The U.S. Department of Justice completed a deal with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca where the drug company agreed to pay $520 million to settle a federal investigation into questionable marketing practices for its anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel. The government had accused AstraZeneca of violating anti-kickback laws through its practice of paying doctors…
An Illinois prescription drug case that originally had been dismissed due to issues of federal preemption, has been reinstated by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. This case, Mason v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. d/b/a Glaxo SmithKline, No. 08-2265,___F.3d___, 2010 WL 605922 (7th Cir. Feb. 23, 2010) may be…
The Illinois Supreme Court recently clarified the scope of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act in its decision in the pharmaceutical litigation case of De Bouse v. Bayer AG, et al., No. 107528. The Supreme Court ruled that a consumer could not bring an action claiming fraud under the Act if…
Since this May, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that Hydroxycut product users could suffer from adverse liver disease, numerous lawsuits have been filed around the country, including several in the Chicago area. On May 1, 2009, the FDA announced that it had been made aware of…
Increased reports of medical problems associated with certain nutritional supplements has prompted The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a public health advisory on body building supplements. These supplements may contain steroids or steroid-like substances and may be associated with kidney failure and liver failure in men. While the…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised consumers that products sold under the Hydroxycut branded name could cause liver and heart problems. The FDA Hydroxycut advisory stated that “although liver damage appears to be relatively rare, FDA believes consumers should not be exposed to unnecessary risks.” The results were…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that it has received 23 reports of adverse health effects in persons who have used the weight-loss product, Hydroxycut. Reported complications from using Hydroxycut include heart problems and a kind of muscle damage that could lead to kidney failure. One person suffering…
I recently came across a case where a Chicago jury returned a verdict of $3.4 million for the plaintiff who had been prescribed Fleet Phospho-Soda Buffered Saline Laxative for a colonoscopy procedure. The case centered on the physician who had prescribed Fleet Phospho-Soda, an over-the-counter oral laxative used to cleanse…
Thousands of Americans across the country, Illinois, and in the Chicago area have suffered life-threatening kidney injuries after taking Fleet Phospho-Soda in preparation of colonoscopies and other surgeries. Fleet Laboratories is the principal manufacturer of Phospho-soda and has been promoting the product without warning of its drug side effects, which…
My brother is a physician and psychiatrist who frequently lectures on the benefits of certain drugs for prescription by family practice physicians, or other practicing physicians. At a recent gathering he reported that he played on the absurdity of drug companies distributing products carrying their name and logo by starting…