A California drug maker is the subject of an investigation by the Los Angeles City Attorney, who is looking into its alleged aggressive targeting of nursing home residents with a drug that may be unsafe, it was reported Thursday.
The investigation was confirmed by City Attorney Feuer to CNN, which recently reported that Avanir Pharmaceuticals may be fraudulently marketing its drug Nuedexta and paying doctors tens of thousands of dollars to promote it.
“Those to whom this medication is being administered are as vulnerable as anyone can be. They rely on other people to make decisions for them,” Feuer told CNN. “If there is a possibility they are being administered a medication not because it is in their best interest, but because it is in the financial interest of, say, the drug manufacturer, then it is important for us to intervene.”
According to the drug’s website, Nuedexta is clinically proven to help reduce episodes of sudden, frequent, uncontrollable crying and/or laughing that doesn’t match how a patient feels.
According to CNN, there has been aggressive marketing of the drug in Southern California nursing homes even though it has not been systematically tested.
The company denied any wrongdoing in a statement.
–City News Service