An online pharmacy told U.S. regulators it found another cancer-causing chemical in widely prescribed blood-pressure pills, raising new questions about a complex global web of companies that produces medicine for millions of people.

Source: Fourth Carcinogen DMF Found in Blood-Pressure Pill Valsartan - Bloomberg

 

Lag in U.S. recall highlights strains in global pharmaceutical supply chain.

A Chinese-made heart drug taken by millions of people was contaminated with a possible cancer-causing chemical.

The Food and Drug Administration oversaw a recall of the tainted pills. But even as it did so, the agency that helps safeguard a global supply chain of drugs was conducting fewer inspections of pharmaceutical plants in the country where the problem originated.

Source: Chinese Heart Drug Valsartan Recall Shows FDA Inspection Limits - Bloomberg

Johnson & Johnson says its Baby Powder is safe. But Reuters found its talc was sometimes tainted with asbestos, a fact it kept from regulators and the public.

Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why.

She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a signature of exposure to asbestos. And she knew it afflicted mostly men who inhaled asbestos dust in mines and industries such as shipbuilding that used the carcinogen before its risks were understood.

Source: J&J knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder

Three Xarelto lawsuits are headed to trial starting next month in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the home of a mass tort program that includes more than 1,700 product liability claims involving the controversial blood-thinning medication. (In Re: Xarelto Litigation, Case No. 150102349)

Pennsylvania concluded its first Xarelto trial late last year, when a Philadelphia jury awarded $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages to an Indiana woman who suffered a gastrointestinal bleed after taking the medication for a little over a year. However, the trial court dismissed the verdict in January, after finding that the evidence presented was insufficient to justify the massive award.

Source: Pennsylvania Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit Trials Begin Next Month

It used to be that everyone complained about the opioid painkiller epidemic but no one did anything about it. That's starting to change, but Congress is badly under-funding the war.

Source: Editorial: Fighting back against Big Pain, without much help from Congress | Editorial | stltoday.com

A Pennsylvania jury hearing evidence in the state's first trial of a Xarelto lawsuit has awarded $28 million to an Indiana woman who suffered a gastrointestinal bleeding a little over a year after she was prescribed the new-generation blood thinner.

Source: Pennsylvania’s First Xarelto Lawsuit Trial Concludes With $28 Million Verdict for Plaintiff, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports | Life Pulse Health

A woman from California who was injured by the Celect® IVC Filter has filed a federal lawsuit against the manufacturer, Cook Medical.

Source: California Woman Files Celect® IVC Filter Lawsuit – Daily Hornet | Breaking News That Stings!

Wright Medical will pay nearly $90 million to settle the hundreds of remaining lawsuits over its Conserve, Dynasty and Lineage hip implants.

Source: Wright Medical Pays $90 Million to Settle Remaining Hip Lawsuits

The judge overseeing the Xarelto mass tort in Philadelphia is considering a flurry of motions and responses that are expected to shape the state court litigation as it is gearing up for next month's bellwether trial.

Source: Filings Fly as Xarelto Mass Tort Prepares for Trial | Law.com

CAMDEN, N.J. — A Chattanooga, Tennessee, father is suing the manufacturers of NuvaRing, citing alleged failure to warn of the harmful effects of the contraceptive.

Source: Father blames NuvaRing manufacturers for daughter's death | St. Louis Record