HealthRSS

  • April 3, 2007

    Drug Companies Spend Record On Lobbying

    Health companies spent $182 million lobbying Capitol Hill between January 2005 and June 2006, setting a record as they weighed in on issues from drug prices to drug safety, a public interest group has found.

  • April 3, 2007

    Circuit Court Rules On "Fiduciary Exception"

    Rejecting a judge’s use of the so-called “fiduciary exception,” a federal appeals court has vacated an order that insurer Health Net Inc. hand over documents it was withholding under attorney-client privilege.

  • April 3, 2007

    Bristol-Myers Subpoenaed Over Plavix Deal

    U.S. antitrust regulators have sent a subpoena to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. seeking information about a deal the drug maker made with generics rival Apotex Inc. to delay competition for its popular blood-thinner Plavix.

  • April 3, 2007

    Senate Eyes Penn. Health Insurers' Merger

    The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing in Philadelphia on Monday to discuss a planned merger between two Pennsylvania-based health insurance companies that has already raised eyebrows among local lawmakers.

  • April 3, 2007

    Outstanding Women: Elisabeth Belmont

    Elisabeth Belmont’s family always discussed health care around the dinner table when she was a child. Which should come as no surprise, given that her father, a surgeon, had his office attached to their home.

  • April 3, 2007

    Palomar, Alma End Light-Based Hair Removal Suit

    Palomar Medical Systems Inc. and Alma Lasers Ltd. have settled a patent and trade dress infringement suit, marking at least the third time in recent years that Palomar has settled a suit over the same two patents relating to light-based hair removal sytems.

  • April 2, 2007

    Tenet To Pay $10M To Settle With SEC

    Tenet Healthcare Corp. agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to end a lawsuit over the hospital chain’s accounting practices, Tenet said Monday.

  • April 2, 2007

    Medtronic Wins Appeal In Spinal Screw Patent Suit

    Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. hailed an appeals court ruling Monday that its new surgical screws do not infringe on any claims of a patent held by Biomet subsidiary Cross Medical Products.

  • April 2, 2007

    High Court Refuses Ranbaxy's Lipitor Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to intervene in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.'s appeal of an appeals court ruling that upheld a Pfizer Inc. patent for the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, the world’s best-selling drug.

  • April 2, 2007

    Outstanding Women: Elizabeth Carder-Thompson

    Throughout her career, Elizabeth Carder-Thompson of Reed Smith says there have been few female mentors she could look to.

  • April 2, 2007

    Pfizer Pays $34.7M To Settle Genotropin Charges

    Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay fines of $34.7 million to settle allegations two subsidiaries engaged in illegal off-label marketing and paid kickbacks to a vendor to boost sales of human growth hormone Genotropin, the drug maker said Monday.

  • April 2, 2007

    Physician Sentenced For Securities, Medicare Fraud

    A judge has ordered a doctor to spend 10 years in prison and pay restitution of $335 million for his role in an insurance scheme that cheated investors, partly by lying about life expectancies.

  • April 2, 2007

    N.Y. Health Provider Labels Becton Anti-Competitive

    A Bronx, N.Y.-based geriatric center has filed an antitrust suit against Becton Dickinson & Co., hurling monopoly accusations by now familiar to the medical device maker.

  • April 2, 2007

    Options Backdating Catches Up To Biomet

    Two Biomet Inc. executives have retired from the company in the wake of an internal investigation that uncovered backdated stock option grants.

  • April 2, 2007

    Purdue, Impax Settle Oxycontin Litigation

    Drug maker Purdue Pharma LP has settled its long-running patent infringement legal campaign against Impax Laboratories Inc. over the generic drug maker’s version of Purdue painkiller Oxycontin.

  • March 30, 2007

    Scrushy Violated Terms Of Release: Government

    After Richard Scrushy allegedly violated the terms of his release during a trip to Walt Disney World, the government wants the founder and former CEO of HealthSouth Corp. to start sporting a new accessory – an electronic monitoring device.

  • March 30, 2007

    Abott Sues Teva, Sandoz, Ranbaxy Over Omnicef

    Abbott Laboratories and Astellas Pharma Inc. have filed a patent infringement suit seeking to stave off generic competition from Teva, Ranbaxy and Sandoz in the market for the antibiotic Omnicef.

  • March 30, 2007

    Federal Circuit Backs Teva In Patent Challenge

    In yet another sign that patent challenges are becoming easier following a key Supreme Court ruling in January, an appeals court sided Friday with Israeli drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in its dispute with Switzerland’s Novartis AG over the herpes drug Famvir.

  • March 30, 2007

    Novartis Stops Drug Marketing Amid Safety Concerns

    Nudged by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Switzerland’s Novartis on Friday agreed to stop marketing the drug Zelnorm amid concerns the drug could trigger serious heart problems.

  • April 2, 2007

    Biolase Buries Hatchet In Securities Class Action

    Biolase Technology Inc. said Friday it will pay $1.9 million to lay to rest a securities class action lawsuit alleging the dental laser company and its officers violated federal securities laws.