I came across an interview with a woman whose partner likely died from defective Digitek, and the following passage jumped out at me:

Then I found out that the drug maker knew and did nothing about it. That is beyond words. When I spoke to Jackie’s doctor we both agreed that something should be done about this. This is way worse than Enron; this drug company is taking people’s lives.

Source: Digitek Maker should worry about Consumer, not Shareholders

As bad as it is that the drug maker knew the drugs were defective, the FDA knew the company wasn’t following “good manufacturing practices” and did little more than send a warning letter to the company.  Calling the FDA’s action a slap on the wrist would be an exaggeration.  The entire Digitek debacle just shows that we can’t count on the FDA to protect us from defective drugs.

Thankfully, we can still count on lawyers to file Digitek lawsuits on our behalf.  For now, anyway – pharmaceuticals are asking the Supreme Court to enact a legal policy called preemption that will eliminate the ability of injured citizens to file most lawsuits against drugmakers. 

Here’s some more information about Digitek / Digoxin to consider.