Two men were sentenced last week in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, New York for more than 19 years of imprisonment, following their convictions for crimes related to illegal asbestos removal activities throughout New York State.
Alex Salvagno, 39 years old of Loudon, New York, received 25 years and his father, Raul Salvagno, 71, of Ormond Beach, […]

HealthSouth Corporation, the nation’s largest provider of rehabilitative medicine services, has agreed to pay the United States $325 million to settle allegations that the company defrauded Medicare and other federal healthcare programs, the Department of Justice said Thursday.
“When a company defrauds our nation’s health care programs, it steals from the American taxpayers,” Assistant Attorney […]

A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Johnson & Johnson alleges that Children’s Motrin causes Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a harmful reaction resulting in severe burning, blistering, blindness or death in some cases. The Plaintiff, Sabrina Brierton Johnson, age 7, claims that an allergic reaction to taking Children’s Motrin (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome) caused her to become blind and photosensitive.
The lawsuit, […]

On December 16, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a court order against Canada Care Drugs, Inc. (Canada Care), Christine Ruggiero, and Claire Ruggiero, which prevents them from causing the importation of drugs, receiving commissions from the importation of drugs, and advertising or promoting any importation service, the […]

The Bush administration last week said it would be extraordinarily difficult and costly for personal importation to be implemented in a way that ensures the safety and effectiveness of the imported drugs. Furthermore, the overall savings from legalized commercial importation would be small, and developing and implementing such a program would incur significant costs and […]

Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, today said the National Institutes of Health has reported in an Alzheimer’s Disease prevention study that there was no increased cardiovascular risk seen in elderly patients taking its blockbuster arthritis and pain relief drug Celebrex (400 mg daily) for up to three years.
However, the NIH on Monday said that research […]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert said on Monday that his Medicaid Fraud Control Section has secured $6,175,000 for the Pennsylvania Medicaid Program as its share of a national settlement with Schering-Plough Corporation.
The settlement is part of a national $290 million settlement following a guilty plea by Schering Sales Corporation, a subsidiary of Schering-Plough, to criminal […]

Celebrex, the popular arthritis and pain relief drug, increases some patients’ risk of heart attack, Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, said after receiving new information yesterday from an analysis of two long-term cancer trials.
Pfizer and the National Cancer Institute on Thursday stopped an ongoing clinical trial investigating a new use of Celebrex because of […]

Merck & Company has agreed to change its refund program for consumers who used its recently recalled prescription drug, Vioxx, Attorney General Hardy Myers said on Monday in a press release.
“Although we appreciated Merck’s decision to pull Vioxx off the shelves and provide refunds to consumers, the program was not only unduly burdensome, but it […]

Hollywood movie studios on Tuesday filed lawsuits against operators of sites that help people find movies and TV programs on BitTorrent and eDonkey, two major peer-to-peer filesharing networks.
The Motion Picture Association of America and its members, which include Disney, Sony Pictures, MGM, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers, are working with law […]