Drug Companies

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November 2007
- Merck to Settle Suits for $4.85B
  
  New York Times | Nov 9, 07 5:19 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Merck has agreed to shell out $4.85 billion to settle 27,000 Vioxx lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who argued that the pain medication damaged health and caused deaths. The agreement, one of the largest in history, must still be approved by 85% of the plaintiffs, but it's likely to go through, reports the New York Times. More »
- Sales of Heart-Surgery Drug Halted
  
  Washington Post | Nov 5, 07 9:35 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Bayer Pharmaceuticals will suspend the sale of Trasylol, a drug used to control bleeding during heart bypass surgery, after a clinical study found that the drug puts patients at increased risk of death, the Washington Post reports. The FDA said sales of the drug would be halted at least until the agency had reviewed the study. More »
- Battle Brews in Pharma's Market
  
  New York Times | Nov 3, 07 6:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pfizer is trying to stave off its own heart attack now that its flagship cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor faces stiff competition from a cheaper generic. Lipitor is still patent-protected, but a very similar drug called Zocor isn't, and since a generic version called simvastatin hit the market, many doctors and insurers are steering patients away from Lipitor to the cheaper alternative, the New York Times says. More »
October 2007
- Pfizer Down 77% on Loss of Exubera
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 18, 07 7:54 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The world's largest drug maker took a 77% hit in third-quarter net income after dropping Exubera, its inhaled insulin product. Competition from generic drugs also pulled down sales, Pfizer announced this morning, as the company lowered its 2007 net-income forecast. More »
- FDA Promises More Generics
  
  Reuters | Oct 5, 07 9:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The FDA approved about a third more generic drugs in fiscal 2007 than the year prior, and pledged yesterday to speed its review process to accommodate yet more. Sales of generics, which average about one-third the cost of their brand-name counterparts, are up 22%—and one advocacy group says the FDA isn't doing enough to cut through the 1,300-drug backlog. More »
- FDA May Ease Rx Drug Sales
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 4, 07 5:55 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The federal Food and Drug Administration may allow more drugs to be sold by pharmacists without a prescription if they are kept behind the counter off display shelves. The FDA announced a hearing next month to explore the "public health benefit of drugs being available without a prescription but only after intervention by a pharmacist," reports the Wall Street Journal. More »
September 2007
- Wal-Mart Expands $4 Drug Program
  
  St. Petersburg Times | Sep 28, 07 2:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A year after launching its $4 prescription drug program, Wal-Mart yesterday added 24 names to its list of 361 generic medications. The company boasts that it now covers more than 95% of treatable common diseases, the St Petersburg Times reports, but critics call the program a publicity stunt and say Wal-Mart is using it as a loss leader. More »
- Lab Rats 'Treated Better Than Humans'
  
  New York Times | Sep 28, 07 3:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Animals used in medical research have more rights and protections than humans who participate in clinical trials, according to a federal investigation. The Food and Drug Administration has only 200 inspectors to monitor 350,000 clinical trials and most of their field reports are ignored, reports the New York Times. More »
- Senate Passes FDA Drug Safety Bill
  
  Reuters | Sep 21, 07 4:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Senate moved the Food and Drug Administration drug-safety bill one step closer to law yesterday, passing it unanimously and sending it to President Bush, who is expected to sign it. The measure would grant the FDA more control over warnings on prescription drugs, and would allow the organization to call for additional studies on existing drugs, Reuters reports. More »
August 2007
- Sales Rocket for Morning-After Pill
  
  Associated Press | Aug 23, 07 3:54 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sales of the morning-after pill have zoomed since it became available over the counter last year, but conservative activists are still lobbying to block it from pharmacy shelves. The federal Food and Drug Administration ruled in 2006 that the pill, marketed under the name Plan B, be made available without a prescription to customers 18 and older . More »
- Americans Double Use of Pain Meds
  
  Associated Press | Aug 20, 07 9:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Retail sales of five major painkillers rose a whopping 90% from 1997 to 2005, a new AP analysis of DEA statistics shows. The increase is driven by Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, which has seen sales increase nearly 600%. Causes include an aging population, huge new drug marketing campaigns, and an increased willingness by doctors to prescribe the meds. More »
- Biotech Giant Slashes Jobs
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 16, 07 1:34 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Biotech giant Amgen is slashing spending by $1.9 billion by cutting up to 14 percent of its workforce— 2,600 jobs—and closing some production facilities. The restructuring was triggered by plummeting sales of the company's anemia drug Aranesp. The shake up demonstrates that biotech operations are not immune to the problems that plague traditional drug companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
- Drug Giant Sues Red Cross Over ... Red Cross
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 9, 07 10:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pharmaceutical behemoth Johnson & Johnson has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the American Red Cross over its signature logo, the Wall Street Journal reports. The suit claims the humanitarian organization is violating the Johnson & Johnson trademark by licensing the signature red cross symbol to companies for use on products such as first aid kits. More »
- Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs
  
  New York Times | Aug 8, 07 6:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scores of prescription drugs are getting cheaper, as name-brand patents expire and open the door to generic imitators. That's bad news for pharmaceutical companies, the Times reports, but it means that an aging population ever more reliant on drugs will be paying as much as 80 percent less for them. More »
- US Attorney Targeted After DoJ Brushoff
  
  Washington Post | Aug 1, 07 7:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A US attorney testified yesterday that he found himself on a firings list after rebuffing DoJ pressure to slow a case—on the eve of a guilty plea. The Post reports a Justice higher-up urged John Brownlee to stall proceedings against the manufacturer of an addictive painkiller hours before it entered a $635 million plea agreement. More »
July 2007
- FDA Panel Votes to Keep Avandia on Shelves
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 07 5:38 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An FDA panel said today that GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia should remain in drugstores, despite earlier evidence the pill ups heart failure risks. Glaxo has defended its drug, countering that the risks associated with the popular Avandia are the same as those of other diabetes drugs. More »
- Birth Control Prices at US Colleges Skyrocket
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jul 26, 07 1:49 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Many college students may no longer be able to afford birth control come September, thanks to a 2006 bill that discourages drug companies from offering schools deep discounts on contraceptives. The change went into effect this year, but students will feel the crunch only now, as health centers that stocked up on cheap birth control run out, the Journal reports. More »
- Americans Pop Happy Pills in Record Numbers
  
  CNN | Jul 9, 07 6:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Antidepressants are America's most prescribed drugs, according to a new CDC report, clocking in more scripts than meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or asthma. Prescriptions for antidepressants rose 48% between 1995 and 2002, accounting for 118 million of the 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in 2005. More »
June 2007
- FDA Advisory Panel Rejects Weight-Loss Drug
  
  Reuters | Jun 14, 07 6:41 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Accomplia, a weight-loss drug marketed in 18 other countries, failed to win approval from an FDA advisory board yesterday. The 14-member panel of outside experts ruled unanimously that manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis had not dispelled concerns about the safety of the drug, whose potential side effects include suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression. More »