Drug Products | InjuryBoard Denver

PLOS Medicine, an online medical journal conducted a study using numbers from 2004 and concluded that pharmaceutical companies spent almost twice as much on marketing than on their research and development for their United States markets.As a marketing person, on the one hand I am in awe of these marketing budgets, in excess of $57.5 billion dollars. But as a consumer, I'm a bit dismayed that...

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Actavis Inc., in conjunction with the FDA, is recalling 14 lots of its Fentanyl transdermal system CII patches because the patches have a defect that can cause them to leak. The Fentanyl patches were available from wholesalers and pharmacies throughout the United States. Fentanyl patches sold in Europe are not affected by this recall.The 14 lots of Fentanyl transdermal system patches being...

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A staggering new report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that 3.1 million Americans ages 12 to 25 have used an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine in order get high.Cough syrups and cold pills are being used in large doses to get high and induce hallucinations for young people. The 2006 survey was completed with 45,000 people ages 12 to 25...

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It's been since 2004 that Merck & Co., one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, has taken the pain medication Vioxx off of the shelves. Finally, on November 9th, Merck settled the numerous Vioxx lawsuits with agreeing to pay $4.85 billion. It appears that the Vioxx manufacturer finally recognized, after obtaining mixed results in the early Vioxx cases it forced to trial, that a...

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Last month a federal grand jury indicted 18 people on charges stemming from fraud to racketeering over their participation in an international online pharmaceutical sales ring. The company's name was Affpower, and by the time the federal government had shut the sales operation down, Affpower had moved over $126 million in illegally prescribed pharmaceuticals.The arrests haven't managed to stem...

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According to consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the FDA knew about the link between the Diabetes drug Avandia and heart attacks as long as five years ago.In 2002, U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff scientists called for reports of congestive heart failure to be included on the label of Avandia as well as Actos, made by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., the group said, citing an internal...

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OxyContin is an incredibly addicting painkiller. Until today, however, few realized that the pharmaceutical company which manufactures the drug actually promoted an OxyContin addiction. Roughly 6.3 million Americans report that they're currently using prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Prescription drug abuse knows no age....

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It was already know that Ortho Evra can cause blood clots. Now the maker of the patch is saying that overweight women using the patch are at a particularly high risk of developing blood clots. Janssen-Ortho Inc. (subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) also warns that women should not expose the Ortho Evra patch to sources of heat such as saunas and whirlpools. The company believes there is a...

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A recent study by Italian researches found that about one-fourth of patients taking pergolide (Permax) or cabergoline (Dostinex) had moderate to severe heart valve problems. Another study by German doctors found that people using either drug were five to seven times more likely to develop leaky heart valves than those using other types of Parkinson's medications. "This is an extraordinarily...

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An FDA Advisory Committee has recommended that Pfizer be allowed to market Celebrex to children ages 2 and older who suffer from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). The panel voted 15-1 that the drug was an effective treatment and that its benefits outweighed its risks. The panel members split on the issue of safety, voting 8-7 (with one abstention) that available data does not demonstrate...

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Two FDA advisory committees agreed on December 15, 2006, that the antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin) should have new black box warnings added to its label about several serious side effects which have been associated with it. "Black box" is the strongest warning the FDA can mandate. Further, the committees recommended that Ketek be limited to second-line therapy for community-acquired pneumonia...

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Although alcohol consumption is the cause of over 30% of traumatic brain injuries (TBI's), a new study indicates that low to moderate blood alcohol levels may decrease the chance of death after a head trauma. The study published today in the Archives of Surgery show results that link low to moderate levels of alcohol to TBI recovery. TBI patients with high levels of alcohol are more likely to...

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Traumatic brain injuries (TBI's) are among the most common brain disorders in the US. TBI's occur when a sudden force makes contact with the head and causes damage to the brain. Every year, nearly 1.5 million Americans suffer from a TBI. Memory loss is the most common injury sustained after a TBI and currently over 5 million Americans are living with some sort of memory loss linked to a TBI....

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Vioxx manufacturer Merck & Co. experienced a courtroom victory last week in Alabama. The jury in the product liability trial found that the Vioxx makers did not hide the serious risks associated with the drug in the case of a man who accused the company of causing his heart attack. CNNMoney.com reports on the verdict:"This plaintiff did have many pre-existing risk factors" and the heart attack...

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On January 19, 2006 the FDA approved an updated label for Elidel and Protopic. Elidel and Protopic are drugs used to treat atopic dermatitis. Both drugs are calcineurin inhibitor drugs that are used topically to target cells that cause atopic dermatitis in patients. More commonly known as eczema, atopic dermatitis is a non-life-threatening skin condition that causes dry, scaly skin and severe...

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