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Supreme Court rejects Wyeth claim

On March 4, 2009, the U. S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of Wyeth v. Levine.  Diane  Levine, a bass player and composer of children in Vermont, went to a clinic for treatment of headache-induced nausea.  The staff at the clinic administered the antihistamine Phenergen, manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company, by using an "IV push."  The drug was inadvertently injected into one of Ms. Levine's arteries.  She developed tissue deterioration and gangrene, and her arm was ultimately amputated.

 Mrs. Levine went to state court and sued Wyeth (it knew that the IV push created a risk of inadvertent arterial injection and gangrene), claiming that its warning was inadequate because it did not prohibit IV push delivery.  Wyeth defended on the basis that the warning was mandated by the FDA and that the case was preempted by federal law. 

 The jury awarded Ms. Levine $6.7 million, and Wyeth appealed. 

 In a 6 - 3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court brushed aside Wyeth's plea that it limit lawsuits against drug makers. 

 This is a huge victory for citizens who are injured by huge pharmaceutical companies who know of the dangerous drugs they are putting on the market and then try to hide behind FDA requirements. 

 You can read the entire opinion here.

Big Pharma Giveaways to Doctors Ends

Have you ever looked around your doctor's office and seen all the things printed with names of pharmaceutical companies and their products?  That's about to stop.

As of Thursday, January 1, 2009, doctors will no longer receive free gifts from pharmaceutical companies.  For  years, big pharma has peppered doctors’ offices with free promotional items – pens, pads (including prescription pads), tongue depressors, mugs, soap dispensers, T-shirts, etc. – all of which, of course, are emblazoned with the name of the company’s latest high-profile drug. 

More and more, pharmaceutical companies have been the focus of criticism for such practices and arguably are taking the voluntary ban step as a way of blunting some of the criticism.  Here's an interesting article about the ban.  The many comments about the article express different points of view.

So, what’s wrong with promotional items?  Drug companies spend billions of dollars keeping their products in front of doctors to try to influence them to write prescriptions to us. How can patients – you and I – be sure that what we are being prescribed is necessary and appropriate for our medical condition?   As long as that is happening, we should be asking questions.

Notice this is a voluntary ban on free gifts (swag).  But, also note what is NOT included in the ban:  free lunches and dinners, payment for consultations and free drug samples.