Seven days in medicine: 13-19 March 2019
BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1264 (Published 21 March 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l1264
Vaccination
Italy suspends unvaccinated children from school
Italian children aged 6 or older who are not vaccinated as required will be suspended from school or kindergarten and their parents fined €500 (£430; $568) under a new policy. Required vaccines include MMR, tetanus, chickenpox, and polio. The policy is a climbdown by Italy’s government, whose coalition parties have frequently been vaccine sceptical. Last year the new government initially said that it would eliminate the “coercive” law requiring vaccinations at school, but it was forced to relent in September as measles cases surged.
Industry litigation
California jury awards $29m to woman in talc claim
Johnson & Johnson must pay $29m (£22m; €25.6m) to a California woman who had mesothelioma diagnosed after using the company’s talcum based products for years—a further blow to a company still facing nearly 13 000 similar lawsuits in the US. Terry Leavitt told the court that she had used Johnson’s Baby Powder and another of its products called Shower to Shower throughout the 1960s and ’70s. Her mesothelioma was diagnosed in 2017. The jury in Oakland’s superior court found that the products were defective and that consumers had not been warned of the risks. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.l1215)
Medtronic subsidiary pays $17m over kickback claims
A subsidiary of the device maker Medtronic will pay $17.5m (£13.3m; €15.4m) to resolve allegations …
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