Legal Issues

October 10, 2008 – The drug Chantix is a medication used to help people stop smoking, but side effects have included anxiety, depression, hallucinations, loss of consciousness, and thoughts of or attempts at suicide. Between late 2006 and late 2007, there were 988 Chantix-related adverse events reported in the United States, more than any other drug during that period of time. Many of these adverse events involved diabetes, seizures, and heart problems. The Federal Aviation Administration has banned pilots ...

October 1, 2008 – Beginning on this date, hospitals will not be able to receive additional payment for cases in which a patient experiences an avoidable problem while under hospital care. Medicare has issued a list of Hospital-Acquired Conditions that includes foreign objects retained after surgery, incompatible blood products, falls and trauma, bedsores/decubitus ulcers, and more. Hopefully, this will provide additional financial incentive for hospitals to provide the best medical care possible. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ...

September 30, 2008 – Manufacturers of products containing milk chocolate, such as Cadbury, Mars and Kraft Foods, have been recalling some products as a precautionary measure after learning that milk produced in China has been found to contain melamine.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that is high in nitrogen and used to make plastics. In an attempt to hide the protein deficiency of watered-down milk during quality testing, Chinese milk producers have added melamine. In China, baby formula and other dairy ...

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D- CA) have all introduced legislation known as the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. The proposed Act would require drug companies to file quarterly reports disclosing payments of $25 or more made to physicians for speaking, consulting, travel, gifts, food, etc.

Eli Lilly and Co. has volunteered to disclose payments of more than $500 to doctors who are compensated for ...