painkiller news from FierceHealthcare

Florida's Attorney General has filed suit against Merck & Co., again, this time for allegedly deceptive marketing and promotion of joint pain drug Vioxx. The suit claims that Merck failed... Read more...

A new government report has concluded that more than 1,000 people died over a two year period from an illegal version of fentanyl, an extremely powerful, euphoria-inducing painkiller. The deaths are... Read more...

A new survey of specialists in Africa, Asia and Latin America suggests that many patients in poorer countries don't have adequate access to painkiller drugs or specialists trained in their use. The... Read more...

In a marked departure from current practices, the state of Washington developed a program 10 years ago designed to make sure doctors didn't under treat pain patients. The program seems to have... Read more...

A Massachusetts physician has become another in a growing list of doctors prosecuted for allegedly... Read more...

A Kaiser transplant surgeon is under investigation due to allegations that he purposely hastened a patient's death in order to harvest his organs for transplants. San Luis Obispo police and the Medical Board of California are examining whether Dr. Hootan Roozrokh gave high doses of a strong painkiller to Ruben Navarro, the patient. Another surgeon--Dr. Arturo Martinez--is also under investigation.

Navarro was in a long-term care facility when he was found unresponsive and taken to …

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A California court declared a mistrial in two Vioxx liability lawsuits against drugmaker Merck after the jury deadlocked on whether the plaintiffs' physicians would have recognized the potential risks or side-effects of taking the painkiller. Attorneys for both plaintiffs, Lawrence Appell, of Scottsdale, AZ and Rudolph Arrigale, of Westminster, CA said they would seek a new trial. Report

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In a vote that expressed strong disagreement over the long-term consequences, an FDA panel has recommended that Pfizer be allowed to market painkiller Celebrex for treatment of children two and older with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The fifteen-member advisory board ruled that for short-term use, the benefits of the drug outweighed its risks, despite concerns over past cardiovascular problems caused by sister drugs like Vioxx. However, in a separate 8-7 decision, it found that Pfizer …

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Drugmaker Pfizer is seeking permission to sell painkiller Celebrex to children as young as two years old with arthritis. According to the FDA, about 1 in 1,000 children have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Some physicians already prescribe Celebrex, given that other drugs make them sick to their stomach. Still, Pfizer's move is controversial, particularly given that critics are already calling for the drug's removal from the market. Celebrex is the last cox-2 inhibitor to remain on the …

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Narcotic painkiller Actiq, which is FDA-approved only for use in treating cancer pain, is widely prescribed for conditions such as migraines and backache as well. With growing numbers of patients becoming addicted to Actiq, which contains fentanyl, government regulators and physicians are investigating whether drug-maker Cephalon has been illegally marketing off-label use to physicians. Despite its approved target audience, oncologists accounted for only 1 percent of the 187,076 Actiq …

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