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KGS is investigating lawsuits related to the cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin (a combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin). Zetia was introduced in 2002, and by 2003, it was on the list of top-selling drugs with more than 4.2 million prescriptions written that year. The combination drug Vytorin was introduced one year later, in 2004, but the FDA reviewer of Vytorin recommended against approval of Vytorin. (For excerpts of the recommendation, see www.worstpills.org/public/newsletter.cfm?n_id=353)

A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of uninsured patients who received and were billed for medical care by any hospital within the South Dakota based Avera Health network of hospitals. The suit contends that Avera billed its uninsured patients at rates far in excess of the rates employed for insured patients and that this practice was and is both discriminatory and illegal.

The terrorist attacks of the past two years have created a time to make big profits as well as a time of uncertainty. A class action has been filed against German drug manufacturer Bayer AG and several New Jersey hospitals on behalf of New Jersey postal workers who allege that they have suffered serious side effects from taking the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cipro) in the aftermath of the anthrax attacks in 2001. The action alleges that Bayer failed to warn the postal workers of the potential side effects of Cipro, thereby violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

A company is caught engaging in anticompetitive behavior, either state or federal antitrust law may be used against it. A class action has been filed against Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and Merck & Company on behalf of California pharmacists, who allege that the companies engaged in anticompetitive behavior in violation of state antitrust law.

A class action has been filed against Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVN) and certain of its officers and directors by stockholders who purchased the company's common stock between October 29, 2001, and April 28, 2003.

The parties have agreed on a settlement in several class actions that had been filed against Vaso Active Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:VAPH; formerly Nasdaq:VAPH) and certain of its officers and directors by stockholders who purchased the company's common stock between December 11, 2003, and March 31, 2004. The actions claimed that the defendants violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market over this time period, thereby artificially inflating the price of the company's securities.

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