Abbott Laboratories news from FierceHealthcare

A consumer group has raised a protest over a group of ads for medical devices running on video site YouTube, arguing that the ads may be illegal. The group, Prescription Project, would like to see... Read more...

> Eighteen states are suing Abbott Laboratories, saying it blocked generic competition for its popular cholesterol medication TriCor. Read more...

Here's something you don't see every day. A heart stent manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Cordis Corp., is mounting a national marketing campaign aimed directly at consumers--an unusual... Read more...

> A federal judge ruled a 2006 settlement between Abbott Laboratories and Israel's Medinol Ltd. gives Abbott wide latitude to sell drug-coated stents in the U.S. Read more...

> General Electric Co. has ended its effort to acquire Abbott Laboratories' in-vitro and point of care diagnostics businesses, which had 2006 sales of $2.7 billion. Read more...

Wall Street heavyweights JPMorgan Chase and General Electric were both involved in healthcare acquisitions reported since yesterday. JPMorgan said today that it has purchased the assets of healthcare transaction processor FisaCure for an undisclosed amount. The financial services giant will integrate FisaCure's receivables and payables technology into the Healthcare Solutions business of JPMorgan Chase's Treasury Services division.

Meanwhile, several published reports indicate that …

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> Jewish Hospital and the University of Louisville have opened the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute in downtown Louisville, Ky., a $28 million facility to research new treatments for congestive heart failure. Report

> The "advertising police" are cracking down on OTC marketing from Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories and Pfizer. …

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A group of Mayo Clinic-affiliated researchers studying arthritis drugs has publicly apologized for failing to fully disclose financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The researchers, who looked at cancer risks among patients taking Remicade, Enbrel and Humira for rheumatoid arthritis, published the results of their study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers didn't disclose, however, that they had let Humira maker …

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Recently there have been reports that blood clots can form within drug-coated stents designed to keep arteries clear. But cardiologists at the Transcather Cardiovascular Therapeutics show say patients are "far more are being killed each year by the failure of doctors to promptly clear coronary arteries and install stents when patients arrive at a hospital during a heart attack." Experts say that many studies have proven the superiority of stents to clot-busting drugs, and that the risk of …

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Federal prosecutors announced they are investigating stock options grants at pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx, as the corporate backdating scandal gains speed. Shares of UnitedHealth Group fell 3.4 percent yesterday after the company revealed that it is the object of a probe by federal prosecutors. The Wall Street Journal comments: "The entry of the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, considered among the most experienced in prosecuting white-collar crimes, signals a …

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