Pharmaceutical Legal Glossary
Glossary of Pharmaceutical Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Click on the first letter of the word from the list above to go to the appropriate section of the glossary.
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Tasmar: A drug used to treat patients with Parkinson's
disease. There have been reports of fatal liver injury associated with
use of Tasmar.
Thalidomide: A medicine that was used as a sleep aid and for
treatment of morning sickness during pregnancy. It was discovered that
thalidomide causes birth defects and fetal death.
Thimerosal: Thimerosal is the most common preservative that is
used in vaccines and biologics that are marketed in the United States.
Thimerosal is used to help prevent a vaccine from spoiling, for
inactivating bacteria used to formulate several vaccines, and in
preventing bacterial contamination of the final product. Several of the
vaccines recommended routinely for children in the United States contain
thimerosal. However, reports have surfaced linking thimerosal to mercury
poisoning in infants often causing autism. On July 7, 1999, the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued with the US Public Health Service (USPHS)
a joint statement alerting clinicians and the public of concern about
thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines. The
reason for the warning is that thimerosal contains a related mercury
compound called ethyl mercury. Mercury is a toxic metal that can cause
immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions. The
Food and Drug Administration suggested that some infants, depending on
which vaccines they receive and the timing of those vaccines, may be
exposed to levels of ethyl mercury that could build up to exceed one of
the federal guidelines established for the intake of methyl mercury.
Symptoms of mercury toxicity in young children are extremely similar to
those of autism. This can explain the recent increase in the numbers of
children diagnosed with autism since the early 1990's. The numerous
amount of children diagnosed with autism seems to directly correlate
with the recommendation of both the hepatitis B and HIB vaccine to
infants in the early 1990s. Autism is a neurological disorder that is
characterized by impairments in language, cognitive and social
development. Autism symptoms are usually encountered in the first two
years of life. In the past autism was considered a rare disorder with an
incidence of occurrence of approximately 1-3 per 10,000 births. More
recently however, Autism is being diagnosed much more frequently with an
incidence of occurrence of 20-40 per 10,000 births and reports of 1 per
150 births have been reported in several states including New Jersey and
California.
Third Party Litigation: When a lawsuit is brought against a
defendant and that defendant wants to add another party to the suit, the
original defendant may file a “third party complaint” which results in a
third party litigation or lawsuit.
Tort: A civil wrong or injury to a person’s property. There are
three types of torts: intentional, negligence and strict liability.
