Defective & Dangerous Products

• Banquet Frozen Pot Pies Recalled by FDA - Is Any Food Safe?

  Mike Ferrara | October 10, 2007 10:24 PM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that Banquet brand frozen chicken and turkey pot pies can cause samonella poisoning. Look for the F-9 code on the boxes for the ones that have the possible contamination. While the FDA and the CDC are doing more to ensure the safety of our food supply, the food manufacturers have to do more on their end to stop this madness. These...

• Four Major Medical Products Companies Pay $311M To Dodge Federal Kickback Prosecution

  Mike Ferrara | October 03, 2007 4:30 AM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  The United States Attorney in New Jersey announced that he has accepted fines of $311 million from the four largest medical device companies in exchange for not prosecuting them on federal kickback charges. The four companies are Depuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick; Smith & Nephew Inc. of Memphis, Tenn.; Biomet Orthopedics of Warsaw, Ind.; and Zimmer...

• Ground Meat Causes E.Coli Food Poisoning - 21M Pounds Recalled

  Mike Ferrara | September 30, 2007 4:37 AM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  The Topps Company, based in Elizabeth, NJ, recalled 21 million pounds of groud meat. This is another case where contaminated meat caused e coli food poisoning. If you are a victim of food poisioning, these two attorneys specialize in this field: Eric Weinberg of Red Bank, New Jersey and Bill Marler of Seattle, Washington. Everyone is cautioned to cook hamburgers thoroughly and to make...

• FDA Warning To Parents: "Stop Giving Cold Medicines To Your Kids"

  Mike Ferrara | September 29, 2007 11:24 AM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), emboldened by the new Drug Safety Law signed by President Bush, is becoming more vocal. In their latest release they have warned parents not to give cold and cough medicines to children. Some of the medicines should not be given to kids under 6 and some for kids under 2. According to the AP, an FDA review of side-effect records filed with the agency...

• Congress Passes, President Signs, Powerful New Drug Bill Expanding FDA Powers - Drug Manufacturers Finally Lose on Capitol Hill

  Mike Ferrara | September 27, 2007 11:51 PM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  In a devasting blow to big drug companies, President Bush today signed into law a new drug safety bill. The bill was passed by the House and Senate, both controlled by Democrats, but it had bi-partisan support. The legislators were upset with the recent string of problems with bad drugs being approved by the FDA. The most recent fiasco was the world-wide withdrawal of the painkiller...

• New York City and New York State Sue Merck For Vioxx Fraud

  Mike Ferrara | September 18, 2007 1:27 AM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  In a stunning blow to Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Mayor Bloomberg of New York City and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo jointly sued the drug maker in the New York Supreme Court today over Merck's withdrawn drug, Vioxx. Read the entire press release at the end of this entry. The suit is one of several brought by individual states to recover money the states paid on behalf of Medicaid patients....

• Drug Advertising in Germany: Only 6% Supported by Scientific Evidence Reports British Medical Journal

  Mike Ferrara | September 16, 2007 10:44 PM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  With all of the present concern about what drug company sales reps tell doctors, there was a little known study published on this topic in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2004: 328:485). In that study, researchers analyzed drug materials given to doctors. They found that only 6% of the materials distributed by the drug companies were supported by scientific evidence. Fortunately, in...

• Today's New Jersey Supreme Court Vioxx Opinion - Bad News For Merck

  Mike Ferrara | September 07, 2007 2:24 AM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) appeared to win a major victory today when the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that so-called third party payors could not proceed with their claims against Merck via a national class action. However, a closer look at the opinion should send shock waves throughout the financial community. For what the case really said, depite Merck's spin, is that all third...

• Everlasting Distributors, Inc. Recalls Blue Ocean Smoked Indian Sardine Tamban Due to Potential Contamination

  Jenny Albano | August 31, 2007 2:15 AM | 0 CommentsJersey City, NJ

  Everlasting Distributors, Inc., in conjunction with the FDA, is recalling Blue Ocean Smoked Indian Sardine Tamban in 8 oz. packaged frozen because it may be contaminated with the bacterium that causes botulism, which is a potentially life-threatening food-bourne illness.Blue Ocean Smoked Indian Sardine Tamban was distributed in New York and New Jersey areas and it reached consumers through...

• Drug Manufacturers Spend Billions On Direct To Consumer Ads - Many, Such As Vioxx, Attacked As Misleading

  Mike Ferrara | August 25, 2007 2:38 PM | 0 CommentsCherry Hill, NJ

  The August 16, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contained a study that did not get the media attention it deserved. Studies were done of the amount of money big drug companies spent on "direct to consumer ads" and found the amount increasing each year. The latest year for which data is available was 2005 when $29.9 billion was spent. Total real spending on promotion grew...