AstraZeneca pays $26 million to settle South Carolina lawsuit.In April 2010,

AstraZeneca paid $520 million to settle the federal government lawsuit. Thousands of other civil lawsuits continue on. Read on to learn about Seroquel and the claims made in these product liability lawsuits

AstraZeneca Headquarters in the UK

(Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc has agreed to a $26 million settlement with the state of South Carolina to settle a lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers about the risks associated with taking the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel.

The lawsuit, filed in 2009, was one of several pursued by state attorneys general related to the drug. The settlement was reached Wednesday, according to court papers.

“After years of costly litigation, we decided that settling this case was the appropriate way to resolve the matter and allow the company to focus on our core mission of delivering meaningful medicines to patients,” Tony Jewell, a spokesman for AstraZeneca, said in a statement on Friday.

Bryan Stirling, deputy attorney general for South Carolina, said the accord reflected “a total settlement of all claims.”

AstraZeneca neither admitted nor denied the state’s allegations as part of the settlement. The settlement includes $20 million in damages, $5 million in penalties and $1 million in costs.

The settlement was just the latest effort by the AstraZeneca to put regulatory probes into its sales and marketing practices related to Seroquel behind it.

Some of the Symptoms to Include the Following

Source Web MD

US Diplomats Evacuated in China as Medical Mystery Grows

GUANGZHOU, China — A crisis over a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families — which began in Cuba and recently appeared in China — has widened as the State Department evacuated at least two more Americans from China on Wednesday.

The Americans who were evacuated worked at the American Consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, and their colleagues and family members are being tested by a State Department medical team, officials said. It is unclear how many of them are exhibiting symptoms, but a State Department spokeswoman said Wednesday evening that “a number of individuals” had been sent to the United States for further testing.

For months, American officials have been worried that their diplomats have been subjected to targeted attacks involving odd sounds, leading to symptoms similar to those “following concussion or minor traumatic brain injury,” the State Department says.

The cases in China have broadened a medical mystery that started in 2016, when American Embassy employees and their family members began falling ill in Havana. In all, 24 of them were stricken with headaches, nausea, hearing loss, cognitive issues and other symptoms after saying they heard odd sounds. The issue has roiled relations with Cuba, which immediately fell under suspicion, and led the United States to expel Cuban diplomats.