General

The State of Wisconsin, through the Attorney General’s Office, announced settlements with two pharmaceutical companies over off-label marketing and kickback violations.

Off-label marketing involves marketing drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA prohibits drug manufacturers from marketing or promoting a drug for a use that the FDA has not approved.

Wisconsin will receive $74,026 as its share of a $41.5 million settlement with Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc. for allegedly engaging in kickback violations and off-label marketing of its cholesterol treatment drugs Advicor and Niaspan.

The state will also receive payment of $525,903 as its share of a $75.3 million settlement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc. stemming from allegations the company improperly marketed Topamax, which is used to control epileptic seizures. Ortho-McNeil allegedly marketed the drug to physicians for a variety of psychiatric conditions, including bipolar disorder and alcohol dependency.

This marketing strategy affects taxpayers because doctors prescribe drugs to patients covered by public insurance programs such as Medicare.

A 71-year-old man died yesterday from injuries suffered after he was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle.

Terry Hofslund was riding his Suzuki when he was struck by a car turning across his lane of traffic. Hofslund was thrown from the motorcycle and struck a third vehicle, suffering multiple fractures. He succumbed to his injuries Sunday.

Hofslund was wearing a helmet. According to police, the driver of the car was issued a ticket for failure to yield.

Pitman, Kyle, Sicula & Dentice is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling motorcycle accident cases through out the state. Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

One teenager was killed and another was injured when the vehicle they were driving in was hit by a pickup truck yesterday morning in Barton.

The crash occurred when 17-year-old Danielle Held tried to make a sudden U-turn at Beaver Dam Road. A pickup truck behind Held collided with the driver’s side of Held’s vehicle as she turned in the intersection.

The driver, 17-year-old Danielle Held, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her passenger, Nolan Sheppard, 18, was flown to Froedtert Hospital.

The crash remains under investigation.

Taylor Becker, 4, was killed Wednesday after a dog got free and attacked her in the backyard of a family friend’s home.

According to authorities, the dog, a boxer, was tied to a pole on a leash and chain. The dog somehow managed to free itself from its collar and attack the little girl while she was playing in the backyard.

Taylor Becker was taken to a local hospital where she died early Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say they have no information indicating the animal had a history of violence. Authorities also say it’s too early to determine if any charges would be filed.

Here’s an article from the Wisconsin State Journal discussing how driving can be risky for some seniors:

Click here to read the article.

MetLife Foundation Healthy Living Initiative at Dance Exchange, Residency at Saint John’s On The Lake, June 21-25, 20 from Keith Knox on Vimeo.

The egg recall by Write County Egg has sickened hundreds of people, and affected 13 retail brands that the egg factory packages.

The following brands are targeted by the recalll:

• Lucerne
• Albertson
• Mountain Dairy
• Ralph’s
• Boomsma’s
• Sunshine
• Hillandale
• Trafficanda
• Farm Fresh
• Shoreland
• Lund
• Dutch Farms
• Kemps

Eggs are packed in 6- 12- or 18-egg cartons with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, and 1946.

Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.

Consumers should not eat the eggs and should return recalled eggs to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of Little People Play ‘n Go Campsite™, a Fisher-Price product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

The plastic Sonya Lee figure in the play set can break at the waist, exposing small parts that pose a choking hazard to young children.

The recall involves 96,000 Little People Play ‘n Go Campsite units sold in the U.S. and Canada. The seven-piece plastic play set includes Sonya Lee, a tent and other accessories. Product number R6935 is printed on the toy’s packaging. The name Sonya Lee is printed on the underside of the figure. Only Sonya Lee figures that bend at the waist, have a green sweater and purple camera around the neck are included in this recall. No other Sonya Lee figure is affected. The remaining pieces of the Little People Play ‘n Go Campsite are not affected.

The firm has received eight reports of the Sonya Lee figure breaking. No injuries have been reported.

A 36-year-old concrete truck operator was killed Monday morning when he was crushed by the truck’s rotating drum at a facility in Kenosha County, according to a news release from the county sheriff’s department.

The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. while the man was washing out the truck’s loading port and became caught between the truck’s rotating drum and its loading hopper, according to the release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

The end structure of the bunk bed can pose an entrapment hazard to young children, a violation of the Safety Standard for Entrapment Hazards in Bunk Beds, 16 C.F.R. Part 1513. Children can get their necks caught in the opening between the post and the decorative molding.