Pfizer Settlement Restricts Drug Marketing

Law.com carries this article on the recent $60 million settlement between pharmaceutical company Pfizer with 33 states attorneys general: Pfizer Settlement Over Marketing of Celebrex Contains Far-Reaching Restrictions.

According to the article, the settlement over the company's alleged off-label marketing of pain medication Bextra and arthritis drug Celebrex "includes a sweeping list of new marketing and advertising restrictions for the pharmaceutical company."

"...Pfizer has agreed to stop the following activities: giving incentives to sales staff to promote off-label drug use and paying doctors to spend time with Pfizer sales representatives; using grant money to promote use of Pfizer's drugs; "ghost writing" articles and studies for a named author outside of the company; and giving doctors drug samples to encourage off-label prescribing."

Read the full article at: Pfizer settlement.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement:

"While we are pleased with the monetary payment and plan to use these funds to improve the health and welfare of Massachusetts residents, it is the comprehensive injunctive relief that will ensure that Pfizer, the world's largest drug manufacturer, can no longer deceptively promote its products."

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Poisoning is #1 Accident in Massachusetts

This Forbes.com article credits Massachusetts with an interesting distinction -- in the state, poisoning has eclipsed car crashes as the number one cause of accidental death. According to the article, America's Accident Capitals...

"In the past five years, more people have died in the U.S. from accidental poisoning than any other form of unintentional death except for motor vehicle accidents.... In Massachusetts, poisoning replaced motor vehicle accidents as the No. 1 cause of unintentional death in 2005. Ditto for Washington, D.C."

The article names prescription drugs as the culprit especially prescription drugs quoting a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study...

"The combined evidence seems to indicate that the increase in poisoning mortality is primarily among adults (ages 20 to 64) of both sexes, and is mainly attributable to abuse of opioid analgesics."

See the article for more details.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, 18 Businesses Pay $28M Wrongful Death Settlement In Big Dig Death | AHN | October 5, 2008

This article goes into more detail on the Big Dig $28M Settlement and notes that all 18 defendents were insured by AIG. Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, 18 Businesses Pay $28M Wrongful Death Settlement In Big Dig Death | AHN | October 5, 2008

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Big Dig Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settlement Is $28 Million

According to today's Boston Globe, the family of the woman who was crushed to death by falling ceiling tiles' in the "Big Dig" tunnel accident have reached the final settlement in lawsuits related to the death. In an article headlined, Family to get $28m in Big Dig death:

"Milena Del Valle's family agreed to accept a total of $18.1 million yesterday from construction contractor Modern Continental, project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, six smaller companies, and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, according to the family's lawyers."

Previously, the family had settled with two other defendents for $10 million, bringing the total settlement to $28m.