HealthRSS

  • May 9, 2007

    Laser Eye Surgery Rivals Joust Over Patents

    Eye surgery equipment maker Synergetics Inc. has denied rival Innovatech Surgical Inc.’s counterclaims in a suit over a patent for directional laser probe technology.

  • May 8, 2007

    Purdue Pharma Settles With States Over OxyContin

    Drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma has agreed to pay 26 states and the District of Columbia $19.5 million to settle allegations that it encouraged doctors to prescribe OxyContin for unapproved uses and did not adequately disclose the potential for abuse of the drug.

  • May 8, 2007

    St. Vincent, Caritas Bury Hatchet Over Sale Terms

    A bankruptcy judge has given the green light to a deal between St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and Caritas Health Care Planning Inc. that settles a lawsuit that alleged that Caritas failed to comply with the terms for the sale of two St. Vincent hospitals.

  • May 8, 2007

    Senate Drug Importation Amendment Squashed

    An effort to allow U.S. consumers to purchase prescription from countries that charge lower prices suffered a blow Monday on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

  • May 8, 2007

    Top Companies Join In Push For Health Care Reform

    Chief executives from around 40 of the country’s leading pharmaceutical, insurance and food companies have teamed up to push for a major health care overhaul, spurred by concerns about the costs of benefits and the effect of those costs on the companies’ competitiveness.

  • May 8, 2007

    House Hears Testimony On RESPECT Act

    Labor leaders and charge nurses pushed for legislation Tuesday that would overturn the so-called Kentucky River decision, saying it has allowed hospitals to assign nurses just enough supervisory duties to stop them from organizing.

  • May 8, 2007

    Medicis Settles Off-Label Marketing Charges

    Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. has agreed to pay $9.8 million to settle charges that it illegally marketed the topical skin preparation Loprox to children.

  • May 8, 2007

    Tenet Escapes Medicare Billing Lawsuit

    A federal judge has dismissed a qui tam lawsuit in which a former employee of the company alleged Tenet Healthcare Corp. and one of its medical centers performed unnecessary services and received improper Medicare payments.

  • May 8, 2007

    Philippines Seeks To Invalidate Pfizer Patent

    A federal appeals court ruling last month which invalidated a patent covering Pfizer Inc.’s blockbuster hypertension drug Norvasc has spawned an effort to invalidate the patent in the Philippines.

  • May 7, 2007

    CalPERS Seeks Proxy Access At UnitedHealth

    The largest pension fund in the United States has asked shareholders of UnitedHealth Group Inc., a company embroiled in the stock options backdating scandal, to endorse a proposal that will give the company’s owners “effective” proxy access.

  • May 7, 2007

    Thailand Makes IP Blacklist For Compulsory Licenses

    The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has added Thailand to its annual list of the most serious offenders of intellectual property laws, citing the country’s recent decisions to issue compulsory licenses for several patented pharmaceutical products.

  • May 7, 2007

    Study: Bill Could Drive Up Drug Costs by Billions

    An association representing pharmacy benefit managers has released a study warning that a bill recently introduced to Congress would loosen antitrust laws and hand the independent drugstore lobby a “license to collude,” thus driving up health care costs by billions of dollars.

  • May 7, 2007

    Lundbeck Loses U.K. Patent Case Over Cipralex

    Danish pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S suffered a blow Friday when a British court ruled against it in a patent dispute with three generic makers over a patent for its top-selling antidepressant drug, Cipralex.

  • May 7, 2007

    U.K. Plaintiffs Dismissed From Hemophilia Case

    A federal appeals court panel has affirmed a lower court ruling that the United Kingdom, and not the United States, is the proper venue for a product liability suit brought by HIV-infected hemophiliacs against a handful of major drug companies.

  • May 7, 2007

    Hospital Operator Seeks Transfer Of Antitrust Suit

    A hospital operator that has been targeted in an antitrust suit alleging it conspired to “destroy” an affiliated doctor’s radiology practice has asked that the case be transferred to federal court.

  • May 4, 2007

    Judge Excludes Accutane Maker's Own Assessments

    The manufacturer of the acne drug Accutane scored a victory Wednesday, when Judge James S. Moody, Jr. granted its hotly contested motion to exclude any evidence related to “causality assessments” that address Accutane’s potential to cause inflammatory bowel disease.

  • May 4, 2007

    Men Sentenced For Medicare Fraud, HIPAA Violations

    A federal judge has ordered two Florida men to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution for using stolen patient identities to make fraudulent claims for Medicare reimbursement.

  • May 4, 2007

    Brazil Breaks Patent On Merck's AIDS Drug

    Brazil’s president has signed a compulsory license that overrides Merck & Co. Inc.’s patent on HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz so that the country can import a generic version of the drug from India.

  • May 4, 2007

    Lawmakers, Unions Fight FDA Plan To Close Labs

    In a continued effort by lawmakers, labor unions and advocates to stop the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from closing six of its 13 field laboratories, two senators have proposed an amendment that would halt the plan until a study looks at the possible impacts.

  • May 3, 2007

    AstraZeneca Warns Against "Procedural Chaos"

    AstraZeneca has filed a motion with the court overseeing the multidistrict products liability litigation over Seroquel in Florida, asking for permission to begin case-specific discovery, and warning “procedural chaos” will ensue if the requested relief is denied.