Latest news with #Seroquel
Reuters
30-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
AstraZeneca agrees to $51 million settlement in Seroquel antitrust class action
May 30 (Reuters) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $50.9 million to settle a class action lawsuit in U.S. court accusing the company of scheming to delay a generic version of its schizophrenia drug Seroquel, causing companies to pay artificially higher prices. The plaintiffs, a group of drug purchasers including Smith Drug Co and KPH Healthcare Services, filed the preliminary settlement, opens new tab on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The deal requires approval from U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly. The 2019 lawsuit alleged AstraZeneca schemed with Handa Pharmaceuticals to delay the marketing of a generic version of Seroquel XR, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Handa said it will pay $494,000 to settle the buyers' claims. A trial had been scheduled for May 5. AstraZeneca declined to comment. Handa and a lead attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. AstraZeneca and Handa denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. They said the resolution avoids the expense and distraction of any further litigation. Worldwide annual sales of Seroquel once topped $5.3 billion. The class period covers business purchases from 2015 to 2017. In their settlement filing, the plaintiffs' attorneys called the amount an 'outstanding' result for the class of drug buyers. The plaintiffs' lawyers said they would seek up to 36% of the settlement fund for legal fees, or about $18.5 million. AstraZeneca in 2010 agreed to pay $520 million to the U.S. government to settle claims that the company illegally marketed and promoted Seroquel for unapproved uses. The company in 2011 paid $68.5 million to resolve U.S. states' claims over the alleged deceptive marketing of the drug. The case is In re: Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:20-cv-01076-CFC. For direct purchasers: Jonathan Gerstein of Garwin Gerstein & Fisher For AstraZeneca: Benjamin Greenblum of Williams & Connolly For Handa: James Gallagher of Davis Malm & D'Agostine Read more: Hikma Pharma to pay $50 million to settle narcolepsy drug antitrust case 20 US states balk at Florida settlement with drugmaker Sandoz Mylan to pay $73.5 mln to settle drug wholesalers' EpiPen antitrust claims
Wall Street Journal
15-05-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
‘Unshrunk' Review: The Toll of the Treatment
For nearly 15 years, Laura Delano was, in her own words, a 'professional psychiatric patient.' She believed she had an incurable psychiatric disease that could be managed only with medication, therapy and the occasional hospitalization. Over the course of her long career as a patient, Ms. Delano was medicated with Seroquel, Geodon, Abilify, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Depakote, Topamax, Lamictal, Klonopin, Ativan, Ambien, Provigil, Prozac, Effexor, Celexa, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and lithium. So convinced of her condition was Ms. Delano that if anyone had handed her a memoir like the one she has now written, 'Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance,' she would have been insulted and outraged. Her story begins when she was 13 years old. A competitive squash player and the soon-to-be president of her eighth-grade class, Ms. Delano was brushing her teeth in front of a mirror one evening when she had a harrowing experience: The edges of her vision blurred; she felt a terrifying sense of disembodiment and fragmentation; and the figure in the mirror was no longer recognizable as her. The episode didn't last very long, but it left her with a profound sense of unease. Reflecting on it in bed later that night, Ms. Delano began to see herself from the outside. The view was unsettling. Convinced that her life was all fakery and mindless rule-following, she resolved to escape. What followed was a self-destructive spiral that went far beyond adolescent rebellion. Ms. Delano gives us an unsparing account of her alcoholism, cocaine abuse, eating disorders and episodes of self-harm. In the ninth grade, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and given prescriptions for an antidepressant and a mood stabilizer. Later came an antipsychotic and a drug to help her sleep. If anything, medication accelerated her decline. By age 19, when she was a sophomore at Harvard, she writes, 'I'd morphed from a raw, suffering, lost young woman . . . into a detached, absorbed, empathyless machine.' Ms. Delano marks her eventual turnaround at age 27 to a moment of profound revelation in a Vermont bookstore. That was where she encountered Robert Whitaker's 2010 book, 'Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.' The question Mr. Whitaker asked was simple: How is it possible that rates of mental illness have skyrocketed in parallel with the development of so many supposedly groundbreaking psychiatric drugs? Mr. Whitaker's book forced Ms. Delano to pose a question that had never before occurred to her. 'What if it wasn't treatment-resistant mental illness that had been sending me ever deeper into the depths of despair and dysfunction, but the treatment itself?'
Newsweek
14-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Woman Oblivious to Her 'Pretty Privilege' for Years—Then Everything Changed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A woman has sparked widespread conversation online after opening up about the painful, eye-opening journey of losing and regaining "pretty privilege." Reddit user u/Cool-Wear-8826, from Seattle, Washington, who goes by Ann, shared her story in a viral r/confessions post that received over 38,000 upvotes. She detailed how a health issue that caused weight gain transformed how the world treated her—and how the experience changed her for the better. "When I lost my pretty privilege, this was about three years ago, suddenly I stopped getting those small perks of being helped in stores and restaurants, and became essentially invisible," Ann told Newsweek. A bout of depression led her to take the medication Seroquel, which helped her mental health but drastically slowed her metabolism. As a result, she began to gain weight—and immediately noticed a shift in how people interacted with her. Ann said she went from being offered help in stores and getting free drinks at bar, to no longer being asked out or invited to social events once the weight gain became noticeable. Her confidence plummeted and she began to feel isolated and alone. At work, the changes were even more stark. Ann said she stopped getting promotions and was excluded from workplace lunches. "People would even make rude comments behind my back that I could hear," she said. "And they were very hurtful. One of the most painful things is that no one looked me in the eyes anymore, as if I was sub-human." In her Reddit post, she wrote: "The fatter I got, the less attention was paid to me. People would walk right by and not even acknowledge my existence. It was strange at first, then incredibly humbling. I thought, well, this is the new normal." Although she was devastated by the change, Ann said the experience broadened her perspective. She began to notice others who were also treated as invisible—those who were overweight, had visible disabilities, or otherwise didn't fit conventional beauty standards. "I became kinder to others," she wrote. "I went out of my way to acknowledge them. Since I knew what it felt like to be invisible, I tried to make others feel seen," she added. A stock image showing a woman looking at herself in the mirror. A stock image showing a woman looking at herself in the mirror. Maksym Belchenko/iStock / Getty Images Plus Instead of going out and seeking attention, Ann began practicing mindfulness and meditation. She said this time of introspection helped her develop a deeper level of empathy. "My personality started to change a little," she wrote. "I responded to any small act of kindness with gratefulness... I became a better person." Eventually, her doctor was able to find a new treatment that didn't impact her metabolism. Over the next 18 months, Ann's weight returned to what she described as her "normal healthy" range—and so did the attention. She recalled the moment she realized her pretty privilege had returned: while shopping, a handsome male employee offered to help her, looking her directly in the eyes. "I felt like I mattered again," she said. "Then I instantly felt sad and horrified, because of the cosmic unfairness of life—that how we look really does determine how people treat us, even though it shouldn't." Ann said she now notices the unfair advantages she receives and is determined not to take them for granted. "I still seek out others that would have been invisible to me before, and try my best to greet them and talk to them like the important human beings that they are," she wrote. Her post struck a chord online, with thousands of commenters sharing their own experiences with body image, aging, and social invisibility. "A few years ago, I lost a bunch of weight," one Redditor shared. "I had a really hard time handling the attention I was getting from random strangers. I kinda liked being less noticed honestly." Another added: "I lost weight and it definitely has a lot of advantages, but I kinda feel like I lost my invisibility cloak... More good than bad things in losing weight but change is uncomfortable." A third, who performs weight-loss surgeries, shared a sobering anecdote: "One patient told me she'd received two promotions in the six months after surgery. She looked me dead in the eye and said, 'The quality of my work hasn't changed at all. The only thing that has changed is my weight.'" Mental health counselor Monique Bellefleur, who specializes in eating disorders and body image, told Newsweek that Ann's experience reflects a broader societal problem. She explained that living in a body outside of societal beauty standards—whether due to size, disability, or race—can deeply affect a person's mental health. "When the world around you treats you as less than or invisible because of your appearance, it is understandable that you might start to internalize that message and believe that you actually are less worthy," Bellefleur said. "It also trains us to tie our identities to our bodies, but the problem with this is that bodies change throughout our lives. She added that in our culture, "thinness—along with whiteness and other conventional markers of beauty—functions as a form of social capital." This can create real barriers to things like quality healthcare or respectful service. The stigma attached to weight, she explained, contributes to chronic stress and can push people toward extreme measures to feel valued. Ann concluded with a message of compassion: "The world isn't fair, and that is unfortunate. We need more empathy and kindness in our lives, and it's important to treat each and every person as if they matter, because they truly do." Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
Irish Examiner
24-04-2025
- Irish Examiner
Woman admits trying to smuggle drugs into Cork Prison
The smuggling of drugs to prisoners makes the running of the facilities difficult for prison officers, a district court judge said as a young woman pleaded guilty to bringing cannabis and anti-psychotic tablets into Cork Prison. 25-year-old Abigail Jones of Pembroke Street, Tralee, County Kerry, appeared at Cork District Court where she pleaded guilty to having cannabis for supply at Cork Prison on May 25, 2024, and a similar charge in respect of Seroquel tablets. Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said the young woman, who had no previous convictions, was concerned about a particular prisoner who was depressed and finding it difficult in custody. Misguidedly, she decided to bring the cannabis and tablets to this prisoner in the hope that it would relieve his suffering, the solicitor said. Judge Treasa Kelly said: 'Prisons are inundated. It is very hard for prison officers to maintain standards (because of drugs being brought into prison).' Noting the plea of guilty and the absence of previous convictions, the judge said that she would limit the penalty to a €200 fine on the cannabis charge and take the count relating to Seroquel into consideration. Sergeant John Kelleher said that on the date in question Garda Elaine Gallery attended the prison following a report of a drug seizure during a visit to the prison. Abigail Jones was charged with the two counts of having drugs for supply at Cork Prison.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Yahoo
Smith County Jail medication tech arrested for delivering pills to inmate, officials say
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – The Smith County Sheriff's Office has arrested a contracted medical employee working at the Smith County Jail for allegedly bringing pills to an inmate. 3 arrested for promoting prostitution in Smith County after undercover operation According to a press release from the sheriff's office, Jessica Riley, 41 of Tyler, was working in the jail as a medication tech when she was arrested at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Officials said an investigation was started after investigators were given information claiming that Riley had been illegally dispensing controlled substances to an inmate. The sheriff's office said that investigators were able to review video that allegedly showed Riley passing something to an inmate from her medical cart. Officials then searched the cell of Tyirese Ladale Dews, 24 of Tyler, who was arrested for the unrelated charge of promoting prostitution on March 6. Two tablets of Seroquel were found inside the bunkbed in Dews' cell, according to a press release. Riley was arrested for prohibited substance in a correctional facility and booked at the Smith County Jail before she was transported to the Gregg County Jail, which the sheriff's office said is protocol when a jail employee is arrested. They added that her bond was set at $150,000. Dews was also charged for prohibited substance in correctional facility on top of his prior charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
