Product News and Recalls

Yaz maker faces allegations of sex discrimination

A federal court complaint alleges sex discrimination at the U.S. subsidiary of German pharmaceutical company Bayer, according to Bloomberg.

On April 2, Bloomberg reports, a judge denied Bayer’s request to bar the case from being considered for a class-action lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed under the U.S. Equal Pay Act, and mentions disparities in pay and promotion opportunities compared with men in similar positions. It claims that “disregard and indifference for concerns or complaints about discrimination and sexual harassment pervades every corner ...

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Fatal heart attack blamed on faulty approval process

CBS Sunday Morning did a report this week spotlighting the inadequate process by which the federal Food and Drug Administration approves medical devices.

The report, titled “When Medical Implants Fail,” examined the case of 21-year-old Joshua Oukrop, who died of a heart attack in 2005.

Oukrop suffered from a congenital heart condition, and depended on a cardiac defibrillator called an ICD that was implanted in his chest to keep him alive. But after his fatal heart attack, Oukrop’s father learned that the ...

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MDL panel considers consolidated Zoloft and Propecia litigation

Amid news of lawsuits concerning the antidepressant Zoloft and the hair-loss drug Propecia, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Legislation held a hearing on March 29 in San Diego, California.

The panel of judges meets every two months to consider whether various lawsuits should be consolidated before a single judge for pre-trial proceedings.

Pfizer, the maker of Zoloft, is facing litigation from nearly 90 lawsuits by families who claim their children have suffered birth defects as a result of in utero exposure ...

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Study: Conflicts of interest no concern for many doctors

A recent study found that about 35 percent of physicians do not completely agree that they should tell patients about their financial relationships with drug and medical device companies, according to Medscape Today News.

The study, published in the February issue of Health Affairs, drew on a 2009 survey of almost 1900 physicians.

The article quotes medical ethicist Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD, of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as saying: “We need to do some serious interventions to return to our ethical ...

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Tips for avoiding blood clots on long plane flights

When you’re traveling to get medical care, you certainly don’t want a blood clot to complicate the original medical problem.

New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery attracts many patients who travel long distances for its specialty orthopedic operations. The hospital’s Website says that long airplane flights, with their extended periods of forced immobility, can be a risk factor in developing blood clots. The dryness of the recirculated air can also be a problem in that regard.

Dr. Anne Bass, chairperson of ...

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Should Beyaz/Yaz be recalled?

Following close on the heels of the December 8, 2011 U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel vote on Yaz/Yasmin/Beyaz, the FDA is planning a new panel to examine the question of whether all-metal hip implants, plagued by a high failure rate and other health concerns, should remain on the market.

The FDA panel on birth control has already voted that Beyaz, Yaz, and other contraceptives containing the compound drospirenone should remain on the market. But in the opinion of many ...

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