Archive for the ‘billy tauzin’ tag
Wyeth v. Levine: Wyeth should be made to financially bleed
I think that a patient should have the right to sue pharmaceutical corporations for personal injuries stemming from prescription drugs approved by the FDA. If the drug hurts you in any way and it was approved by the FDA I think it’s pretty clear. You’re taking a drug assuming that it’s safe if you follow the labeling correctly. When that proves to be horribly false then you need justice.
The court battle is over whether or not Wyeth Pharmaceuticals sufficiently warned against the dangers of IV push on its packaging for Phenergan — packaging that had been approved by the FDA. The drug’s labeling did warn that it was preferable to give Phenergan through IV drip, and warned that “inadvertent intra-arterial injection” — accidentally injecting the drug into an artery — could cause “gangrene requiring amputation.” But nowhere on the Phenergan label was there an express warning that the method of IV push is extremely risky for this very reason.
Why they (Wyeth) did not clearly state that IV pushing should be prohibited I have no idea. CEO Bernard J. Poussot and gang were reckless.
