Three prescription medications commonly prescribed for insomnia will now be required to carry boxed warnings by the FDA, due to serious and even fatal side effects. This new warning comes in the wake of nearly 70 reports over a 26-year period of sleepwalking and shockingly, “sleep-driving.” The...

Defendants Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Meyer Squibb (BMS) have entered into a global settlement with 600 plaintiffs in multi-district litigation over alleged side effects of the neuroleptic medication Abilify (aripiprazole), prescribed for the treatment of bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. If 90% of the plaintiffs agree to the...

The last four weeks have seen significant developments in multidistrict litigation over the anti-psychotic prescription medication Abilify (aripiprazole) as both sides have filed motions, each side alleging the other has interfered with pre-trial discovery. In January, defendants Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Meyer Squibb (BMS) asked Judge M. Casey Rogers to...

Last month, the journal JAMA Psychiatry published a study suggesting that the use of antipsychotic medications may be fatal for children and adolescents who have not been diagnosed with psychosis. The study focused on patients who had been prescribed antipsychotic medications for behavioral disorders, such as ADHD, bipolar, or depression. In the majority of...

Almost one year ago, the FDA gave the green light to a “digital pill” that helps physicians to monitor patient compliance.  The pill, developed by Proteus Digital Health, contains a small, ingestible transmitter that sends out an electronic signal via a sensor worn by the patient.  This sensor then...

Since the passing of a recent deadline to reach a global settlement in nearly 1,700 Abilify lawsuits (up from the 22 cases originally consolidated in 2016), counsel for defendants Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Meyer Squibb (BSM) and those for the plaintiffs have been working overtime to prepare for the test...

As of April of 2018, the were over 800 lawsuits pending against Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and its U.S. partner, Bristol-Meyer Squibb (BMS) over the psychoactive medication Abilify (aripiprizole).  Plaintiffs allege that the drugmakers failed to warn patients and doctors about side effects that cause compulsive, uncontrollable behaviors, particularly gambling.   Another alleged side...

A six-year legal battle has finally ended for drugmakers Bristol-Meyer Squibb (BMS) and Otsuka as a judicial panel recently made a 2 to 1 decision not to revive a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two former employees. In U.S. v. Bristol Meyers Squibb Co., the Sixth Circuit ruled that the...

A recent report from Allied Market Research has provided some news that is giving CEOs and shareholders in major pharmaceutical companies some reason to celebrate. Because of the rise in the number of patients suffering mental illness, primarily schizophrenia, the market for neuroleptic and anti-psychotic medications such as Abilify...

For some time, it has been known that the anti-depressant drug Abilify causes people who take it to behave in reckless, impulsive ways. In these situations, manufacturers of such harmful prescription medications argue that the benefits of the product outweigh the risks, often citing self-funded research studies. However, a...