Pfizer news stories on Newser

Now Kraft Quits 'Stand Your Ground' Supporter

Matt Cantor — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:38:05 CDT

In January, it was Pepsi; earlier this week, it was Coke . Now Kraft is leaving the American Legislative Exchange Council, which supports laws like Florida's "stand your ground" rule. The food company won't be renewing its membership in the conservative group "for a number of reasons, including limited resources," a...

If Faulty Pfizer Pills Result in Pregnancy, Can You Sue?

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:15:52 CST

If you unintentionally get pregnant because you were on Pfizer's recalled birth control pills , can you sue? In most states, the answer is yes, writes Brian Palmer in Slate's Explainer column. That's because most US courts recognize the "unwanted conception" or "unwanted pregnancy" tort, which usually comes into effect when...

Pfizer Recalls Birth Control Pills

Polly Davis Doig — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:46:00 CST

Pfizer is yanking about a million packs of birth control pills off of shelves nationwide over concerns that they don't contain enough contraceptive to be effective, reports Reuters . The recall, announced yesterday, affects lots of Lo/Ovral-28, Norgestrel, and Ethinyl Estradiol; due a packaging error, some packets contain too many active...

Firms Keep Number of Outsourced Jobs Hidden

Matt Cantor — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:00:05 CDT

Major US corporations often don’t reveal the percentage of their workforce that’s overseas—even as some of these firms, including Apple and Pfizer, seek tax breaks that they say would allow them to create more jobs at home, the Washington Post reports. While they’re required by law to present such...

Pfizer Hopes to Sell Lipitor Over the Counter

John Johnson — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:40:32 CDT

Pfizer hopes to sell an over-the-counter version of its popular cholesterol drug Lipitor, the Wall Street Journal reports. But first it will have to convince a skeptical FDA, which is wary about letting people use such statins without a doctor's supervision. Pfizer loses the patent on Lipitor in November, and...

FDA: Chickens Contain Arsenic

Kevin Spak — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:15:28 CDT

Pfizer has suspended sales of an arsenic-laced drug that’s been fed to chickens for decades, after the FDA released a study showing that the arsenic winds up in parts of the chicken that consumers eat. The FDA stressed that chicken meat probably doesn’t contain enough arsenic to pose a health...

Google CEO Eyed as Commerce Secretary

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:05:48 CST

The Obama administration is considering naming Google CEO Eric Schmidt as commerce secretary, sources tell BusinessWeek . Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler and current US trade representative Ron Kirk are also reportedly in the running. Current Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is being nominated to be US ambassador to China. Presidents often look...

Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler Replaced in Surprise Move

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:21:05 CST

Pfizer abruptly replaced its CEO and chairman yesterday, saying Jeffrey B. Kindler was retiring after 4.5 years leading the world's biggest drugmaker to "recharge." Analysts saw the unexpected departure as an ouster, however, coming amid repeated failures from Pfizer's labs to produce new, much-needed blockbuster drugs, multiple patent expirations...

Disgraced Doctors Land at Big Pharma

Kevin Spak — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:59:20 CDT

Pharmaceutical companies say they hire highly respected doctors as their white-coat sales force, peddling their drugs to other physicians. But a Pro Publica investigation has discovered that hundreds of these pitchmen have been accused of professional misconduct, been disciplined by state boards, or lacked credentials. Medical board records in the...