lawsuits

> Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the Bush administration's pick to permanently head the FDA, clarified controversial statements on cancer which opponents have criticized. Article

> Some analysts think Guidant may face more lawsuits after an internal review criticized the company's handling of safety problems with its defibrillators last year. Two new lawsuits were filed yesterday. …

As FierceHealthcare told you on Friday, this weekend's 60 Minutes featured the ongoing scandal of the uninsured being billed hospital chargemaster rates for care, when Medicare and private plans often pay one-fourth as much. There wasn't anything new in the story other than suggestions that for all the news and lawsuits about the issue in the past 18 months, it's apparently still going on--at least enough that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) continues to threaten legislation. Article

Last year, just as it was putting itself up for sale to J&J, device maker Guidant was the feature of a series of articles in The New York Times in which it was accused of poorly communicating about problems with its pacemakers to physicians. Eventually, several pacemakers were recalled. Note that replacing a pacemaker means expensive and painful surgery, so this was not a trivial decision.

Now the Times features some of the discoveries from one of a number of …

2005 was also the year in which the issue of hospital profits moved to the front-burner. Critics have always raised questions about how well doctors do and the money non-profit hospitals make. But this year events became far more serious as hospitals became the subject of several lawsuits for allegedly over-charging the uninsured. The first class-action suits, filed by Mississippi attorney Dickie Scruggs, were largely unsuccessful but did produce settlements in a number of cases where …

In a separate vote, Congress approved $3.78 billion in funding to prepare for possible avian flu pandemic, about half of what the Bush administration had requested. The money is scheduled for new vaccines, antiviral drugs, training for healthcare workers and surveillance programs intended to stop a possible outbreak of the disease.

Controversial language in the appropriations bill grants pharma, biotech and medical device companies full immunity from lawsuits in the event of a …

The Providence Health system became the first non-profit hospital chain to settle charges that it failed to meet its obligation to provide charity care. The chain said it is has reached an agreement which will see it compensate uninsured patients who paid higher rates for treatment. The settlement is said to impact at least 10,000 low-income patients in Oregon. Mississippi-based attorney Dick Scruggs is involved in similar lawsuits against non-profit hospitals in 27 states. Scruggs gained …

Following the $253 million jury award in Ernst v. Merck, thousands of people have filed new lawsuits against the drug maker over its painkiller Vioxx. Court documents show that 1,500 new suits have been filed against the company in the eight weeks since the case ended. That brings the total number of suits filed against the company over its maligned Cox-2 inhibitor to 6,500. The award in the Texas case was capped under state laws limiting punitive damages, reducing it dramatically, …

The second Vioxx trial is underway in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Although you'd expect attorneys representing Merck to be a little more deferential to jurors and tread a little more lightly after the disastrous verdict in Ernst v. Merck, that does not appear to be the case. This morning Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee threatened to declare a mistrial because of negative comments about lawyers from defense attorney Diane Sullivan in her opening remarks. "It's simply playing to the bias …

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that lawsuits may be filed over the deaths of patients during Hurricane Katrina. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which on Monday denied media reports that patients in its charge were left alone to die at Memorial Medical Center, is expected to be one of the providers at the focus of any legal action. Louisiana State University law professor Edward Richards said major disasters like Katrina and 9/11 may not be the sort of thing which providers …

News of the Vioxx verdict dominates the media this morning. While the $253.5 million in damages awarded to the widow of a user of the painkiller who died of a heart attack in 2001 will likely be sharply reduced, most observers are agreed that the impact of the decision is likely to be felt for years.

How did it happen and what does it mean? Opinion is divided. The New York Times writes that the hardball tactics pursued by the defense team misfired completely, leaving the …