bitterest Pill, How Drug Companies Fail to Protect Women and How Lawsuits Save Their Lives.) More>>>

FDA warning issued for smoking cessation drugs
-Examiner
07/02/2009 - Chantix and Zyban are both commonly prescribed drugs used to treat nicotine addiction in smokers hoping to quit the habit. Both drugs have proven to be successful in reducing nicotine cravings in addicted smokers, although serious side effects have been reported. More>>>

Rapid City Dentist Says Patients Need to Disclose Medical History
-BlackHillsToday
07/02/2009 - The old saying “knowledge is power” penned by English philosopher Francis Bacon is a motto doctors and dentists live by. The more they know about patients the better treatments they can provide. More>>>

Millions of childrens' products from major retailers recalled:
Simplicity cribs, inflatable floats pulled for safety hazards: Regulators advise consumers to check homes for previously recalled Simplicity, Graco products
-South Florida Sun-Sentinel
07/02/2009 - Federal safety regulators have announced two large recalls of children's products, including one involving four million water toys, for serious safety hazards on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. More>>>

Problems for Infuse in study
-New York Times
07/01/2009 - Patients who received a bioengineered protein during spinal fusion procedures to correct neck pain had far more complications than patients who did not get it, according to a study released Tuesday. More>>>

Public Health Advisory: FDA Requires New Boxed Warnings for the Smoking Cessation Drugs Chantix and Zyban
-FDA
07/01/2009 - The FDA is notifying the public that the use of Chantix (varenicline) or Zyban (bupropion hydrochloride), two prescription medicines that are used as part of smoking cessation programs, has been associated with reports of changes in behavior such as hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions. More>>>

The US Drug Watchdog Expands its Zicam Investigation and Wants to Hear From All Users Who Lost Their Sense of Smell
-PR Web
07/01/2009 - According to the US Drug Watchdog, "we want to hear from any Zicam Nasal Gel or Zicam Nasal Swab user who has lost their sense of smell." The group says, "on June 16, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to stop using products marketed over-the-counter as cold remedies because they are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia). More>>>

Man who lost sense of smell assumed Zicam safe
-TheJournal
07/01/2009 - He was like millions of other consumers who sometimes take vitamins or echinacea, hoping to build up his immunity or ward off a cold. He figured alternative remedies were as safe as a spoonful of honey. But that notion washed away with one squirt of a homeopathic cold gel. More>>>

Gardasil: the denial continues
-OnLineopinion
07/01/2009 - Two weeks after receiving the “cervical cancer” vaccination Gardasil, 26-year-old Shannon from Melbourne remembers, “it became so difficult to breathe that I went straight to the emergency room. I was very frightened at this point. Two weeks before I had been fit and healthy, and by this stage I was limping around the house like a stroke victim, wheezing and worried I was suffocating.” More>>>

Healthy Living: Herbal, nutritional products linked to serious issues
-The Norwich Bulletin
07/01/2009 - The recent removal of Zicam and Hydroxycut products from the market highlights an important aspect of herbal medications: sometimes you don’t know what you are paying for. Zicam was a popular zinc-based flu remedy taken off the market due to reports of users losing their sense of smell, sometimes permanently. Hydroxycut weight-loss products have been linked to serious liver damage, and were removed from store shelves in May. More>>>

Drugging Our Children to Death
-HealthNewsDigest
07/01/2009 - In Massachusetts, a four-year-old girl named Rebecca became the center of a murder investigation after being found dead from an overdose of a dangerous combination of drugs. Both her parents and psychiatrist are facing criminal prosecution and will stand trial later this year. More>>>

Drug At Center Of Local Trial Pulled From Market
-KDKA News
06/29/2009 - The drug maker, Roche, has pulled the acne drug Accutane off the market because of jury verdicts regarding bowel disease. The news comes as the drug's purported psychological effects are at the center of a defense argument in a local trial. More>>>

Gardasil safety continues to raise concerns
-Examiner
06/29/2009 - Since the introduction of Gardasil HPV vaccine, the FDA has reported forty seven deaths. Gardasil was approved in 2007. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV (human papillomavirus) and is easily spread. Adverse events from Gardasil in 2008 totaled 6,273, and 147 were reported at “life threatening”. More>>>

All natural. Not all safe.
-The Boston Globe
06/29/2009 - Just because a supplement is derived from a natural plant, like echinacea, does not always mean it’s good for you. The allure is undeniable. Stroll into a store, pluck a remedy branded “all-natural’’ from the shelf, and pay the price tattooed on the bottle. No insurance card, no prescription, no doctor appointment required. More>>>

BFAD orders recall of risky Hydroxycut weight-loss goods
-GMANews
06/29/2009 - MANILA, Philippines – If you have Hydroxycut weight-loss products in your house, you should stop using them and demand a refund from the store where you bought them. More>>>

Moral of Zicam story: Report all side effects
-htrnews
06/29/2009 - Every year, millions of Americans suffering from the common cold buy nonprescription remedies promising relief. Some have ended up with another health problem: loss of the ability to smell. More>>>

New FDA Records Obtained by Judicial Watch Indicate 28 Deaths Related to Gardasil in 2008
-Judicial Watch
06/27/2009 - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained records from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documenting 28 deaths in 2008 associated with Gardasil, the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), up from 19 deaths in 2007. More>>>

Smell-Loss Drug Escaped FDA Review Under Homeopathic Label
-Bloomberg
06/27/2009 - Carol McDaniel blames her permanent loss of smell on the Zicam nasal spray, a cold remedy she thought would be safer than other medicines because it was sold as homeopathic. More>>>

Roche Pulls Accutane Off Market After Jury Verdicts
-Bloomberg
06/27/2009 - Roche Holding AG, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, is pulling its Accutane acne medicine from the U.S. market after juries awarded at least $33 million in damages to users who blamed the drug for bowel disease. More>>>

Local couple files Zicam suit
-STL Today
06/27/2009 - ST. LOUIS – A Madison County couple has sued the makers of the cold remedy Zicam, claiming that parent company Matrixx Initiatives continued selling Zicam after consumers complained that it robbed them of their sense of smell. More>>>

FDA wants additional study of diabetes drug
-ChicagoTribune
06/27/2009 - In a blow to the diabetes treatment franchise of a Deerfield drug maker, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. to conduct an additional heart safety trial of its experimental drug alogliptin, the company said this afternoon. More>>>

Botox injection nearly kills woman - Cerebral Palsy treatment spread too far
-TheSpec
06/27/2009 - A Hamilton family is questioning Health Canada’s approval of Botox after their daughter became so ill she could have died within days of being given the drug to treat cerebral palsy. More>>>

Zicam recall: Manufacturer pulls intranasal cold remedy
-Examiner
06/25/2009 - That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet—unless you’re one of the hundreds of people who say they lost their sense of smell after using intranasal Zicam cold remedies. More>>>

Diabetes drugs can lead to heart failure
-TheMedGuru
06/25/2009 - A latest study has revealed how a certain category of diabetes drugs can actually increase the risk of heart failure. The class of drugs under study were thiazolidinediones (TZDs). More>>>

117 Individual Claims Filed in Arizona Superior Court against Zicam Manufacturer, Matrixx Initiatives
-NewsBlaze
06/25/2009 - Nearly 120 individual claims were filed today in Arizona Superior Court against Matrixx Initiatives, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based manufacturer of Zicam Cold Remedy gels, a zinc nasal cold gel linked to a loss of smell and taste. More>>>

Sunrise man loses sense of smell after taking cold medicine, suit alleges
-South Florida Sun Sentinel
06/25/2009 - There are serious consequences to losing your sense of smell, but those aren't the things Frederick Schaffer really misses. He misses the smell outside Cinnabon when he's walking through the mall. And a really good cup of coffee. And his wife's perfume. And his kids' hair when they've just taken a bath. More>>>

The recall of some Hydroxycut products points to the danger of weight-loss supplements.
-VeloNews
06/24/2009 - This past May the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved to ban the diet product Hydroxycut after receiving 23 reports of serious health problems related to the product, including one death due to liver failure. More>>>

Coroner: Painkiller killed ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett
-ChicagoTribune
06/24/2009 - Former Wilco member Jay Bennett died of an overdose of a painkiller, the Champaign County coroner said Tuesday, and his office is investigating Bennett's death as an accident. More>>>

Medtronic Gets Subpoena Regarding Disputed Study
-New York Times
06/24/2009 - Medtronic disclosed on Tuesday that it had received a Justice Department subpoena seeking information about its ties with a company consultant, a former Army doctor accused of falsifying a favorable medical journal article about a Medtronic bone growth product called Infuse. More>>>

Twins' deaths stun tight-knit town
The crash was a tragic accident, but one that calls into question the safety of ATVs and riders' ability
-Timesunion
06/23/2009 - SCHAGHTICOKE -- Zachary and Alex Rohloff, twin sons of a local developer, might not have known they were on a deadly collision course when they crested a small hill on their ATVs and collided head-on in Schaghticoke, according to the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department. More>>>

How diabetes drugs raise heart failure risk
-ThaindianNews
06/23/2009 - A new study may help explain how a class of diabetes drugs increases the risk of heart failure. Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) have been controversial since a 2007 analysis of Avandia (rosiglitazone), a TZD made by GlaxoSmithKline, suggested that patients taking it are at higher risk of heart attack. More>>>

Antipsychotic drugs for kids raise hope, worry
-San Francisco Chronicle
06/23/2009 - Increasingly powerful antipsychotic drugs available on the market, and growing evidence that starting these medications early can help children with conditions like bipolar disorder, is putting doctors under more pressure than ever to diagnose and treat young people with mental illnesses. More>>>

Drug 'reports' found to be faked
-TorontoStar
06/22/2009 - From the creation of fake academic journals, to bogus stories submitted to real journals, to falsified results in some of academia's most respected publications – the pharmaceutical industry has been rocked by allegations that the world's biggest drug companies put public relations above public safety. More>>>

Colorado receives $2.6M share of Lilly settlement over Zyprexa
-DenverBusinessJournal
06/20/2009 - Colorado has now received its $2.6 million share of a multistate settlement with Eli Lilly and Co. over allegations that the drugmaker improperly promoted the anti-psychotic drug, Zyprexa, state Attorney General John Suthers announced Friday. More>>>

$788,000 Paid to Doctor Accused of Faking Study
-TheNewYorkTimes
06/20/2009 - Medtronic said on Wednesday that it had paid nearly $800,000 over an eight-year period to a former military surgeon who has been accused by the Army of falsifying a medical journal study involving one of the company’s products. More>>>

Eli Lilly To Pay Millions After 'Deceptive' Marketing Practices
-KETV
06/20/2009 - Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly was forced to pay more than $1.7 million to Nebraska on allegations that it improperly marketed an antipsychotic drug. More>>>

Kentucky settles with Eli Lilly over Zyprexa marketing
-BusinessFirst Louisville
06/20/2009 - Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has settled with drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. over allegations of improper marketing of its Zyprexa antipsychotic drug. More>>>

R.I. to share in penalty
-ProvidenceJournal
06/20/2009 - Rhode Island, 35 other states, the District of Columbia and the federal government have reached an agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. to settle allegations that that drugmaker engaged in a six-year “off-label” marketing campaign that improperly promoted the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa. More>>>

Injured woman's suit alleges ATV unfit for intended use
-TheSouthEastTexasRecord
06/19/2009 - Injured while riding as a passenger on a Yamaha Rhino ATV, Krissi Henry alleges the vehicle was defective and unfit for its intended use and has filed suit against Yamaha. More>>>

Teenage Girls Develop Degenerative Muscle Diseases After HPV Vaccine Injections
-NaturalNews
06/19/2009 - The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have launched an investigation into a potential connection between the Gardasil vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV) and a rare degenerative muscle disease. More>>>

AstraZeneca Can’t Stop Testimony by Seroquel Expert Witness
-Bloomberg
06/19/2009 - AstraZeneca Plc can’t block testimony by a medical expert that its antipsychotic Seroquel can cause weight gain and diabetes, a federal judge ruled. More>>>

Hydroxycut and choosing a safe weight loss supplement
-Examiner
06/19/2009 - Americans spent $1.67 billion in 2007 on weight loss supplements. Ninety percent of the market belonged to one company. Selling over 9 million units in 2008, Hydroxycut’s reign as king has come to an end. More>>>

GSK: RECORD trial results do not change Avandia’s CV risk stigma, bone fracture risk, physicians say
-Pharmawire
06/19/2009 - The final results of the RECORD study demonstrated that overall rates of cardiovascular (CV) hospitalization and cardiovascular death - the two primary endpoints - were similar in patients taking Avandia (rosiglitazone) compared to those receiving metformin and sulfonylurea. More>>>

Gardasil Warnings to Include “Seizure-Like” Reactions
-Eco Childs Play
06/17/2009 - The FDA has ordered the manufacturer of Gardasil, Merck, to add a few more side effects to the HPV vaccine’s label: fainting, tonic-clonic (jerking) movements, and “seizure-like” reactions. More>>>

Diet Pills Recalled on Reports of Liver Damage
-MainStreet
06/17/2009 - If you’re using dietary supplements to lose fat as you shed layers of clothes this summer, steer clear of Hydroxcut to avoid severe and potentially fatal liver damage. More>>>

Denture Adhesive Toxic to Some Patients
Denture cream has found to have general health consequences.
-PRWeb
06/17/2009 - A recent report in the medical Journal Neurology documented several patients in which zinc poisoning was a result of their denture cream. In the past, dental patients commonly reported disliking the smell, taste, and general messiness of denture creams. More>>>

Killing for Fun and Profit
-OpEdNews
06/17/2009 - Bloomberg reports a U.S. District Court Judge has allowed law suits to move forward against Eli Lilly, the drug company is accused of selling and encouraging physicians to prescribe the drug Zyprexa for uses never proven or approved by the FDA. More>>>

Headline : Merck faked to promote drug
-DownToEarth
06/17/2009 - Pharma giant Merck has been accused of using unscrupulous methods, including publication of fake journals, to promote its anti-arthritis drug Vioxx. More>>>

Zyprexa suit highlights CVS links to Lilly
Unit was paid to pitch drug to health insurers
-Boston.com
06/16/2009 - A unit of CVS Caremark Corp. used its access to doctors to market Eli Lilly & Co.'s Zyprexa antipsychotic while it was under contract to bargain with the drug maker on behalf of health insurers, internal Lilly files disclosed in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit by insurers show. More>>>

Moms and drugs: Dangers during and after pregnancy
Decision to medicate often difficult in pregnancy
-CalorieLab
06/16/2009 - Only a dozen prescription drugs (all related to pregnancy, such as those for epidurals and to induce labor) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use during pregnancy, yet two-thirds of women take at least five different medications during the course of their pregnancy and labor. More>>>

Eli Lilly and Zyprexa Under the Spotlight
-PsychCentral
06/16/2009 - Eli Lilly & Co.’s atypical antipsychotic medication, Zyprexa, was not only marketed to doctors for an unapproved, off-label use — the treatment of dementia in elderly patients — but it was done despite Lilly’s access and knowledge of at least seven studies that showed the drug was apparently ineffective for the treatment of dementia. More>>>

Seroquel, Zyprexa and Geodon for Kids?
-Adelphi, MD
06/15/2009 - Even as a US District Court prepares 6,000 Seroquel lawsuits for trial, Eli Lilly pays $1.42 billion for illegal Zyrexa marketing and 30 states sue over heisted Medicaid funds for atypical antipsychotics, an FDA advisory panel has recommended approval of Seroquel, Zyrexa and Geodon for children. More>>>

Dieters warned over weight loss pills
-TheIndependent
06/15/2009 - Dieters have been warned to stop taking the best-selling weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut, after it was linked to 23 cases of serious liver damage and one death. More>>>

Recent study links Avandia and Actos to increased bone breaks
-Examiner - Knoxville
06/15/2009 - Be careful!Dr. Merri Pendergrass presented a study of bone fractures in close to 70,000 patients taking either rosiglitazone (Avandia) or pioglitazone (Actos) at the 2009 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. Fracture risk appears to be increased by 40% for patients taking these medications. More>>>

Medtronic Paid Surgeon While He Was in the Army
-TheNewYorkTimes
06/13/2009 - Medtronic has acknowledged that it paid a former Army surgeon, who is now accused of falsifying research about one of its products, to give speeches and train other doctors on the company’s behalf while he was in the military. More>>>

More evidence links glitazones to broken bones
-WebMD – theheart.org
06/13/2009 - New Orleans, LA - The largest study to date looking at whether the risk of bone fractures is increased in the setting of thiazolidinedione drugs (TZDs) suggests that fracture risk is more than 40% higher in people taking TZDs and that both men and women are vulnerable. More>>>

Gardasil Label Highlights Fainting Risk
-CancerConsultants
06/13/2009 - Information about the risk of fainting has been added to the “Warnings and Precautions” section of the prescribing information for the HPV vaccine Gardasil®. As with any vaccine, Gardasil recipients should remain seated or lying down and be observed for 15 minutes following vaccination. More>>>

Just in: the psoriasis drug Raptiva has been banned in Europe
-Examiner
06/12/2009 - In a manner similar to the COX inhibitor Vioxx, Raptiva became the latest victim of the pharmaceutical industry world-wide due to the development of serious side-effects in patients. Raptiva was approved in the US in 2003 and in Europe reaping millions of dollars in sales world-wide before being pulled from the market due to the reports of a multitude of side-effects in patients. More>>>

Lilly ‘Ghostwrote’ Articles to Market Zyprexa, Case Files Show
-Bloomberg
06/12/2009 - Eli Lilly & Co. officials wrote medical journal studies about the antipsychotic Zyprexa and then asked doctors to put their names on the articles, a practice called “ghostwriting,” according to unsealed company files. More>>>

Botox must have stronger warnings, American regulator says
-Telegraph U.K.
06/11/2009 - Botox – the cosmetic wrinkle eliminating injection favoured by celebrities – must have stronger warnings on its packaging after serious side effects, the American drugs regulator has said. More>>>

FDA Strengthens Warnings on Gardasil
-WSJ
06/11/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday strengthened warnings on Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine about fainting after receiving reports of "traumatic injuries" among some vaccine recipients. More>>>

House Bill Would Create Artificial Joints Registry
-The New York Times
06/11/2009 - Two House Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday to create a national database of patients who received artificial hips and knees, a system already used in some other countries to track how patients fare, reduce unnecessary surgeries and weed out inferior products. More>>>

FDA Alerts Patients to Medtronic Pacemaker Recall
-FDA News
06/11/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting patients to the Class I recall of certain Medtronic Kappa and Sigma pacemakers. These devices may fail due to a separation of wires that connect the electronic circuit to other pacemaker components, such as the battery.  More>>>

Daily News: Certain Propafenone HCL and Digoxin Tablets Recalled
-Nurse.com
06/11/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted information about two cardiac drugs that were recently recalled because of variability in the size of the tablets. More>>>

FDA panel to decide on antipsychotics for use in children
-PharmaTimes
06/10/2009 - A US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will vote later today on whether three blockbuster antipsychotics should be allowed to market them to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in paediatric and adolescent populations. More>>>

What's behind drug causing tendon issues?
-Ask the Doctor : Peter Gott
-GoErie
06/09/2009 - Q I recently heard a statement on television made by an attorney with regard to Levaquin, causing tendon rupture and asking anyone who suffered with the problem to call a toll-free telephone number. What on earth is this all about? More>>>

Docs say Avandia fears aren't laid to rest
-FiercePharma
06/09/2009 - Doctors aren't so sure that the Avandia-exonerating safety study is as conclusive as presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting. Some physicians are calling the study "flawed." In an editorial in the Lancet--where the research was published--two doctors wrote that the study's limitations prevent any "definitive conclusions" about Avandia's effects on cardiac safety. More>>>

EU-wide Recall of Raptiva (efalizumab) to be Initiated
-PharmaLive
06/08/2009 - LONDON - The European Medicines Agency has agreed to an EU-wide recall of all of the remaining batches of Raptiva, from Merck Serono. This means that within the next few days all batches of Raptiva will be recalled from wholesalers, pharmacies and hospitals. Following this, the medicine will no longer be available anywhere in the European Union. More>>>

Zimmer’s hip takes a hit
Patients sue over cup; firm blames surgeon training
-TheJournalGazette
06/08/2009 - It’s been more than two years since Trudie Millerburg had hip replacement surgery, and she is still putting the pieces back together. Millerburg, 63, a retired clinical lab scientist, can’t stoop to dust the bottom of her cabinets. She can’t bend over to clear bugs off her car or garden. More>>>

A familiar story for hip replacement doctor
Zimmer Inc.’s Durom cup is a source of controversy.
-TheJournalGazette
06/08/2009 - When Dr. Lawrence Dorr noticed patients had problems with the Durom cup, a hip-socket implant, loosening last year, he didn’t wait to act. He felt a moral obligation, he said, especially considering what he’d been through about a decade before. More>>>

Avandia Raises Risk of Heart Failure, Fractures
But study found diabetes drug didn't increase chances of heart disease, death
-HealthDay News
06/08/2009 - The diabetes drug Avandia significantly raises the risk of both heart failure and bone fractures, but it does not boost the odds for either cardiovascular disease or death, new research has found. More>>>

FDA Monitoring More Than 20 Drugs For Potential Risks
-RedOrbit
06/06/2009 - The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released a list of a variety of drugs that it is currently testing for possible safety issues. The list contains two-dozen different drugs, which vary from treatment of sleep disorder to weight-loss. Pfizer Inc’s Chantix, a drug aimed at helping people stop smoking, is among the drug varieties currently being monitored by the FDA. Regulators are seeking to determine whether or not the drug poses a possible risk of accidental injury or vision impairment to patients. More>>>

The return of the dreaded 'Phossy Jaw'
-RDH Magazine
06/06/09 - During the early 19th century, it was discovered that adding yellow (now called white) phosphorous to matchstick heads made it easier to ignite matches. As a result, there was an enormous demand for these "strike-anywhere" matches.(1) During the industrial revolution, this new industry of matchmaking was profitable, and low wage workers spent 10 to 15 hours a day over large heated vats that contained yellow phosphorus.(2) More>>>

Discredited Research Study Stuns an Ex-Army Doctor’s Colleagues
-The New York Times
06/06/2009 - Dr. Romney C. Andersen, a Walter Reed Army Medical Center surgeon, was surprised last summer when his neighbor, a fellow doctor, congratulated him on a new medical journal study bearing his name. Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo and copies of the signatures of other Army doctors on his study that authorities say he forged. “What study?” Dr. Andersen asked. More>>>

Popular Weight Loss Drug Recalled: What You Need To Know About Hydroxycut
-Alternative Health Journal
06/05/2009 - An increasing number of weight loss drugs and supplements are being recalled due to their link to health problems. One that received a great deal of attention recently was Hydroxycut. Hydroxycut is marketed as a fat burner and considered to be a low cost diet aid. It was recalled by the FDA due to liver injuries resulting from the drug, some leading to death. Keep reading to find out more about the health dangers of Hydroxycut! More>>>

FDA Committee to Rule on Psych Meds for Youths
-YouthToday
06/05/2009 - The Food and Drug Administration's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee will vote next week on whether to allow three psychotropic medications to be marketed as effective and acceptably safe for youths with certain conditions. More>>>

Eli Lilly Promoted Zyprexa for Patients Who Were Badly Dressed
-BNETPharm
06/05/2009 - When Eli Lilly launched Zyprexa, its drug sales reps campaigned for doctors to prescribe the antipsychotic off-label to patients who appeared to be depressed because their clothes were “drab” or “disheveled,” according to a study in Social Science & Medicine. More>>>

Health Hazard Alert: Various Foods Containing Peanut Products Recalled by PCA May Contain Salmonella Bacteria
-Marketwire 
06/04/2009 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the foods described below because these products may be contaminated with Salmonella.  These foods contain peanut products (butter/paste, as well as whole, crushed, powdered, etc.) that have been recalled in the U.S. and Canada by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) due to Salmonella contamination. More>>>

Multiple Evenflo high chairs recalled:
High chairs' screws can loosen, fall out
-The Leaf-Chronicle
06/04/2009 - Evenflo Company is expanding its recall of Majestic High Chairs sold nationwide from January 2007 to March 2009. Plastic caps and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to suddenly fall back or detach from the high chair. More>>>

Eli Lilly Stalling Zyprexa Claims
-OPENPRESS
06/04/2009 - Lilly's (NOW up to $4.6 billion) Zyprexa settlement payout is being stonewalled. 8 Lilly employees who are supposed 'whistle-blowers' are getting $ 10 million each the real victims like me are being ignored. More>>>

Gardasil. The vaccine that almost killed me, and maybe you.
-BUZZNET
06/03/2009 - If you have been following me for some time now you would have noticed I have lost a lot of weight, been traveling and seeing lots of doctors lately and been super health conscious. Did you ever hear of the vaccine called Gardasil. You know the one you see commercials for on tv every five minutes and that is given out in schools. If I had gotten the third installment of that vaccine I would not be alive to tell you about it. More>>>

Anti-clot drug combinations boost bleeding risks
-Reuters
06/03/2009 - CHICAGO - Heart patients are often given two or three different drugs to prevent life-threatening blood clots but these combinations can double, triple or even quadruple the risk of stomach or intestinal bleeding, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. More>>>

AS Medications Solution LLC. Announces a Nationwide Recall of All Lots of Digoxin Tablets 0.25mg Due to Size Variability
-FDA
06/02/2009 - A S Medication Solutions, LLC, a drug repackage company, announced today that all tablets of Caraco brand Digoxin, USP, 0.25 mg, distributed prior to March 31, 2009, which are not expired and are within the expiration date of August, 2011, are being voluntarily recalled to the consumer level. More>>>

AstraZeneca Told Sales Reps to Lie About Seroquel-Diabetes Link
-NaturalNews
06/02/2009 - Drug giant AstraZeneca instructed its sales representatives to tell doctors that there was no link between its antipsychotic drug Seroquel and an increased risk of diabetes, even though studies conducted by the company had already shown otherwise, according to documents uncovered as part of a lawsuit. More>>>

Super Poligrip Lawsuit Filed After Denture Wearers Suffered Zinc Poisoning
-AboutLawsuits
06/02/2009 - Earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of two couples who allege that severe and disabling injuries were caused by zinc poisoning from Super Poligrip denture adhesive cream. More>>>

Hydroxycut hazard: The popular bodybuilding and weight-loss supplement has been linked to liver damage, but it's uncertain how many have suffered harm.
-ThePhiladelphiaInquirer
06/01/2009 - It was a case that might have puzzled TV's acerbic Dr. House. A 33-year-old woman with dark urine and yellowish skin complained of profound fatigue when she showed up at the emergency room at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Lab tests showed she had acute liver inflammation. Joseph Lim, a liver specialist at Yale, was on the case. He noted that the woman had been taking Hydroxycut supplements for weight loss for two weeks. Several reports in the medical literature had linked Hydroxycut (which is used for both bodybuilding and weight loss) to liver damage. More>>>

Germany's Robert Koch Institute is Questioning the effectiveness of the HPV vaccines.
-American Chronicle - By: Leslie Botha
05/31/2009 - Christina England May 30, 2009 All around the world concerns are mounting about the effectiveness and the safety of the HPV vaccines. While many of our Governments refuse to listen to public concern and ignore the ever increasing numbers of children who have had adverse reactions to the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines, in Germany their concerns are at last being looked at and examined carefully. More>>>

Death of boy in ATV crash raises questions
-NEWS10
05/31/2009 - A crash involving a four-wheeler has left a young boy from Knox dead. Now, questions are being raised about the vehicle's safety and how much the boy's parents knew about possible problems. The parents say that they just found out that the type of four-wheeler involved in the crash had been recalled after causing dozens of deaths. More>>>

Rollover that killed boy, 13, came despite safety work
-Timesunion
05/30/2009 - KNOX -- Thirteen-year-old James Wyatt Spencer, an experienced ATV rider, was driving a 2009 Yamaha Rhino with his friend Thursday when he hit a patch of wet grass and rolled. The machine flipped and landed on Spencer in a field more than 500 yards from his Bozenkill Road home. More>>>

Hydroxycut move shows limits of FDA
-TheCabin
05/29/2009 - The push to get Hydroxycut products off the market is the first test of legislation and federal regulations that have given the Food and Drug Administration some new regulatory powers over the herbal supplements industry. Those initiatives hold dietary supplement makers to specific manufacturing standards and require them to notify the FDA when they receive reports of serious adverse health effects suffered by consumers taking their products. More>>>

Ennis & Ennis P.A. Announces Launch of New Hydroxycut Recall Website
-OpenPress
05/28/2009 - Ennis & Ennis P.A. announces the launch of a new website to assists users of Hydroxycut products due to the voluntary recall by the manufacturer, Lovate Health Sciences, Inc. This new Hydroxycut recall website will give consumers up-to-date news and legal developments related to the recall. Also Ennis & Ennis is announcing free legal consultations to consumers of Hydroxycut products to advise them of their legal rights. More>>>

Arkansas woman claims gastric drug led to dyskinesia
-SoutheastTexasRecord
05/28/2009 - EL DORADO, Ark. - After a year of taking a drug to combat a medical condition involving paralysis of stomach muscles, an Arkansas resident started exhibiting abnormal muscle movements throughout her body. More>>>

Name of 31-year-old man killed in off-road rollover released
-Desert Sun wire services
05/27/2009 - Authorities today released the name of a 31-year-old man killed in Moreno Valley in an off-road vehicle rollover accident that injured five others, one critically. More>>>

AstraZeneca Faces Suits over Seroquel
-BusinessWeek
05/26/2009 - Britain's No. 2 drugmaker is accused of pushing 'off-label' uses of its top-selling psychiatric drug, and 16,000 patients are suing for alleged side effects More>>>

Two Hydroxycut Class Actions Filed: Suits follow recall of liver-damaging dietary supplement
-ConsumerAffairs
05/26/2009 - Two class action lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the recall of Hydroxycut, a popular weight-loss supplement that has been linked to liver damage and other life-threatening side effects. More>>>

2 Cases of Achilles Tendinitis
-AdvanceWeb
05/26/2009 - PAs in family practice, emergency medicine and other specialties are likely to encounter quinolone-associated tendinitis and/or tendon rupture at some time, making it important to recognize the signs of and be aware of the risk factors for the condition. More>>>

Reports of Brain Virus from Common Cancer Drug
-EmaxHealth
05/26/2009 - So far, 57 cases of an often fatal brain virus have been reported in association with administration of the cancer drug rituximab. The reports span 1997 to 2008, and include patients with anemia, rheumatoid arthritis and lymphoma, who developed the brain virus, progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis (PML). More>>>

Wichita Teen Warning Against Gardasil
-Kansas CW
05/26/2009 - When a Wichita teenager found out about a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, she asked her mom if she could get it. After receiving the three shots of Gardasil, she says she began fighting for her life. More>>>

Medtronic Kappa and Sigma Series Pacemakers may have a defect which causes wire seperation and may lead to serious side effects for patients and may even result in death.
05/21/2009 -  Medtronic recently sent out a "Dear Doctor" letter which warned healthcare providers of defective Medtronic pacemakers. Specifically the "Dear Doctor" letter was warning of defective Medtronic Kappa Series and defective Medtronic Sigma Series pacemakers. According to the information that was sent out to healthcare providers the Kappa and Sigma pacemakers may fail due to seperation of wires that connect the electronic circuit to other components inside the pacemakers. More>>>

Another ATV rollover suit filed against Yamaha
-WV Record
05/20/2009- CHARLESTON - A West Virginia resident has filed a lawsuit against a prominent ATV manufacturer, alleging his minor daughter was injured after their Yamaha Rhino flipped. More>>>

Children's Use Of Psychiatric Drugs Begins To Decelerate
- Wall Street Journal
05/18/2009 - The growth in antipsychotic-drug prescriptions for children is slowing as state Medicaid agencies heighten their scrutiny of usage and doctors grow more wary of the powerful medications. More>>>

Doctors call for better tracking of device wire problems
-MinnPost
05/15/2009 - A group of heart doctors is calling on Medtronic and other medical device companies to do a better job tracking defibrillator wire problems after they are on the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. More>>>

Suit against GSK claims Avandia not worth the risks
-SoutheastTexasRecord
05/14/2009 - After taking Avandia for five years, Frank Casteel underwent heart bypass surgery in 2007. Now Casteel is suing the drug's manufacturer alleging that the drug is not worth the risks. More>>>

Merck Paid for Medical ‘Journal’ Without Disclosure
-NewYorkTimes
05/14/2009 - Pharmaceutical companies routinely offer doctors reprints of articles from medical journals that are favorable to their products. But news of a Merck-sponsored publication for doctors in Australia, that has come to light in a personal injury lawsuit there over Vioxx, has raised eyebrows in international medical publishing. More>>>

National class action certified against Guidant/Boston Scientific
-TradingMarkets
05/14/2009 - In a decision released May 8, 2009, Justice Cullity of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a national class action against Guidant Corporation (subsequently purchased by Boston Scientific) on behalf of a class of 28, 443 individuals for claims relating to allegedly defective pacemakers. Litigation in the U.S. resulted in a settlement of $240 million in late 2007 on behalf of approximately 8,000 plaintiffs. More>>>

Cerebral Palsy Botox treatments have new warnings
-Examiner
05/14/2009 - The Food & Drug Administration has released a new warning for the off-label use of Botox in spastic pediatric Cerebral Palsy patients. This is an update to the 2008 Early Communication regarding the drug. This new information will be added to the product label and patient information for future production of Botox A & B. More>>>

Hydroxycut Recall: FDA Warns Against Weight-Loss Supplement
-About.com
05/13/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against the use of Hydroxycut, a weight-loss supplement linked to serious liver injuries. Hydroxycut's manufacturer has recalled 14 of its products, which are marketed as fat-burners, diet aids, and energy boosters. More>>>

Examaning FDA Reports
-SportsIllustrated
05/13/2009 - In 2008, according to documents obtained by Sports Illustrated through a Freedom of Information Act request, the FDA received a variety of adverse health event reports from consumers using supplements. More>>>

Patients injured by faulty medical devices want laws to hold manufacturers accountable
-Cleveland.com
05/13/2009 - Two summers ago, Bill Storms of Delaware, Ohio, says he got 138 electrical jolts over a five-hour period when the wires to his pacemaker went haywire. The 38-year-old truck driver had to visit several emergency rooms before the device could be turned off. More>>>

FDA issues 'Black Box Warning' in connection with prescribing Reglan
-RenoGazetteJournal
05/13/2009 - It's wonderful when prescription medications cure ailments, but what happens when they cause adverse medical side effects? I'm angry because I appear to be suffering from permanent central nervous system damage associated with the prescribed drug Reglan (brand name for "metoclopramide") prescribed over a year ago for a digestive disorder. More>>>

Stryker receives subpoena, FDA warning letter
-ModernHealthcare
05/13/2009 - Devicemaker Stryker Corp. has been hit with two new investigations, according to documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On May 5, Stryker received a Food and Drug Administration warning letter related to compliance issues for a craniomaxillofacial implant product previously sold through its Portage, Mich., distribution facilities. More>>>

BREAKING NEWS: Insider speech about fraud & corruption at BAYER
-LifeGen.de
05/12/2009 - It is a a major breakthrough in combating fraud and corruption: At today's annual general shareholders meeting of Germanys Bayer AG, a former pharmaceutical employee intends to unveil severe corruption practices within BAYER. More>>>

Hydroxycut Warning From FDA
-UKMedix
05/12/2009 - A warning has been put out by the Food & Drug Administration in America that people should not use a popular dietary supplement called Hydroxycut because of reports that it causes irreversible liver damage and even could be linked to the death of a nineteen year old boy. More>>>

Hospital investigating whether Baxter's Heparin had role in death of 2 patients
-ChicagoTribune
05/12/2009 - Baxter International Inc. said medical care providers at a hospital in Delaware and U.S. health officials are investigating whether the deaths of two patients are linked to a brand of heparin blood thinner Baxter sells in intravenous bags. More>>>

You just have to love the makers of Gardasil Vaccine
-MotleyFool
05/11/2009 - Recent reports have exposed the shocking truth about the Gardasil vaccine. Thousands of young girls have experienced serious reactions after receiving the vaccine -- and 32 girls have died. More>>>

Salmonella outbreak prompts demands for more scrutiny of food processing plants
-CMAJ
05/11/2009 - By the time Cheri Markos received a letter from Kellogg’s warning her not to eat the peanut butter sandwich crackers she’d purchased at Costco, the snacks were long gone. She’d already eaten them or given them away to friends. More>>>

Hydroxycut Cut from Market
-EmpowHer
05/09/2009 - “Natural” does not mean safe. Billions of dollars are spent every year on supplements that do not have to be proven safe or effective. Hydroxycut has been added to the list of Herbalife and others to be dangerous and even deadly. More>>>

Daily News: Baxter Heparin Use Suspended at Hospital
-Nurse.com
05/09/2009 - At least five adverse patient outcomes suspected to be associated with the use of pre-mixed bags of heparin from Baxter International Inc., prompted Beebe Medical Center, Lewes, Del., to suspend use of the products. More>>>

Iovate Health Sciences U.S.A., Inc. Adds Hydroxycut-Branded Product Universal Product Codes to its Voluntary Nationwide Recall
-FDA Press Release
05/08/2009 -Iovate Health Sciences USA, Inc. of Blasdell, New York and Ontario, Canada announced today that it is adding Universal Product Codes (UPCs) with respect to the Hydroxycut-branded products sold in the United States and subject to the voluntary recall. These additions all involve additional packages and sizes of products previously referenced. More>>>

Elsevier published six ‘fake’ Australian medical journals on behalf of pharma companies
-Australian Life Scientist
05/08/2009 - AustraliaAcademic publisher Elsevier has admitted its Australian office produced six fake journals between 2000 and 2005. The Scientist revealed last week that pharma giant Merck paid Elsevier to produce a journal called the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine which contained reprints or summaries of previously published articles, many with only one or two citations. More>>>

Unsafe and unregulated:
Hydroxycut recall shows the need for better controls on supplements
-HeraldTribune
05/08/2009 - The recall of Hydroxycut shows again why such products and their manufacturers' claims should be tested and verified by federal regulators before the supplements are marketed and sold. More>>>

Heartburn drugs affect anti-clotting drugs
-UPI
05/07/2009 - The anti-clotting action of the medication clopidogrel -- Plavix -- can be compromised by common drugs for the treatment of heartburn, U.S. researchers said. More>>>

Hydroxycut pulled after FDA warning
-Stars and Stripes
05/07/2009 - A sign tells shoppers that bottles of a new formula Hydroxycut weight reduction supplement is now ephedra-free. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service pulled the popular dietary supplement Hydroxycut from its shelves last weekend after government health officials urged dieters and bodybuilders to immediately stop using the product. More>>>

Hydroxycut recalls products
-EveningObserver
05/06/2009 - As part of a manufacturer's recall, Tops Friendly Markets have removed from shelves several Hydroxycut products. The Food and Drug Administration is urging consumers to discontinue the use of Hydroxycut products as they have been associated with a number of serious liver injuries. More>>>

Concerns Over Dietary Supplements Raised
-ScienceDaily
05/06/2009 - As the FDA warns consumers to stop using Hydroxycut products, a new editorial published in the May 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that this FDA warning is not unique. More>>>

US FDA Expresses Concern Over Safety of Botox-type Products: Botox-type drugs are attracting adverse notice from the US Food and Drugs Administration.
-MedIndia
05/05/2009 - A little after it approved Dysport, a rival to Botox, the agency said both drugs, along with a third called Myobloc, should carry black-box warnings to alert patients and doctors to serious safety risks. More>>>

Hydroxycut Pulled From Shelves; FDA Warns Of Serious Liver Injuries, Heart Problems, & Death
-PNC
05/05/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers nationwide to stop using Hydroxycut products and has issued a recall for 14 products under the name brand weight loss drug. More>>>

FDA issued Hydroxycut product injury warning after liver injuries and one death.
-JusticeNewsFlash
05/05/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) www.fda.gov issued a stop product use directive on May 1, 2009. All consumers are urged to stop using Hydroxycut health products which are sold and marketed to U.S. consumers as weight loss supplements. More>>>

Weight Loss Drug Recall: A popular weight loss drug has been recalled after users report major health problems. At least one person has died.
-CBS News
05/05/2009 - The popular weight loss drug Hydroxycut has been pulled from the shelves. Government health officials warn dieters using the supplement to stop after the FDA received 23 reports of liver problems including the death of a 19 year old male who used Hydroxycut. More>>>

Black Box Warning Required for All Botulinum Toxin Products by FDA
-Emaxhealth
05/04/2009 - The FDA has announced changes to the safety label on botulinum toxin due to reports that the effects of the toxin may spread from the area of injection to other areas of the body causing serious adverse problems. This new label requirement is required on Botox and Botox Cosmetic (botulinum toxin type A); Myobloc (botulinum toxin type B); and a new FDA-approved product, Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA). More>>>

Iovate Health Sciences U.S.A., Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Hydroxycut-Branded Products
-FDA
05/04/2009 - Iovate Health Sciences USA, Inc. of Blasdell, New York and Ontario, Canada announced today that it is voluntarily recalling Hydroxycut branded products sold in the United States. More>>>

Maytag needs to ponder slow recalls
-Winnipeg Free Press
05/04/2009 - Recalls have become an all-too-common experience for consumers. The latest recall of Maytag refrigerators adds to the growing list. The recall involves 1.6 million refrigerators sold by Maytag, 193,500 of them in Canada. More>>>

Hydroxycut Products Being Recalled After Reports of Death
-SmartAboutHealth
05/04/2009 - A dietary supplement called Hydroxycut is being recalled because it has been linked to liver damage and death in people taking it. The drug is marketed as one comprised of all natural ingredients, but nevertheless it is causing major health problems for people. More>>>

Faulty Cable Affects Thousands Of Heart Patients
-KGTV
05/02/2009 - SAN DIEGO -- A heart device that has been pulled off the market can still be found inside the bodies of thousands of people, including at least one San Diegan. More>>>

10 Utahns, 2 others sue pharmaceutical company
-Deseret News
05/02/2009 - Ten Utahns and two people from Oregon filed federal lawsuits Thursday against the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC alleging that the company was negligent in researching the drug Avandia, which caused them (or a spouse) to have heart attacks and subsequent health problems. More>>>

Gardasil Linked to Nerve Disorder: Cervical Cancer Vaccine May Raise Risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome
-WebMD
05/02/2009 - Girls and women who receive the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer may be at increased risk of a rare but serious disorder of the nervous system in the first few weeks after getting their shots, researchers report. More>>>

F.D.A. Orders Warning Label for Botox
-TheNewYorkTimes
05/02/2009 - Botox and other similar antiwrinkle drugs must now carry the most stringent kind of warning label, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. More>>>

Botox Must Warn of Muscle Weakness as U.S. Market Expands
-Bloomberg
05/02/2009 - Allergan Inc. was ordered by U.S. regulators to strengthen precautions on its wrinkle smoother Botox, hours after the first major competition to the treatment was approved for sale. More>>>

Allergan to Resolve Botox Safety Labels Article
-TheWallStreetJournal
05/02/2009 - NEW YORK -- Allergan Inc., which reported a 64% slump in first-quarter profit Friday, said it will work with the Food and Drug Administration to appropriately update labeling for its Botox and Botox cosmetic products. More>>>

Hydroxycut Diet Aids Recalled After Warning
-TheNewYorkTimes
05/02/2009 - Federal drug regulators warned consumers Friday to stop using the popular Hydroxycut line of weight-loss products, citing reports of a death due to liver failure and other instances of serious health problems. More>>>

Hydroxycut products recalled after one death: FDA
-Reuters
05/02/2009 - The maker of the widely sold Hydroxycut weight-loss supplements is recalling 14 products after reports of liver damage and one death, U.S. health officials said on Friday. More>>>

FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Taking Hydroxycut Products
-The Wall Street Journal
05/02/2009 - WASHINGTON -- Consumers should "immediately stop" using Hydroxycut weight-loss products amid concerns they may cause jaundice and liver failure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. More>>>

FDA warns consumers to stop using Hydroxycut dietary supplements
-LA Times
05/02/2009 - Consumers using Hydroxycut products should immediately stop taking the dietary supplements, the Food and Drug Administration warned today after receiving reports of serious health problems related to the drugs. More>>>

Wyeth Supreme Court Loss Breaks Drug Lawsuit Logjam
-Bloomberg
04/30/2009 - Just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court decided patients can sue drugmakers over injuries from medicines approved by the government, long-stalled lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are again moving toward trials. More>>>

Epilepsy drug should be avoided during pregnancy
-Reuters Health
04/29/2009 - Guidelines released this week recommend that women with epilepsy should avoid taking the anti-epilepsy drug valproate during pregnancy, because of the risk of harmful effects to the fetus. More>>>

Doctors and Nurses, Still Learning
-TheNewYorkTimes
04/29/2009 - My patient was a young woman struggling with aggressive lymphoma who needed around-the-clock pain control. Because of her youth, and the hope that she might be cured, the attending physician was thinking of her future. He worried a patient-controlled analgesia pump could lead to a psychological dependence on narcotics. More>>>

Death toll linked to Gardasil vaccine rises
-WND
04/28/2009 - "Anaphylactic shock," "foaming at mouth," "grand mal convulsion," "coma" and "now paralyzed" are a few of the startling descriptions included in a new federal report describing the complications from Merck & Co.'s Gardasil medication for sexually transmitted human papillomavirus – which has been proposed as mandatory for all schoolgirls. More>>>

97 plaintiffs take aim at Digitek in St. Clair County
-MadisonCountyRecord
04/28/2009 - Actavis and Mylan Pharmaceuticals are being sued by 97 people in St. Clair County Circuit Court who claim they took a prescription drug for their heart problems that contained twice the approved level of its active ingredient. More>>>

Psoriasis Drug Raptiva Pulled From U.S. Market
-Forbes
04/27/2009 - The troubled psoriasis drug Raptiva is being withdrawn from the U.S. market, California-based drug maker Genentech ( DNA - news - people ) announced Wednesday. The move comes almost two months after U.S. health officials issued a public health advisory on the drug after confirming a link to a rare, sometimes fatal brain infection. More>>>

"I had an Allergic Reaction Immediately after the MRI Gadolinium Injection"
-LawyersandSettlements
04/25/2009 - Jason says he has been having complications from a gadolinium based-contrast agent he was injected with during an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). "I had an allergic reaction immediately after the gadolinium injection," says Jason. "Nobody told me beforehand about the risk factors, or even what it was." Jason found out later that gadolinium exposure is linked to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis / nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NSF/NFD). More>>>

Felled footballer blames pain pump
-Cincinnati.com
04/25/2009 - Matthew McKeown worked for years so he could hear his name called this weekend and make his fame and fortune as a professional football player. Instead, McKeown won’t be drafted by a National Football League team. He blames the manufacturer of a pain-relief pump for destroying his shoulder – and his NFL aspirations. More>>>

Denture creams are focus of lawsuits
-FayObserver
04/25/2009 - Q: I saw a lawyer advertising on TV about denture cream being a health hazard. What’s the story with this? A: Lots of potential lawsuits are brewing following a report last year that prolonged overuse of denture adhesives could lead to serious neurological problems. More>>>

Glaxo Compares Sex Virus Shots, Delay Raises Eyebrows
-Bloomberg
04/23/2009 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc will release the first study to compare its cervical cancer vaccine with Merck & Co.’s blockbuster Gardasil, more than a year after completing the research. Sales for Glaxo’s Cervarix amount to less than 10 percent of those garnered by Merck’s similar vaccine. The comparison study may influence which product doctors use and insurers pay for. More>>>

Generic Reglan Makers Lose Appeal Request in Vermont
-Ennislaw.com
04/22/2009 - A federal judge has handed four generic manufacturers of the heartburn medication Reglan another loss in their request to dismiss a product liability suit in Vermont. More>>>

TEENAGE GIRLS SUE OVER CANCER JAB
-DailyExpress U.K.
04/20/2009 - They have suffered symptoms ranging from paralysis and seizures to fatigue and muscle aches since being given the Cervarix vaccine. The jab is being given to girls from the age of 11 in a huge nationwide programme launched last September. More>>>

FDA Cites Two Chinese Heparin Makers
-Wall Street Journal
04/18/2009 - WASHINGTON -- Two Chinese-based firms shipped contaminated heparin to the U.S. between 2007 and 2008 and one company lied to federal health regulators about their role in the matter, according to the Food and Drug Administration. More>>>

Bayer Settles Suits Over Imaging Dye Tied to Disease
-Bloomberg
04/17/2009 - Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, has started settling lawsuits over its Magnevist contrast agent used in diagnostic imaging tests. The company began negotiations in about 40 cases linking the product to a disease that hardens organs, Peter Burg, an attorney with Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh Jardine PC in Englewood, Colorado, said today. More>>>

Truck Catches Fire in Brooklyn Center Driveway
-FOX News
04/17/2009 - A mother and son had a very close call, as just moments after parking their pick-up truck in their driveway, it burst into flames. This happened on Lakeshore Drive this afternoon. Leslie Liner had just used her boyfriend’s Ford F-150 to pick up her daughter from school. After going in the house, a door-to-door salesman came and told her the truck was on fire. It was his first day on the job in the neighborhood. More>>>

Faulty truck part could be cause of local garage fire: Cruise control switch blamed
-Press Publications
04/17/2009 - A possible default on a Ford truck caused a fire at a Lino Lakes home, according to an insurance company. Richard Rodriquez and his family were spending a quiet night at their home on Lindell Lane late last month when the doorbell rang. When he answered the door, his neighbor told him his house was on fire. More>>>

Arrow International Announces Worldwide Voluntary Recall Of Intra Aortic Balloon Pump (IAB) Catheters|
-Medical News Today
04/16/2009 - Teleflex Medical announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified the voluntary medical device recall initiated on February 2, 2009 by Arrow International's Cardiac Care Division involving volume connectors for its 30cc, 40cc and 50cc Intra Aortic Balloon Pump (IAB) Catheters as a Class 1 recall. More>>>

Hip replacement manufacturer sued in St. Clair County
-MadisonCountyRecord
04/15/2009 - Forty-two people from across the United States are suing a hip replacement manufacturer over injuries they say they sustained after an alleged defective device was placed into their bodies. More>>>

FDA requires black box warning-Reglan may cause permanent injury!
-NewYorkInjuryNews
04/15/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) www.fda.gov announced drug makers are now required to place a black box warning on all metoclopramide containing drugs like Reglan. Federal regulators must warn patients, healthcare professionals and medication consumers about the risk of serious injury in long-term or high-dose use of all metoclopramide containing drugs. More>>>

Mystery epidemic hitting the UK after HPV jab
-RenewAmerica
04/14/2009 - Since September of 2008 a mystery illness has struck the UK after the HPV jab Cervarix was implemented in a school vaccine program. It has been reported in the UK Mail Online that 1,340 reports have been filed coincidentally after the HPV vaccine Cervarix was implemented in September. This mystery illness causes Paralysis, Convulsions, Sight problems, Nausea, Muscle Weakness, Fever, Dizziness and Numbness, Bell's palsy, Hypoesthesia (loss of sense of touch) and Guillain-Barré syndrome. More>>>

Low blood sugar a dementia risk for diabetics
-The Malaysian Insider.
04/14/2009 - Older diabetics whose blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels have a higher risk of developing dementia, US researchers said today. The study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, suggests that aggressive blood sugar control resulting in blood sugar so low it requires a trip to the hospital may increase dementia risks in older adults with type 2 diabetes. More>>>

Certain Diabetes Drugs May Pose Eye Risk
-Forbes
04/13/2009 - A class of diabetes drugs called glitazones are associated with an increased risk of a vision-threatening complication called diabetic macular edema (DME), which features swelling and fluid accumulation in the retina. More>>>

Eli Lilly Zyprexa Claims Being Stonewalled
-TheOpenPress
04/12/2009 - Eli Lilly, the Indy-based pharmaceutical company pleads guilty to promoting Zyprexa for unapproved uses and is slapped with $1.4 billion criminal fine, the largest ever placed on a U.S. company. It's the largest pharma-fraud-whistleblower case in US history. More>>>

Genentech Removing Raptiva From U.S. Market: Announcement Follows Reports of Three Deaths Associated With Use of Psoriasis Drug
-AAFP
04/11/2009 - Drug manufacturer Genentech has announced that it is voluntarily withdrawing its psoriasis drug efalizumab, which is marketed as Raptiva, because of life-threatening infections associated with use of the medication. More>>>

Astrazeneca gets mixed response to Seroquel
-FinancialTimes
04/10/2009 - AstraZeneca’s hopes of extending the uses of its blockbuster drug Seroquel in the US have met with a mixed response from a key panel of medical experts. More>>>

Salmonella warning focuses on San Joaquin pistachio processor
-SacramentoBee
04/09/2009 - Federal food safety officials have lifted last week's blanket salmonella warning on all pistachios, focusing on nuts now being recalled by a single San Joaquin Valley processor. More>>>

FDA Panel Ambivalent on Expanded Seroquel Indications
-MedPageToday
04/08/2009 - An FDA advisory committee today was reluctant to recommend approval of more indications for the antipsychotic drug quetiapine (Seroquel), with studies showing substantial metabolic and cardiovascular risks. More>>>

FDA Statement on the Voluntary Withdrawal of Raptiva From the U.S. Market
-FDA
04/08/2009 - Today, Genentech, the manufacturer of the psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab), announced that it has begun a voluntary, phased withdrawal of the product from the U.S. market. The company is taking this action because of a potential risk to patients of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare, serious, progressive neurologic disease caused by a virus that affects the central nervous system. More>>>

Doctors warn of jaw damage from bone drugs
-TheNewsTribune
04/07/2009 - After Geneva Grimpo fell and broke her hand and her arm, doctors put the tiny, fragile-looking woman on drugs to strengthen her bones. Three years into her drug therapy, trouble began. More>>>

Removing Medtronic Heart Cables Is Hard Choice
-TheNewYorkTimes
04/07/2009 - BOSTON — Pulling a medical device off the market is one thing. Removing it from the bodies of thousands of patients is a lot more complicated and dangerous. Consider the Sprint Fidelis, a heart defibrillator cable. In 2007 its maker, Medtronic, stopped selling it after five patients who had the cables died. More>>>

Bill would empower Michigan patients to sue drug manufacturers
-TheGrandRapidsPress
04/06/2009 - Kathy Roaleen, 59, of Rockford, suffered life-changing side effects after taking tablets that might have contained higher dosages of morphine than prescribed. The drug maker later recalled the medicine. Lawyers told Roaleen she cannot sue. More>>>

FDA Warns Drug Firms Over Internet Ads Article
-WSJ
04/06/2009 - WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration warned 14 major pharmaceutical companies about brief Internet ads that accompany searches on Google and other search engines, saying the ads were misleading because they didn't include risk information. More>>>

Pistachios had been found to have salmonella three times in recent months before recall, Kraft says: Positive tests for bacteria found in September, November, February
-Chicago Tribune
04/05/2009 - Kraft Foods had been bedeviled with positive salmonella tests in products containing pistachios for months prior to its recall last week of a pistachio-laden trail mix, the company said Friday. More>>>

Fall Danger Prompts High
-FOX News
04/05/2009 - A voluntary recall of almost 733,000 Evenflo high chairs was announced Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The recall involves all 643,000 Evenflo Envision high chairs as well as some 90,000 Majestic high chairs (95,000 of which were the focus of a recall in December). More>>>

Conflicts for FDA committee set to weigh risks of Seroquel
-Philadelphia Inquirer 
04/04/2009 - AstraZeneca P.L.C. paid Florida child psychiatrist Jorge Armenteros to talk to other doctors about prescribing Seroquel, the company's powerful antipsychotic. More>>>

Injuries Prompt Evenflo High Chair Recall: Evenflo Recalls About 733,000 Envision and Majestic High Chairs Because of Fall Risk, Choking Hazard
-WebMD
04/03/2009 - About 733,000 Evenflo high chairs are being recalled because of fall risk, choking hazard, and reports of injured children. The recall includes all Evenflo Envision high chairs and also certain models of Evenflo Majestic high chairs. More>>>

US sees death concern in schizophrenia drugs
-Reuters
04/03/2009 - U.S. regulators are concerned about a potential risk of sudden death with schizophrenia drugs from AstraZeneca Plc and H Lundbeck A/S, documents released on Friday showed. More>>>

Diabetes drug class linked to vision-threatening complication
-EurekAlert
04/02/2009 - Treatment with the glitazone class of diabetes drugs leads to a "modest" increase in the risk of diabetic macular edema (DME)—a common complication that can lead to vision loss, reports a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ajo), published by Elsevier. More>>>

Data Support Gadolinium-NSF Link
-Renal and Urology News
04/02/2009 - Meta-analysis reveals a strong association between contrast agents and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Evidence suggests a potentially causal link between gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with advanced kidney disease, according to researchers. More>>>

Gardasil Side Effects? Parents Seek Answers
-U.S.News
04/02/2009 - In response to my recent post about the government deciding to take a closer look at cases of paralysis that occurred after the Gardasil vaccination, I received comments and E-mails from several devastated mothers whose daughters became ill for no apparent reason in the days and weeks after getting the vaccine, which protects against the cervical-cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). More>>>

Patients head to D.C. to lobby for right to sue Medtronic
-Minnesota Independent
04/01/2009 - Diana Levine sees a double-standard in the law. As her own case proves, people can sue when they are harmed by pharmaceuticals, but individuals hurt by defective medical devices cannot. She appears in a new video that targets Twin Cities-based defibrillator manufacturer Medtronic to support passage of the Medical Device Safety Act, which would effectively overturn the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in Riegel v. Medtronic that prevents patients receiving faulty devices from suing. More>>>

Yamaha recall: 145,000 Rhino vehicles recalled for safety concerns
-Chicago Tribune
04/01/2009 - Yamaha Motor Corp. USA recalled about 145,000 off-highway recreational vehicles Tuesday, after two models were involved in 46 deaths and hundreds of injuries. More>>>

Caraco Recalls Generic Pills Over Irregular Sizes
-Bloomberg
04/01/2009 - Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. recalled generic heart tablets that may contain the wrong amount of medicine, sending the drugmaker down the most in four months in New York trading. More>>>

Boston Scientific Stents Less Effective Than Rivals
-Bloomberg
03/30/2009 - Heart stents made by Boston Scientific Corp., the world’s biggest seller of the artery- clearing devices, were less effective in studies than those from Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic Inc. More>>>

Shoulder Pain Pump Patient Anxious for Diagnosis
-LawyersandSettlements
03/29/2009 - Northglenn, CO: Russell E. has endured 3 shoulder surgeries, all involving the use of the shoulder pain pump. After the first surgery did not appear to work, Russell had to go through 2 more surgeries, procedures he now thinks may not have been necessary. Russell now believes that the shoulder pain pump caused the shoulder pain following his first surgery and all his shoulder pain that has continued to this day. More>>>

Leaky Roof Eyed in Salmonella Outbreak
-NewsInferno
03/28/09 - The historic salmonella outbreak linked to Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which has sickened and hospitalized hundreds; was linked to nine deaths; prompted thousands of food recall; and resulted in governmental investigations, bankruptcies, and dozens of lawsuits, might all have originated with a leaky roof. More>>>

"My Brother Died from Fentanyl"
-LawyersandSettlements
03/27/2009 - Richmond, RI: "My brother was prescribed fentanyl patches for severe back pain and throat cancer," says Michael. "He was on conventional opiates for a long time but he was prescribed the fentanyl patches on July 10, 2007. The next day my mother found him dead." More>>>

Mingo couple suing over drug's side effects
-WestVirginiaRecord
03/26/2009 - WILLIAMSON - A Mingo County couple is suing a physician and the makers of a drug used to treat reflux, alleging the companies concealed the risk of side effects and the physician failed to recognize the wife was suffering from two of them. More>>>

Following A Girl’s Death, the CDC is Finally Looking at Gardasil Links
-NewsInferno
03/26/2009 - After scores of young girls have been stricken with a variety of ailments following Gardasil injections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are looking at the possible association between the controversial injection and paralysis. Unfortunately, it took the death of a 15-year-old girl to get the agency’s attention. More>>>

Peanut Recall Not Over Yet
-ConsumerAffairs
03/25/2009 - The recall of food products containing peanuts possibly contaminated with salmonella has stretched into a third month. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to consume any peanuts or peanut-derived products sold by Irvington, New Jersey-based Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. due to possible Salmonella contamination. More>>>

Shoulder Chondrolysis Trial to Begin July 2009 in Breg Pain Pump Lawsuit
-AboutLawsuits
03/25/2009 - It appears that the first trial of a pain pump lawsuit, involving the development of shoulder chondrolysis after arthroscopic surgery, will begin this summer in Key West, Florida. According to court records, the plaintiff, Douglas Kilpatrick, and the device manufacturer, Breg, Inc., failed to reach a settlement during a court ordered mediation earlier this month, and the trial is scheduled to begin in the first half of July 2009. More>>>

Black Box Warning Due for Reglan
-LawyersandSettlements
03/24/2009 - Washington, DC: They may have known about it for years, but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally getting around to mandating a black box warning for Reglan side effects—and specifically, Reglan tardive dyskinesia. Metoclopramide side effects can be either temporary, or permanent. The latter could have life-changing effects on a patient's health and well-being. More>>>

FDA announces more peanut-related recalls
-UPI
03/24/2009 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat peanuts or peanut-derived products sold by Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. The FDA said peanuts and peanut-containing products produced by the Irvington, N.J., company might be contaminated with salmonella bacteria, since the peanuts in the Westco products came from the Peanut Corporation of America, which has been involved in a nationwide Salmonella typhimurium outbreak. More>>

Watson Announces a Nationwide Voluntary Recall of Propafenone HCL Tablets Due to Oversized Tablets
-MarketWire
03/24/2009 - Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI), a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that one lot of Propafenone HCL 225 mg Tablets sold in 100 count bottles in the United States is being voluntarily recalled to the consumer level as a precautionary measure. More>>>

CDC Takes Closer Look at Gardasil and Paralysis
-U.S.News
03/21/2009 - Phil Tetlock and Barbara Mellers were in a race against time to save their 15-year-old daughter, Jenny. As I reported last summer, Jenny developed a degenerative muscle disease nearly two years ago, soon after being vaccinated against the cervical-cancer-causing HPV. She became nearly completely paralyzed, though her mind was perfectly intact and she could still enjoy her pet parakeet, Hannah Montana, and Twilight. More>>>

FDA Increases Reglan Warning for Tardive Dyskinesia
-InjuryBoard
03/21/2009 - Recently the FDA announced that the heartburn drug, Reglan, and all other drug containing metoclopramide will now carry the administration’s strongest warning, the infamous “black box” warning. The label change was made to warn consumers, and health care professionals alike of an increased risk of developing tardive dyskinesia. More>>>

Gardasil Vaccine: Not Without The Risks
-NewsWest9
03/21/2009 - Samantha Hobbs, 15, still doesn't know exactly what is going on inside her body. After three rounds of the vaccine Gardasil she says she developed strange symptoms including nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain. More>>>

Digitek suit claims too much medication in pills
-SoutheastTexasRecord
03/19/2009 - Another Jefferson County citizen has filed suit against Mylan Pharmaceuticals, claiming he suffered physical pain after he took the prescription drug Digitek, which allegedly contained twice the approved level of its active ingredient. More>>>

Common Anti-Seizure Medications May Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Problems
-Newswise
03/18/2009 - An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. The team has determined that two of the most commonly prescribed anti-seizure medications may lead to significantly increased levels of cholesterol, C-reactive protein and other markers of cardiovascular disease risk. More>>>

Lawsuit claims pain med overdose killed wife
-TheTennessean
03/18/2009 - A Nashville man says too much pain medicine killed his wife after she had a hysterectomy. David Cohen filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Circuit Court against the New Jersey-based drug manufacturer Actavis Inc., alleging that the medication came from a defective prescription patch. He is seeking $20 million in damages. More>>>

"I almost Died from Fentanyl"
-LawyersandSettlements
03/18/2009 - Munroe, NY: "I almost died from fentanyl in the Duragesic patch," says Vito. "Six patches in a box is like playing Russian Roulette—the third patch I wore definitely leaked and left me comatose." More>>>

Avandia Causing Havoc For Patients
-LawyersandSettlements
03/18/2009 - Centerview, MO: As more lawsuits are filed against the maker of Avandia alleging the drug caused irreparable harm to patients, more patients are wondering if they too have suffered an Avandia heart attack or other Avandia side effects. Meanwhile, public interest groups are encouraging patients to avoid the drug and return to older medications that do not have as many complications. More>>>

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis Settlements Being Negotiated on Bayer Magnevist Lawsuits
-AboutLawsuits
03/16/2009 - According to U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, Bayer Healthcare has initiated settlement negotiations with a number of plaintiffs who have filed Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis lawsuits after receiving the gadolinium-based Magnevist MRI contrast agent. More>>>

Fire department warns of defective refrigerators
-WindsorStar
03/14/2009 - Certain models of refrigerators pose a serious fire hazard and are subject to an international consumer recall, the Windsor fire department warns. More>>>

Medtronic Says Broken Heart Wires Tied to 13 Deaths
-Bloomberg
03/14/2009 - Medtronic Inc. said fractures of wires in its cardiac defibrillators “may have been a possible or likely contributing factor” in 13 deaths, more than double the number initially suspected. More>>>

True Stories: Serious complications of drugs for osteoporosis
-Recorderonline
03/14/2009 - Bones are formed, molded and absorbed continuously. Bone cells, called osteoblasts, are responsible for the new bone formation and cells known as osteoclasts absorb the bone. Osteoclast activity leads to thinning of the bones (osteoporosis), which results in fractures eventually. Around 60 years, the new bone formation slows down, osteoclast activity increases and bone thinning accelerates. More>>>

Seroquel Victim Wants More AstraZeneca Documents Unsealed
-NewsInferno
03/13/2009 - A plaintiff in a Seroquel lawsuit is trying to convince a judge to unseal more AstraZeneca documents before a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel meets next month to consider expanding the use of an extended-release version of the drug. More>>>

Baxter Infusion Pump Recall: Pump Failure Could Result in Death
-AboutLawsuits
03/13/2009 - Baxter Colleague Infusion pumps, which are widely used at hospitals throughout the United States to deliver IV fluids and medicine, have been recalled by the FDA because the devices could delay or interrupt the infusion of fluids, potentially resulting in serious personal injury or death. More>>>

And the Drug Companies and FDA Try to Kill Us Again in the name of Profits.
-Motley Fool
03/13/2009 - Leave it to the FDA to wait until the last minute to finally sound the alarm a drug with deadly side effects. By now, I'm sure you've heard that Genetech's psoriasis drug Raptiva not only might cause a brain infection, but it could even kill you. That's a heck of a risk to be taking to clear up your skin. More>>>

Baxter's Colleague infusion pump under FDA's most serious recall
-ChicagoTribune
03/13/2009 - Baxter International Inc. disclosed Wednesday that the latest flaw it identified with its frequently problem-plagued Colleague infusion pump has been classified by the Food and Drug Administration as a "Class 1 recall," the regulatory agency's most serious recall designation. More>>>

Accutane Risks
-InjuryBoard
03/13/2009 - Do you take Accutane to treat severe acne? If you do, hopefully your doctor has already warned you about all of the possible risks. If you are thinking about using Accutane, then there are some serious side effects that you need to be aware of. More>>>

Recall Issued on Baxter Electronic Infusion Pumps
-Medscape
03/12/2009 - A class 1 recall has been issued on Baxter Healthcare Corp Colleague Single and Triple Channel Volumetric Infusion Pumps manufactured and distributed between February 1997 and December 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says. More>>>

Info about the Maytag recall
-Newsday
03/11/2009 - Here are the details of the refrigerator recall announced by the Maytag Corp. and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It includes certain Maytag®, Jenn-Air®, Amana®, Admiral®, Magic Chef®, Performa by Maytag® and Crosley® brand side by side and top freezer refrigerators. More >>>

Maytag Recalls About 1.6 Million Refrigerators Due To Fire Hazard
-CNN
03/11/2009 - Maytag Corp. and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Tuesday announced a voluntary recall of about 1.6 million refrigerators because of a fire hazard. More >>>

Drug-eluting stents: Heart attack risk?
-WWLP
03/10/2009 - In recent years, there has been some concern about the use of some types of popular medical devices called stents. Stents are used to keep arteries open after a procedure called angioplasty. More than 2 million people receive stents each year, including a million Americans. More>>>

Shoulder Pain "Makes Me Feel Like I’m Falling Apart"
-LawyersandSettlements
03/10/2009 - Like many patients before her, Debra L. says she thought her shoulder pain was a result of the surgery she had. She had no idea it could be related to the use of a shoulder pain pump following surgery. It was not until recently that Debra heard about problems with the shoulder pain pump and discovered that her inability to use her shoulder could have been caused by a machine that was meant to help her. More>>>

Jelly Belly Candy Joins The Peanut Butter Recalls
-InjuryBoard
03/10/2009 - The last week in February, Jelly Belly Candy's announced the recall of chocolate-covered peanuts, chocolate peanut clusters and no-sugar added chocolate peanuts. Three peanut confections in the company's line of 200 confections. More>>>

Man Almost Overdosed on Fentanyl
-LawyersandSettlements
03/09/2009 - Payette, ID: After dealing with 10 major surgeries over 21 years, Roger has gained a lot of knowledge and experience regarding pain medications, pain management and pain clinics. He studies every medication before taking it, but fentanyl, by way of the Duragesic patch, was in a class all by itself. More>>>

Review of Heart Side Effects for Diabetes Drugs Lead to Delay for Proposed Takeda Medication
-AboutLawsuits
03/09/2009 - Following the discovery of heart problems with Avandia and other diabetes drugs, the FDA is requiring that drug makers establish that proposed diabetes medications do not increase the risk of cardiovascular side effects, even if the New Drug Application was filed before the new guidance was issued in December 2008. More>>>

New documents question data on Seroquel, diabetes
-PhiladelphiaInquirer
03/08/2009 - Shortly after new antipsychotic drugs came on the market in the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration started to worry that they might trigger diabetes in some patients. More>>>

Reglan Side Effects "Frightening"
-LawyersandSettlements
03/08/2009 - Flushing, NY: Shelee H. says she may have been suffering from Reglan side effects for the past year but never realized it. She was prescribed the drug Reglan 2.5 years ago, following gastric bypass surgery. About one year ago she began to develop facial tics without realizing they were metoclopramide side effects. More>>>

Reglan, Similar Heart Burn Drugs to Have Black Box For Movement Disorder
-NewsInferno
03/08/2009 - Heart burn drugs that contain metoclopramide, including Reglan Tablets, Reglan Oral Disintegrating Tablets, Metoclopramide Oral Solution and Reglan Injection, will now be labeled with a Black Box that warns of their link to a movement disorder. According to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Reglan and other metoclopramide-containing drugs can cause a neurological problem called tardive dyskinesia when they are taken in high doses, or over a long period of time. More>>>

Gastrointestinal drug gets 'black box' warning
-LA Times
03/08/2009 - Late last month, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that makers of the drug metoclopramide must put the strongest so-called black-box warning on the product's package insert. Also sold as Reglan, Octamide and Maxolon, metoclopramide is used to treat certain gastrointestinal problems. If taken chronically, it can cause a serious neurological disorder called tardive dyskinesia (TD). More>>>

Kugel Mesh Patch "Not Doing Its Job"
-LawyersandSettlements
03/06/2009 - Orlando, FL: Barbara F. is waiting to have the Kugel Mesh Patch taken out of her abdomen. Ever since she had hernia repair surgery, she has had problems with the hernia patch. She says her doctor has now decided that the patch needs to come out, but he is concerned that the Kugel Mesh has caused internal problems. More>>>

Skin Patch Burns May Occur During MRI Scans Warns FDA
-AboutLawsuits
03/06/2009 - The FDA has issued a Public Health Advisory about the risk of burns from medicated skin patch drugs during MRI scans, as some of these medications may contain aluminum or other metal that could overheat, causing a potentially serious skin burn around the patch. More>>>

Digitek plaintiffs face thorough fact sheets
-TheWestVirginaRecord
03/06/2009 - CHARLESTON - Individuals who sued manufacturers of heart medicine Digitek will feel more like patients than plaintiffs when they fill out fact sheets for a federal judge. More>>>

Common drug causes spastic movements
-GreatFallsTribune
03/05/2009 - In a surprising move this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it is imposing the infamous "black box warning" on the label of a common gastrointestinal drug, metoclopramide or Reglan, because of serious side effects. More>>>

Patients' lawyers in Medtronic cases want new judge
-StarTribune
03/05/2009- Plaintiffs' lawyers in a set of lawsuits against Medtronic Inc. have asked for the recusal of U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle, who recently threw out hundreds of suits over a heart device manufactured by the Fridley-based firm. More>>>

Osteoporosis Drugs Linked to Rotting Jaw Disease
-NaturalNews
03/05/2009- Widely used osteoporosis drugs can significantly increase the risk of bone death in the jaw, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Dentistry and published in the Journal of the American Dental Association. More>>>

Is the Duragesic transdermal patch recall worrisome? How about the possibility of an ultra hazardous mini-pain pump malfunction?
-InjuryBoard
03/05/2009 - Due to a Duragesic transdermal patch fold over defect, ALZA Corporation has been in the news lately. A recent FDA recall involved several lots of Duragesic with an expiration date in December 2009. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) acquired ALZA in 2001 for $10.5 billion. Another J&J subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceutica (1961) distributes Duragesic. More>>>

No Legal Shield in Drug Labeling, Justices Rule
-TheNewYorkTimes
03/05/2009- WASHINGTON — In a major setback for business groups that had hoped to build a barrier against injury lawsuits seeking billions of dollars, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said state juries may award damages for harm from unsafe drugs even though their manufacturers had satisfied federal regulators. More>>>

Yamaha Rhino UTV Safety Report Released by Advocates and Victims
-AboutLawsuits
03/04/2009- Consumer safety advocates and victims who have been impacted by Yamaha Rhino rollover accidents, have released a report calling for government regulation of side-by-side Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV), as well as basic design changes which could substantially increase the safety of the vehicles. More>>>

Patients can sue drug companies, Supreme Court rules
-ChicagoTribune
03/04/2009- Patients have the right to sue drug companies when they believe they’ve been harmed by their products, the Supreme Court ruled today in a 6-3 decision. The much-watched case is a significant defeat for the drug industry and could open to door to thousands of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. More>>>

Don't let drugmaker hide records
-St.Petersburg Times
03/04/2009- Beyond arbitrating private disputes, the courts play a key role in protecting the public interest. A federal magistrate in Orlando is deciding whether to open records of the drug company AstraZeneca or allow the maker of the blockbuster drug Seroquel to hide potentially embarrassing information. More>>>

KV Pharmaceutical Agrees to Improve Drug-Making
-Bloomberg
03/04/2009- KV Pharmaceutical Co., a St. Louis drugmaker, agreed to improve its manufacturing processes to resolve a U.S. Food and Drug Administration lawsuit filed in the wake of a shutdown of the company’s production. More>>>

Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Expand Massive Drug Recall: KV Pharmaceutical Faces Class-action Lawsuits, SEC Inquiry
-AAFP
03/04/2009- KV Pharmaceutical Co. and its subsidiaries have expanded a recall initiated late last year to include a total of more than 90 drug products. The products were recalled for failing to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations established by the FDA. More>>>

Raptiva Side Effects Include Meningitis
-LawyersandSettlements
03/03/2009- Springfield, IL: Kristina says she took only one dose of Raptiva before being rushed to the emergency room 24 hours later. "They suspected meningitis," says Kristina, "then one of the doctors at the hospital did some research and told me there were 2 other reported cases of meningitis associated with Raptiva." More>>>

Dead mice found at salmonella U.S. peanut plant
-Reuters
03/03/2009- Dead mice and rodent droppings were found throughout a Texas plant run by a company whose peanut products caused one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history, food inspectors reported on Tuesday. More>>>

Lawyers: AstraZeneca Failed to Inform Patients on Seroquel Risks
-eFluxMedia
03/03/2009- AstraZeneca Plc failed to make public results of at least three clinical trials of its antipsychotic drug Seroquel, according to an e-mail sent by one of the company’s officials in December 1999. The e-mail was unsealed Thursday under an agreement between the company and lawyers for patients. More>>>

Evra Birth Control Patch Class Action Lawsuit Settled in Canada
-AboutLawsuits
03/03/2009- A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit involving the Canadian version of the Ortho Evra birth control patch, resolving claims brought by women in Canada who allege that they were not properly warned about the risk of blood clots, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes. More>>>

Various Infuse Bone Graft Lawsuits Filed against Medtronic Inc.
-TransWorldNews
03/03/2009- Medtronic Inc, one of the world’s largest medical technology companies, has recently been targeted in various lawsuits related to its Infuse Bone Graft, a medical device designed to stimulate bone growth. More>>>

Raptiva Puts Patients At Risk For PML
-InjuryBoard
03/02/2009- Patients taking the Genentech product, Raptiva, for psoriasis are being warned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the risk of developing a rare brain infection. A fourth possible report of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has yet to be confirmed. Three out of the four instances have ended in death, and each patient had been taking the medicine for more than three years. More>>>

Mother blames Gardasil for daughter's health issues: Pair to participate in Internet forum
-The Press Republican
03/02/2009- MALONE — A Malone mother and daughter will take part in an Internet forum about the preventive cervical-cancer drug Gardasil, which they claim caused a serious reaction. More>>>

AstraZeneca Warned Japanese Doctors of Diabetes Link (Update3)
-Bloomberg
03/02/2009- AstraZeneca Plc pushed salespeople to tell U.S. doctors its antipsychotic drug Seroquel didn’t cause diabetes more than two years after warning physicians in Japan of possible links to the disease, internal documents show. More>>>

Schwan's Adds Another Product To the Peanut Butter Recall List
-InjuryBoard
03/01/2009- On Saturday, Schwan's announced the recall of all 1.75 quart cartons of “#216 Schwan's® Caramel Peanut Chocolate Bar” ice cream (regardless of product identification codes). This follows a recall of limited codes back in early February. More>>>

Seroquel Studies Cherry Picked, Company Docs Show
-InjuryBoard
02/28/2009- Often litigation yields secrets a company would rather keep quiet. That is what’s happened in litigation over the antipsychotic drug, Seroquel, made by AstraZeneca Plc. Bloomberg News filed a motion to unseal records in the case and AstraZeneca has agreed to release more than 100 files. More>>>

More Shoulder Pain Pump Lawsuits Filed Against Pain Pump Manufacturers
-TransWorldNews
02/28/2009- In early January 2009, several lawsuits were filed in Arizona federal court on behalf of patients injured by shoulder pain pumps, medical devices implanted into the shoulder during surgery to alleviate post-operative shoulder joint pain. Numerous pain pump manufacturers are named as defendants in the lawsuits, including: More>>>

Lawsuit over Evra contraception patch settled
-CTV.ca
02/28/2009- Janssen-Ortho Inc. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit started by Canadian women who claimed they were injured by the Evra contraceptive skin patch. The women alleged that Janssen-Ortho failed to adequately warn them and their doctors about Evra's association with an increased risk of developing blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, strokes, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis. More>>>

Risks Associated With Ortho Evra
-InjuryBoard
02/28/2009- The FDA has updated the warning label on the Ortho Evra Birth control patch because some studies have shown women developing higher risks to blood clots forming in their lungs or legs over women who were not taking the birth control. More>>>

Raptiva Recall in Canada and Europe Due to Risk of PML Brain Infection
-AboutLawsuits
02/27/2009- Following recommendations that a Raptiva recall be issued due to a potential risk of users developing a deadly brain infection, sales of the psoriasis drug are being suspended in Canada and Europe. In the United States, the FDA is continuing to review whether the benefits of Raptiva outweigh the risks, and have urged doctors to carefully monitor any patients receiving the treatment. More>>>

AstraZeneca Papers Raise Seroquel Issues
-WSJ
02/27/2009- ORLANDO, Fla. -- AstraZeneca PLC instructed its U.S. sales representatives to tell doctors that its powerful psychiatric drug, Seroquel, didn't cause diabetes even though a company physician had at one point stated years earlier that such a link was probable in some individuals, documents unsealed in a federal court case here show. More>>>

"Did Dilantin SJS Kill My Husband?"
-LawyersandSettlements
02/27/2009- David was prescribed Dilantin because "he was confused and couldn't get his words out," says his wife, Sandra. Dilantin is an epileptic drug that is typically used to control seizures and David's doctor thought he might be experiencing seizures. Instead, David suffered horrific skin problems and died just a few months later from other complications. David's neurologist said he had an allergic reaction to the drug; he likely developed Dilantin Stevens Johnson Syndrome. More>>>

Patient Endures Six Surgeries For "Messed Up" Shoulder
-LawyersandSettlements
02/27/2009- Gardnerville, NV: Joanna S. has had her life torn apart because of a shoulder injury. She has endured 6 shoulder surgeries in the past few years, all because of a torn rotator cuff. Of those surgeries, the shoulder pain pump was used in 3 of them. Joanna says she has suffered severe pain and is unable to continue her career because of problems with her shoulder. More>>>

Salmonella Count Now at 666
-NewsInferno
02/26/2009- The peanut salmonella outbreak linked to ingredients made by a Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) manufacturing facility in Blakely, Georgia plant has now sickened more than 600 people. Meanwhile, health officials have confirmed that salmonella found at a second PCA plant in Texas was also tied to the nationwide salmonella outbreak. More>>>

Ruling near on privacy issues in Seroquel case
- Philadelphia Inquirer
02/26/2009- Does the world have the right to know about negative studies on AstraZeneca's potent antipsychotic drug Seroquel? Or whether company representatives promoted the drug for unapproved uses? And what about details of sexual relationships between Wayne Macfadden, AstraZeneca's former U.S. medical director for Seroquel, and two women who researched and wrote papers supporting the drug's safety and efficacy? More>>>

Local doctors urge caution with psoriasis drug Raptiva
-Newsday
02/25/2009- Some Long Island doctors are urging caution about a potent psoriasis drug linked to a deadly brain infection, as a report in a major medical journal today encourages more conservative prescribing for all medications. Raptiva, a drug that erases the red and scaly patches of psoriasis by tamping down the immune system, is the subject of a public health alert issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the wake of three deaths and a possible fourth. More>>>

Seroquel Case: Must AstraZeneca Tell All?
-BusinessWeek
02/25/2009- In more lawsuits, companies are being forced to reveal internal information during the pretrial discovery phase that otherwise would be kept private A showdown is looming in a Florida courtroom over an issue that has long bedeviled business: How much internal information can a company be forced to make public simply because it has become a defendant in a lawsuit? More>>>

Medina woman's salmonella death gives Ohio delegation another reason to push for stronger FDA
-Cleveland
02/25/2009- Nellie Napier of Medina died of salmonella poisoning.WASHINGTON — Nellie Napier survived desertion by her husband and raised six kids by herself on a salary as low as 98 cents an hour. Even diabetes couldn't fell the 80-year-old Medina woman. More>>>

First Levaquin Tendon Tear Lawsuit Scheduled For Trial August 2010
-AboutLawsuits
02/24/2009- U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim, who is overseeing all federal lawsuits alleging tendon ruptures from Levaquin, has issued a pretrial order which identifies 15 cases that will begin case-specific discovery and sets out a discovery schedule where the first trial should begin on or about August 2, 2010. More>>>

ETHEX Drug Overdose "Like Going to Hell and Back Again"
-LawyersandSettlements
02/24/2009- York, SC: Sandi I. is just one of many patients who say they suffered from a mix-up that led to an ETHEX drug overdose. Sandi was taking morphine, one of the drugs named in the recent ETHEX drug recall. Although Sandi survived her ordeal, she says she spent months with serious problems and wouldn't wish that experience on anyone. More>>>

Study Finds More Failure of Heart Device
-NewYorkTimes
02/24/2009- A widely used heart device recalled two years ago by Medtronic may be failing in patients at a rate significantly higher than previously known, a new report by two prominent cardiac specialists indicated. More>>>

Yamaha Rhinos are popular but dangerous vehicles
-Injury Board
02/23/2009- If Ashlyn Vargas were still alive, she would be telling us about her experience driving a Rhino. Reportedly, Ashlyn was operating a Rhino in her home town in Paso Robles, California on Thanksgiving Day, and she was traveling slowly when her Rhino just rolled over, pinning her underneath the vehicle. More>>>

Jaw problems linked to medication
-The Columbus Dispatch
02/23/2009- KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After Geneva Grimpo fell and broke her hand and arm, doctors put the tiny, fragile woman on drugs to strengthen her bones. Three years into her drug therapy, trouble began. Her lower jawbone poked out through sores on the left side of her mouth where her gums had decayed. The visible bone was dead, and she used her fingers to fish out tiny bits as they broke off. More>>>

Psoriasis drug may be linked to fatal infection
- Seattle Times
02/23/2009- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned U.S. patients last week that it is investigating the possibility of a link between the psoriasis drug marketed as Raptiva, or efalizumab, and at least three deaths caused by a rare brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. The agency is looking into a fourth, unconfirmed, report of the deadly infection in a patient taking Raptiva. More>>>

Psoriasis Drug Raptiva Tied to PML Deaths
-eFluxMedia
02/21/2009- The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said Genentech’s psoriasis drug Raptiva has been linked to three deaths from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy or PML, a condition known as a side effect of the drug. More>>>

Galveston suit blames Rhino ATV for boy's injuries from rollover
-Southeast Texas Record
02/20/2009- A Santa Fe couple is seeking $3 million in damages from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. after their son was injured in a Rhino ATV rollover more than a year ago. Warren and Terry Aldous filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brandon Aldous against Yamaha and numerous other businesses, including Altus, Okla.-based Altus Motorsports, in Galveston County District Court. More>>>

Raptiva Sales Suspension Recommended in Europe After Reports of Brain Infections
-NewsInferno
02/20/2009- On the same day U.S. regulators warned that the psoriasis drug Raptiva had been linked to three fatal case of a rare brain infection, their counterparts in the European Union have recommended sales of the drug be suspended. In a statement, advisers to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said that in light of the deaths, Raptiva’s benefits do not outweigh its risks. More>>>

FDA: Psoriasis drug may be linked to 3 deaths
-LA Times
02/20/2009- The Food and Drug Administration today warned American patients that it is investigating the possibility of a link between the psoriasis drug marketed as Raptiva (efalizumab) and at least three deaths caused by a rare brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. The agency is looking into a fourth, as yet unconfirmed report of the deadly infection in a patient taking Raptiva. More>>>

Genentech’s Raptiva Faces EU Suspension on Infections -Bloomberg
02/19/2009- European regulators recommended suspending sales of Genentech Inc.’s psoriasis treatment Raptiva after the drug was linked to four cases of a deadly brain infection. More>>>

Yamaha Rhino Defect Caused Crushing Injuries – Cases to be Consolidated for Pretrial Proceedings
-InjuryBoard
02/18/2009- Last week, the Federal Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Panel ruled in favor of creating an MDL for cases involving Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicles, to consolidate pretrial proceedings for more than 50 separate injury cases currently pending against Yamaha. The product and alleged defect are the same in every case, with Rhino drivers who had rollover accidents sustaining serious crushing injuries due to the design of the vehicle’s roll bar. More>>>

State demands peanut records