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Abbott Laboratories and two other drugmakers will pay $421 million to settle allegations that they falsely inflated product prices to gain larger government reimbursement payments, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
Abbott’s share of the settlement is $126.5 million for violations of the False Claims Act involving pricing of two antibiotics and agents used to facilitate intravenous infusions of other drugs, the Justice Department said. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories hired a Baltimore-area cardiologist as a sales consultant after he was barred from practicing at a local hospital last year for allegedly putting heart stents in hundreds of patients who didn’t need them, say Senate investigators probing the medical-device industry.
Their report, to be released Monday, shines a light on one of the most lucrative procedures for hospitals and medical-device makers, at a time of spiraling health-care costs. Medicare paid some $25.7 billion for stent surgery in the six years through 2009, according to the report. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson is adding 12 million bottles of Mylanta — the stomach discomfort treatment — to its ongoing list of recalled products, due to the presence of alcohol that’s not listed on the label.
J&J said it is recalling more than 12.3 million bottles of Mylanta and more than 84,000 bottles of AlternaGel, which is used for heartburn relief.
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Lisle-based pharmacy benefit management firm SXC Health Solutions Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to buy specialty pharmacy provider MedfusionRx LLC for US$100 million. Get the full story »
Baxter International Inc. said it has expanded a deal with Japan’s largest drug maker to bring its cell-based vaccine technology to that country.
The Deerfield-based medical product giant said terms of the agreement with Osaka, Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited call for “Takeda and Baxter will expand upon their previously announced collaboration to bring Vero cell culture-based influenza vaccines to the Japanese market.” Get the full story »
A panel of federal health experts unanimously rejected the use of Merck’s Proscar to prevent prostate cancer, saying the drug could actually raise the risk of the most serious types of tumors. Get the full story »
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said Tuesday it will eliminate 1,400 U.S. sales jobs by Jan. 1.
The company said it will cut the jobs from the sales force of its general medicines business, as sales at that business will be hurt after the patent on its high blood pressure drug Diovan expires. Novartis said it plans to focus more resources on its primary care and specialty care businesses.
A Tampa, Fla. company said it has purchased the rights to use a cancer drug made by Baxter International Inc. in its development of medicines to combat a “broad range of autoimmune diseases” including multiple sclerosis. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson, which has been recalling a number of popular over-the-counter medicines, said Wednesday it’s withdrawing more Tylenol because of a labeling problem.
The company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit is recalling nearly 9.3 million bottles of three Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom products from drug stores and suppliers because the bottles’ front labels didn’t show they contain small amounts of alcohol from ingredients that flavor the medicine. Get the full story »
Abbott India on Wednesday agreed to merge Solvay Pharma into itself, combining two Indian units of U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories’ and sending Abbott India shares to a 52-week high.
Solvay Pharma said its shareholders would get three shares of Abbott India for every two held. Solvay Pharma shares fell more than 13 percent on the news. Get the full story »
Scientists have found that a pill used to treat HIV infection turns out to be a powerful weapon in protecting healthy gay men from catching the virus, according to a global study.
Daily doses of Truvada cut the risk of infection by 44 percent when given with condoms, counseling and other prevention services. Men who took their pills most faithfully had even more protection, up to 73 percent. Get the full story »
Health care giant Johnson & Johnson is announcing another product recall, this one involving some Children’s Benadryl Allergy Fastmelt Tablets and Junior Strength Motrin Caplets. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson has recalled about 4 million packages of children’s Benadryl allergy tablets and about 800,000 bottles of junior-strength Motrin, citing “insufficiencies” in developing the manufacturing process.
It was the latest in a series of product recalls in the last year that have hurt the reputation and financial results of J&J. Get the full story »
Medco Health Solutions Inc. would not be interested in buying Walgreen Co.’s pharmacy benefit unit because it is too small, Medco’s chief executive said on Friday.
Walgreen has hired Bank of America to sell its pharmacy benefits business, a source close to the situation told Reuters last month. Get the full story »
