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+21 +1
To keep EpiPen sales up, Mylan threatened states, sued making bogus claims
Pharmaceutical company Mylan sued West Virginia in 2015 to keep its EpiPens on the state’s “preferred drug list,” which, if successful, would mean that the state’s Medicaid programs would have to automatically pay for the pricey epinephrine auto-injectors. The bold and unusual move by Mylan—which ultimately failed—is yet another example of the aggressive marketing and legal tactics the company used to boost profits from EpiPens, which halt life-threatening allergic reactions.
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+27 +1
About a third of FDA-approved drugs go on to have major safety issues
Amid calls for faster reviews, researchers look for ways to catch dangerous drugs.
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+26 +1
Ohio House passes bill to allow low-cost alternatives to the EpiPen
The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday aimed at allowing low-cost alternatives to the EpiPen in the Buckeye State. Dubbed as the "Epinephrine Accessibility Act,” House Bill 101 seeks to make auto-injectors more affordable and accessible for those who rely on them to treat life-threatening allergic reactions.
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+22 +1
The odds of a drug having a significant safety issue after winning FDA approval are nearly 1 in 3, study finds
Almost one-third of new drugs approved by U.S. regulators over a decade ended up years later with warnings about unexpected — sometimes life-threatening — side effects or complications, according to a new analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Researchers looked at potential problems that cropped up during the routine monitoring that's done once a medicine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is on the market. The results, published Tuesday, covered all 222 prescription drugs approved by the FDA from 2001 through 2010.
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+31 +1
Ohio Sues 5 Major Drug Companies For 'Fueling Opioid Epidemic'
The state's attorney general filed the lawsuit Wednesday, alleging fraudulent marketing. "They knew they were wrong," Mike DeWine says, "but they did it anyway — and they continue to do it."
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+2 +1
Mylan chairman: Drug pricing critics ought to go copulate with themselves
Some pharmaceutical companies are troubled by stratospheric drug prices. Several have vowed to limit price hikes, for instance. And the powerful drug lobbying group PhRMA is at least trying to distract consumers’ attention away from price gouging by dangling shiny advertisements about their life-saving research. But there are some companies that just don’t care. Mylan appears to be one of those.
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+16 +1
Overpill. When Big Pharma exploits mental health
The US has a highly developed pharmaceutical industry offering treatments for all kinds of mental disorders. Millions of Americans are being medicated for ailments as diverse as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and many others. Even young children are being put on psychiatric drugs. If parents decline such treatment, social services may intervene.
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+31 +1
EpiPen maker faces revolt over exec's $98 million pay package
EpiPen maker Mylan is racing to put down a revolt from shareholders outraged by a $98 million pay package for its former CEO.
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+22 +1
EpiPen’s 400 percent price hike tells us a lot about what’s wrong with American health care
The EpiPen was invented in the 1970s by a biomedical engineer, Sheldon Kaplan, who was searching for a way to treat allergic reactions quickly. What he came up with was the EpiPen we know today: a pen-like device that delivers a premeasured dose of the hormone epinephrine in emergency situations. The device is ubiquitous in our country, carried by those with asthma or life-threatening allergies.
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+26 +1
'Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli heads into fraud trial
Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur vilified as the "pharma bro" for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, will go on trial on Monday for what U.S. prosecutors called a Ponzi-like scheme at his former hedge fund and a drug company he once ran.
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+16 +1
Talking cents in pharma? PhRMA finally launches campaign to discuss drug costs
Probably one of the last things the pharma industry wants to talk about today is the cost of drugs. Or does it? Industry trade group PhRMA has launched new advertising meant to tackle the issue head-on. The national campaign, “Let’s Talk About Cost,” is a specific print, radio, digital and social effort, but that moniker will also now serve as the branded umbrella for all of PhRMA’s cost and value communications that have been going on for years.
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+1 +1
Mylan finalizes $465 million EpiPen settlement with Justice Department
Mylan NV has finalized a $465 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, resolving claims it overcharged the government for its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment, which became the center of a firestorm over price increases.
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+29 +1
Martin Shkreli has taken to eBay to sell the Wu-Tang Clan album he bought for $2 million
The former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has taken to eBay to sell the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album he purchased for $2 million two years ago. Shkreli, who was convicted of securities fraud in August, bought the only existing copy of the Wu-Tang Clan's album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" by placing the highest bid at an auction for it in Sept. 2015.
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+2 +1
Caught on tape: Pharma rep lies to get opioid tied to Cherry Hill death
Deborah Fuller is clear about what she will tell Sen. Claire McCaskill next week about the pharmaceutical industry’s role in her daughter’s overdose last year: “Basically, you know, they set her up to die.” She will say this in Washington on Tuesday because she has proof: a 2015 audio recording of a drug industry representative pretending to work for the Cherry Hill doctor who was treating Sarah Fuller.
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+21 +1
FDA slams EpiPen maker for doing nothing while hundreds failed, people died
The manufacturer of EpiPen devices failed to address known malfunctions in its epinephrine auto-injectors even as hundreds of customer complaints rolled in and failures were linked to deaths, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The damning allegations came to light today when the FDA posted a warning letter it sent September 5 to the manufacturer, Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc.
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+18 +1
The Lawyer Who Beat Big Tobacco Takes On the Opioid Industry
Mike Moore made cigarette companies pay for the high cost of treating smokers. Here he comes again.
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+27 +1
More than 25 million people dying in agony without morphine every year
More than 25 million people, including 2.5 million children, die in agony every year around the world, for want of morphine or other palliative care, according to a major investigation. Poor people cannot get pain relief in many countries of the world because their needs are overlooked or the authorities are so worried about the potential illicit use of addictive opioids that they will not allow their importation.
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+22 +1
Drug company founder charged with pushing powerful opioid
U.S. prosecutors leveled charges Thursday against the billionaire founder of an opioid medication maker that has faced increasing scrutiny from authorities across the country over allegations of pushing prescriptions of powerful painkillers amid a drug epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives each year. The fraud and racketeering case against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor came the same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.
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+22 +1
Connecticut AG on generic drug price-fixing suit: 'This is just the tip of the iceberg'
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who is leading a coalition of states suing generic drugmakers, told CNBC on Tuesday that the industry is rife with collusion. "We've uncovered through emails, text messages and telephone patterns, plus cooperating witnesses, a very compelling case of systematic and pervasive price fixing within the industry," Jepson said in a "Power Lunch" interview.
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+15 +1
Plans to Slash Medical Costs in America Run Into Generic Drug Concerns
As U.S. regulators push hundreds of new generic drugs to market in an effort to drive down prices, the industry is facing a continuing problem in India, where many copycat medicines are manufactured. The Food and Drug Administration approved a record 763 generic drugs in the year ending in September 2017. It expects to sign off on even more rivals for branded drugs in 2018. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has vowed to tackle a lack of competition he has said is “a root cause of high drug prices.”
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