FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Second Lipitor Patent Found To Be Invalid

  M. Brandon Smith | August 04, 2006 5:19 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  The federal Court of Appeals recently found the second of Pfizer's patents on Lipitor to be invalid. This could cost Pfizer, the world's biggest drug manufacture, billions of dollars in lost sales. The federal court ruling essentially shortens the mega manufacture's exclusive right to sale Lipitor by 15 months. After the patent expires, other manufactures have the ability to generically produce...

• Second Federal Vioxx Trial Begins

  M. Brandon Smith | August 03, 2006 4:12 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  In New Orleans, Louisiana, Merck and Co. is defending its second federal trial involving the controversial pain killer Vioxx. The Plaintiff in this case is a retired FBI agent, Gerald Burns, who took Vioxx for approximately 32 months prior to his heart attack in August of 2002. The trial, which began on Monday, is scheduled to last only two weeks in front of the presiding Judge Eldon E. Fallon...

• Paxil-The Litigation Begins

  M. Brandon Smith | August 03, 2006 3:40 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  In December of 2005 the Food and Drug Administration, along with the makers of Paxil, Glaxo Smith Kline, issued an alert advising of the possible risk of birth defects in pregnant women who use Paxil. For many new mothers like Lisa Collins who used the anti-depressant, the warning came too late. She recently had a son who was born with only half a heart. Collins, along with her doctors,...

• Defense Verdict In First California Vioxx Trial

  M. Brandon Smith | August 03, 2006 12:02 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  A Los Angeles jury found in favor of Merck and Co. in California's first Vioxx trial. The jury found that Vioxx did not cause 71 year-old Stewart Grossberg's heart attack in 2001. The defense showed Grossberg had high cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, and a family history of cardiac problems. Merck and Co. has vowed to keep defending the withdrawn pain medication one by one.According to...

• First California Vioxx Trial Goes To The Jury

  M. Brandon Smith | August 02, 2006 10:36 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Jury deliberations are set to begin today in the first Vioxx trial in California. This case involves a Stewart Grossberg, 71, who took Vioxx beginning in 1999 to manage joint pain in his knees and hands. Grossberg suffered a heart attack in 2001 and attributes that event to his use of Vioxx. In this trial, Grossberg and his attorneys, contend that Merck, the manufacture of Vioxx, was negligent...

• FDA-MERCK CONSPIRACY?

  M. Brandon Smith | July 31, 2006 1:24 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  That is the question Senator Chuck Grassley hopes to find an answer to in his recently launched probe into the FDA's handling of Vioxx debacle. Senator Grassley has asked the inspector general to investigate the FDA's conduct and report on their findings with specific reference to an FDA senior scientist, Dr. David Graham, whose findings denoted that Vioxx posed numerous risks to its users prior...

• Actonel Same Problems As Fosamax?

  M. Brandon Smith | June 15, 2006 7:00 AM | 1 CommentAtlanta, GA

  I was recently asked about Actonel, a bisphosphonate used to treat sufferers of osteoporosis, and if it was known to cause osteonecrosis like Fosamax, Zometa, and Aredia. The short answer is YES. All of these drugs are members of the family of drugs known as bisphosphonates. A link has been found between bisphosphonates and a bone disease called osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ). Bisphosphonates...

• Vioxx: New Insight On The VIGOR Study

  M. Brandon Smith | June 08, 2006 2:42 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Did Merck & Co. act appropriately back in 1999 when it discovered the dangers of heart attack and stroke associated with its product Vioxx? A new article published in today's NPR puts that question to the test by questioning three renown scientists who are authorities on heart disease and clinical studies about the VIGOR study. For more information about this article on the VIGOR study click here

• Jury Selected In Latest Vioxx Trial

  M. Brandon Smith | June 05, 2006 10:28 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  A jury panel of 5 women and 5 men has been selected in the latest trial asserted against Vioxx in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In this trial, the drug manufacture Merck & Co. is defending its pain mediation against the allegations of Elaine Doherty, a 68-year-old grandmother who suffered a heart attack after taking Vioxx for 3 years.According to Reuters. Com"She had no idea that Vioxx could cause...

• Ibuprofen Said To Double Chance Of Heart Attack

  M. Brandon Smith | June 02, 2006 4:01 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, those who take Ibuprofen in high doses for long periods of time more than double the chances of having a heart attack when compared to those who use the drug less often. The common painkiller, which is available over the counter without the necessity of a prescription, is ingested daily by millions of consumers to treat pains...