Now that Pharmarisc is back up and running, what better topic to discuss than the one that started this blog in the first place back in December, 2012 – the FDA’s incursion into manufacturers’ free speech rights. However, instead of focusing on Caronia, Par, et. al., lets take a look at the FDA’s June, 2014 Guidance re Internet/Social Media Platforms with Character Space Limitations – Presenting Risk and Benefit Information for Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (“June Guidance”) and the free speech implications for manufacturers looking to use Twitter’s wildly popular platform to promote drug and medical device products. [Read more...]
FDA’s Social Media Guidance and the First Amendment – the Next Frontier
August 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Will GSK’s Incentive Compensation And Speaker Program Initiatives Set The Tone For 2014?
January 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
When British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC (“GSK”) announced last month that it was implementing a new global marketing strategy to transform the way it sells and markets drugs to both doctors and patients, many commentators were quick to announce that a fundamental shift in the pharmaceutical business was underway. While GSK’s announcement was significant in terms of precedence and scope, it is unclear at best whether other pharmaceutical companies will follow suit. [Read more...]
Aegerion CEO’s Remarks On Television Highlight Off-Label Free Speech Issue Once Again
November 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
According to the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (“OPDP”), Marc Beer, the CEO of biopharmaceutical firm Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, overstepped his bounds when he allegedly made misleading statements about Aegerion’s cholesterol-lowering drug, Juxtapid™ on two televised appearances on CNBC. As a result, Aegerion received a warning letter earlier this month from OPDP, admonishing Beer for his transgressions, accusing the Company of misbranding Juxtapid™ and asking for corrective action. Although it makes business sense for Aegerion to “play ball” with the FDA and do whatever it takes to convince the agency that there was no intent to promote Juxtapid™ off-label, Beer’s comments are a reminder of the free speech issue embedded in any discussion about a drug or device product that falls outside the friendly confines of the product’s labeling. [Read more...]
J&J to Pay $2.2 Billion To End Long-Standing Investigations By Feds
November 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Charges of off-label marketing and kickback payments to physicians and long-term care pharmacy provider Omnicare are behind a $2.2 billion settlement agreement between Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in which the global health care giant finally resolves criminal and civil liability involving Risperdal and two other prescription drugs. The eye-popping figure makes this the third largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. [Read more...]
Medtronic InFUSE Cases Signal That Off-Label Promotion Probably Not Illegal
October 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A majority of plaintiffs seeking damages based on off-label promotion of Medtronic’s InFUSE Bone Graft system have been stopped in their tracks following several recent federal court decisions holding that such challenges were barred on preemption grounds. Indeed, with the exception of two district court cases out of the Ninth Circuit, these preemption rulings not only underscore the limits of off-label promotion arguments in medical device cases, but also show that courts remain skeptical about whether off-label promotion is illegal under federal law. [Read more...]
Big Pharma On Its Heels as China Rounds Up “More Of The Usual Suspects” And Prepares To Slam GSK
September 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Allegations of misconduct continue to plague Big Pharma companies in China. Charges of bribery, corruption, off-label promotion, and inflated pricing now extend beyond GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi. While these companies react to coming under Chinese scrutiny — with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reportedly taking “proactive” steps to strengthen its China unit – the Company that started it all (GSK) braces for major fines. [Read more...]
Plaintiff’s Lawyers File RICO Class Action Suit Against Abbott Over Depakote Off-Label Promotion
August 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A well-known plaintiff’s law firm with a stable of union pension fund clients has used the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), which was originally enacted in 1970 to combat organized crime, to file a class action lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories for the off-label promotions of Depakote. Unless Abbott and similarly situated big pharma companies intend to fork over hundreds of millions (if not billions) of more dollars to plaintiff’s lawyers, they need to fight such suits tooth and nail. [Read more...]
Boston Scientific Battles Former Employees-Turned Whistleblowers Over “Trade Secrets”
August 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
In what will likely be another adverse legal decision for Boston Scientific Corporation’s Neuromodulation subsidiary (“BSNC”) in its ongoing battle with two former billing services employees-turned whistleblowers, the medical device manufacturer’s latest attempt to derail a qui tam suit involves charges that the whistleblowers stole BSNC trade secrets, thus violating the terms of their employment agreements. Although there might one day be a case that truly tests the limits on how far an employee can go in taking her employer’s proprietary data to win the qui tam lottery, the current suit involving BSNC is probably not that case. [Read more...]
Pfizer $149 Million Rapamune Settlement Is More Proof That It’s Business As Usual With The Feds
August 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Two False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuits are being resolved as part of a $491 million settlement between Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, now a division of Pfizer, Inc., and the U.S. DOJ. This time around, Wyeth’s misconduct was based on off-label sales tactics for Rapamune®, an immunosuppressive drug that FDA approved for use in renal (kidney) transplant patients. Unfortunately for the pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer’s latest compliance woes are a stark reminder that off-label cases are anything but passé. [Read more...]
GSK’s China Employees “Confess” To Bribery
July 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday we described the burgeoning bribery allegations against GSK’s China operations in a post titled “Enemy at the Gates: Bribery Charges in China Getting Worse for GSK.” Apparently, GSK’s China woes are getting worse by the day. A Reuters article reports that the Chinese government has secured “confessions” from several GSK “executives” to bribery and tax violations. (Click http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/11/gsk-china-idUSL4N0FH21620130711 to read the Reuters story).
Allegations reported recently in the Wall Street Journal disclose that GSK Chinese staffers developed a plan, dubbed the “Vasily” program after famed World War II Russian sniper, Vasily Zaytsev, that targeted 48 doctors for payments and gifts in exchange for writing GSK drug prescriptions. Pharmarisc will be following this story and will report any significant developments in the case.
