A former Johnson & Johnson sales manager testified that the company promoted the illegal marketing of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal through tactics such as paying doctors to give favorable speeches and subsidizing golf trips, Bloomberg reports.
In 2003, company officials specifically urged salespeople to visit doctors who treat children, with the intention of getting more children on the drug – at a time when the drug wasn’t approved for children.
The former ...
continue reading...According to an article in the New York Times, 10 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies are banding together to form a “nonprofit organization” called TransCelerate BioPharma that will be devoted to streamlining clinical trials and getting drugs on the market sooner.
The report quotes unidentified “people behind the effort” as saying this will be the largest cooperative venture of its kind among the pharmaceutical giants. Garry Neil, the interim chief ...
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An article on HowStuffWorks.com takes a look at research into using lasers to break up blood clots and prevent strokes.
According to the article, the challenge in that field of research is making the pulse of the laser strong enough to effectively bust up the clot without breaking the blood vessel walls.
In addition to lasers, the article says, several other mechanical means of removing clots have been tested, including an ultrasound ...
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According to a Reuters story, sales representatives for Abbott Laboratories Inc’s subsidiaries routinely buy gifts for physicians in India to bribe them into prescribing certain drugs.
The practice is so blatant that an Abbott sales-strategy guide explicitly states that doctors who pledge to prescribe the company’s branded drugs, or who’ve already prescribed certain amounts, can expect gifts such as coffee makers, cookware and vacuum cleaners in return.
According to the story, public ...
continue reading...The U.S. Food and Drug Administration intends to give priority review to Johnson & Johnson’s experimental treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
According to a story in the Newark Star Ledger, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Research & Development unit applied for approval to market bedaquiline, or TMC207, on June 29. The drug would be included in combination therapy for adults with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis lung infections.
Under the FDA’s standard review process, the agency aims ...
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According to Bloomberg, a Louisiana appeals court declined to throw out an award of nearly $258 million that Johnson & Johnson must pay to state officials, over illegal marketing of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
Jurors in Louisiana found Johnson & Johnson officials violated the state’s Medicaid fraud laws 35,542 times over Risperdal. Lawyers for the state argued that the company defrauded Louisiana’s Medicaid program by wrongfully marketing the drug to doctors ...
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