Drugs

FDA Debars Ex-Indivior CEO for 5 Years

FDA has issued a five-year debarment order against former Indivior CEO Shaun Thaxter based on an earlier misdemeanor conviction. In 2020, the Western Virginia District Court sentenced Thaxter to six months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of introducing into interstate commerce misbranded shipments of the opioid drug Suboxone Film (buprenorphine). He was ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and forfeit $500,000. Indivior was previously known as Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, which paid $1.4 billion in 2019 to resolve its liability related to Suboxone’s marketing.

In a separate notice, Timothy Baxter, the former global medical director of Indivior, has also been debarred for his role in the Suboxone marketing case. An earlier Justice Department statement said that Baxter admitted that as an Indivior employee he supervised inaccurate drug safety information that was sent to the Massachusetts Medicaid agency in 2012.

Suboxone Film is approved for use by recovering opioid addicts to avoid or reduce withdrawal symptoms. “Thaxter was charged in connection with Indivior’s misrepresentations regarding the safety of Suboxone Film,” a government release said at the time. “While Thaxter served for many years as Indivior’s chief executive, he was in a position to ensure that doctors, patients, and insurers were dealt with honestly. Instead, Thaxter failed to prevent efforts to build profits through misleading safety claims, which led to millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains for Indivior.”

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome