As the national debate over drug pricing ramps up, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) find themselves squarely in the spotlight. PhRMA, which has also criticized hospitals for marking up drug prices by as much as 500%, launched a seven-figure ad campaign targeting proposals in Congress to lower drug prices. PhRMA, which counts companies such as Pfizer,…

Johnson & Johnson continues to face legal challenges over allegations that its talcum powder causes cancer. Recently, a judge dismissed the company’s latest attempt to settle thousands of lawsuits through bankruptcy, marking the second time J&J’s bankruptcy strategy has been rebuffed. We take a look at the timeline of the talc litigation below. Johnson &…

Drug recalls surged in 2022, with defective pharmaceutical units reaching a five-year high, according to the Sedgwick 2023 State of the Nation Recall Index. Also in 2022, sterility was the top cause of recalls for the first time in more than six years. January 2023 saw a significant increase in the number of drug recalls…

PRISM.science, a biomedical database company, has launched a new product called AE Alert. The adverse event detection product provides comprehensive global literature surveillance to monitor adverse events related to prescription drugs. This product is designed to address the limitations of conventional pharmacovigilance literature surveillance by aggregating content in real-time. The company says AE Alert has…

Global Pharma Healthcare is voluntarily recalling lubricant eye drops owing to potential contamination. The recall is a result of an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into a cluster of multi-state infections linked to the use of the product. CDC suspects that a cluster of Verona Integron-mediated Metallo-β-lactamase (VIM)- and Guiana-Extended…

In recent years, a number of drug companies have carried out prominent recalls of hypertension, heartburn and diabetes medications due to the presence of nitrosamines, organic compounds shown to cause cancer in animal studies. The problem could cost Big Pharma companies billions of dollars, but proving the cancer-causing role of nitrosamines in drugs may be difficult.…

The FDA has classified a recall of a Baxter Healthcare product used to deliver hazardous drugs such as chemotherapeutic agents Class 1, indicating that it could cause serious adverse health consequences or death. The recall covers all lots with product code 2R8403 distributed from October 14, 2020 to June 30, 2022. There are Baxter announced…

In Q2 2022, the number of recalled units in the U.S. pharma industry dropped sharply. In the first quarter of the year, drug makers recalled more than 435 million units. However, the number of recalled units in Q2 2022 was 20.5 million, according to the Sedgwick Brand Protection Q2 2022 recall index. “It was definitely a…

The Canadian division of Taro Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:TARO) has announced a voluntary Type 1 recall of six lots of Taro-zoledronic Acid Injection. Type 1 recalls, according to Health Canada, refer to products that could cause serious adverse health consequences or death. It corresponds to Class 1 recalls from the FDA. Taro Pharmaceutical‘s consumer-level recall covers 5 mg/100…

Fresenius Kabi has announced a three-year plan to add GS1 Data Matrix barcodes to its pharmaceutical portfolio.  GS1 Data Matrix barcodes are also known as 2D barcodes.  The company manufactures a range of vials, syringes, IV products and parenteral nutrition products.   The Lake Zurich, Illinois–based company says the decision will reduce the need for manual data entry…