FDA Admits it Cannot do its Job

On the heels of the $4.85 Billion Vioxx settlement, the Multi-District Litigation (MDL) Court for the Bextra/Celebrex litigation has set the first Bextra trial for May 5, 2008.

In the trial of the latest Nevada state court hormone therapy case, the jury found against Wyeth on all of plaintiffs' claims and returned a verdict ordering Wyeth to pay a total of $35 million in compensatory damages and $99 million in punitive damages.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has informed healthcare professionals about reports of suicidal thoughts as well as some aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken varenicline (Chantix, Pfizer), a smoking cessation product.

A Breakdown on the Vioxx Claims Process

After more than five years of hard-fought and difficult litigation, Merck has agreed to pay $4.85 billion, the largest pharmaceutical settlement in history, to resolve certain Vioxx-related claims involving plaintiffs who suffered a heart attack (including sudden cardiac death) or a stroke.

Merck & Co. spent $2.3 million to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007, according to a recent disclosure form.

The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay $190 million to settle allegations of fraud in the pricing and marketing of Anzement, a drug used for cancer treatment side effects.

It's evident that the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies are the real beneficiaries under the drug bill. 

In 2000, amid rising concerns that its painkiller Vioxx posed heart risks, Merck overruled one of its own scientist after he suggested that a patient in clinical trial had probably died of a heart attack.