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Abbott Laboratories and two other drugmakers will pay $421 million to settle allegations that they falsely inflated product prices to gain larger government reimbursement payments, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
Abbott’s share of the settlement is $126.5 million for violations of the False Claims Act involving pricing of two antibiotics and agents used to facilitate intravenous infusions of other drugs, the Justice Department said. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories hired a Baltimore-area cardiologist as a sales consultant after he was barred from practicing at a local hospital last year for allegedly putting heart stents in hundreds of patients who didn’t need them, say Senate investigators probing the medical-device industry.
Their report, to be released Monday, shines a light on one of the most lucrative procedures for hospitals and medical-device makers, at a time of spiraling health-care costs. Medicare paid some $25.7 billion for stent surgery in the six years through 2009, according to the report. Get the full story »
Abbott India on Wednesday agreed to merge Solvay Pharma into itself, combining two Indian units of U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories’ and sending Abbott India shares to a 52-week high.
Solvay Pharma said its shareholders would get three shares of Abbott India for every two held. Solvay Pharma shares fell more than 13 percent on the news. Get the full story »
Drug-coated heart stents, such as the Xience model made by Abbott Labs, are as safe as the old bare metal variety for patients with narrowed large coronary arteries, a large European study showed, alleviating concerns about their long-term use.
There was no increase in the number of deaths or heart attacks two years after the drug-coated stent was implanted, according to data presented at the scientific sessions of the American Heart Association in Chicago. Get the full story »
From the Daily Herald | Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium said Tuesday its ocean mammal area will be called the Abbott Oceanarium. The renaming recognizes significant support provided for the Shedd Aquarium by the North Chicago-based pharmaceutical giant and its philanthropic foundation the Abbott Fund. Get the full story>>
Vivus Inc.’s weight-loss drug candidate Qnexa failed to win over U.S. health regulators, who declined to approve the diet pill, asking for evidence related to heart risk and other information.
The Food and Drug Administration told Vivus on Thursday that its new drug application for Qnexa could not approved in its present form. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories reported third-quarter profits tumbled 40 percent thanks to the costs of withdrawing a diet drug from the U.S. market and global cost-cutting in the wake of its acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals.
The North Chicago-based drug and medical product giant reported earnings of $891 million, or 57 cents a share, compared to $1.5 billion, or 95 cents a share in the third quarter of 2009.
Net earnings included after-tax charges of $513 million, or 33 cents a share due to a major product withdrawal, a recall of infant formula in the U.S. and costs that Abbott said was primarily related to restructuring following the Solvay deal. Abbott last month said it would cut about 3,000 jobs worldwide or about 3 percent of the company’s global workforce to eliminate redundancies following the purchase. Get the full story »
An Illinois mother is requesting class-action status in a lawsuit she filed against Abbott Laboratories Inc. over the recall of millions of containers of its top-selling Similac powered infant formula, which she claims, sickened her child and thousands of other children.
Abbott recalled the products on Sept. 22, following two reports from consumers stating they had found beetles or larvae in the formula. The insects and larvae were also found during an inspection at the Sturgis plant in Michigan, where the products are made. Get the full story »
Qiagen NV said Tuesday it will receive kits for a molecular test for HIV-1 in a deal with Abbott Laboratories. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
By Bruce Japsen and Andrew Zajac | Abbott Laboratories said Friday that it would withdraw the diet drug Meridia at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration less than a month after it failed to win over one of the federal agency’s safety advisory panels.
The FDA confirmed the North Chicago-based drug giant’s decision, saying Abbott withdrew the drug because of “clinical trial data indicating an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.” Get the full story »
Federal inspectors who were at a Michigan infant-formula plant last winter discovered no significant problems, months before the company found beetles near the production line. North Chicago, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories recently recalled several brands of Similac formula, although the company said the possibility of bug parts in the products was remote.
Abbott Laboratories posted a list of lot numbers on Thursday for the millions of recalled containers of its Similac powdered infant formulas and expanded Internet and call center capacity to handle a deluge of requests for information from concerned parents.
The company announced a voluntary recall on Wednesday of about 5 million units of its top-selling powdered infant formula after beetles were found in the products and in a Michigan plant where they are made.
The Abbott Web site was so busy after the recall that it crashed Wednesday night, hampering efforts by parents to find out if they had been feeding their babies tainted formula. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories created a Web site for parents and caregivers to check whether their baby formula was affected by Wednesday’s Similac recall.
But families swamped the site and phone hot line Thursday, only to meet a dead end. The overwhelming surge of traffic resulted in busy lines and site problems, leaving parents frustrated by the company’s lack of response. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories Inc. said it is recalling millions of containers of its top-selling Similac powdered infant formulas after beetles were found in the products and in a Michigan plant where they are made.
Abbott said Wednesday the voluntary recall follows reports by two consumers of contamination and its inspection of an area of the plant in Sturgis, Michigan, where beetles or their larvae were found. Abbott said “less than 5 million units” of Similac are being recalled in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean markets. Get the full story »
