The Dangers of All-Metal Hip Implants: Cyndi’s Story

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More than ten years after researchers began to warn that metal-on-metal hip implants could shed tiny pieces of metallic debris into the bloodstream, the devices have become the subject of one of the country’s largest medical device failures, fueling a public health problem that continues to plague both doctors and patients. An interesting article published [...]

Study Lists 4 Drugs As Cause for Most ADE-related Emergency Hospitalizations for Seniors

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An estimated 100,000 emergency room visits for seniors are caused by adverse drug events (ADEs) each year. According to a new study, two-thirds of these visits can be linked to the use of only a small number of drugs. The study, which can be found in the November 24th issue of the New England Journal [...]

Merck Will Pay $950 Million to Settle Vioxx Investigations

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The U.S. Justice Department announced this week that drug maker, Merck, will pay a staggering $950 million to resolve investigations into the illegal marketing practices of its popular painkiller, Vioxx. Specifically, Merck will pay $321.6 million in criminal fines and $628.4 million as part of the civil settlement. The company will also plead guilty to [...]

Yaz News: Bayer May Have Marketed Birth Control Pills for Unapproved Uses

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In an online news article posted to Bloomberg’s website this week, it seems that pharmaceutical giant, Bayer AG, could have misled women regarding the potential health risks associated with use of their newer generation of birth control pills. According to information collected from the review of internal company e-mails, Bayer may have even sought to [...]

Kimberly-Clark Recalls Kotex Natural Balance Tampons

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According to a press release issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Kimberly-Clark has announced a product recall of a limited number of its Kotex Natural Balance Unscented Tampons Regular Absorbency that were distributed to specific retail stores within the United States. The tampons included in the recall were manufactured with a raw material [...]

FDA Will Soon Decide Fate of Yaz and Other Drospirenone-Containing Birth Control Pills

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The fate of Bayer’s highly-controversial birth control pill, Yaz, is in the hands of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The regulatory agency will meet on December 8th in order to determine whether or not the drug should be allowed to stay on the market. Following the analysis of data collected from an agency-funded study [...]

Multaq (Dronedarone) Deemed Dangerous in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation

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New research suggests that the use of dronedarone (Multaq) could be dangerous in permanent atrial fibrillation cases due to cardiovascular and mortality risks. The analysis of data collected during the now halted PALLAS trial revealed a “2.29-fold excess in stroke, myocardial infarction, systemic embolism and death from cardiovascular causes combined among patients taking the rhythm [...]

Medtronic’s Infuse Bone Graft Linked to Cancer

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Infuse Bone Graft, which is manufactured and sold by Medtronic, is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over concerns that its maker withheld information about dangerous safety and health concerns associated with use of its product. Infuse contains a bone growth hormone which is designed to mirror actual bone formation, and according [...]

Judge Orders Glaxo to Resolve Remaining Avandia Lawsuits

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In the wake of GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement that the London-based company will pay the U.S. government $3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges over the illegal marketing of Avandia, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe is now pushing for the resolution of all remaining patient lawsuits over the medication. To that end, Judge Rufe this week [...]

Glaxo Pays U.S. $3 Billion to Settle Criminal and Civil Investigations

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GlaxoSmithKline is the latest pharmaceutical company to reach a settlement agreement with federal prosecutors over the illegal marketing practices associated with several of its products. The company has agreed to pay the U.S. government $3 billion in order to settle civil and criminal investigations into the sales of a number of their drugs. One of [...]