I received an e-mail today from Lambda Legal announcing that the California Supreme Court ruled today that doctor’s cannot deny treatment to patients based on their religious views about gays and lesbians. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit brought by Guadalupe Benitez, a California woman, in 2001 who says that, after 11 months of preparatory treatments, doctors at a women’s medical group denied her a certain type of artificial insemination because their religious beliefs would not allow them to inseminate a lesbian.
Benitez says, “Anyone could be the next target if doctors are allowed to pick and choose their …read more

The Los Angeles city attorney has sued health care insurance provider Blue Shield for dropping policyholders (and allegedly doing so illegally) and “other deceptive practices.” The city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, has already filed two other law suits against health insurance providers. The lawsuits all center around the practice of rescission — when a health insurance company drops an individual from having health care coverage after treatment has taken place, and then denies payment for the treatment to the physician, hospital, or other provider. Apparently, Blue Shield dropped more than 800 patients in this manner. The lawsuit is seeking $1 billion in …read more

Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, a hospital that’s Web page claims is “staunchly committed to patient-centered care”, left a woman who had collapsed on the floor unattended for over an hour. She died on the floor before anyone assisted her.
According to the video below, she had been waiting in the ER for over 24 hours before she collapsed. This is not the first time that this particular hospital has failed to properly treat its patients, and according to a number of sources, this incident is just one in a long line of sad cases that will become more …read more

Canada Investing Over $1 billion in Research and Development, and Hopes to Invest More
Canada’s biopharmaceutical sector has made great strides in research and development, and has high hopes for even more progress.
Cymbalta Now Approved for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia
Cymbalta, a serotonin- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor originally approved to treat depression and anxiety, has now been approved by the FDA to help manage fibromyalgia. This is the second pain disorder for which Cymbalta has been approved; the other is diabetic nerve pain. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about meds typically used to treat depression now being using to treat pain.
FDA …read more

Here’s your roundup of just some of the news coming out of the pharmaceutical world this week. Did you find other interesting news/stories? Post links in a comment!
Codeine May be Inadequate and/or Cause Serious Side Effects in Patients with Certain Genetic Makeup
Public Citizen issued a press release this week stating that a “substantial minority” of people with abnormal CYP2D6 functioning may be at risk for “inadequate or excessive” response to codeine. CYP2D6 is the enzyme that converts codeine into morphine in the liver.
FDA Pushes For Switch to Asthma Inhalers Powered by Hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs).
Goodbye CFCSs, hello HFAs. Read more in an …read more

Here’s a roundup of just some of this past week’s pharmaceutical news items…
Everyone Wants A Piece Of Alnylam
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a leader in RNAi therapeutics, has signed a deal to share rights and technology with Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Express Scripts To Pay $9.5 Million In Settlement
Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager, encouraged doctors to switch their patients’ cholesterol medication brands in the name of cost cutting. The company will pay $9.3 million to 28 states and D.C., and another $200,000 to affected patients at $25 each.
Bristol-Myers Pumps Up With Kosan
Bristol-Myers Squibb hopes to bulk up its pipeline with the $190 million purchase of …read more

As kids, most of us learned that apologizing when we did something wrong was the right thing to do. In the world of health care, though, it seems that saying “I’m sorry” might be revolutionary. In an effort to thwart malpractice costs, and in an act of general human decency, many U.S. health systems are now engaging in full disclosure when medical errors are made. The very idea of a physician admitting to an error and apologizing to a patient and her/his family has malpractice lawyers shaking in their loafers. Just watch how Sacred Heart’s lawyer, Ted, reacts when Dr. …read more

In a second round of legal battles, health care products behemoth Johnson & Johnson has lost steam in its lawsuit against the American Red Cross for their use of the red cross emblem on products for sale. The Red Cross is being sued for using the red cross?
Let me explain.
The American Red Cross (ARC) was founded by Clara Barton in 1881. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian movement, the ARC was free to use the red cross emblem in any way deemed appropriate by its approval years earlier in the Geneva Conventions of 1864. The …read more