A manufacturer of pharmaceutical products has agreed to pay more than $724,000 to the Massachusetts Medicaid program over allegations of unlawful marketing practices aimed at promoting the drug Lidoderm for conditions not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Attorney General Martha Coakley announced. The global settlement with Endo Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Endo Health Solutions, resolves civil allegations that it illegally marketed Lidoderm for use in connection with lower back pain or chronic pain. The FDA approved Lidoderm only for the treatment of pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia, more commonly known as “shingles.”
‘We Need the iPhone of Guns’: Will Smart Guns Transform the Gun Industry?
One of California’s largest firearm stores recently added a peculiar new gun to its shelves, reports the Washington Post. It requires an accessory: a black waterproof watch. Electronic chips inside the gun and watch communicate with each other. A dream of gun control advocates for decades, the Armatix iP1 is the country’s first smart gun. Its introduction is seen as a landmark event in efforts to reduce gun violence, suicides, and accidental shootings.
Tobacco Lobbying on the Rise Throughout New York
The Wall Street Journal writes that a report by the New York Public Interest Research Group released Wednesday says that the tobacco industry spent $7 million in the first half of 2013 on tobacco lobbying and campaign donations, more than it did on during 2011 and 2012 combined. NYPIRG reports that Altria, formerly Philip Morris, spent the most, with more than $4 million on lobbying and more than $300,000 on campaign contributions. Altria spokesman David Sutton says the company participates in policy-making that could affect it, shareholders and consumers.
Drug Company Staff Fretted When In-house Paper’s Conclusion Clashed with Marketing Claims
The Lancet reports that when employees at the German drug firm Boehringer Ingelheim learnt that the conclusions of a company study clashed with a marketing claim that its new anticoagulant did not need monitoring, they sought to have the paper revised and even questioned whether it should be published at all, internal company documents released by a US court indicate. One employee complained that the paper would harm the company’s marketing efforts and make discussions with regulatory agencies more difficult. “Can’t this be avoided?” the employee asked.
In Rapid Turnaround, Toyota Is on Track to Post Record Earnings
Last week, reports the New York Times, Toyota hit a milestone in its comeback, saying it was on pace to earn its biggest-ever annual profit in its current fiscal year. It is a rapid turnaround for a company that nearly lost its reputation for quality when millions of its cars were recalled for problems with unintended acceleration. Under its chief executive, Akio Toyoda, the company has hastened cost cuts, streamlined its global organization chart and increased its emphasis on newer models, flashy designs and fuel economy. The company has also continued to resolve lawsuits stemming from the recalls. While American automakers have made drastic comebacks since the recession, no car company has had a bigger revival than Toyota.
Australian Labor Party Questions Removal of Nutrition Website
Australia’s 7News reports that the opposition Labor Party has pressed Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash on her chief-of-staff’s links to the food industry, after the controversial removal of a Health Department website last week. Senator Nash said she ordered her department to take down the website, which promoted a new star rating system for food labels. The Commonwealth, states and territories all endorsed a new voluntary food labeling system at the end of last year. While the food and drink manufacturing body, the Food and Grocery Council, has been resisting the introduction of the system, consumer advocates have pushed for it.
Has Australia’s Food and Health Dialogue Improved Quality of Food?
The Medical Journal of Australia published a report assessing Australia’s Food and Health Dialogue, a public private partnership established by the Australian Government in 2009 to encourage production of healthier food. The authors concluded that “the Dialogue has highly creditable goals but the mechanism for delivering on them has proved inadequate. Explicit processes and the outcomes to be delivered within defined timelines are required, along with a clear plan for remediation if they are not achieved.”
Guns Send 20 Kids a Day to Hospital
A new study in Pediatrics reports that on average, 20 US children and adolescents were hospitalized each day in 2009 due to firearm injuries. Among children, firearm injuries are 1 of the top 3 causes of death and the cause of 1 in 4 deaths in adolescents ages 15 to 19 years. The authors conclude that more public health efforts are needed to reduce this common source of childhood injury.
Drug Makers May Face Liability for Design Defects
The Legal Intelligencer reports that drug companies may face product liability claims in Pennsylvania for defectively designed drugs, the state Supreme Court has ruled. The 4-2 ruling stems from a case involving the fatal use of a diet drug made by a Pfizer subsidiary that was later taken off the market. The majority rejected the argument that manufacturing defects and inadequate warnings are the only viable product liability claims against pharmaceutical companies, and the court allowed claims to go forward alleging the drug company negligently designed and marketed the diet pill.
The Cigarette Industry Running Out of Puff
In an analysis of the future of the tobacco industry, The Economist warns that U.S. Surgeon-General Boris Lushniak’s goal of “end-game strategies” to stamp out cigarettes could put America’s three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, out of business and endanger the viability of Philip Morris International (PMI), which along with Altria makes Marlboro, the top-selling global brand; Japan Tobacco; and British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco of Britain.
Corporations and Health Watch 