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A U.S. appeals court on Friday revived more than 500 lawsuits alleging that Merck & Co failed to warn that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax increased the risk of thigh bone fractures. unanimous panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal law did not block the plaintiffs' state law claims over the drug. Fosamax was acquired in 2021 by Organon, which agreed to indemnify Merck against liability from the lawsuits. (Pierson, 9/20)

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary filed for bankruptcy for a third time on Friday as the healthcare giant seeks to advance an approximately $10 billion proposed settlement that would end tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that the company's baby powder and other talc products caused cancer. (Knauth, 9/20)

Three years after raising health groups’ suspicions by acquiring Vectura, a British pharmaceutical firm that makes asthma inhalers, cigarette giant Philip Morris International has made a deal to sell off the inhaler business. Philip Morris says that under its corporate umbrella, the asthma inhaler business was hindered by “unwarranted opposition to PMI’s transformation” from a Big Tobacco stalwart into a broadly based health company. Health groups have met this stated goal with skepticism. (Chappell, 9/20)

Of the roughly 15 million Americans who tried to quit smoking in 2022, 5 in 6 failed. It’s a jarring statistic — and an indictment of the treatment options for an addiction that kills 480,000 people in the U.S. each year. (Florko, 9/23)