Life SciencesRSS

  • August 3, 2007

    Plaintiffs Propose “Road Map” For Drug Pricing Suit

    The plaintiffs in the massive antitrust class action alleging a slew of drug makers defrauded consumers by artificially inflating the prices of various prescription medications have presented the court with a "road map" for how best to organize the complex litigation.

  • August 3, 2007

    Appeals Court Applies Preemption To Medtronic Case

    A Wisconsin appeals court joined the chorus of federal circuit courts applying the doctrine of regulatory preemption on Tuesday, ruling that Medtronic Inc. could not be liable for injuries caused by a defibrillator because the Food and Drug Administration had approved it.

  • August 6, 2007

    Abbott Secures Order To Keep Settlement Confidential

    In a setback for the defendants in Abbott Laboratories’ patent suit, a magistrate judge has permitted Abbott to keep its settlement agreement with LifeScan Inc. under wraps, finding that the deal is not relevant to the case over glucose testing technology.

  • August 2, 2007

    PharmaNet Agrees To $28.5M Securities Settlement

    Drug development services company PharmaNet Development Group Inc.—formerly known as SFBC International Inc.—has agreed to settle consolidated shareholder derivative litigation that related allegations of rampant nepotism, unethical clinical testing practices and unsafe conditions at the company's flagship testing facility.

  • August 2, 2007

    Federal Circuit Strikes Down D.C. Pharmaceutical Law

    A District of Columbia law that regulates the prices of patented drugs was struck down Wednesday by an appellate court, which ruled that the law is superseded by the federal government's exclusive power to legislate patents.

  • August 2, 2007

    Fund Manager Settles Insider Trading Case With SEC

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement Wednesday with a former portfolio manager of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management Inc. who allegedly traded on inside information he received from his brother, an associate medical director at Genentech Inc.

  • August 1, 2007

    Senators Question OxyContin Deal

    A U.S. Attorney defended his decision to settle a case against the drug company that makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin, telling U.S. Senators that the judgment will still deter executives at other companies even though the officers of the company weren't sentenced to prison.

  • August 1, 2007

    Circuit Denies Extension For Depression Patch Patent

    A circuit court has denied Somerset Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s request to extend the term of a patent covering a patch treatment for depression, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled against an extension.

  • August 1, 2007

    Judge Says British Plaintiffs Must Sue Vioxx At Home

    A state appellate court ruled on Wednesday that 98 British plaintiffs could not sue pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a New Jersey state court, saying that British citizens who had suffered heart attacks after taking Merck's drug Vioxx must take their cases to the United Kingdom.

  • August 1, 2007

    Discovery Battles Heat Up Over Wyeth's Prempro

    A ballooning product liability suit over Wyeth's hormone therapy Prempro could grow into one of the largest cases in history, a plaintiffs attorney said.

  • August 1, 2007

    Northwest, Lonza Battle Over Gene Patents

    Cancer treatment developer Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc. plans to dispute a patent infringement suit filed last week by rival biotechnology company Lonza Group AG, Northwest said Wednesday.

  • August 1, 2007

    Novartis Unit Hit With Gender Bias Class Action

    A federal judge in Manhattan has granted class action status to a $200 million gender discrimination lawsuit brought against a subsidiary of Novartis AG by female sales employees.

  • August 1, 2007

    Judge Issues Mixed Ruling In Drug Pricing Suit

    A judge has handed down a mixed ruling in a massive antitrust case against a slew of drug companies accused of scamming Medicare, allowing in part and denying in part the defendants’ motion to toss claims that they artificially inflated prices for prescription drugs.

  • August 1, 2007

    RealNetworks Wins Dismissal On Second Try

    In a landslide for RealNetworks Inc., a judge on Thursday dismissed a technology licensing company's patent claims against the streaming media company, citing the recent KSR v. Teleflex Supreme Court decision in his obviousness ruling.

  • August 2, 2007

    Abbott-LifeScan Deal To Be Kept Secret

    A federal judge has ordered that a confidential settlement agreement between Abbott Laboratories and LifeScan Inc. be filed under seal, despite the objections of several defendants in the patent litigation over products for testing glucose levels.

  • July 31, 2007

    States Fight Mediation In Drug Pricing Suit

    The attorneys general of five states have lashed out at a federal judge’s order requesting certain parties to resolve their differences through mediation in a massive antitrust class action alleging a slew of drug makers defrauded consumers by artificially inflating the prices of various prescription medications.

  • July 31, 2007

    Tort Claimants Object To Solutia, Monsanto Pact

    A group of about 2,300 people who claim that dioxin released from a chemical plant contaminated their property and endangered their health have filed an objection to Solutia Inc.'s bid for approval of a key settlement underpinning the bankrupt chemical products maker's restructuring plan.

  • July 31, 2007

    FDA, Officials Hit With Suit Over Cancer Drug

    A not-for-profit organization has sued the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others, alleging they are wrongly keeping a prostate cancer drug from patients who desperately need the treatment.

  • July 31, 2007

    Medical Device Maker Admits Guilt In FDA Case

    Health care company NuMED Inc. and its chief executive Allen Tower Sr. have been fined almost $2.3 million after pleading guilty in Delaware's federal court to selling medical devices without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • July 31, 2007

    Dispute Over Drugs Hinders WTO Protocol

    An internal dispute over the availability of affordable medicines may prevent the European Parliament from ratifying the World Trade Organization protocol on intellectual property rights.