Current Events

Oregon researchers have found that a manufacturer's studies of a popular spinal fusion product overstated its effectiveness and downplayed harms that include risk of cancer.

Findings by Oregon Health & Science University researchers were designed to settle questions raised over the product Infuse, manufactured by the Minnesota firm Medtronic to promote bone growth. In 2011, a journal associated with a spine surgeons' professional group accused the firm of bankrolling "biased and corrupted" research, and estimated adverse events in as many as 50 percent of patients.

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Pharmaceutical companies that pay rivals to keep less-expensive generic versions of best-selling drugs off the market can expect greater federal scrutiny after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday.

In a 5-to-3 vote, the justices effectively said that the Federal Trade Commission can sue pharmaceutical companies for potential antitrust violations, a decision that is likely to increase the number of generic drugs in the marketplace and benefit consumers.

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Townsend Farms, the organic berry and pomegranate-mix manufacturer whose products were recalled due to hepatitis A contamination earlier this month, is facing 2 additional lawsuits from people who allege they fell ill with hepatitis A infections after consuming the company’s berry and pomegranate seed mix.

According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona, Claudine Rad ate the Townsend Farms organic berry mix multiple times during April and May.  She initially fell ill with flu-like symptoms, fatigue and nausea and later became jaundiced—a typical sign of hepatitis A infection.

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WASHINGTON — A surgeon at Chicago's Sacred Heart Hospital cut a hole in Earl Nattee's throat on Jan. 3, the day before he died. It's not clear why.

The medical file contained no explanation of the need for the procedure, called a tracheotomy, according to a state and federal inspection report that quotes Sacred Heart's chief nursing officer as saying it happened "out of the blue." Tracheotomies are typically used to open an air passage directly to the windpipe for patients who can't breathe otherwise.

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General Motors is recalling nearly 200,000 mid-sze SUVs because the master power door and window module in the driver's door can short out and catch fire.

Because the risk is serious enough -- and can happen when the truck is not in use -- GM says owners should park the trucks outdoors until the module is repaired, according to documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Merck & Co. (MRK), Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOB) and other makers of popular treatments for diabetes may be asked to collect more data on a potential cancer link even as they try to reassure U.S. regulators this week of the drugs’ safety.

The Food and Drug Administration said it’s considering setting up a study, either through the agency or the companies, that looks deeper into whether medicines for Type 2 diabetes, including Merck’s Januvia and Bristol Myers-Squibb Co.’s Byetta, cause pancreatic cell growth that could turn cancerous. One option is a large clinical trial designed to show patterns of adverse events, said Morgan Liscinsky, an FDA spokeswoman.

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A Tennessee pharmacy believed to be the source of a second outbreak of fungal infections linked to pain shots was a mess when Food and Drug Administration inspectors went in last month, with stray spiders in a clean room and few written procedures for making sure products were sterile, the FDA says.

The FDA has found fungus and bacteria in at least two vials of steroid distributed by Main Street Pharmacy of Newbern, Tenn. So far, 25 patients in four states have developed abscesses after getting injections of the pharmacy’s product.

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New York State regulators are calling for a nationwide moratorium on transactions that life insurers are using to alter their books by billions of dollars, saying that the deals put policyholders at risk and could lead to another taxpayer bailout.

Insurers’ use of the secretive transactions has become widespread, nearly doubling over the last five years. The deals now affect life insurance policies worth trillions of dollars, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by SNL Financial, a research and data firm.

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Walgreens has been handed the largest fine in the history of the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.

Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, will pay $80 million in fines to end a DEA probe into allegations it allowed millions of controlled substances, including the highly addictive painkiller oxycodone, to reach the black market.

The settlement is the largest civil penalty paid under the Controlled Substances Act in Drug Enforcement Administration history, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said Tuesday.

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The nationwide outbreak of hepatitis A linked to frozen berries grew to 79 Friday, but it is sparing children.

Of the people in seven states who have become ill with the deadly liver disease, only one was a child. Health officials initially feared that the youngest would be hit hardest because the contaminated frozen berries are used in smoothies, ice pops and other warm-weather treats popular with children.

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A federal judge intervened Thursday to improve the odds that a second dying child could get a lung transplant from an adult donor in a fast-moving drama that has tugged at the public's heartstrings while raising concerns among ethicists.

Just a day earlier, lawyers had persuaded U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson to suspend rules they said discriminated against children like Sarah Murnaghan of Newtown Square, a 10-year-old with end-stage cystic fibrosis. They returned to federal court Thursday and successfully argued for Javier Acosta, 11, of New York City, who suffers from the same progressive disease. He has been waiting for lungs since 2010, the lawsuit said.

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