Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Dr. David P. Franklin’s whistleblower lawsuit against Warner-Lambert and its parent company Pfizer Inc., allege they paid dozens of doctors tens of thousands of dollars each to promote Neurontin, an epilepsy drug, to other physicians for non-approved uses. The top spokesperson for Neurontin received than $300,000 for speeches […]

Firestone, a unit of Japan’s Bridgestone Corp., has agreed to settle a Texas class-action lawsuit over its August 2000 recall of 6.5 million allegedly defective Wilderness AT and ATX tires. The settlement does not affect similar suits pending in many other states. Details about the settlement will be publicly disclosed when the agreement is approved […]

Florida appeals court reversed a $145 billion punitive damage award against major U.S. cigarette makers, saying the case should never have gone forward as a class-action lawsuit because each individual smoker had started smoking, and continued to smoke, for different reason.
A three-judge panel of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal also found that the […]

The Environmental Working Group asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require manufactures of cookware to place warning labels on their products that caution consumers of the potential health risks of the non-stick coating.
According to a study by the advocacy group, pots and pans coated with Teflon could reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 C) in […]

A group of Hollywood studios received good news when a judge hearing their case against 321 Studios, which makes software that allows consumers to make back-up copies of encrypted DVDs, said she was “substantially persuaded” by a pair of rulings that sided with the group’s argument that the software violates the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright […]

WEST VIRGINIA — Wood County Circuit Court Judge George W. Hill ordered DuPont to cover the expense of testing for the presence of PFOA in the blood of anyone whose drinking water is, or has been, contaminated with the chemical. The ruling must first clear the appeals process before volunteers can have their blood tested […]

Starting this fall, paint manufacturers across the country will place warning labels on their products cautioning consumers that scraping old paint can create toxic lead dust. The labels will read in part: “WARNING! If you scrape, sand or remove old paint you may release lead dust. LEAD IS TOXIC.”
The labels are required under an agreement […]

Eli Lilly and Co. has settled out of court a Prozac suicide case brought by the parents of a 16-year-old boy who hung himself in 1999 after taking the anti-depression drug to treat the neurological condition Tourette’s syndrome. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Lilly settled the case after the judge rejected a motion from […]

A California jury cleared Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson Inc., of liability in a $1.3 million lawsuit that claimed John Henry Calvert died of a heart attack after taking heartburn medication Propulsid, which has since been taken off the market. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Calvert’s family.
“Obviously the justice […]

Autism and other brain dysfunctions in American children is linked to thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines, say doctors, activists and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Human Rights and Wellness Subcommittee.
Doctors and activists assembled in Chicago to discuss a new study that claims to show an association between thimerosal and brain dysfunctions. The study claims […]