Category: Medical

Are we facing an “opioid epidemic”?

We’ve already acknowledged a reported over-reliance on prescription medication here in the U.K., with fears of an “opioid epidemic” in America creeping across the pond to our shores as well. Unless, it’s already here…

In what’s being described as an “epidemic” and a “crisis” in the U.S., opioids are apparently being used way too much, leading to serious and needless addictions whilst reportedly lining the pockets of the super-rich pharmaceutical corporations.

We look at this growing problem and comment on why we ought to be concerned.
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Pregnant mothers given antidepressants linked to children born with psychiatric illness

A new study reportedly shows that children whose mothers took antidepressants whilst pregnant with them may have an inflated risk of psychiatric illness.

The study, published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found that 32,400 of the 905,000 children participants in a 16-year-long study were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Although statistically only 3% of the total study group, 32,400 is still a significant number that may have in theory been reduced if expectant mothers received more warning about the potential risks to their unborn child.
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Medical device alert issued over damaged VITEK 2 test cards exposing risk to antibiotic degradation

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a medical device alert over VITEK ® 2 AST Test Cards after the discovery that when the cards are exposed to moisture, it can stop antibiotics from working.

Manufacturer BioMérieux published a Field Safety Notice to inform consumers of the issue at hand, and confirm the potential problems. The Notice explains that a defective test card may:

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Endo International Plc to put aside more than £580 million to pay off mesh lawsuits

Global pharmaceutical company Endo International Plc are reportedly putting aside another £583 million to settle the remaining vaginal mesh lawsuits made against them. The staggering but deserved sum is to go towards settling some 22,000 lawsuits internationally, and Endo are to begin paying the amount in instalments at the end of this year and into 2019.

They have not admitted any liability.

The £583 million is in addition to the over £2 billion already agreed for 48,000 cases. Last year, Endo reportedly paid out over £800 million in mesh legal settlements.
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Lawsuit filed against EpiPen manufacturers for alleged “price gouging”

A lawsuit has been filed against a medical manufacturer who are alleged to have charged higher prices for its asthma medication.

High charges for asthma medication is a hot topic here in the U.K., with many believing it’s not something people should have to pay for.

The EpiPen – the medication at the centre of the allegations – is an injector pen that contains epinephrine; a chemical that narrows blood vessels and opens airways in the lungs. It’s frequently used to treat severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) against insect stings or bites, foods, drugs etc. It’s a device that can save lives.
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Major drug manufacturers and distributors suspected of colluding to inflate profits at consumers’ expense

Several drug manufacturers, suppliers and pharmacy benefit managers have reportedly been caught colluding to fix prices for insulin.

In what’s believed to be efforts to allegedly inflate profits, companies reportedly worked together to set consistently high prices for the drugs. This way, no matter where consumers purchased their insulin from, they’d be paying high prices. By price-fixing, no company undercuts the other by offering a cheaper price, which is anti-competitive behaviour that can be extremely harmful for competition and for the consumer.

These are the accusations being brought by those bringing a legal action.
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Novo Nordisk agrees to settlement for questionable sales tactics

Danish multinational pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is one of the leading global manufacturers of medical drugs.

They stand accused of using questionable tactics to drive up sales.

Novo Nordisk reportedly took their marketing a step further by disguising salespeople as medical professionals and educators. The Novo Nordisk employees would apparently pretend to be experts in medicine and recommend the company’s own drugs like professors advertising their own textbooks to students. The drug maker is also accused of paying kickbacks to doctors and medical staff to encourage them to prescribe the company’s own medicines.
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Student nurses at the University of Derby told of possible blood contamination receive financial compensation with Group Action Lawyers

Our lawyers successfully helped former student nurses recover financial compensation for the University of Derby’s negligent actions that put them at risk of infection through blood contamination.

The cases were settled outside of court by our expert team of lawyers.

As soon as news broke of the scandal, we were on the case and offering our services to anyone affected. A number of individuals approached us for help and advice, and we took forward claims on a No Win, No Fee basis for individuals affected.
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Gilead HIV medication lawsuit reinstated

Gilead Sciences Inc, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, has recently experienced a set-back with the lawsuit filed in 2011 against them that they may have considered to have ended.

A federal appeals court has recently reinstated the lawsuit that was brought by two whistle-blowers alleging that Gilead defrauded and misled the government, as the company allegedly didn’t disclose that their HIV medicines were contaminated, which consequently allowed them to reportedly falsify data to win marketing approval for the medicine.

This false information reportedly led federal healthcare programmes to pay billions of dollars for contaminated medicine, but the case was initially dismissed by the California Court.

Now, it’s back…
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Medtronic under greater scrutiny as more of its products run into problems

Medical device maker Medtronic have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Priding itself as the “global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions”, Medtronic have been at the centre of a fair few recalls for defects and risks that have arisen from the use of their products.

In the latest issues, scrutiny has come from issues with their products and an alleged lack of warning for equipment incompatibility.
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