Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Insurance Commissioner Fines Health Insurer
Aug 16 2011 // Wshington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has fined Regence BlueShield (Regence) $100,000 for denying contraceptive coverage to 984 women. Kreidler learned about the violation from a consumer who contacted his...
Diabetes Drug Maker Facing Hundreds of Lawsuits
Aug 9 2011 // The maker of the world’s best-selling diabetes drug is facing hundreds of lawsuits and likely a big sales drop as suspicion grows that taking the pill for more than a year raises the risk of bladder cancer. In June,...
Study: Workers’ Comp Drug Costs Higher in Texas, Louisiana
Jul 29 2011 // A new study indicates that Louisiana had the highest workers’ compensation prescription costs among the 17 states studied and that Texas also was among the states with the highest cost of prescription drugs per...
Wash. Workers’ Comp Prescription Drug Costs Among the Lowest
Jul 13 2011 // The high cost for prescription drugs for injured workers in some states is a major issue for policymakers, but not in Washington state, where costs were among the lowest compared to 17 other states, according to a new...
Tennessee Workers’ Comp Law on Drug Testing Takes Effect
Jul 5 2011 // A new workers’ compensation law on drug testing became effective, July 1, in Tennessee. Supported by the state’s business community, the new law changes the standard of proof workers must meet to prove that a...
Generic Drug Firms Shielded from State Suits: Supreme Court
Jun 23 2011 // The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that generic drug companies cannot be sued under state law over allegations that they failed to provide adequate label warnings about potential side effects. By a 5-4 vote, the justices...
Washington Court: OK to Terminate Employee for Medical Marijuana Use
Jun 16 2011 // A Washington Supreme Court has ruled that it is OK for an employer to terminate an employee for violating its no drug policy, even though the employee is in compliance with the state’s medical marijuana...
Ohio BWC: 7 Workers’ Compensation Fraud Convictions in May
Jun 16 2011 // Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer announced that seven individuals were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges related to defrauding Ohio’s workers’ compensation...
North Carolina Senate Panel Drops Drug Firm Liability Shield
Jun 15 2011 // A North Carolina legislative committee has removed from a liability lawsuit measure a provision that would have given broad product protections for pharmaceutical companies. A Senate judiciary panel has deleted language...
North Carolina House Backs Liability Protections for Drug Makers
Jun 3 2011 // The North Carolina House has voted to give pharmaceutical companies sweeping product liability protections as part of a larger Republican effort to limit liability for North Carolina businesses. The proposed legislation...
$10M Awarded to Girl in Philly Drug Lawsuit
May 31 2011 // A Philadelphia jury has awarded $10 million to a 13-year-old girl after deciding that she suffered a life-threatening drug reaction a decade ago. Attorney Eric Roberson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Brianna Maya of...
North Carolina Weighs Liability Protection for Drug Makers
May 20 2011 // The North Carolina House postponed its planned vote this week on whether to make the state just the second in the country to protect pharmaceutical companies from almost all lawsuits. The legislation would grant companies...
‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Convicted in Ohio of Causing 4 Deaths
May 12 2011 // A Chicago doctor accused of running a pill mill in an Appalachian county where painkillers are a public-health scourge has been convicted in Ohio of causing the death of four patients who overdosed. Dr. Paul Volkman, 64,...
Calif. Attempts to Rein in Workers’ Comp Compound Drug Costs
May 3 2011 // California legislators are considering a bill aimed at reigning in the use of compound drugs in workers’ compensation claims. According to Assembly Bill 378, existing law provides that it is unlawful for a physician...
Fentanyl Often Prescribed in Calif. Workers’ Comp
Apr 29 2011 // A CWCI Research Spotlight Report on the use of fentanyl – the most potent Schedule II opioid – in California workers’ comp finds that More than 1 out of every 5 injured workers in California who are...
Jury in Virginia Hearing $20M Suit Against Botox Maker
Apr 26 2011 // A Fredericksburg man is suing the maker of the drug Botox for more than $20 million, claiming injections to relieve writer’s cramp in his right hand left him brain-damaged and totally disabled. A jury began hearing...
Employers Rewarded for Insuring Early Retirees Under Healthcare Reform
Mar 28 2011 // When President Barack Obama signed his healthcare overhaul into law a year ago, some U.S. companies were quick to flag — and write down — the millions of dollars they stood to lose as a result of one aspect of...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau Receives Nearly $2M from Jailed Doctor
Mar 24 2011 // Ohio workers’ compensation system regulators have received nearly $2 million from an Akron area anesthesiologist who was convicted in 2006 on 56 criminal counts of health care and insurance fraud. Dr. Jorge Martinez...
Ohio Doctor’s Office Raided in Crackdown on Drug Abuse in Comp System
Mar 18 2011 // As part of an investigation into prescription drug abuse in the state, Ohio law enforcement officials and workers’ compensation bureau investigators have conducted a raid on the offices of a doctor in the...
Report Calls Into Question Use of Addictive Narcotics in Workers’ Comp Claims
Mar 11 2011 // A relatively small percentage of medical providers are responsible for writing narcotic prescriptions in California workers’ compensation claims, according to a new report by the California Workers’...
