A charity will pay $4 million to resolve a pharma kickback investigation. The Justice Department claimed the charity acted as a conduit for companies like Biogen and Novartis to provide kickbacks to patients who used their expensive multiple sclerosis drugs. (Reuters)
Massachusetts has passed a ban on all flavored tobacco products. The ban includes both flavored vaping devices and flavored tobacco, like menthol cigarettes. It places a 75% excise tax on the products and requires insurers to cover smoking cessation counseling. (Associated Press)
Deaths from the vaping lung illness have risen to 47, with 2,290 confirmed cases, according to the weekly update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of confirmed cases and deaths from the illness have been steadily rising for weeks. (Reuters)
Johnson & Johnson has lost a class-action pelvic mesh lawsuit in Australia. The lawsuit claimed that J&J mislead patients and surgeons about the risks of pelvic mesh implants. The judge ruled that J&J sold the products without warning women and rushed them to market without proper testing. (Reuters)
Canadian researchers linked flavored vapes to a case of popcorn lung. In a study, doctors linked a teen’s severe lung and airway injury to diacetyl, a compound often found in vapes that also causes popcorn lung. (Reuters)
