Scope maker Olympus sought price hike amid superbug outbreak
Soon after doctors at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center traced deadly infections to tainted medical scopes last year, they pressed the device maker to lend them replacements.
But Olympus Corp. refused. Instead, the Tokyo company offered to sell UCLA 35 new scopes for $1.2 million — a 28% increase in price from what it charged...
Essure suit allowed to proceed in Philly
A federal judge this week ruled that five women who claim they were harmed by Essure sterilization coils can go ahead with their lawsuit against coil-maker Bayer Healthcare.
Bayer, which is facing a barrage of lawsuits across the country, had asked that the case be dismissed because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2002...
Law and order 32 women sue in St. Louis over birth control device
Thirty-two women sued pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG here Friday, claiming “serious and permanent injuries” as a result of their use of a controversial birth control device, the firm representing them said.
The suit claims that Essure, a device consisting of two metal coils implanted in the fallopian tubes, is flawed, and that Bayer and the...
J&J Ordered to Pay $502 Million Over Pinnacle Hip Failures
Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $502 million to a group of patients who accused the company of hiding flaws in its Pinnacle artificial hips that caused the devices to prematurely fail and left them facing surgeries and pain, in J&J’s first loss over the products.
A federal-court jury in Dallas concluded Thursday that...
Now There’s Proof: Docs Who Get Company Cash Tend to Prescribe More Brand-Name Meds
A ProPublica analysis has found for the first time that doctors who receive payments from the medical industry do indeed tend to prescribe drugs differently than their colleagues who don’t. And the more money they receive, on average, the more brand-name medications they prescribe.
We matched records on payments from pharmaceutical and medical device makers...
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall on 3 Production Codes of Canned Chunk Light Tuna Due to Possible Health Risk
SAN DIEGO – Bumble Bee Foods, LLC announced today that it is voluntarily recalling 3 specific UPC codes of canned Chunk Light tuna due to process deviations that occurred in a co-pack facility not owned or operated by Bumble Bee. These deviations were part of the commercial sterilization process and could result in contamination...
CVS must face lawsuit over protein powder claims, judge rules
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit accusing CVS Pharmacy Inc of selling a protein powder supplement with misleading nutrition claims on its label.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in Chicago ruled Tuesday that the suit, brought under Illinois and common law, is not preempted by federal law.
Bharara investigates NYC Housing Authority’s use of lead paint
US Attorney Preet Bharara is taking aim at the New York City Housing Authority — probing whether the beleaguered agency lied about its use of lead paint, new court papers reveal.
Manhattan’s top prosecutor is actively investigating “health and safety conditions” in NYCHA buildings, including “potentially false claims” that it may have made in order...
Patients in Pain, and a Doctor Who Must Limit Drugs
MILFORD, Neb. — Susan Kubicka-Welander, a short-order cook, went to her pain checkup appointment straight from the lunch-rush shift. “We were really busy,” she told Dr. Robert L. Wergin, trying to smile through deeply etched lines of exhaustion. “Thursdays, it’s Philly cheesesteaks.”
Her back ached from a compression fracture; a shattered elbow was still...
Beyond Flint: Excessive lead levels found in almost 2,000 water systems across all 50 states
While a harsh national spotlight focuses on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation has identified almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years.
The water systems, which reported lead levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency standards,...
