Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, on behalf of the state, filed a civil action suit against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), formerly SmithKline Beecham, claiming that the pharmaceutical maker wrongfully and illegally marketed, priced, sold and promoted the diabetes medication rosiglitazone, under the trade names Avandia, Avandamet and Avandaryl.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is launching a trial to determine whether patients with stable angina can safely undergo cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) to determine if plaque stenosis is the cause of their pain, instead of a SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging exam, that often is followed by invasive catheter angiography to assess the degree of coronary artery disease.

Novo Nordisk has been slapped with a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts that calls for the company to fork over documents regarding potential criminal offenses related to the companys marketing and promotion of diabetes products.

African-American and elderly Medicare recipients are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital after cases of acute MI, congestive heart failure and pneumonia when compared with whites, according to a study published in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Medicines Company has reached a settlement agreement with the law firm WilmerHale resolving all its potential claims against WilmerHale related to the principal U.S. patent covering the product bivalirudin (Angiomax), U.S. Patent No. 5,196,404 (the 404 patent).

Physio-Control, a manufacturer of external defibrillation and monitoring technology, and BeneChill, makers of portable therapeutic cooling systems, have entered into a strategic partnership to launch the RhinoChill IntraNasal cooling system in Europe.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has revised the U.S. prescribing information and medication guides for rosiglitazone-containing medicines (Avandia, Avandamet and Avandaryl) to include additional safety information and restrictions on the use of these medicines, reflecting the FDAs review of cardiovascular event data in type 2 diabetes patients treated with Avandia.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware reaffirmed an April 2010 federal jury decision that determined Medtronic CoreValve willfully infringed Edwards Lifesciences Andersen transcatheter heart valve patent and awarded Edwards $74 million in damages.