pharmaceutical industry News

Lilly Sues 4 Compounders Over Copies of Weight-Loss Drugs

Eli Lilly said Wednesday it had sued four compounders for selling unapproved products containing tirzepatide, after a U.S. judge last month blocked pharmacies from making copies of its weight-loss and diabetes medicines. Compounders were, until recently, allowed to produce copies …

Walgreens to Pay $300 Million in US Opioid Settlement

Walgreens has agreed to pay $300 million to settle U.S. prosecutors’ allegations that it illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday. The money, plus 4% interest annually, will …

Merck’s $8 Billion Cancer Vaccine Faces First US Jury Trial

Merck & Co. is facing its first jury trial over claims the company wrongfully marketed its lucrative Gardasil cancer vaccine as safe, the latest high-stakes litigation for the pharmaceutical giant. Lawyers for a Los Angeles woman will argue Monday that …

Walgreens Ignored Red Flags in Dispensing Opioids, US Says

The Department of Justice sued Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. for allegedly dispensing opioids and other controlled substances at pharmacies across the US while ignoring red flags that the prescriptions were likely illegal. The lawsuit claims Walgreens pharmacists filled millions of …

Texas Pharmacy Owner Sentenced in $41M Health Insurance Fraud

A Dallas pharmacy owner who routinely billed insurance companies for headache sprays, pain creams, and scar creams never dispersed to patients was sentenced last week to 10 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas …

Walgreens Paying $106.8 Million to Settle Prescription Billing Fraud Charges

Walgreens Boots Alliance agreed to pay $106.8 million to settle charges it fraudulently billed the U.S. government for prescriptions that were never dispensed, the Department of Justice said on Friday. The Justice Department said Walgreens violated the federal False Claims …

Latest Trial Over Zantac Cancer Claims Called Off as Plaintiff Drops Case

A woman who claimed in a lawsuit that GSK’s discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused her breast cancer dropped her case shortly before it was set to go to trial in Illinois state court on Monday, the company announced. GSK said …

AstraZeneca to Pay $425 Million to End US Lawsuits Over Heartburn Drugs

Britain’s AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $425 million to settle about 11,000 lawsuits in the United States that claimed its heartburn drugs Nexium and Prilosec caused chronic kidney disease. AstraZeneca did not admit wrongdoing under the settlement, part of broader …

EU Probes Anesthesia Complication for New Weight-Loss Drugs

European authorities are investigating whether popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs including Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy may be linked to complications during anesthesia. The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee, PRAC, is discussing the potential safety issue during its meeting this week. …

As Complaints Against Pharmacists Rise So Does the Cost to Defend Them

The cost to defend complaints against pharmacists to their State Board has increased more than 100% in the last decade, according to a newly released claim report published by Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO), a division of Aon Affinity, the …