big pharma Archives - Monitor Telegram

How Big Pharma deceives you about drug safety

April 23, 2018

The recent decision of a Saskatchewan judge to reject the proposed settlement between the provinces and Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, should raise serious questions.

Purdue introduced the prescription drug OxyContin in 1996 and marketed it as safer and less addictive than other opioids. This is now seen by many as the beginning of the opioid crisis in Canada. The settlement in question was meant to compensate patients who were victims of the opioid epidemic and the provinces for some of their additional health-care costs in dealing with the epidemic.

Big Pharma has officially entered the Canadian cannabis industry

March 19, 2018

One of Canada’s largest licensed weed producers has formed a strategic partnership with a major pharmaceutical company, marking the first — and much anticipated — foray of Big Pharma into the legal cannabis industry.

Tilray, which is largely a British Columbia-based company but with headquarters in Toronto, announced early Monday morning that it had signed a binding letter of intent with Sandoz Canada, an affiliate of Sandoz International GmBh, which is part of the Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG.

Ontario law to require drug firms to reveal funds paid to doctors’ groups, patient advocates

February 22, 2018

Pharmaceutical companies will have to reveal in detail the payments they make to patient-advocacy groups and professional medical societies in Ontario as part of the province’s efforts to pull back the curtain on money in medicine.

The lack of transparency has meant that health charities and non-profits have had no mandatory obligation to reveal which companies are funding them and in what amounts.

Following the money between patient groups and Big Pharma

February 18, 2018

Why would more than two dozen patient advocacy groups want to stop Health Canada from trying to lower prescription drug prices in Canada?

“It seems startling because you would think lower drug prices are in the interests of patients,” said Sharon Batt, a Dalhousie University researcher who studies the links between such groups and the pharmaceutical industry.

Big Pharma is profiting from both opioids and overdose treatments

February 15, 2018

Some of the pharmaceutical companies selling prescription opioids that have caused thousands of deaths are looking to profit from the antidote for overdoses, according to a VICE News analysis of drug approval records from Health Canada.

One emergency room doctor in Toronto who regularly reverses opioid overdoses with naloxone said the revelations show “companies [are] cynically profiting from both ends of the crisis” that claimed an estimated 4,000 lives in Canada last year.

Big Pharma puts profits ahead of people

December 14, 2017

There are conspiracy theories that really makes one question the collective sanity of the public.

For example, there is a current theory that suggest that lizard-people govern the United States (a stunning 4 percent of the U.S. population actually believe this one).

There’s another conspiracy theory that the U.S government controls people’s thoughts with television programing — an even more stunning 15 percent believe this theory.

Drugmaker paid doctors with problem records to promote its pill

December 4, 2017

(CNN) One physician had his prescription pad taken away after he repeatedly failed tests assessing his competency.

Another was banned from treating mentally ill inmates and accused of endangering nursing home patients by prescribing excessive dosages of medications.
At least three others had criminal convictions for illegal prescribing.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals paid nearly 500 doctors to speak or consult on its drug, Nuedexta, between 2013 and 2016, according to government data. Through a review of the top prescribers and top paid physicians in this group, CNN identified a dozen who have been disciplined by state medical boards. These offenses included the harmful treatment of nursing home residents and “grossly negligent acts” involving the inappropriate prescribing of dangerous and addictive drugs — resulting in probation, suspension, fines and revoked licenses.

Texas Lawsuit Claims This Drugmaker Pushed Antipsychotic to Kids

November 17, 2017

AstraZeneca Plc is in talks to settle a Texas lawsuit claiming that the company fleeced the state’s Medicaid program by fraudulently marketing one of its top drugs, according to court filings.

Texas sued the drugmaker in 2013, saying AstraZeneca had targeted the state’s Medicaid program by urging doctors to prescribe the powerful antipsychotic Seroquel for unauthorized treatments — particularly for children — over six years.

Tribune Editorial: Time to sue Big Pharma

November 16, 2017

Salt Lake County officials announced Monday that the county is gearing up to sue pharmaceutical companies for damages caused by the recklessness and devastation of opioid addiction. They won’t be the first to do so, and it’s about time. In fact, there are over 100 counties across the nation gearing up to recover their costs associated with the epidemic, and many states have already filed.

New Jersey becomes latest state to sue Purdue Pharma over OxyContin

October 31, 2017

New Jersey filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the company that manufactures OxyContin, claiming a “direct link” between the state’s opioid crisis and the firm’s deceptive marketing practices.

State Attorney General Christopher Porrino says the five-count lawsuit against Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma and two of its entities seeks undisclosed monetary damages for fraud and false claims.