The main headlines of Fox Business Flash are here. Check out what is clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi SA were ordered by a U.S. judge on Monday to pay more than $ 834 million to the state of Hawaii for failing to adequately warn non-white patients about the health risks of their Plavix thinner .
The companies have not changed the drug’s label to alert doctors and patients, despite knowing some of the risks for more than a decade, wrote U.S. District Judge Dean Ochiai in Honolulu in the decision.
BRISTOL-MYERS CUT 3% OF THE GLOBAL WORK FORCE
Bristol-Myers and Sanofi, which produce Plavix in a partnership, said in a joint statement that the decision was not supported by the sheer amount of scientific evidence and promised to appeal.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMY | BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB | 59.99 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| SNY | SANOFI SA | 47.57 | -0.13 | -0.27% |
“The penalties assigned by the court are totally unfounded, especially since the State of Hawaii has not provided evidence that even a single person has been harmed by Plavix,” the companies said.
Ochiai, who issued the decision after a four-week trial conducted entirely by Zoom without a jury, awarded $ 1,000 in damages for each Plavix prescription filled in Hawaii between 1998 and 2010.
MEET FOX BUSINESS ON THE MOVE CLICKING HERE
Hawaii claimed that companies violated state consumer protection laws by marketing Plavix without revealing that the drug could have little or no effect for some people, especially of East Asian and Pacific Islander ancestry.
Plavix is prescribed to prevent strokes and heart attacks. The anticoagulant needs to be activated by the body’s own enzymes, which can vary genetically. Studies have shown that about 14% of Chinese patients are unable to properly metabolize the drug, compared with 4% of black patients and 2% of whites.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
In 2010, the Food and Drug Administration issued a new Plavix warning label to reflect this information.
Bristol-Myers and Sanofi are still facing a similar lawsuit over Plavix across the state of New Mexico.