FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Toledoans speak up on heparin in Washington, DC

  Anneke Kurt | May 02, 2008 5:10 PM | 0 CommentsToledo, OH

  From January 2007 until February 2008, at least 81 wrongful deaths have been linked to heparin, as well as 785 personal injuries from allergic reactions. The Toledo Blade reports that 62 of the 81...

• Merck Scientists Defend Vioxx

  Christina Cole | March 16, 2007 11:53 PM | 0 CommentsToledo, OH

  Merck & Co., accused of pointedly selling Vioxx while aware of the health risk and potential to cause heart attacks, started its defense Thursday by calling their top research scientist to testify and explain the vast research the company does.Merck's director of clinical research and vice president of early research both said the company had preformed dozens of tests on the arthritis dug to...

• Celebrex Approved for Children

  Christina Cole | January 10, 2007 9:58 PM | 0 CommentsToledo, OH

  Federal approval has been granted to Pfizer Inc. to market the painkiller Celebrex as treatment for thousands of children that suffer with a devastating form of arthritis. The approval allows the New York company to promote the drug for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in patients that are two years of age and older. The drug is already used off-label by many doctors as the treatment for the...

• Vioxx Decision Upheld, Award Reduced

  Christina Cole | January 08, 2007 4:39 PM | 0 CommentsToledo, OH

  Good news for Felicia Garza - a Texas judge certified the ruling of a state jury that held the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. liable for the Vioxx related death of her husband. The bad news however is the same judge decided the initial damages awarded to Garza in the tune of $32 million, violated state laws and therefore reduced the award to $8.7 million.Leonel Garza died in 2001 after...

• Drug In Same Class as Bextra and Vioxx Approved For Use in Children

  Staff Writer | December 27, 2006 11:11 AM | 0 CommentsToledo, OH

  Pfizer has received federal approval to market Celebrex, its Cox-2 inhibiting painkiller, as a treatment for Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). JRA affects tens of thousands of children, and other treatments have seen limited success or resulted in severe side effects.The decision comes after FDA advisers recommended Nov. 29 the drug as an effective but not necessarily safe treatment for the...