California Injury Attorney Blog

The New York Times reports that AstraZeneca has agreed to settle a federal investigation of its marketing practices for the drug, Seroquel.

The settlement requires the company to pay $520 million and was announced on Tuesday by Attorney General Eric Holder. AstraZeneca denies the allegations, but agreed to the payment to avoid what would be protracted litigation with the government.

The drug was originally developed to treat schizophrenia. However, the pharmaceutical company allegedly paid doctors to market drugs for unapproved uses including uses by kids, the elderly, veterans and others. With federal investigations and whistleblower suits lingering, the company's sales and marketing was front and center in this matter. This is the latest settlement in a line of federal investigations into the illegal marketing of antipsychotic drugs.

The claims center around the contention that the company misled doctors and their patients by failing to disclose studies that showed this drug increases diabetes risk. They also are alleged to have emphasized favorable research while also failing to disclose risks.

The uses for kids and others were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and caused various side effects. Kids gained weight and other patients died as a result of the off-label uses.

The California Injury Attorney Blog has reported previously on the off-label marketing case against Pfizer and its settlement. Similar cases have been settled with Eli Lilly for Zyprexa and other pharmaceuticals.

Related Web Resources

Visit the Food and Drug Administration's site for more information on how drugs are approved for use.

Continue reading "$520 Million Pay Out for Off-Label Marketing " »

A very sad story when an under-age driver takes the wheel of a car while intoxicated. Over the weekend, just such a tragedy unfolded in Oakland, California.

SF Gate reports that Saturday evening a teen was driving on International Boulevard with a passenger in his car. The CHP had tried to pull him over as he was driving 85 miles per hour, but the CHP gave up the pursuit.

The teen ended up hitting the base of a light pole and crashing the vehicle into an apartment building staircase and one of the apartments. The driver and his passenger were trapped and freed by emergency personnel using the jaws of life. The passenger, who was identified as Martin Contreras of Oakland, was declared dead at the scene.

The teen was arrested and booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, but that is not all. Two loaded handguns were found in the car. And the teen had a prior drunk driving arrest. The residents living in the apartment building that had been hit by the teen's vehicle were relocated.

Related Web Resources

For more information on teen drinking and driving, please visit the power of parenting site sponsored by MADD.

Continue reading "Bay Area Car Accident Tragedy -- Teen Drinking Driving Speeding " »

Last week, Toyota got more bad news and more bad press about the safety of its cars. Its the kind of bad press no car manufacturer would want, especially one that has been a headline news story for months.

What happened this time? Consumer Reports tested the Lexus GX 460. They reported that its tests revealed a dangerous problem in handling the car. This in turn led to a Don't Buy recommendation by the popular consumer hot spot.

What went wrong with this car? In the Consumer Reports testing, when pushed to its limit, the rear of the car swerved making rollover a major risk. The electronic stability system did not engage until after the rear of the car had already slid out nearly sideways. The driver was not able to regain control of the auto until it was close to a roll-over.

A bit of good news for Toyota: the other Toyota SUV's tested by Consumer Reports did not have this problem.

Under the safety and governmental microscope, Toyota took fast note and its engineers replicated the slide. Toyota agrees -- there is a safety issue with the vehicle. In an unprecedented move, sales of the Lexus GX 460 were halted.

Toyota also has a big decision to make about fines. They must inform the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week about whether the company will pay the proposed fine of $16.4 million for the alleged failure to disclose information regarding the "sticky pedal" issue that has been haunting the company for months now. Failure to pay this fine could result in court action against Toyota.

Related Web Resources

For more information on the Toyota recall visit the company's recall site. To read more about the halt of sales for the Lexus GX 460 visit the New York Times and Huffington Post.

Continue reading "Auto Safety Woes Continue for Toyota" »

The California Injury Attorney Blog has promised to keep you informed of distracted driving developments. As we noted, the US Department of Transportation and Oprah Winfrey have teamed up on this issue.

Now Oprah has announced National No Phone Zone Day for April 30 as she says she is taking the effort to the streets. You can sign Oprah's No Phone Zone pledge on her site. You can pledge not to text and drive. The main goals are to stop drivers from texting altogether and to either use a hands free device or pull over to the side of the road when talking on the phone.

It is generally agreed that teen drivers are at a particularly high risk for texting and driving. This is a teen means of communication and with that comes great danger.

New public service announcements by ATT show the word "yeah" on the screen while a young woman's voice says (paraphrasing) this was the last word her sister saw before her fatal accident and that this one message was not worth dying for -- or words to that effect.

The other day, a friend recounted seeing a teen driver holding a cigarette while talking on the phone while driving. This left no hands with which to drive. Since the teen brain actually is prone to taking higher risk -- it is going to take a great deal of tragedy before we make real progress in stopping this activity.

Hopefully, we will also see more enforcement of the laws prohibiting this activity, which are now either enacted or being considered in many states around the country.

Continue reading "April 30 -- National No Phone Zone Day" »