Pfizer Faces Class Action in Canada Over Neurontin
19.02.10
By Cary O’Reilly
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drugmaker, faces a national class-action lawsuit in most of Canada over claims it failed to warn consumers about the risks of its Neurontin epilepsy drug.
The suit was certified yesterday by Justice Paul Perell of Ontario Superior Court in Toronto in every province except Quebec, according to court records. He declined to certify claims the drugmaker promoted Neurontin for unapproved uses or that it might be liable for generic versions of the medicine.
The suit alleges that use of Neurontin, a prescription anticonvulsant, causes an increased risk of suicidal behavior in patients, and that Pfizer didn’t warn consumers about it. The company faces about 1,200 similar lawsuits in the U.S. Pfizer disputes any connection between suicide and Neurontin use.
“We are very pleased that Canadians who experienced suicidal behavior from using Neurontin, and their family members, will be allowed to go forward with their claims,” Michael J. Peerless, an attorney with Siskinds LLP who is representing the class, said in a statement today.
Source: BusinessWeek
Drug Busts on the Cheap Lack Power to Deter: Michael K. Loucks
09.03.10
Commentary by Michael K. Loucks
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Since 1990, drug companies have paid more than $11 billion to resolve federal criminal and civil health-care fraud investigations. Most of the money was paid in the past 10 years as a consequence of aggressive enforcement, coupled with the potential for mandatory exclusion from federal health-care programs.
This deterrent will dwindle to nothing if the funding for health-care fraud prosecutors isn’t increased substantially. That’s a real risk under Congress’s current funding plans.
In 1997, Congress decreed that anyone convicted of a health-care fraud felony would be excluded from further participation in federally funded health-care programs. The premise was that a company or person convicted of ripping off these programs shouldn’t remain a vendor.
This potential death penalty has acted as a deterrent to companies under investigation for criminal conduct involving the fleecing of Medicare and Medicaid. The possibility of debarment has forced many to come clean, plead guilty, pay significant fines and agree to substantial corporate reforms.
Source: BusinessWeek
Health Care Costs
11.03.10
In all the discussion about health care reform I find little about controlling health care costs. There are a few suggestions that could reduce health care costs by billions. Let’s start with the FDA, and reforming the agency. There are over 100,000 deaths, and over 1,000,000 hospitalizations annually from prescription drugs, and that is just what is reported. The estimate is that only about 10% are reported. One simple suggestion is that the agency make it mandatory to report Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR). Just take the Vioxx scandal how many lives would have been saved had mandatory reporting had been in place. Expand this to rezulin, bextra, paxil, neurontin, celebrex risperdal, and the list goes on. The current controversy surrounding the diabetes drug avandia, the estimate is 80,000 heart problems from this drug. Put in place severe penalties for promoting off-label use of approved drugs.The next item is direct to consumer advertising, the United States is only one of two countries that allow this practice, and it needs to be banned. The FDA withholds vital life saving information about the effacacy of dietary supplements. This despite legitimate double blind studies attesting to the health benefits. Therefore we should extend drug coverage to dietary supplements under medicare.
Source: AlterNet (blog)
Between 1999 and 2004, Pfizer generated $10 billion selling its seizure drug Neurontin for unapproved uses, according to the estimates of a plaintiff's
antidepressants Effexor (venlafaxine) and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine), and pain drugs Neurontin (gabapentin) and Lyrica (pregabalin).