With half of Americans regularly taking prescription medication — four, on average, according to a nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of 1,947 adults — a medication “checkup” can reduce your risk of side effects and interactions, and stop you from taking unnecessary pills. [More]
medication
EpiPen Maker Allegedly Failed To Investigate 171 Complaints Of Non-Working Devices
By 9.8.17
The manufacturer of Mylan’s emergency allergy treatment devices has been accused of failing to investigate hundreds of complaints over three years that the EpiPen and EpiPen Jr. failed to work properly, a failure that resulted in the deaths of several people. [More]
CVS Accused Of Revealing HIV Status Of 4,000 Ohio Customers
By 8.31.17
Days after insurance giant Aenta was accused of revealing the HIV medication use of 12,000 customers, CVS has found itself in a similar boat: The pharmacy giant allegedly sent letters to customers that inadvertently revealed their HIV status. [More]
Aetna Accused Of Revealing HIV Medication Use Of 12,000 Customers
By 8.28.17
Something as minor as an envelope window has landed one of the country’s largest insurance companies in legal hot water. Aetna is being sued for sending out thousands of letters that inadvertently revealed that the recipient has taken medication for the treatment or prevention of HIV. [More]
Doctors Call On Big Pharma To Advertise Retail Prices Of Prescription Drugs
By 6.16.17
Think of the last prescription you had filled: You probably know how much you had to pay the pharmacy, but do you have any idea of the full sticker price for that medication? With many drug prices soaring, the nation’s largest physicians organization has called on the pharmaceuticals industry to be more transparent about the sometimes huge price tags on their products. [More]
Depakote Maker AbbVie Ordered To Pay $15M To Boy Born With Spina Bifida
By 6.9.17
Pharmaceuticals giant AbbVie must pay $15 million to the family of a 10-year-old boy who was born with spina bifida after an Illinois jury found the company failed to properly warn doctors about the risk of birth defects associated with Depakote, a prescription drug used to treat bipolar and seizure disorders. [More]
Pharmacists Will Hand Over Drug Combinations That Could Kill You About Half The Time
By 12.19.16
Most chain pharmacies want you to feel safe ordering from them, and so their ads tout the skill, expertise, and personal touch of their tools and personnel. They promise available pharmacists who have computers who alert them to danger, and who can then tell you things like, “Hey, you shouldn’t take these together; it will kill you” if there’s a problem. [More]
Bristol-Myers Squibb Agrees To Pay $19.5M Over Improper Marketing Of Medication
By 12.8.16 — Updated: 12.12.16
Prescription medication, when used properly and safely, can provide needed relief to consumers suffering a wide range of illnesses or physical conditions. However, those medications must be marketed and advertised properly. That apparently wasn’t the case for a antipsychotic prescription drug manufactured Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). As a result, the company has agreed to pay $19.5 million in a settlement with 42 states and the District of Columbia. [More]
Senators Urge Mylan To Reimburse Defense Department For EpiPen Overcharges
By 11.8.16
A week after a report suggested that the Department of Defense had paid full retail price for EpiPens — to the tune of $54 million in overcharges — because the drug’s maker, Mylan, misclassified the live-saving medication, preventing the government from receiving proper rebates, lawmakers are calling on the drugmaker to reimburse those costs. [More]
Teva Will Try Again To Get FDA Approval On Epipen Competitor, By 2018
By 9.12.16
The price of the EpiPen emergency allergy medication soared by 400% to 600% over the last decade, in part due to a lack of competition. In February, the FDA rejected a potential competing injector from Teva Pharmaceuticals, but now the company says it still hopes to get an EpiPen alternative in pharmacies — at some point in the next two years. [More]
Regardless Of Price, Don’t Buy Your EpiPen On eBay
By 8.26.16
With the price of emergency allergy treatment EpiPen jumping nearly 600% in less than a decade, bringing the out-of-pocket cost for some patients to $600 for a two-pack, it’s perhaps not surprising that sketchy eBay sellers are claiming to offer the prescription medication at a discount, even though it’s against eBay policy, illegal, and just a really, really, really awful idea. [More]
Under Fire Over EpiPen Price Hike, Mylan Expands Savings Card Program
By 8.25.16
After receiving intense backlash from consumers, lawmakers, and health advocates over the skyrocketing price of emergency allergy treatment EpiPen — the costs increased as much as 600% in just nine years — pharmaceutical giant Mylan plans to cover some of that cost for certain patients. [More]
6 Things You Should Know About Heather Bresch, The CEO Behind EpiPen Price Hike
By 8.24.16
As you may have heard, the cost of a life-saving EpiPen from drug maker Mylan increased as much as 600% in just nine years, causing lawmakers and health advocates to call on the drug company — and its CEO Heather Bresch — to lower the cost and provide answers for its increase in the first place. But that could be difficult given the executive’s personal connections not only to the medication, but one legislator. [More]
Walgreens Installing Drug Disposal Kiosks In 500 Stores
By 2.10.16
Do you have old and expired medicine just sitting in your medicine cabinet and you’re not quite sure how to get rid of it? Walgreens is installing kiosks in 500 stores in the hope of giving customers a way to quickly and easily dispose of their unused drugs.
[More]
Nine Retailers Recall Store-Branded Children’s Cold Medicine Over Overdose Risks
By 1.11.16
Nine retailers, including CVS and Rite Aid, have recalled two flavors of store-branded children’s liquid cold medicine over a potential overdose risk. [More]
Walgreens Shoplifter Walks Out Of Store With $100K In Prescription Drugs
By 10.7.15
In the past, Walgreens has been a target for ne’er-do-wells: there were the three people caught with more than 125 stolen credit cards, and before that, the shoplifting ring accused of stealing more than $15,000 in merchandise. But those cases pale in comparison to a brazen robbery in Florida this week in which a man forced open the pharmacy department door and made off with $100,000 in prescription drugs. [More]
After FDA Warning, Kim Kardashian Posts Corrected Endorsement Of Morning Sickness Pill
By 8.31.15
Weeks after federal regulators took issue with drug company Duchesnay for allowing mom-to-be Kim Kardashian to tout the benefits of its morning sickness pill on social media without properly disclosing the drug’s associated risk and limitations, the reality star posted updated endorsements, complete with acknowledgement of the pill’s side effects. [More]
Court Shuts Down Iowa Supplement Company Distribution Over Misbranding, Unfounded Safety Promises
By 8.17.15
There are about 200 fewer adulterated dietary supplements on the market today after a district court ordered an Iowa company and its owners to stop production of products over allegations the company sold potentially unsafe dietary supplements and falsely advertised them as treatments for diseases ranging from colds to cancer. [More]
