Vioxx plaintiff lawyers are asking a judge to nullify a cap on their contingency
fees …
The issue at stake is whether insurance companies can claim even though they
were not the targets of Lilly’s fraud: …
The theory that solar ultraviolet radiation — and by extension, vitamin D,
which is produced when such radiation strikes your skin — is a potent cancer
fighter satisfies most, if not all, of the criteria. From a scientific point of
view, therefore, vitamin D reduces the risk of many forms of cancer and
increases survival rates once cancer reaches a detectable stage.
…
Supplement users also tend to place an emphasis on health as a priority in their
own personal lives, as reflected in their day-to-day habits when it comes to
maintaining overall wellness. …
As part of the settlement
with the Justice Department, Lilly agreed to plead guilty to one
misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act related to the
off-label promotion of Zyprexa between 1999 and 2001. The guilty plea
says Lilly promoted the drug in elderly people as treatment for
dementia, including Alzheimer’s, although the drug isn’t approved for
such use.
…
They found 478 sudden cardiac deaths among those taking
the drugs, about twice the rate of the control group. The risk —
equivalent to 3 deaths for every 1,000 patients taking the drugs for a
year — was about the same whether people took the newer or older
medications. The higher the dose of the drug, the study found, the
higher the risk of sudden death. …
Lilly had been accused of persuading doctors to prescribe Zyprexa to
children and the elderly, despite the fact that the drug wasn’t
FDA-approved for those patient groups–and the knowledge that it was
particularly risky for them to take. As you know, Zyprexa has been
shown to cause excessive weight gain and to boost the risk of death in
elderly patients with dementia. …
By prescribing strong medicines instead
of teaching children new choices using proven behavioral methods, we
short-circuit a child’s learning process and, even worse, lay the
tracks for a lifetime habit of responding to challenge and
disappointment with avoidance, denial and chemical dependency. …
he scientists say managers have demanded and intimidated FDA scientists to manipulate data, the Wall Street Journal
reports, and honest employees can’t act with integrity without fear of
reprisal. …