Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will discontinue manufacturing the sedation drug propofol. The company received a warning letter from the FDA in December 2009 regarding an inspection that showed problems with the manufacture of propofol at its plant in Irvine, CA. The FDA cited that Teva had failed to test each lot of raw materials used to make propofol for certain toxins.

Teva was recently ordered by a Las Vegas court to pay $356 million in punitive damages to a man in Nevada who contracted hepatitis C after the anesthetic was reused for colonoscopy or endoscopy procedures. Teva manufactured the drug and Baxter International, who distributed it, was ordered to pay $144 million. Teva plans to appeal this decision, stating that the company acted responsibly and the clinic did not follow instructions to change needles after each patient.