A recent opinion of the Supreme Court of South Carolina strongly censured the actions of one of America’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, even as it reduced the civil penalties that had been imposed against the drug-maker by the trial court. Under the appellate court’s scrutiny was…
FDA, The Silent Sentinel
To paraphrase an old hymn, we’re prompted to pose this question to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “Will the silence be unbroken, by and by, by and by?” We’re talking about the silence the FDA has kept even when it has uncovered fraud or…
Over Medication in Nursing Homes
If you’ve ever visited a nursing home, you’ve probably seen residents slumped over on couches or in wheelchairs, seemingly doped up. That very well could be the case. According to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that came out in…
FDA Warns Of Steroid Injections For Back Pain
On April 23, 2014, the FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication about corticosteroids administered through epidural injection. Commonly used for back and neck pain, the injections may cause permanent blindness, stroke, paralysis, and death, according to the FDA’s warning. Other serious adverse events have included…
Good News For Diabetics?
As we wrote not too long ago, South Carolina is in the Diabetes Belt, with about 450,000 of our residents suffering from diabetes. (Read more here https://www.louthianlaw.com/blog/2013/10/lipitor-link-diabetes/) In the news this week is an announcement by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) that prescription drug Avandia…
The Lipitor Link to Diabetes
South Carolina is in the Bible Belt and the Cotton Belt. Columbia is in the Mustard Belt (think barbeque). Now our state has the dubious distinction of being in the Diabetes Belt. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control identified a cluster of 644 counties…
Patients Not Told About Hospital Drug Errors
Hospital patients and their families are rarely informed when a medication mistake has been made, new research reveals. And patients in Intensive Care Units are more likely to be kept in the dark than those in other hospital units. The study – conducted by researchers…
South Carolina Gets Part of $95 Million Drug Fraud Payment
South Carolina will share in a $95 million settlement with a major pharmaceutical company that made false and illegal claims about its drugs Atrovent, Combivent, Micardis and Aggrenox. The medications are manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BIPI). BIPI broke a basketful of federal and…
Stryker Hip Implant Recall
Stryker Orthopedics recently announced a recall for two of its hip replacement products, sold under the names Rejuvenate Modular and ABG II. Both Stryker’s Rejuvenate and ABG II models used so-called ‘modular neck’ technology, and the company says that the products are being recalled because…
Makers of Paxil, Wellbutrin, Avandia Pay Record Amount for Fraud
Drug company giant GlaxoSmithKline made U.S. history recently in an agreement with U.S. authorities requiring the company to pay a $3 billion healthcare fraud settlement. The GlaxoSmithKline deal with the U.S. Department of Justice also has the drug maker pleading guilty to three misdemeanor criminal…
