Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill says drug giant is “stonewalling” her opioid investigation

The world's largest generic drug maker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, has refused to fully cooperate with a Senate investigation into whether major opioid manufacturers contributed to the deadly drug epidemic, according to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is leading the Senate probe. Teva has answered some of McCaskill's questions, providing the Senate committee with general information about its efforts to track and report suspicious orders for its opioid prescriptions, according to a series of letters between McCaskill and the company.

Opioid Litigants Get Boost From Senate Report

A report released by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill points to $10 million of payments flowing from a group of five opioid-producing companies to 15 patient advocacy groups over a five-year period. The hundreds of pending opioid abuse lawsuits likely have just received a jolt from a report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs linking opioid manufacturers and patient advocacy groups.

The Giving Season Is Over: Practical Advice for Patient Assistance…

Right before Christmas last year, the Department of Justice announced an ominous settlement: United Therapeutics, a manufacturer of pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs, agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle allegations it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute . United Therapeutics' alleged kickback was supporting - and purportedly benefiting from - a Patient Assistance Program charitable foundation that helped patients pay expensive co-pays for United Therapeutics' drugs.

Congress nears showdown votes on averting federal shutdown

Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that he's confident that the GOP-controlled House will pass a stopgap government-wide funding bill, even as growing opposition from Senate Democrats made prospects in that chamber increasingly dicey. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health says the institution is in a "scramble" to prepare for a potential government shutdown at midnight Friday.

About three in ten US veterans use tobacco products – ” Press…

About 3 in 10 U.S. military veterans used some form of tobacco product during 2010-2015, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . Tobacco product use was higher among veterans than among non-veterans for males and females across all age groups, except males ages 50 years and older.

No Second Chances for Promega Damages Claim

On remand from the Supreme Court of the United States, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision granting defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law that patent owner failed to prove its infringement case under 35 USC 271 and 271 , and denying plaintiff's motion for a new trial on damages and infringement. Promega Corp. v.

UPDATE 1-Allergan says court affirms patent loss to Sandoz on eye drug

Allergan Inc said on Friday that it had lost its appeal in a patent battle with Novartis AG over its Sandoz division's rival version of Allergan's Combigan eye drug and said it would file a petition to for a rehearing of the case. Allergan said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas' earlier decision that the Sandoz rival did not infringe two of Allergan's patents and reversed a decision on a third patent in favor of Novartis.

Reported CDC ban on terms such as ‘fetus,’ ‘science-based’ alarms health leaders

Health leaders say they are alarmed about a report that officials at the nation's top public health agency are being told not to use certain words or phrases in official budget documents, including "fetus," ''transgender" and "science-based." The health community was reacting to a story in The Washington Post published late Friday citing an anonymous source who said the prohibition was made at a recent meeting of senior budget officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

a CDC ban on a fetusa and a transgender?a Experts alarmed

Health leaders say they are alarmed about a report that officials at the nation's top public health agency are being told not to use certain words or phrases in official budget documents, including "fetus," "transgender" and "science-based." The health community was reacting to a story in The Washington Post published late Friday citing an anonymous source who said the prohibition was made at a recent meeting of senior budget officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

UPDATE 1-Health secretary nominee Azar says drug pricing a top priority

Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive who Republicans have nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Wednesday promised to lower drug prices that he said are too high, saying he would look at abuse of patent laws that delays generic competition. Azar, who worked at Eli Lilly & Co, said his top priorities would be drug pricing, affordable healthcare, Medicare innovation and the opioid crisis that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.

House approves tax overhaul; Fight shifts to Senate where passage is less assured

A California jury on Thursday ruled in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by a woman who said she developed the cancer mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in the company's talc-based... A popular local vacation destination for more than 50 years, 3 Ponds Campground in Brentwood is being sold to a developer planning a 55 and over ... (more)

Indian-American billionaire arrested on charges of opioid fraud

Amritsar-born entrepreneur John Nath Kapoor was arrested by the FBI for bribing doctors to over-prescribe a powerful opioid to patients. A 74-year-old Indian-American pharmaceutical billionaire was on Friday charged with leading a nationwide conspiracy in the US by bribing doctors to over-prescribe a powerful opioid to patients and committing fraud on insurance firms for profit.