Substituting one drug for another – say, a generic version for a brand name – often is perfectly fine in terms of what’s best for the patient. But when a Veterans Affairs hospital in West Virginia replaced certain psychotropic drugs with older versions, it put patients at risk, because the priority wasn’t good care, it….
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In Military Hospitals, Whistle Blowing Is Bad for Your Health
Another takeout in the New York Times’ coverage of poor quality in our nation’s military medical system has this quote about what happens when doctors and nurses on the inside complain: ” … brushed off, transferred, investigated, passed over for promotion or fired after they pointed out problems with care.” The Times had asked anyone….
Continue ReadingDrug Company Employee Paid for Her Honesty with Her Job
An employee of Sanofi, a major pharmaceutical company, spoke up about the company’s kickback scheme intended to boost sales of its insulin medicines, and was rewarded by being fired. That’s what Diane Ponte, a paralegal in the French company’s New Jersey office, claims in the whistle-blower lawsuit she filed against Sanofi. According to the Associated….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: How Counterfeit Surgical Screws Found Their Way to Market and Cost People Their Health
Over the summer, the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) broke the story of surgeons who used counterfeit screws and rods in spine surgery, causing crippling outcomes and mounting lawsuits. Now, the CIR has published the back story in a chilling tale of greed and regulatory sloth. Ortho Sol makes precision screws for spinal fusion surgery…..
Continue ReadingCounterfeit Equipment for Spine Surgery Spurs Lawsuits
Some sleazy California surgeons and their enablers, it seems, have pulled a General Motors: They used substandard equipment that caused, if not fatalities, at least several thousand injuries to patients undergoing spinal operations. The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) discovered that the doctors implanted counterfeit screws and rods manufactured in a small machine shop, into….
Continue ReadingUCLA Settles Whistleblower Lawsuit Over Conflict of Interest
Later this year, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act takes full effect. It’s part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”), and requires public disclosure of financial relationships between health-care companies and physicians. (See our blog, “Which Doctors Line Their Pockets with Big Pharma Money?.”) Clearly, it’s overdue. One example why is last week’s settlement….
Continue ReadingJohnson & Johnson Settles Risperdal Case Involving Fraud and Kickbacks
Fraudently promoting drugs. Paying kickbacks to the providers who pushed them. Sounds like the storyline for a premium cable TV series, but it’s just Big Pharma behaving badly. Again. Last week Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay $2.2 billion in criminal fines and civil penalties for illegally promoting the drugs….
Continue ReadingMedical Director Gets Fired for Putting Patients First
In 2010, when he was hired as medical director of Bakersfield Family Medical Center (BFMC), a professional network, and then, a year later, at another, Communities Physician Network (CCPN), Dr. John S. McGee had a pristine, 20-year reputation in internal medicine. The physician networks are intermediaries among managed care plans. McGee did well with his….
Continue ReadingAmgen—The Latest Star in Big Pharma’s Cast of Miscreants
GlaxoSmithKline paid $3 billion. Abbott Laboratories paid $1.4 billion. Pfizer paid $2.3 billion. Eli Lilly paid $1.4 billion. And now, Amgen will pay $762 million for, as a U.S. attorney in New York said last month, “pursuing profits at the risk of patient safety.” Yes, folks, once again a major player in the pharmaceutical industry….
Continue ReadingMedical Device Maker Withdraws Libel Claim
Chalk one up for the truth-tellers. And one big black eye for sellers of dubious medical devices who try to use the courts to bully skeptics. Late last month, Advanced Aesthetic Concepts, a medical device distributor, filed a libel claim against FairWarning, an investigative journalism organization, and Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization. The company….
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