On July 3rd, the Vioxx multidistrict litigation court held that the Food and Drug Administrations’s rule preempting state products liability law suits against drug companies in failure-to-warn claims is not persuasive. The court also stated that FDA cannot assume that Congress intended to override the long-standing presumption against preempting state law. The court’s ruling is a victory for consumers injured by medicines that they claim are inaccurately labeled. Though issued in litigation pertaining to Vioxx, the ruling may also end up being applied to Avandia as cases are brought and move forward.
The FDA’s preemption theory is found in the preamble of its final regulations issued on January 4th, 2006, which states that products liability failure-to-warn claims based on drug labeling are preempted. (more…)
It was an ordinary workday for most on July 18th, 2007, when suddenly a loud explosion was heard by New Yorkers in the Grand Central Station area and the ground felt like it was shaking. Immediately police, fire and utility officials fled to the area around the blast, which according to Con Edison left behind a crater that was 25 feet wide and 15 feet deep. The blast occurred at around 6PM and is currently said to have been caused by a steam explosion. As of now there has been one confirmed death due to this incident. (more…)
On June 27th, a Senate hearing was held regarding the pharmaceutical industry’s routine practice of promoting and marketing drugs and medical devices by showering doctors with gifts. Drug companies attempt to persuade doctors to prescribe their drugs provide doctors with meals at high-priced restaurants, stock options, sponsorships for educational programs, drug samples, tickets to sporting events and broadway shows, lab professorship funding, and trips to educational conferences at popular vacation areas with airfare, car rental, and hotel costs included. Senator Clair McCaskill, Missouri Democrat, and Senator Herb Kohl, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, said that they will work to create legislation creating a national registry that would list the payments and gifts made by companies making medical devices and drugs to doctors. (more…)
The recent scandal surrounding Walter Reed Army Medical Center–set off in February by a Washington Post investigative series documenting cases of alleged neglect–may not be the end of veterans’ grievances against the government.
The Post’s disturbing account of building deterioration and patient neglect at the facility, which houses sick and wounded Iraq veterans, set off a political firestorm that resulted in the hospital’s highest official being relieved of commant. Now, Tresa Baldas at the National Law Journal reports that legal action may be close in tow, as Disabled American Veterans (DAV), a nonprofit group that assists veterans applying for disability benefits, has teamed up with three law firms volunteering their services. Their target? The disability ratings process that determines how much and for how long each injured soldier gets paid. (more…)
