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Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc…The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for Valeant investors under the federal securities laws… Defendants issued materially false and misleading statements to investors and/or failed to disclose that:

• deficient internal controls
• relationship with a network of specialty pharmacies used to boost Valeant’s sales of its high-priced drugs
• the use of specialty pharmacies left Valeant vulnerable to increased regulatory risks
• under government scrutiny for its financial assistance programs for patients, pricing decisions and the distribution of its products
• faced the risk of scrutiny over its price increases
• without using specialty pharmacies, Valeant’s financial performance would be negatively impacted
• without using specialty pharmacies, Valeant’s Class Period performance would have been negatively impacted
• true relationship with Philidor and the extent of that relationship
• controlled Philidor
• Valeant’s subsidiary KGA had a secured lien interest on Philidor’s ownership
• engaged in a scheme to manipulate Valeant’s stock price
• public statements were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

Join Together Northern Nevada teamed up…with UNR's Medical School to educate community members about a Sacramento-based pilot program that's treating addiction with a non-narcotic, non-addictive drug (naltrexone)…Prescription drug abuse is the number one growing problem in the country and Nevada is one of the highest-ranked states when it comes to prescription painkillers…"It's a big problem; we're the number two prescriber of oxycodone and hydrocodone in the nation,"…"People may not want to intentionally abuse prescription drugs but let's say they get injured, they take a narcotic prescription painkiller and become addicted to it, then they just keep coming back for more."...

James Schiffer, RPh, associate at Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLC, talks about the 18 times he was burglarized over the course of his career.

Enforcement officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have seized approximately half a million doses of unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines, with an estimated value of more than £1 million ($1.5m), during a raid on in Datchet, Slough...A 37 year old man has been arrested… The news comes less than two months after Sundeep Amin from Essex was sentenced to 16 months in prison after MHRA officers seized £900,000 worth of falsified ED drugs en route from India..

As part of its advocacy and community outreach efforts during American Pharmacists Month, the American Pharmacists Association is partnering with the co-chairs of the House Community Pharmacy Caucus, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and Walgreens to host the 3rd Annual Capitol Hill Health Fair on October 28. Flu shots and health screenings, including bone density, glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, and body composition will be available to members of Congress, staff, and the general public in the Rayburn Foyer in the Rayburn House Office Building from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Pharmacists from Walgreens and student pharmacists from:

• University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy
• University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
• Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy
• Howard University College of Pharmacy
• Shenandoah University Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy
• Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy

Next week, on October 27 and 28, the FDA Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee is reviewing ten (nine) active pharmaceutical ingredients to be included on the list of approved bulk drugs that traditional compounders can use in preparing prescriptions. As required within 503A, a bulk ingredient must have an applicable USP monograph, be a component of an FDA approved drug, or be added to an official list authorized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The ten (nine) drugs to be reviewed were nominated by stakeholders…in response to formal requests issued by the agency…FDA has released documents for the PCAC that show their recommendations on each of the nominated drugs. (each item, FDA does not recommend addition to the approved bulk ingredient list)

1. Methylsulfonylmethane
2. Curcumin
3. Germanium Sesquioxide
4. Rubidium Chloride
5. Deoxy-D-Glucose
6. Alanyl–L-Glutamine
7. Glycyrrhizin
8. Glutaraldehyde
9. Domperidone

Chinese hackers linked to the mainland government attempted to gain entry into computer systems at 7 companies including two unnamed pharmaceutical companies, according to a U.S. cybersecurity researcher…the attacks began on Sept. 26, but were ultimately unsuccessful. News of the attacks came a day after President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to stop any government attempts to penetrate corporate networks to support their respective domestic industries… Pharmaceutical companies are a natural target for hackers looking to help their clients or employers shave years and billions of dollars off the time and expense of creating modern drugs.

Washoe County Health District reports gastrointestinal illness outbreaks in schools and daycares have sickened 1,762 staffers and faculty as of ..Oct. 23...A Health District spokesman says a total of 17 schools continue to be in outbreak mode, including 15 schools, one daycare and one charter school.

In a setback to AbbVie, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday warned of liver damage from its two hepatitis C treatments, setting off a chain reaction that is reverberating across the pharmaceutical industry. With as many as seven patient deaths and several liver transplants attributed to the drugs, AbbVie stock plummeted and Wall Street fortune tellers went to work betting on winners and losers…FDA review found five cases that were probably related to the drugs, called Viekira Pak and Technivie…Another five were possibly related. Of the 10 patients, seven died and each seemed to have advanced liver disease or cirrhosis before using the drug. So the FDA is not willing to rule out the possibility that “some events might have occurred even if the patient hadn’t received treatment.”

..first-in-class drug from Amgen based on a tumour-killing virus was given a green light by European regulators…paving the way for its approval within a couple of months…The decision is a further milestone for a technology that has long fascinated scientists but has previously proved difficult to harness…The European Medicines Agency said its experts had recommended approval of Imlygic, also known as talimogene laherparepvec or "T-Vec", for treating melanoma, making it another option among several new drugs for the most deadly form of skin cancer. Imlygic uses a herpes simplex virus...which has been modified to only infect cancer cells. It is injected directly into tumours where it replicates and causes cancer cells to rupture and die, also stimulating a system-wide immune response.