A $50 million wrongful death lawsuit brought against Wal-Mart by the family of a man who was allegedly given the wrong insulin prescription has been settled during mediation without admission of liability or fault. Terms of the settlement, reached last month, were kept confidential, of course. The dusty news piece is now slowly trickling into more corners of the web.

On December 13, 2005, Keith Scofield visited a Wal-Mart pharmacy in Frederick, Maryland, and ordered over-the-counter Humulin R (u-100). Instead, he was allegedly given Humulin R (u-500), a prescription drug that contains five times the insulin of the requested medication. He injected the insulin on December 20, 2005, lapsed into a diabetic coma, and died on January 2, 2006, according to the lawsuit filed by his family.John Simley, a spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, said: "This was the best way to resolve the matter."

Of course it was. Wal-Mart won't feel a dent in its bottom line from whatever they decided to pay the man's mother and other family members. One report says that the settlement was reached "amicably" by both parties. Well, sure, why not take the money and run? But I doubt there were any clap routines or smiley-faced greetings. The lesson here? Whether you get your insulin at a brick-and-mortar pharmacy or wrapped in pounds of dry ice and bubble wrap (green living anyone?) in a package left by your mail carrier, you better check the label twice if you think your life is worth more than a settlement from a behemoth discount store.

There is a man living in Springfield, MIssouri who developed diabetes because he took a commonly prescribed antibiotic, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The complaint against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Schering Corporation claims its antibiotic drug Tequin and its generic equivalent gatifloxacin may have significantly increased a patient's risk of developing diabetes or another blood-sugar disorder.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for Patrick Bills, who developed severe hyperglycemia and new onset diabetes while taking Tequin for a skin infection. The drug was also commonly prescribed for sinus, lung, and urinary tract infections, as well as other illnesses.

According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. Southern District Court in New York, the pharmaceutical company ignored mounting reports of diabetes-related problems until February 2006 when -- in conjunction with the FDA -- it added a warning to the label that diabetics should not take Tequin. However, the newly added warning label did not include any danger to non-diabetic patients, which the plaintiff was.

Anyone out there following the case of Mr. Universe's beating and subsequent arrest at the hands of police will be interested in this latest news: a five million dollar lawsuit has been filed by the bodybuilder against Redwood City, California. The suit includes claims for two million dollars in economic damages and three million in non-economic damages.

Read Allie's previous blogs (one and two) on the subject if you want all the details. But here's a quick summary: Mr. Natural Universe, Doug Burns (43), was at the movies in Redwood City, back in April. Burns, a type 1 diabetic, felt a little giddy. Attributing this to low blood sugar, he headed to the lobby for a snack but was intercepted by security who mistook him for a drunk. There followed a struggle with police, during which Burns was allegedly beaten and maced.

Needless to say, this sorry episode is yet another example of how law enforcement see a person swaying, weaving and incoherent and the assumption is always that the person is drunk or high. At least in the case of Doug Burns, the victim has some public clout to help him out. There is an urgent need for education here: police officers must be aware of the signs of hypoglycemia.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has settled out-of-court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man killed by an insulin overdose. The man, Keith Scofield, died in January 2006 after receiving a dose of insulin that was far too strong for him.

Scofield normally used a low-strength insulin to treat his Type 2 diabetes. In December 2005, staff at a Virginia Wal-Mart mistakenly gave him Humulin R (u-500), rather than the Humulin R (u-100) that he had apparently requested. Scofield did not realize he had been given the wrong dose. He went ahead and injected himself with the medication, then fell into a coma. Sadly, he died twelve days later.

The Associated Press report on the subject says that no admission of fault or liability was made by either party. In any case, Wal-Mart is happy and with good reason since the family, presumably in exchange for a generous sum of money, didn't go public with the details. Said a Wal-Mart company spokesman of the settlement: "this was the best way to resolve the matter."

Very much like a prisoner being tracked in a work-release program (except it's implanted on the inside of your upper arm) -- the VeriMed microchip stores your vital health information for times when you are unable to disclose it yourself. It's about the size of a grain of rice and VeriChip says the procedure is painless.

At the Diabetic Expo, held in Atlanta, Georgia -- VeriChip Corporation received the endorsement of the American Diabetes Association to test implant the microchip in 18 diabetics who signed up for the voluntary procedure. The implantable RFID microchip sends patient information to a handheld RFID scanner and a secure patient database. This system is intended to provide immediate access to important health information for patients who arrive at an emergency room unable to communicate.

The chip stores your personal health information and it can be transmitted (in theory) to a medical professional in an emergency room. However, given the fact that anyone possessing the handheld RFID scanner can access your personal health information on the secure database- I'm not so sure I'd want to leave that out there for the world of battery-operated busy bodies. I remember how violated I felt when my personal information was stolen from Ameriprise. How would you feel if your most personal information was tapped because someone left the emergency room RFID scanner unmanned? Your name would be worth a lot more than you realize!

Eli Lilly has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle 18,000 lawsuits from people who claimed they had developed diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa. The drug is intended to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Zyprexa is the brand name for olanzapine, a potent chemical that binds to receptors in the brain to reduce psychotic hallucinations and delusions. Clinical trials show that in many patients, Zyprexa also causes severe weight gain and increases in cholesterol and blood sugar. 16% of people taking Zyprexa gained more than 66 pounds after a year on the drug, a far higher figure than the company disclosed to doctors. In 2004, a panel of the American Diabetes Association found that Zyprexa caused diabetes more than other widely used antipsychotic drugs, in part because it tends to cause much more weight gain. In 2003, the FDA added a warning to the label of Zyprexa about its tendency to cause high blood sugar.

That's a shame. A drug used to treat mental illness characterized by significant social dysfunction actually causes severe weight gain, increases cholesterol and raises blood sugar. I see how Zyprexa works. It helps patients' delusions of being overweight and unhealthy a reality.