Pharmaceutical Industry

The maker of a blood thinner suspected in four U.S. deaths and allergic reactions in 350 people said Tuesday that its investigation was focusing more closely on whether something went awry during the processing of ingredients in China. Baxter Healthcare Corp. spokeswoman Erin Gardiner said testing had detected irregularities in samples of the drug, heparin, that were processed in China from raw material extracted in China.

It wasn't long ago that the pharmaceutical industry viewed HIV drugs as more of a public service than possible bestsellers. Unlike in the case of cancer or heart disease, where drugs for patients in richer markets such as the United States and Europe can be instantly and startlingly profitable, two-thirds of people infected with HIV are in impoverished regions in Africa. But something unexpected is happening: As treatment of HIV patients in the U.S.

Li Li, a drug industry veteran, spent almost five years getting his heparin plant ready for U.S. regulatory approval. It was an arduous process, he said, displaying thick black binders with detailed documentation of his operations here. And his timing couldn't have been better. Heparin, a widely used blood thinner, was once made from cow lungs. Drug makers shifted to pig intestines as concerns over mad cow disease heightened in the 1990s, and no place has more hogs than China.

Years of high-profile court battles over drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex, along with billion-dollar settlements and jury verdicts, could soon be a thing of the past. The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, ruled last month that patients injured by most medical devices can't sue their manufacturers. And this fall, a similar case could extend the same legal protection to the much larger pharmaceutical industry -- a frequent target of lawsuits.

In the contentious debate over insuring Americans' health, the value of generic prescription drugs is a rare point of consensus. Patients, physicians, employers, politicians -- all hail generics as powerful treatment for a swelling healthcare tab. On average, these copycat medicines cost less than a third of the brand-name drugs they mimic. In turn, the competition they provide drives down the cost of those first-to-market drugs.

Two of the world's bestselling drugs to lower cholesterol may have no benefit, researchers reported Sunday in a development that could significantly alter how patients are treated for heart disease. Based on the news, a top medical journal encouraged doctors to stop routinely prescribing them. Vytorin and a related drug, Zetia, did not reduce fatty plaque in arteries any more than a cheaper generic, researchers said at a major cardiology conference in Chicago.

Health product maker Johnson & Johnson reported a 40% jump Tuesday in first-quarter profit, mainly because of the weak dollar boosting foreign revenue and a charge that depressed year-earlier results. The New Brunswick, N.J.-based maker of contraceptives, medical devices, baby-care items and prescription drugs reported profit of $3.6 billion, or $1.26 a share, up from $2.57 billion, or 88 cents, a year earlier.

Some of the most influential players in our healthcare system are three companies you may never have heard of. They're called prescription benefit managers, and they oversee the prescription-drug insurance plans offered by businesses, governments and other organizations. And, if the attorneys general of California and 27 other states are correct, they've been pocketing money from pharmaceutical companies to steer patients into name-brand drugs. The attorneys general announced a $9.

Last week's column on California legislation that would allow drugstores to share people's prescription-drug records with mass-mailers clearly struck a chord with readers. And I'm glad to say it resonated with lawmakers as well. The bill -- SB 1096, written by state Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) -- was approved by the Senate on May 29. But it hit a brick wall Tuesday when it failed to garner a single vote of support in the Assembly Health Committee.

Wyeth agreed Tuesday to settle a Nevada case in which two women claimed that its hormone-replacement drugs Prempro and Premarin caused their breast cancer. Trial was to begin this week. The company agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to Vesta Woodhouse, 71, and Annie Woods, 61, both of Las Vegas, to resolve allegations that it failed to adequately warn them about the drugs' breast cancer risks. The settlement leaves a unit of rival drug maker Pfizer Inc.