MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'bextra'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:38:45 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118991&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FwaOpAxF9HgM%2F For three decades, John LaMattina worked at Pfizer, where he rose through the ranks before heading global R&D and retiring in 2007. This meant that he was on hand as Pfizer mushroomed in size after buying Warner-Lambert and Pharmacia. And it was during this stretch that boardroom politics - notably, growing tension between Pfizer chair Bill Steere and ceo Hank McKinnell - blossomed, leading to the ascent of Jeff Kindler, who last winter suddenly resigned as ceo. These tumultuous changes (read here and here), shaped strategic decisions that led Pfizer to close facilities, eliminate research areas and fire gobs of scientists (see this). Recently, LaMattina, who is now a senior partner at Puretech Ventures, lamented the aftermath in a piece in Nature Reviews (see this). We chatted with h... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118991 Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:32:30 +0100 5118991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622505&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FoKxxJSm2UaM%2F Pfizer is holding talks with the US Department of Justice to settle charges the drugmaker committed fraud against government health programs by failing to report discounts and rebates for its Protonix heartburn med, according to a court document. A joint motion filed on March 11 in federal court in Boston asked for extended deadlines related to discovery, among other things, and noted the requests “are necessary to permit the parties to continue to engage in settlement discussions” (read this). The development comes less than a year after 17 states joined a pair of whistleblower lawsuits alleging Wyeth, which is now owned by Pfizer, knowingly failed to report certain discounted prices as required by laws governing the Medicaid program. As a result, Wyeth allegedly avoided payi... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622505 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:28:45 +0100 4622505 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230315&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FgkT0F97oxsE%2F Within days of agreeing to pay a whopping $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges of off-label marketing several drugs, including the Bextra painkiller, Pfizer was hit with a derivative shareholder lawsuit. Now, the drugmaker has agreed to settle the litigation by creating a $75 million fund that will be overseen by a new compliance committee comprised of board members who will monitor corporate governance. The move may have far-reaching implications. That’s because the preliminary deal, which was reached late last week, makes a requirement that was not specified in the corporate integrity agreement Pfizer signed last year with the federal government. The CIA, which you can read here, requires a compliance committee, but this consists of a chief compliance officer and and m... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230315 Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:42:14 +0100 4230315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3699704&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F9uSkJUlkuGQ%2F Scott Reuben, who was accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested after-surgery benefits from Vioxx and Celebrex, was sentenced to six months in jail plus three years supervised release after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to health care fraud, MassLive reports. The 51-year-old must also repay $361,932 in research grants, forfeit assets worth at least $50,000 and pay a $5,000 fine. The former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center received grants from various drugmakers but never performed the studies, fabricated patient data and submitted info to anesthesiology journals that was unwittingly published. Later, an investigation found 21 papers published in journals between 1996 and 2008 in which Reuben made up some or all of the data (backgr... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3699704 Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:45:58 +0100 3699704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3511586&cid=t_151006_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F04%2F28%2Fastrazeneca-settles-case-for-520-million%2F AstraZeneca agreed to a $520 million dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and a consortium of state Medicaid agencies without admitting any wrongdoing in its marketing of the atypical antipsychotic drug, Seroquel. “AstraZeneca paid kickbacks to doctors as part of an illegal scheme to market drugs for unapproved uses,” Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, said at the event in Washington. She said the company promoted drugs for unapproved uses by children, the elderly, veterans and prisoners. Glenn Engelmann, AstraZeneca’s U.S. general counsel, released a statement saying the company denies the allegations but settled the investigation with the payment. The government said the company also paid for ghostwritten journal articles, and marketed the... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3511586 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:25:06 +0100 3511586 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3437927&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fkz8po5xFN4s%2F In the wake of the settlement last September in which Pfizer paid $2.3 billion for off-label marketing for the Bextra painkiller and other meds, former US Attorney Mike Loucks said the “enormous fine demonstrates that such blatant and continued disregard of the law will not be tolerated.” But it wasn’t that simple, because companies convicted of a major health care fraud are automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. As CNN notes, convicting Pfizer would have prevented the drugmaker from billing the federal programs for its meds, and prosecutors worried such a move would have penalized Pfizer employees and shareholders, and prevented Medicare and Medicaid patients from receiving helpful drugs. This is not a new revelation, which explains why the major consequence of s... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3437927 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:12:41 +0100 3437927 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3298596&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FKOaY5HiIh4o%2F Scott Reuben, who was accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested after-surgery benefits from Vioxx and Celebrex, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of federal health care fraud. The 51-year-old anesthesiologist will have to repay $361,932 in research grants and forfeit assets worth at least $50,000 as penalty, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors alleged the former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center received grants from various drugmakers but never performed the studies, fabricated patient data and submitted info to anesthesiology journals that was unwittingly published. Later, an investigation found 21 papers published in journals between 1996 and 2008 in which Reuben made up some or all of the data (background here and here). The... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3298596 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:41:43 +0100 3298596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185620&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FcXg3NJ5cmOI%2F Scott Reuben is on the hook for nearly $300,000 for faking research he conducted on various meds. The former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Ma., sought and received research grants from Pfizer and other drugmakers but never performed the studies. He fabricated patient data and submitted info to anesthesiology journals that unwittingly published it. Reuben must also pay $16,000 in restitution to Wyeth, which is now owned by Pfizer, and $49,375 to Merck (see documents here). You may recall that, last week, federal prosecutors filed a health care fraud charge against Reuben, who is accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies suggesting Vioxx and Celebrex offered benefits after surgery. Reuben agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recomm... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185620 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:07:40 +0100 3185620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185295&cid=t_151006_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fphysician-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-for.html As reported by the Springfield, MA, Republican:A former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center has agreed to plead guilty to falsifying medical research and must pay $420,000 in restitution to pharmaceutical companies, federal court records show.Dr. Scott S. Reuben, of Longmeadow, was charged on Thursday with health care fraud. He signed a plea agreement with prosecutors a week earlier.Reuben prompted a furor in the medical community in March, when he was accused of making up research results in at least 21 published studies and inventing patients in certain instances. In one notable instance,In 2005, Reuben received a $74,000 research grant from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, agreeing to test Celebrex as a component of the multimodal therapy. He claimed to have treated 200 patients,... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185295 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:40:00 +0100 3185295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3178981&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Flolpharma-contd-pfaked-data.html Jim Edwards has the story! (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3178981 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:05:00 +0100 3178981 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3176117&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FM-pTZd9IiDQ%2F Federal prosecutors filed a health care fraud charge against Scott Reuben, who is accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies suggesting Vioxx and Celebrex offered benefits after surgery. Court documents indicate Reuben, an anesthesiologist, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recommendation of a more lenient jail sentence of up to 10 years, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of assets worth at least $50,000 received for the research, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors allege the former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Ma., sought and received research grants from drugmakers but never performed the studies. He fabricated patient data and submitted information to anesthesiology journals that unwittingly published it, the AP writes,... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3176117 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:11:05 +0100 3176117 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2901826&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Flolpharma-contd-criminal-mastermind.html Story (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2901826 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:11:00 +0100 2901826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2899194&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F_wiRtPXnyts%2F Tucked into a Pfizer press release this morning about the rosy future that lies ahead - now that Wyeth is securely in its clutches - is this interesting nugget: the big drugmaker has formed an executive compliance committee. Did someone say compliance? This innovative notion comes hard on the news that Pfizer paid a record-setting, ground-breaking, chair-swiveling, eye-rolling, jaw-dropping, $2.3 billion fine for illegally marketing several drugs, including Bextra, Zyvox, Geodon and Lyrica, over several years - even as other corporate integrity agreements were in force. One has to wonder - what took them so long? Maybe it was an ugly round of publicity and lots of cash - that might otherwise be used to retain a few research projects - to prompt ceo Jeff Kindler and his advisors (McKinsey, ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2899194 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:40:43 +0100 2899194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2535610&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fpfizer-there-is-only-one-highlander.html And he's been Pfired! (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2535610 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:45:00 +0100 2535610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2137561&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fpfizer-bextra-how-to-hide-23-billion.html FiercePharma writes:News of the Pfizer-Wyeth merger this morning drowned out some not so good news for the company. Just after announcing its $68 billion buyout of Wyeth, Pfizer published its 2008 fourth quarter earnings report. In it, Pfizer reveals a $2.3 billion charge to end investigations into allegations of off-label promotions of the company's COX-2 meds, including Bextra.That settlement caused a 90 percent reduction in Pfizer's 2008 net income, according to its financial report.Pfizer settled another set of lawsuits involving Bextra for $894 million last October. But the company seems to have been hiding this news in plaint sight, says BNET, pointing out that Pfizer reported the DOJ investigations to the SEC, but never revealed them in press releases. (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2137561 Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:03:00 +0100 2137561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1888457&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F423673337%2F The drugmaker reached agreements in principle to resolve “substantially all” of the personal injury cases, consumer fraud cases and state attorneys general claims involving its two Cox-2 inhibitor painkillers. Bextra, you may recall, was withdrawn three years ago, while Celebrex remains available. Here’s the breakdown: $745 million applicable to personal injury claims, $60 million for state attorneys general settlements and $89 million to resolve consumer fraud class action claims. Total: $894 million. Pfizer maintains the deals will tackle more than 90 percent of the known personal injury claims alleging the painkillers caused a heart attack, stroke or other injury. The settlement also covers third-party payor class action consumer fraud cases in which plaintiffs alleged... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888457 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:32:45 +0100 1888457 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1679622&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F355661875%2F A federal judge overseeing litigation involving Bextra and Celebrex ordered plaintiffs to submit info designed to determine which cases are suitable for trial, The Daily Journal reports. But the order only applies to plaintiffs represented by one firm, Weitz & Luxenberg. And the narrow focus of the order, which was based on a motion by Pfizer, led the law firm to argue in court documents that the drugmaker is attempting to bully it into settling its 250 cases. In May, Pfizer reportedly reached tentative settlements with some groups of plaintiffs who allege the painkillers caused heart attacks and strokes. In its motion, Pfizer argued plaintiffs should submit expert causation reports; medical records confirming injury; prescription records documenting dosage and proof the medication wa... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1679622 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:34:24 +0100 1679622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1416437&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F282291003%2F The drugmaker reached tentative settlements with some groups of plaintiffs who allege the painkillers caused heart attacks and strokes, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing lawyers at three firms involved in the litigation. The firms represent more than 200 of the thousands who sued Pfizer over the two meds, but the drugmaker is still holding talks with other law firms, the paper writes. Unlike Merck’s recent settlement of most Vioxx lawsuits in the US, Pfizer is trying to resolve its liability on a firm-by-firm basis, the lawyers tell the Journal. A Pfizer spokesman call us to say there is no comment. And Michael Rozen, an attorney with the Feinberg Group who is negotiating the deals on behalf of Pfizer, didn’t respond to the paper’s request for comment. A lawyer at ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1416437 Fri, 02 May 2008 20:15:51 +0100 1416437 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1307873&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F253188495%2F A federal judge in Chicago last Friday denied Pfizer’s efforts to obtain confidential peer review documents related to Celebrex and Bextra from the New England Journal of Medicine, according to Science magazine. In January, Pfizer filed a motion asking for peer-review documents it had subpoenaed from 11 studies on the drugs published by the NEJM, and also sought rejected studies, arguing the manuscripts might contain data that could be useful for its defense. The drugmaker is currently being sued in federal court in San Francisco by patients who claim the painkillers caused heart problems and wants the material for its defense. NEJM argued that releasing the info would compromise its anonyous peer review process, a position supported in an affidavit by the editor-in-chief of Science,... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1307873 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:35:24 +0100 1307873 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1258589&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F241617423%2F That’s the conclusion in a piece in the latest issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The only exception is naproxen, according to the authors, who reviewed a meta-analysis published two years ago in the British Medical Journal, 138 clinical trials and observational studies involving Merck’s Vioxx, Pfizer’s Celebrex and Bextra, and such widely used painkillers as ibuprofen and diclofenac. The upshot is that the Cox-2 inhibitors - the Merck and Pfizer drugs - didn’t post a statistically significant greater risk of cardiovascular disease than the other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. However, the Merck and Pfizer drugs did pose a greater risk than taking nothing, notes Charles Hennekens, a professor at Florida Atlantic University who ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1258589 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:56:21 +0100 1258589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1250428&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F239394691%2F In a blistering editorial in Science magazine,* editor-in-chief Donald Kennedy notes that Pfizer has issued subpoenas to the New England Journal of Medicine in order to wade through confidential reviews of published studies of its Celebrex and Bextra painkillers, which are the subject of numerous product-liability lawsuits. As he sees it, Pfizer wants it both ways - an opportunity to defend itself against litigation that involves dismissing the same confidential system that validates industry research. To Kennedy, it’s a ‘fishing expedition’ that will undermine journal integrity. “At Science, we editors love our reviewers and know that our editorial colleagues elsewhere do, too. After all, the process of scientific publication depends on the volunteer services of th... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1250428 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:14:25 +0100 1250428 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1037878&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F187664168%2F A federal judge ruled yesterday that plaintiffs didn’t presented scientifically reliable evidence that Celebrex caused heart attacks or strokes when taken at a daily dosage of 200 milligrams, and the drugmaker claims this is the most common dose. There are more than 3,000 lawsuits, but the ruling by US Districrt Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco kept alive lawsuits involving the 400 milligram. At the moment, however, the number of lawsuits that can proceed with the heart attack or stroke claims isn’t clear. Another issue - some patients on 200 milligrams may have taken the painkiller twice a day. “More of the cases on file are 400 so this somewhat cuts the inventory of cases, but still leaves intact the majority of the litigation,” one plaintiff lawyer, wh... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1037878 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:53:06 +0100 1037878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=934113&cid=t_151006_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F166927863%2F There will be a hearing in federal court in San Francisco tomorrow to determine whether Celebrex can increase the risk of serious cardiovascuar events - otherwise known as heart attacks and strokes - and under what circumstances. US District Court Judge Charles Breyer will have to sift through expert reports, depositions and testimony before ultimately deciding whether there’s reliable scientific evidence to suggest Celebrex presents a serious cardiovascular risk. The event, which is known as a Daubert hearing in legal circles, is part of the Multi-District Litigation concerning Pfizer’s Celebrex, as well as Bextra, a newer Cox-2 painkiller that was pulled from the market two years ago due to…cardiovascular concerns. However, the hearing is only for Celebrex and appears to be an... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=934113 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:19:50 +0100 934113