In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of certain guidewires made by Medtronic, Inc. Patient complication reports were reported to the FDA and the company concerning the coating on the wire’s surface that had the potential to detach and delaminate. Medtronic began notifying hospitals and […]
Author: Cal Warriner
It’s been twenty years since a concerted effort, and some would say push, has been on to have children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the numbers prove the push translated into big dollars for Big Pharma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the number […]
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing a ban on the routine use of antibiotics as a growth promoter in animals raised to be consumed by humans. Because of cramped and dirty conditions present in factory farms, animals are raised in a less than ideal circumstance. A […]
It is called an industry first. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has vowed to stop compensating medical doctors in order to have them promote the company’s drugs. The British drug maker announced this month it will also stop paying healthcare professionals who attend their medical conferences saving the company about $82 million a […]
Three years ago, Public Citizen issued a report that documents all of the settlements between pharmaceutical giants and the federal and state governments due to violations such as overcharging patients or by off-label marketing. At the time the tally was about $20 billion covering a period of 20 years. The […]
It has been theorized before, that is, a link between the use of antidepressants by women either before or during pregnancy and autism. Antidepressant use is increasing with an estimated five to 15 percent of pregnant women now on antidepressants. At the same time, the rates of autism have been […]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced another recall from a compounding pharmacy. This time Nature’s Pharmacy and Compounding Center of Asheville, North Carolina is recalling an eye drop and injectable drug after an FDA inspection found questionable conditions related to sterility. Nature’s Pharmacy distributed the drug regionally beginning […]
Why is the smoking cessation drug Chantix still on the market? Consider that over the last five years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 544 reports of suicide among those taking the drug and 1,869 reports of attempted suicide, according to a report by Al Jazeera America which […]
One has to wonder how this will play with stockholders. Johnson & Johnson, the healthcare giant, has agreed to pay more than $2.2 billion to settle criminal charges over the marketing of its antipsychotic drug, Risperdal. The company’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals division is accused of marketing the drug to treat elderly […]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is sending out conflicting signals when it comes to opioid pain medication. In one move, the agency recommended additional limitations on how a patient in chronic pain can access prescription painkillers. On the same day the agency also approved a stronger version of a […]