Judge Opens Door to Case Against General Electric's Omniscan
A ruling by a Cleveland judge will allow most of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses to testify about the MRI drug Omniscan. The ruling covers hundreds of lawsuits against General Electric's health care unit. More »
GE's Own Safety Team Urged Company to Restrict MRI Drug
GE Healthcare ignored the advice of its own safety experts to "proactively" restrict the use of its imaging drug, Omniscan, after reports in Europe linked the drug to a potentially crippling disease, according to a newly unsealed order in a lawsuit against the company. More »
FDA Advised to Tighten Restrictions on GE and Covidien MRI Drugs
After a daylong hearing, an FDA advisory panel recommends effectively banning the use of GE's Omniscan and Covidien's Optimark in patients with severe kidney disease. The MRI contrast agents have been linked to a rare but often crippling disease, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. More »
Specter of MRI Disease Haunts GE
Many MRI patients are injected with a General Electric dye called Omniscan to enhance images. But if the patients have weak kidneys, they might develop a rare and sometimes fatal disease. More »
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updates since last visitGE Failed to Adequately Warn about Dangers of its MRI Dye, Jury Finds
A jury awarded $5 million to a patient and his wife after it found GE Healthcare didn’t adequately warn patients and doctors about the risk of its imaging dye, Omniscan. It was the first case involving the dye to go to trial.
‘Burn the Data’: Did a Company Try to Hide Risks of MRI Dye Omniscan?
A groundbreaking trial over GE Healthcare's imaging dye Omniscan reveals new evidence that a rare but terrible side effect might have been downplayed. GE says the evidence is being twisted and that it acted ethically.
Late Settlement Averts First Jury Test For Allegations Against General Electric’s Omniscan
The last-minute deal keeps confidential company documents that could shed new light on injury claims against GE’s Omniscan drug.
General Electric Faces First Jury Test in Omniscan Litigation
An elderly Minnesota woman and her husband claim General Electric hid the risks of the company’s MRI drug Omniscan, causing her to contract a crippling disease.
FDA Acts to Restrict GE’s Omniscan MRI Drug, and Two Others
In a setback for GE Healthcare, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended against the use of the contrast agent Omniscan in patients with severe kidney disease.
GE Violated Danish Drug Reporting Law in Omniscan Case
Danish drug regulators said that GE's health care unit incompletely informed regulators about a patient who died after experiencing adverse effects from the company's MRI drug Omniscan.
Judge Opens Door to Case Against General Electric’s Omniscan
A ruling by a Cleveland judge will allow most of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses to testify on GE's MRI drug Omniscan.
GE’s Own Safety Team Urged Company to Restrict MRI Drug
GE Healthcare ignored its own safety experts' urging to restrict the use of its imaging drug, Omniscan, after it was linked to a potentially crippling disease, according to papers in a lawsuit against the company.
GE and Muzzled Radiologist End UK Libel Case
GE Healthcare and a Danish radiologist have settled a British libel suit in which GE claimed that the radiologist had made damaging statements about GE's MRI imaging drug Omniscan.
Paulson Book: Behind the Scenes, GE’s Top Exec Confided Credit Woes
In private conversations that alarmed then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Immelt laid out a different picture of GE’s credit situation, according to Paulson’s new book about the crisis
GE Suit Hushes Scientist Critical of Omniscan
A case over GE's Omniscan MRI drug fuels a debate over British libel law.
FDA Advised to Tighten Restrictions on GE and Covidien MRI Drugs
An FDA advisory panel recommends effectively banning the use of GE’s Omniscan and Covidien’s Optimark in patients with severe kidney disease.
Feds May Tighten Rules on Omniscan, a GE MRI Drug
An FDA review says MRI imaging drugs may be even riskier for kidney patients than it believed previously.
FDA to Take a Second Look at Warnings on MRI Drugs
After issuing a blanket warning about the risk to patients with kidney disease, regulators will reconsider whether to treat some imaging agents differently.
Specter of MRI Disease Haunts GE
Many MRI patients are injected with a GE dye to enhance images. If they have weak kidneys, they might develop a rare and sometimes fatal disease
In May 2009, GE launched the “Healthymagination” campaign to promote its growing medical division, GE Healthcare.
- Some Vital Statistics
- Sales: $17.4 billion
- Profits: $2.85 billion
- Employees: 46,000
- Products: Imaging machines and diagnostic products, monitoring devices and medical records technology
- Financing: GE Capital lends to many GE Healthcare customers
Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) is a potentially fatal disease that is characterized by painful swelling and thickening of the skin. There is no known cure or definitive cause for NSF, though it appears to affect only MRI patients who have kidney problems.
Contrast agents are drugs administered by radiologists to improve the visibility of a patient’s internal body structure. Omniscan is one of General Electric’s contrast agents.
While GE argued against restrictions on Omniscan with U.S. regulators, doctors at three U.S. medical centers moved away from Omniscan.
GE v. Thomsen: A British Libel Case
FDA Briefing Document on Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents and NSF
GE Healthcare’s Position Paper on NSF
Omniscan Report by the Danish Medicines Agency
FDA Report: “Undeniable” Association between Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents and NSF
FDA Report: Restricting Use of Omniscan is Warranted
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