Current Events

A federal appeals court last week upheld a plaintiff’s $27 million win over Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) in a product liability lawsuit brought over its Pinnacle pelvic mesh.

A Florida jury in November 2014 found for Amal Eghnayem and three other plaintiffs who alleged that the Pinnacle mesh caused injuries including pain, bleeding and infection. Pelvic mesh implants are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and female stress urinary incontinence.

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Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to strike down a sweeping new rule that would have allowed millions of Americans to band together in class-action lawsuits against financial institutions.

The overturning of the rule, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-to-50 tie, will further loosen regulation of Wall Street as the Trump administration and Republicans move to roll back Obama-era policies enacted in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. By defeating the rule, Republicans are dismantling a major effort of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog created by Congress in the aftermath of the mortgage mess.

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NAPA, Calif., Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Malpractice claims in which the use of electronic health records (EHRs) contributed to patient injury have increased continuously over the past decade, according to a study released today by The Doctors Company.

The study by the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer reveals that claims in which EHRs are a factor grew from just two from 2007 through 2010 to 161 from 2011 through December 2016. Typically, the EHR is a contributing factor in a claim, rather than the primary cause, according to David B.
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Reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels could prevent as many as 8 million tobacco-related deaths and keep 30 million people from becoming regular smokers this century, according to new estimates from the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb revealed the initial estimates on Thursday during a tobacco discussion at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Another toddler has reportedly been crushed to death by an unsecured Ikea dresser, after the furniture giant recalled millions of chests and dressers over the risk of deadly tip-over accidents.

Jozef Dudek, 2, died in May, according to lawyers for his family, when he was crushed by an Ikea Malm dresser in his parents' room after he was put down for a nap.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) has agreed to pay $120 million to resolve claims from 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia over faulty ignition switches, state attorneys general and the company said on Thursday.

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A new mom is suing a hospital in Canada after being diagnosed with a flesh-eating disease four days after giving birth.

Lindsey Hubley claims negligence by doctors at IWK Health Centre in Nova Scotia contributed to her health problems, reports The Canadian Press.

In March, Hubley gave birth to her son, Myles. A day after discharge, Hubley returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis.

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BOSTON — Microbiologists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration testified Thursday that they found mold, yeast and bacteria, some of it potentially deadly, in several drugs shipped from a Massachusetts drug compounder.

The FDA scientists, testifying in the trial of one-time supervising pharmacist Glenn Chin, said that a variety of bacteria were found in multiple drugs shipped by the New England Compounding Center to health facilities from Massachusetts to Florida and Washington.

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Side effects may include confusion and irritability.

Marketers for direct-to-consumer medication often trick consumers, downplaying the risks of drugs by presenting too many possible dangers simultaneously, according to a study.

The research, conducted by a team at the University of Michigan and published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, reveals that when a drug advertisement throws too many risks at you — we all know the oft-parodied endless scroll of side effects with a speedy narrator — the less risky a drug is perceived to be by consumers. It’s a psychological phenomenon called “the dilution effect.”

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Corporations have a responsibility to their customers and the public to be ethical, honest, and forthright.

But that obligation is heightened to a degree for pharmaceutical firms, especially the ones whose customers are dealing with serious illness or acute, chronic pain.

Insys Therapeutics deals with both types of patients.

The Arizona-based drug company got approval five years ago from the U.S.
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A Collierville man has been awarded more than $140 million in a lawsuit against the makers of a testosterone drug that he says caused him to have a heart attack.

A federal court jury in Chicago handed down the verdict in favor of Jeffrey Konrad on Thursday after several weeks of testimony in which his lawyers argued that Chicago-based AbbVie Inc. misrepresented the risks of its drug known as AndroGel.

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