Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

Medical data from a new FDA funded study indicates that the NuvaRing birth control may cause women to face a 56% higher risk of blood clots than those who take older birth control pills.

NuvaRing is a female birth control device consisting of a medicated flexible ring. NuvaRing releases a combination of etonogestrel and ethinyl estradiol through a ring that is inserted into the vagina once a month. The drugs are a combination of ethinyl estradiol and etonogestrel, which is known as a “third generation” progestin.

NuvaRing is a form of birth control that releases a combination of etonogestrel and ethinyl estradiol through a ring that is inserted into the vagina once a month.

Recently, the FDA released data from a birth control study that reviewed a range of female birth control products and compared them to older drugs to determine the risk of blood clots. Newer progestin-based birth control were found to carry a much higher risk of blood clots, or venous thromboembolic events (VTE), than older drugs like levonorgestrel.

Medical researchers looked at medical data on about 800,000 women from 2001 to 2007, and found that women who used NuvaRing were 56% more likely to suffer a VTE than their levonorgestrel-using counterparts. VTE includes deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs) and pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs). Women were also at higher risk of arterial thrombotic events (ATE), which can include heart attacks and strokes.

FDA researchers suggested that use of the NuvaRing led to higher sustained exposure to estrogen, which could be the reason the VTE risk is higher. The same study found that drospirenone-based drugs like Yaz and Yasmin increased blood clot risk by 75%.

This data provides further scientific support for claims brought by hundreds of women throughout the United States, who have filed a NuvaRing lawsuit against the manufacturer, Organon and Merck, after suffering serious and fatal injuries from a blood clot. The complaints allege that the manufacturers failed to properly research the birth control ring or warn about the risk of health problems from NuvaRing.

Organon, a subsidiary of Merck, failed to conduct adequate studies that would have revealed the risk of blood clots from Nuvaring before it was introduced into the U.S. market, according to allegations by the plaintiffs. They claim that physicians would have never prescribed the Nuvaring had the true risks of blood clots and pulmonary embolism been properly communicated by the manufacturers.

MANUFACTURERS: Organon Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Organon USA Inc., Organon International Inc., Schering Plough Corp., and Akzo Nobel NV.

All NuvaRing federal lawsuits have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, before Judge Rodney Sippel in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The first NuvaRing bellwether trials are expected to begin in 2012. The complaints all involve similar allegations that women suffered blood clots as a result of NuvaRing side effects, leading to injuries like a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or sudden death. The claims argue that the drug makers failed to adequately research the birth control ring or warn about the potential increased risk of these serious problems.

The bellwether process is common in complex litigation involving a number of claims that raise similar allegations. By selecting a small group of cases for an early trial, the parties are able to get an idea how a jury is likely to respond to evidence and testimony that may be similar to what would be presented in other cases. The outcome of these trials often shapes the litigation and may ultimately lead to an agreement to settle NuvaRing birth control lawsuits by the drug maker.

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A group of medical researchers and scientists have determined that the potential risks from metal-on-metal hip implants may outweigh any health benefits provided by these devices.

This is because of higher revision rates are linked to the newer hip replacement designs and the mounting and growing concerns about metal ion blood poisoning, known as metallosis.

The California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF) has released an assessment of the benefits and effectiveness of using metal on metal hip replacements as an alternative to total hip arthroplasty, and they concluded that the relatively new metal hip implants may not be worth the risk.

The assessment (PDF) is the third time the group has reviewed metal-on-metal hip implants, and the group says that questions and concerns about the technology that were present years ago are still important today.

Because of high revision rates and the risk of metallosis, caused by cobalt and chromium particles shed by metal-on-metal implants, the group concluded that “there is clearly no evidence that the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks.”

After they were introduced, metal-on-metal hip implants accounted for about 1/3 of the 250,000 hip replacements performed each year in the United States. Over the past two years, concerns have increased about metal hip replacement complications, resulting in use of the implants dropping to just 5% of the artificial hip market.

Research suggests that as the metal hip replacement ball and socket grind against each other, microscopic particles of cobalt and chromium are shed into the body, which results in metal poisoning. This metallosis may result in soft tissue damage, inflammatory reactions, bone loss, aseptic and local necrosis that may lead to the need for a hip revision surgery.

In May 2011, the FDA requested artificial hip manufacturers to provide more data on problems with metal poisoning and metal implants.

Attention on the metal-on-metal hip implant risks increased after the DePuy ASR hip recall in August 2010. The DePuy metal-on-metal artificial hip system is no longer available after more than 90,000 components were sold throughout the world.

More than 1,000 people have already filed a DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit due to complications caused by the recalled system. These lawsuits have been centralized in the Northern District of Ohio for pre-trial consolidation. To make matters worse, DePuy Orthopaedics additionally faces a growing number of DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits filed as a result of problems associated with their other metal-on-metal artificial hip implant. These lawsuits have been centralized in the Northern District of Texas, for pre-trial consolidation. To date a DePuy Pinnacle hip recall has not been issued, and these lawsuits also allege that these older system features similar design defects that increase the risk of early loosening or failure.

As a Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Pulmonary Embolism attorney and Texas Medical doctor, I am providing this blood clot side effect update.

Women taking pills containing the hormone drospirenone were 74 percent more likely to experience clots than those on low- estrogen pills, according to the latest Food and Drug Administration report.

There is an FDA conference in December that is going to examine and address the health risks associated with birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin. Thousands of patients have already filed a Yaz or Yasmin lawsuits against pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer Corporation. The injured plaintiffs claim that the drugmaker aggressively highlighted the birth control pills benefits while minimizing the serious side effects such as Yaz deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke and death.

FDA Investigates Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Increased Blood Clots Side Effects
The FDA has been investigating the health risks associated with Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella. In 2011, the FDA has issue two warnings about the birth control pills, indicating that the national health agency “remains concerned” about the increased risk of blood clots and other potentially life-threatening side effects associated with the birth control pills.

Yaz and its predecessor, Yasmin and the generic version, Ocella, all contain a synthetic female sex hormone known as drospirenone. Medical studies show that all birth control pills have an increased risk of blood clots, but the risk is even greater with drospirenone-containing pills such as Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.

The FDA is set to hold a meeting with the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee on December 8 to comb through the mass of “conflicting” data concerning Yasmin, Yaz and Ocella blood clots.

The recommendations of that FDA meeting could have profound implications and affect the outcome of the Yaz lawsuits. The FDA may revise the drug labels again (revised in 2010 and 2011), or issue stricter warnings regarding the birth control bills or may even ban the pills from the market altogether due to the dangers of Yaz blood clots. The last scenario is highly unlikely.

As a Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Deep Vein Thrombosis, Pulmonary Embolism and Stroke Attorney, we are providing this timely update. Watch the old Yasmin advertisement here.

According to a recent population-based study, newer forms of progesterone in contraceptives result in higher venous thromboembolic (VTE) risk than older drugs.

According to Ojvind Lidegaard, MD, of Rigshospitalet at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, an international expert, women on the pill with the older, levonorgestrel version were at three times the risk of VTE as those not on any hormonal contraception.

But oral contraceptives containing desogestrel, gestodene, drospirenone, or cyproterone boosted the risk six to seven times over that of non-users, the group reported in BMJ.
The researchers explain that newer forms of progesterone in combination hormonal contraceptives carry higher venous thromboembolic (VTE) risk than older forms.

Furthermore, they point out that this study found that women on the pill with the older, levonorgestrel version were still at threefold elevated risk of VTE compared with those not on any hormonal contraception, whereas those on the newer versions were at six and sevenfold risk.

The Food and Drug Administration is already studying the possible increased risk of blood clots with pills containing the drospirenone. The F.D.A. says its preliminary results suggest a 1.5-fold increased risk compared with other hormonal contraceptives, to about 10 women in 10,000 from 6 women in 10,000.

These findings were based on the national registry data in Denmark from 2001 through 2009, after the launch of the newest synthetic progesterone, drospirenone.

Other studies over the decades also have found almost universally elevated VTE risk with hormonal contraception, with the estrogen and progestogen (synthetic progesterone) components both appearing to play a role.

The risks appear real and may lead many clinicians to prescribe a combined oral contraceptive with levonorgestrel whenever possible.

The updated analysis included more than 1.2 million non-pregnant 15- to 49-year-old women in Denmark without a history of thrombotic disease. Data came from national vital status, inpatient, cause of death, and pharmacy registries.

From 2001 to 2009, 4,307 first-ever VTEs occurred in this cohort. Most were deep vein thrombosis only (63.6%) or pulmonary embolism with or without deep vein thrombosis (26.2%).

Compared with women not taking hormonal contraception, confirmed venous thromboembolism was elevated for users of oral contraceptives containing 30 to 40 μg ethinylestradiol plus the following:

Levonorgestrel, with a relative risk of 2.9
Desogestrel, with a relative risk of 6.6
Gestodene, with a relative risk of 6.2
Drospirenone, with a relative risk of 6.4

With levonorgestrel-containing pills as the comparator, rate ratios of confirmed venous thromboembolism adjusted for length of use were:

2.2 with desogestrel
2.1 with gestodene
2.1 with drospirenone

Lower estrogen doses were associated with modestly lower VTE risk for oral contraceptives with norethisterone, levonorgestrel, desogestrel, or gestodene but not with drospirenone, the investigators reported.

More information
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has more about birth control pills.

Primary source: BMJ
Source reference:
Lidegaard Ø, et al "Risk of venous thromboembolism from use of oral contraceptives containing different progestogens and oestrogen doses: Danish cohort study, 2001-9" BMJ 2011; 343: d6423.

Additional source: BMJ
Source reference:
Hannaford PC "The progestogen content of combined oral contraceptives and venous thromboembolic risk" BMJ 2011; 343: d6423.

Jick S, Hernandez R "Risk of non-fatal venous thromboembolism in women using oral contraceptives containing drospirenone compared with women using oral contraceptives containing levonorgestrel: case-control study using United States claims data" BMJ 2011; DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d2151.
[Get full-text PDF from Pubget]

As an Actos Blader Cancer attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this latest update regarding the diabetic drug, Actos.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued an update on the safety concerns for Actos on October 21, indicating that the drug is still a valid diabetes treatment. But, due to the Actos bladder cancer risk, it should only be used when other treatments have failed. This update is similar to the latest one issued by United States regulators.

Watch the ABC News report here.

European drug regulators indicate that they are not recommending an Actos recall, even though the diabetes drug has been linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer. Instead, doctors have been recommended to only use Actos as a second or third line treatment options for diabetics.

The statement is meant to add information to the July opinion by the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which confirmed that the side effects of Actos include a risk of bladder cancer.

CHMP determined that while there was a risk of bladder cancer, there are still some diabetes patients for whom the risk was manageable because other drugs fail to bring their diabetes under control. The committee recommended careful screening of patients being prescribed the drug and close monitoring while they are on Actos to watch for signs of bladder cancer. The European Commission still has to agree to adopt the opinion as a decision.

Actos (pioglitazone) was introduced as a treatment option for type 2 diabetes in July, 1999. Until recently, it was Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ best-selling drug, with sales of $3.4 billion last year.

In June, France required a recall of Actos after a review of public insurance data identified an increased incidence of bladder cancer with Actos use.

FDA officials began reviewing the potential risk of Actos bladder cancer problems in September 2010, after interim data from an on-going 10 year study found that users may face an increased risk the longer they take the drug.

In the United States, new Actos cancer warnings were approved by the FDA in August 2011, indicating that patients who use the drug for more than a year may face an increased risk of bladder cancer.

A growing number of individuals throughout the U.S. are filing an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit against Takeda, alleging that the drug maker failed to provide adequate warnings for consumers or the medical community. Many of the complaints indicate that Takeda should have removed Actos from the market, arguing that the risk of bladder cancer outweighs the minimal benefits.

Some expert estimates suggest that more than 1,000 cases may ultimately be included as part of the Actos litigation. A panel of judges is scheduled to meet on December 1 to decide whether all federal Actos lawsuits should be consolidated as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

As a Johnson & Johnson Gynecare TVT Trans Vaginal Mesh injury attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this timely update.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), the world’s second-biggest health-care products maker, is facing many lawsuits over its Gynecare TVT vaginal implant. The Gynecare TVT implant is based on a similar device pulled from the medical device market more than a decade ago for safety reasons.

The lawsuits are the latest to implicate the shoddy and perfunctory approval process for medical devices at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has cleared faulty hip implants and malfunctioning defibrillators.

In the case of vaginal mesh implants, the FDA continued approving the mesh devices made by J&J and other companies based on their similarity to Boston Scientific Corp’s ProteGen even after it was pulled amid safety complaints. Today, the makers of the entire category of implants face more than 600 lawsuits from women who claim the devices caused serious injury.

The devices treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, in which internal organs slump into the vagina. They were allowed on the market as result of the agency’s approval process, known as 510(k), which relies on the premise that if one device has been cleared by the FDA then similar devices need little if any testing in patients.

In July, the FDA issued a statement saying it is unclear whether prolapse implants provide any benefit over traditional surgery. The statement came three years after the agency first acknowledged a problem in a 2008 report that said mesh complications were serious. An advisory panel of physicians said last month that the FDA should demand more clinical testing of the devices.

According to J&J, its vaginal mesh products are safe and the J&J's Gynecare TVT was based on the Boston Scientific product.

But according to 510(k) critics, the chain of approvals that began with Boston Scientific’s device highlight a major flaw in the 510(k) process. The system lets manufacturers get clearance for a product by citing its similarity to an already approved device, known as a “predicate.” That second device can be cited as the basis for a third, the third to clear a fourth and so on. And if a first device is recalled, they don’t necessarily look at the second, third or fourth device that are based on that.

The unfortunate Vaginal Mesh story began in 1996, when Boston Scientific gained clearance for ProteGen, the first vaginally implanted mesh designed specifically to treat incontinence. Two years later, J&J won approval for a similar device, called Gynecare TVT. Under the 510(k) system, J&J was not required to conduct human testing because the company claimed its device was “substantially equivalent” to the Boston Scientific device.

A year later, Boston Scientific voluntarily pulled about 20,000 ProteGen meshes, saying it had received 123 reports of problems, including discomfort, pain during sex, and erosion of vaginal tissue. But J&J and at least two other manufacturers, American Medical Systems and Covidien Plc (COV), soon came out with products that traced their design back to ProteGen.

The FDA has said it does not know the number of women who have received the implants since 1998, though it estimates almost 300,000 were used in 2010. All of the devices were approved through the 35-year-old 510(k) system, used by the FDA to review some 90 percent of device applications each year. The same process was used to clear the 93,000 artificial hips pulled by J&J last year due to high failure rates, as well as hundreds of external heart defibrillators recalled since 2005 by Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. (MDT)

J&J named ProteGen as a basis for the Gynecare TVT, noting in its application that “technologically, both the new device and predicate device are the same.” By that time, complaints about Boston Scientific’s device were already reaching the FDA. A year after J&J’s TVT won clearance, Boston Scientific voluntarily recalled about 20,000 of its meshes.

J&J’s Gynecare TVT later became a predicate for the IVS Tunneller I, made by Dublin-based Covidien, and the Sparc Sling, made by the American Medical Systems unit of Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (ENDP), based in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Those, in turn, were cited to clear future versions, each said to be “substantially equivalent” to its predecessors, according to FDA records. In 2003, Boston Scientific settled 738 suits over its mesh for an undisclosed sum.

The safety debate has presented a dilemma for manufacturers, who have avoided clinical tests for the devices by calling them similar to one another and now say the products have advanced far beyond the earlier versions.

The FDA advisory panel disagreed. The 17-member group, comprised mostly of pelvic surgeons, recommended at last month’s hearing that some vaginal meshes be reclassified as high-risk devices requiring new studies to stay on the market.

The FDA appears to be inching toward a decision. At the September hearing, Colin Pollard, director of the FDA’s obstetrics and gynecology devices branch, said it may take as long as three years to issue new rules. Until then, current models can stay on the market, he said.

As a Plavix Dangerous Drug attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this Plavix litigation update.

Plavix manufacturers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis are calling for the centralization and consolidation of all Plavix lawsuits filed in federal courts throughout the United States on behalf of users of their blockbuster blood thinner who allege that side effects of Plavix resulted in serious personal injuries and even death.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hold a hearing On December 1, to determine whether at least 13 lawsuits over Plavix filed in New Jersey, New York and Arizona should be centralized before one judge for coordinated handling during pretrial proceedings.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis are arguing that centralizing the cases before Judge Freda Wolfson in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey would serve the convenience of the parties, prevent duplicative discovery and conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges.

The Plavix suits allege that the drug makers failed to adequately research their medication or warn about the risk of Plavix side effects, which could increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening bleeding, as well as a rare blood disorder known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).

In filed opposition statements, plaintiffs gave a number of reasons they feel consolidation would further slow their cases. The plaintiffs argue that the New Jersey cases are advanced in their depositions, and combining them with the cases from New York and Arizona would slow things down considerably. They also claim that the non-New Jersey cases are much newer and will involve recent events, like the FDA’s 2010 black box warning that some genetic traits prevent Plavix from being effective, that are irrelevant to the New Jersey cases.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 2010, added a boxed warning to the anti-blood clotting drug Plavix (clopidogrel), alerting patients and health care professionals that the drug can be less effective in people who cannot metabolize the drug to convert it to its active form.

Plavix reduces the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients with cardiovascular disease by making platelets less likely to form blood clots. Plavix does not have its anti-platelet effects until it is metabolized into its active form by the liver enzyme, CYP2C19.

People who have reduced functioning of their CYP2C19 liver enzyme cannot effectively convert Plavix to its active form. As a result, Plavix may be less effective in altering platelet activity in those people. These “poor metabolizers” may not receive the full benefit of Plavix treatment and may remain at risk for heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.

Defendants argue that the cases all involve common fact issues surrounding the drug makers’ research and development of Plavix. They also argue that the timing for consolidation is appropriate, as no single case has reached the phase of depositions of “common” fact and expert witnesses who may have knowledge relevant to all Plavix suits.

Plavix (clopidogrel) is prescribed to prevent blood platelets from sticking together to form clots. It is often prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clotting when drug coated stents are used in patients with arteriosclerosis and in other at-risk patients.

Plaintiffs allege that they suffered injuries as a result of their unnecessary use of Plavix, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, severe ulcers and a rare blood disorder known as TTP. Some complaints also allege that Plavix did not provide the promoted benefit of reducing the risk of a heart attack or stroke, raising questions about the effectiveness of Plavix among some users.

In November 2009, the FDA issued a public health advisory warning that side effects of Prilosec may interfere with Plavix effectiveness, increasing the risk of heart attack, death or other injuries for patients.

In March 2010, a Plavix “black box” warning was added to alert patients and healthcare professionals that the anti-clotting drug may not work in some patients due to genetics. The FDA indicated that a genetic test is available to determine whether patients are able to metabolize Plavix efficiently and suggested that doctors should consider another medication for at-risk patients who are confirmed to have the gene variant.

As a Yaz Birth Control Coma and Blindness Injury attorney and Texas medical doctor I am providing this YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella update.

ABC’s chief law and justice correspondent, Chris Cuomo, interviews Carissa Ubersox, a former pediatric nurse who started taking Bayer’s Yaz birth control pills when she wanted to look her best for her wedding and “saw commercials suggesting help with bloating and acne.” Two months after Ubersox started to take Yaz birth control pills, she developed massive blood clots in both lungs and fell into a coma that lasted for two weeks. When she woke up, she was blind.

All birth control pills come with some risk of developing blood clots, and Bayer “cites its own studies as proof that Yaz is just as safe as other birth control pills.” However, Dr. Susan Jick of the Boston University School of Medicine has authored an independent study involving a million women that finds Yaz’s risk to be two to three times higher than other birth control pills. ABC reports that two Bayer-sponsored studies find no difference in risk, while four independent studies all find increased risk.

Ubersox believes that Yaz birth control pills, which once seemed like a “miracle drug,” are the reason that she developed blood clots in both her lungs and is now blind. She and thousands of other women are now suing Bayer for Yaz’s negative side effects. Bayer denies any wrongdoing and would not answer ABC’s questions about Yaz birth control pills.

We having been blogging and providing much needed information on the side effects of YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella for the past 2 years and have filed many lawsuits in the Southern District of Illinois federal court. This is where the Bayer oral contraceptive lawsuits have been federally consolidated. Click here to read our 113 articles on YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella.

The first case we filed in this Bayer oral contraceptive litigation had similar fact pattern as the above ABC video. In our lawsuit, our client was a woman in her mid forties who was on Yaz for a short time period. She, one night, was noted to be making gurgling sounds while she was asleep. This was noticed by her husband who immediately recognized that something was not quite right. He immediately called 911 and started CPR.

She was taken emergently to the local ER, she was shocked multiple times on route to the ER, by the paramedics and again in the ER had to be resuscitated for several hours. She practically died several times that night, but she had an immense will to live and survived the tragic ordeal. Like the victim in the video, she also suffered from a massive pulmonary embolism. She was also placed in a medically induced coma and when she recovered she noticed she had developed cortical blindness and severe neuro-muscular weakness.

Currently she is being looked after at home by her husband and family. Bayer has refused to accept any liability in these lawsuits to date.

As a Dallas Medtronic Infuse Lawsuit and side effect attorney and medical doctor I am providing this update regarding the problems associated withe Medtronic Infuse medical product.

Medtronic, a medical device company is in the news regarding reports about its synthetic bone growth product Infuse. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating whether Medtronic had been illegally promoting "off-label" use of Infuse.

The Spine Journal reported in its June 2011 edition concerns about Infuse and Medtronic's research. In 2004, a small group of doctors wrote some research papers stating that Infuse did not cause any harm to patients. The doctors who wrote the article would eventually receive millions of dollars from Medtronic.

According to researchers, in contrast to published reports from manufacturer-sponsored studies of the Infuse spinal fusion device that incorporates a biologic bone-building drug, a new analysis of FDA documents and other data sources suggests that up to half of patients receiving the device may experience adverse events related to the drug.

The Infuse device, which delivers recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) to speed vertebral fusion in patients with chronic back pain, has adverse event rates of 10% to 50% depending on the approach, according to Eugene Carragee, MD, of Stanford University's outpatient clinic in Redwood City, Calif., and colleagues.

"This risk of adverse events associated with rhBMP-2 is 10 to 50 times the original estimates reported in the industry-sponsored peer-reviewed publications," Carragee and colleagues wrote online in The Spine Journal, which Carragee serves as editor-in-chief.

The investigators in each of 13 reports of studies funded by product manufacturer Medtronic and published from 2000 to 2009 claimed to find no adverse events attributable to rhBMP-2.

The Spine Journal reports that those doctors did not disclose their financial ties to Medtronic and that the papers repeatedly failed to report complications with Infuse. Infuse may cause unwanted, and sometimes out-of-control, bone growth. The Spine Journal found that the complication rate for Infuse was anywhere from 10 to 50 times higher than reported in the Medtronic studies.

The United States Food & Drug Administration only approved Infuse for fusions in the lower back. But, doctors have been using it "off-label" for cervical (neck) spinal fusions, too often with poor results.

Unwanted bone growth in the neck can result in:

difficulty with breathing and swallowing
tracheotomies
emergency surgery
the placement of feeding tubes
revision surgery (additional surgery needed too fix the problem)

Other reported problems with Infuse include:

male sterility
infection
cancer
bone loss
unwanted bone growth
nerve damage
incontinence

As an Actos Bladder Cancer Product Liability attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this update regarding the status of a MDL consolidation request.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals the manufacturer of Actos and their defense attorneys have indicated that the drug maker supports a request to have all federal Actos bladder cancer lawsuits consolidated for pretrial litigation. But Takeda disagrees about where the defective product liability claims should be centralized.

On September 29, Takeda Actos lawyers filed a response with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, indicating that they agree with plaintiffs that an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, should be formed, but requested that the cases be transferred to either Northern District of Illinois or Western District of Louisiana.

A motion to consolidate the Actos bladder cancer litigation was first filed on August 31, by plaintiff Glen Weant, who requested that all federal Actos lawsuits be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois before Judge G. Patrick Murphy. Since then, additional plaintiffs have filed responses proposing other U.S. District Judges to preside over the litigation.

The first Actos lawsuit was filed on July 29, 2011. According to documents filed by Takeda last week, the drug maker is now aware of at least 54 cases that have been filed in federal district courts throughout the United States. In addition, as Actos plaintiffs attorneys continue to evaluate and file new complaints on behalf of people diagnosed with bladder cancer after taking the type 2 diabetes drug, the number of claims is expected to continue to grow.

All of the complaints involve similar allegations that side effects of Actos caused users to develop bladder cancer. Plaintiffs argue that Takeda failed to properly research the medication or warn about the risk.

Takeda’s attorneys indicated that they agreed that the cases fit the requirements for an MDL and that consolidation would help prevent contradictory rulings and duplicative discovery. It would also serve the convenience of counsel, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, according to the drug maker’s response.

Takeda has requested that the Actos litigation be consolidated in the Northern District of Illinois, where the drug maker is headquartered and where the company’s records are located. As an alternative, the drug maker proposed the Western District of Louisiana for the Actos MDL to be centralized, as there are at least 16 cases already pending in that district.

Actos (pioglitazone) was approved by FDA to treat Type 2 Diabetes in July, 1999. It is a once-a-day pill that increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. The medication has grown in popularity in recent years, after studies linked its primary competitor, Avandia, to an increased risk of heart attacks and death.

FDA officials began reviewing the potential risk of Actos bladder cancer problems in September 2010, after interim data from an on-going 10 year study found that users may face an increased risk the longer they take the drug. Data from the study conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Actos, indicated that after 24 months, the rate of exposure and the increased risk of bladder cancer reached statistical significance.

In June, an Actos recall was issued in France after a review of public insurance data identified an increased incidence of bladder cancer with Actos use.

The European Union’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) also conducted a review and confirmed the bladder cancer risk, calling for new warnings and a six-month review of every patient on Actos. The EMA suggested that Actos bladder cancer risk could be reduced by appropriate patient selection and exclusion.

Since then, the number of lawsuits over Actos has been steadily increasing in federal district courts throughout the United States. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is expected to schedule oral arguments on the motion to consolidate the cases at the next hearing, which will be held on December 1 in Savannah, Georgia.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Ongoing Safety Review of Actos (pioglitazone) and Potential Increased Risk of Bladder Cancer After Two Years Exposure

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public that use of the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. Information about this risk will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section of the label for pioglitazone-containing medicines. The patient Medication Guide for these medicines will also be revised to include information on the risk of bladder cancer.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning Monday about an increased risk of blood clots in women taking newer forms of birth control pills, such as Yaz or Yasmin.

The FDA did say it "remains concerned" about a potentially higher risk of blood clots in women taking the "fourth generation" pills containing drospirenone, a new type of synthetic progestin. These new pills, marketed as Yaz, Ocella or Yasmin, among other brand names, are very popular.

Venous thrombosis embolism (VTE) are clots that originate in the legs and can travel to the lungs, causing a medical condition known as pulmonary embolism. Symptoms include leg pain, chest pain or sudden shortness of breath.

Preliminary results of an FDA-funded study show a 50 percent increased risk of VTEs in women taking drospirenone-containing pills versus other hormonal contraceptives.
According to the FDA, the risk to any one woman remains small: the risk of a VTE is about six women per 10,000 users for the older contraceptives versus 10 per 10,000 using the newer versions.

The agency also reviewed six other studies on the subject, the results of which were conflicting. Two studies found no difference in risk, while another two found a 1.5-fold to 2-fold increased risk. And two more studies, appearing earlier this year in the BMJ, found double to triple the risk. The FDA issued a similar safety communication at the end of May, after the two BMJ studies came out.

Risk factors for VTE include smoking, being overweight or a family history of blood clots. The FDA statement released Monday noted that studies to date have only looked at pills containing drospirenone and a higher dose of estrogen, not those containing drospirenone and a lower dose of estrogen. FDA advisory committees are scheduled to investigate further into the matter at a December meeting, at which time the full findings of the agency-funded study will be released.

Data Summary
FDA has reviewed six published epidemiologic studies that evaluated the risk of blood clots (venous thromboembolism, VTE) in women using birth control pills containing drospirenone. These studies have conflicting findings. Two were postmarketing studies required by the FDA or European regulatory agencies.1,2 These studies did not report any difference in VTE risk between drospirenone-containing products and products containing levonorgestrel or other progestins. Two publications from 2009, however, reported a 1.5- to 2-fold higher VTE risk in women who use drospirenone-containing contraceptives as compared to the risk in women who use levonorgestrel-containing contraceptives.3,4 More recently, two articles published in 2011 in the British Medical Journal reported a 2- to 3-fold greater risk of blood clots in women using oral contraceptives containing drospirenone rather than levonorgestrel.5,6 As with all epidemiologic studies, there are methodological issues that make interpretation of these conflicting results complex. FDA has not reached a conclusion on the risk for blood clots in women using drospirenone-containing birth control pills, but remains concerned about the potential increased risk.

Initial data from an FDA-funded epidemiologic study exploring the association of blood clots with several different hormonal contraceptive products, including levonorgestrel-containing contraceptives, appear consistent with results from the 2009 and 2011 published studies. Although FDA's review is ongoing, the preliminary data from the FDA-funded study are consistent with an approximately 1.5-fold increase in the risk of blood clots for users of drospirenone-containing contraceptives compared to users of other hormonal contraceptives. To put this risk into perspective, if the risk of developing a blood clot among women using other hormonal contraceptives is about 6 women in 10 thousand, then the risk of developing a blood clot among women using drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives would be about 10 women in 10 thousand. The full study report of this study, along with the completed FDA review of the results of the study, will be presented and discussed at the joint meeting of the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee in December 2011.

FDA notes that the available studies have only examined the risk of VTE in users of contraceptive pills that contain drospirenone and 0.03 mg of ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen) and not other pills that contain drospirenone combined with a lower dose of estrogen (e.g., 0.02 mg ethinyl estradiol). It is unknown at this time whether the reported VTE risk applies to all drospirenone-containing products.

Table 1. Approved Oral Contraceptives containing Drospirenone

Brand name
Generic name
Drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg
Ocella
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg
Safyral
Drospirenone 3 mg, ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg, and levomefolate calcium 0.451 mg
Syeda
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg
Yasmin
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg
Zarah
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg
Beyaz
Drospirenone 3 mg, ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg and levomefolate calcium 0.451 mg
Drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg
Gianvi
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg
Loryna
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg
Yaz
Drospirenone 3 mg and ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg

As a Texas medical doctor and Actos Bladder Cancer Attorney I am providing this information and commentary. The maker of the world's best-selling diabetes drug is facing many lawsuits as adverse medical research shows that taking the pill for more than a year raises the risk of bladder cancer.

A motion was filed asking for all federal Actos bladder cancer lawsuits to be centralized before one judge for coordinated handling during pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

There are about 12 lawsuits over Actos that have been filed in federal district courts. Experts believe that hundreds of complaints that will likely be filed on behalf of individuals who claim they developed bladder cancer from side effects of Actos.

The motion was filed on August 31 by plaintiffs Glen and Nina Weant, who have petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate all federal Actos lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois before Judge Murphy. According to the filing, there are at least 12 lawsuits pending in 8 different federal district courts throughout the United States involving individuals who developed bladder cancer after Actos use.

All of the lawsuits involve similar allegations that Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Actos, failed to adequately research their medication or warn about the increased risk of bladder cancer when Actos is used for long periods of time.

Actos (pioglitazone) was approved by FDA to treat Type 2 Diabetes in July, 1999. It is a once-a-day pill that increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. FDA officials began reviewing the potential risk of Actos bladder cancer problems in September 2010, after interim data from an on-going 10 year study found that users may face an increased risk the longer they take the drug. Data from the study conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, indicated that after 24 months, the rate of exposure and the increased risk of bladder cancer reached statistical significance.

In June, an Actos recall was issued in France after a review of public insurance data identified an increased incidence of bladder cancer with Actos use. The European Union’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) also conducted a review and confirmed the bladder cancer risk, calling for new warnings and a six-month review of every patient on Actos.

Consolidation of the Actos litigation before one judge as part of an MDL is designed to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid contradictory rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the court, witnesses and parties. While the pretrial management of the cases in an MDL is often managed similar to how an Actos class action lawsuit would be handled, each claim will still remain an individual lawsuit.

During pretrial proceedings the Court will coordinate discovery and help facilitate a possible Actos settlement agreement. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is not likely to schedule a hearing on the petition until at least December 1, when they are scheduled to hold a hearing session in Savannah, Georgia.

As a Texas Transvaginal Mesh Injury Lawyer and medical doctor, I am providing this update and commentary involving TV Mesh failures.

An FDA advisory panel is currently examining recent complications and failure reports associated with transvaginal mesh systems that are used to repair pelvic organ prolapse, POP.

The FDA’s Obstetrics and Gynecological Devices panel will offer recommendations to protect women from the serious debilitating problems associated with transvaginal use of surgical mesh, which medical evidence suggests may provide no actual benefit over more traditional means of treating pelvic organ prolapse.

The transvaginal mesh products, known as bladder sling or vaginal surgical mesh, are designed to support the bladder and vagina in older women. The products are sold by a number of different companies, including Ethicon, C.R. Bard, American Medical Systems (AMS), Boston Scientific among others. They are made of non-absorbable synthetic material that is permanently implanted using small incisions as an alternative to other methods of treating pelvic organ prolapse.

The FDA issued warnings in July to inform the public and medical community about the growing number of reports involving transvaginal mesh failure after use to repair pelvic organ prolapse, including erosion of the mesh into the vagina, pain, bleeding, organ perforation and recurrence of POP.

According to a report the FDA agency is considering the reclassification of all transvaginal mesh products as Class III medical devices, which would prevent companies from seeking market approval through the agency’s “fast track” 510(k) approval program. The program allows medical devices to be approved without rigorous testing if they are functionally equivalent to existing products.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and rival makers of transvaginal meshes told Food and Drug Administration advisers they agreed on the need for more safety studies of the implants as well as labeling changes to warn of potential risks.

Manufacturers including J&J and Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (ENDP) proposed that new versions of the devices require clinical trials before they can be sold and existing implants be tracked for safety.

More than 75,000 women received vaginally implanted meshes last year to strengthen weak pelvic muscles that fail to support internal organs. Patients claiming the meshes led to internal injuries have filed almost 500 lawsuits against two of the manufacturers, New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J and C.R. Bard Inc. of Murray Hill, New Jersey.

The FDA is evaluating a U.S. Institute of Medicine report in July urging it to scrap the 510(k) process for moderate-risk devices. The current system allows devices like the mesh implant to enter the market if manufacturers show they are “substantially equivalent” to others already for sale. The IOM said a new process should be devised that provides reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of moderate-risk devices.

Last month, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a petition with the FDA calling for a transvaginal mesh recall to be issued to prevent the needless exposure of patients to the risk of the painful and life-altering complications.

As a result of complications and failure following the pelvic organ prolapse repair, a number of women throughout the United States are pursuing a transvaginal mesh lawsuit against the makers of the products, arguing that they failed to properly research the products or warn about the risk of the painful and often disfiguring injuries that can result from the pelvic mesh.

As a Texas medical doctor and Medical Malpractice attorney, I am providing this case law update and commentary.

As part of Texas's tort reform laws, enacted by the Texas legislature in 2003, one of the requirements in order to file a medical malpractice claim, was the furnishing of a medical expert's report within 120 days of filing the lawsuit.The 5th District Court of Appeals says that the legislation serves the state's interest in preventing frivolous medical liability lawsuits and related health care system costs. This medical expert report requirement is also known as the Texas' certificate-of-merit law, and is similar to many other states' medical malpractice reform.

Recently Texas' certificate-of-merit law passed another constitutional challenge after the 5th District Court of Appeals validated the requirement for plaintiffs to file an expert report demonstrating the merits of a medical liability case.

The 5th District Court of Appeals rejected arguments that the legislation amounted to an unconstitutional special law that treated medical liability lawsuits differently from other cases. Further, the court said that the provision subjecting plaintiffs who file a deficient report to financial penalties does not violate the constitutional separation powers.

Trial court judges have discretion to determine the amount of monetary sanctions and to inquire whether plaintiffs made a good-faith effort to pursue a medical malpractice or wrongful death case.

The August 12 opinion states that the expert report requirement "rationally relates to the interest of the state to prevent medical practitioners from defending frivolous claims at a high cost to the health care system."

According to the Texas Medical Association's statistics, since the 2003 law was enacted as part of a liability reform package that included a $250,000 noneconomic damages cap, Texas has seen a 50% drop in medical negligence cases, a 30% reduction in physicians' liability insurance rates and more than 20,000 newly licensed doctors.

Critics of the law state that those changes may have happened anyway because of the increase in Texas' population, which boomed as a result of the oil and gas business and the resulting need for more physicians and that as a function of doctors per capita, Texas is actually less served by the total number of physicians. So the new law is a red herring and an excuse for the insurance companies to be treated as a special interest deemed worthy of protection. Is it any wonder that the shiniest, tallest and the most aesthetically pleasing buildings in Texas are owned by insurance companies? Follow the money trail my friends.

The Texas liability reform package is now being touted as a role model for other states to deny plaintiffs their day in court.

The added expert report requirement means an extra layer of protection for physicians and hospitals. Plaintiffs in medical malpractice claims have to show ahead of discovery that they have a meritorious claim, whereas in any other personal injury claim, for example a car wreck injury case, you can take depositions and exchange discovery to determined what happened. In 2006 the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that invalidated the state's certificate-of-merit statute as a special law.

The Legislature's imposition of mandatory sanctions, of the defendant's cost of defense and attorny fees, if the medical expert's report is considered defective, usurps judiciary's powers and places an unfair burden on plaintiffs who make a good-faith effort to pursue a case. The cost of defense and attorney fees can be in thousands of dollars that the plaintiffs will have to pay.

This ruling arises from a wrongful death claim Joshua Hightower's parents filed after their son died from complications of rabies contracted during a kidney transplant at Baylor University Medical Center in 2004. Other patients who received organs from the same donor also died of the disease.

The Hightowers filed two physician expert medical reports supporting their claim that the surgery was risky given the donor's history of drug use and incarceration, and that the hospital and transplant doctors misrepresented the risks involved.

A trial court found the reports deficient and dismissed the case. The appeals court agreed, saying neither report showed "a connection between the donor's alleged high-risk status and the rabies virus. ... Joshua was injured by rabies, a condition of the donor that no one was aware of at the time of the surgery."

The judges said that "expert reports need not demonstrate all of a plaintiff's proof, but they must explain the basis of the expert's statement to link the conclusions to the facts."

Having been involved in many medical malpractice cases, I know first hand of the difficulties in obtaining a medical expert's report that is not conclusory and that adequately addresses the standard of care, the conduct that involves the deviation of the standard of care, the damages that result and the causation ie how the deviations caused the damages.

In other words the doctors who write these reports have to understand complex legal theories and case law in order to write reports that pass muster with the court. Doctors are not lawyers and because of their training they do not understand the legal basis of the claim. They understand the medicine but these reports are not about the medicine but law. You therefore have no medical personnel unless they have a legal background or exposure, being able to write these legal treatises which is basically required to pass the court's muster.

Meanwhile in California...
State public health officials have fined 12 California hospitals for medical errors that hurt or killed patients, according to a report. Three of the hospitals — L.A. County/USC Medical Center, Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Brotman Medical Center — are in Los Angeles County.

The penalties were issued for errors such as leaving foreign objects in patients' bodies during surgery and administrating the wrong medication. They occurred in 2009 and 2010. The fines, which hospitals can appeal, range from $50,000 to $75,000 for each mistake.

"Most of these are preventable medical errors," said Ralph Montano, spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. "Either someone was harmed or killed or likely to be harmed."

So here you have it folks, the rich get richer and the usual poor plaintiffs get the short end of the stick.

As a Texas medical doctor and Fosamax ONJ and femur fracture side effect Attorney, I am fielding many calls from concerned plaintiffs regarding their side effects from using Fosamax and similar drugs. We are providing the following update and commentary.

An FDA advisory panel will meet this week to review the risks associated with long-term use of Fosamax and other bisphosphonate medications. Fosamax and other bisphosphonate medications have been linked to a potential risk of spontaneous femur fractures and osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), which is a rare jaw bone condition.

A panel of medical experts will review whether the FDA should adjust the length of time Fosamax and other similar drugs are used. They may recommend that the medication users should be required to take a “drug holiday” to reduce the risk of the serious and potentially debilitating problems associated with long-term use.

Fosamax is designed to strengthen the bones and reduce the risk of fractures associated with osteoporosis, long-term Fosamax side effects have been linked to decay of the jaw bone and reports of femur fractures. Our law office has been fielding many calls from concerned patients suffering from these side effects.

Osteonecrosis of the jaw, which is known as ONJ or jaw necrosis, can be caused when side effects of Fosamax and other bisphosphonates interrupt the blood supply to the jaw. This can result in the death of the jaw bone. This side effect may result in the need for surgery to remove portions of the jaw.

Long term use of bisphosphonate medications has been linked to an increased risk of bone fractures. A growing number of people have reported suffering spontaneous and unexplained femur fractures on Fosamax. These fracture side effects appear to occur with little or no trauma at all. Side effects of Fosamax may weaken the ability of the femur bone to repair itself from microdamage, increasing the risk of a sudden femur fracture.

In October 2010, the FDA required new warnings about the risk of thigh fractures from Fosamax and other bisphosphonate medications. During a review of the potential Fosamax side effects, the FDA determined that the risk of fractures of the thigh bone may be connected to long-term use of bisphosphonates.

Merck & Co. currently faces hundreds of Fosamax jaw decay lawsuits and Fosamax bone fracture lawsuits that have been filed by individuals who claim the drug maker failed to adequately warn about the potential side effects.

As a Texas Medical doctor and Fort Worth Personal Attorney, I am providing this commentary regarding the state of traffic in our Great State of Texas, particularly in the Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex.

I was sitting here in my office on a Friday afternoon, before the long holiday weekend for Labor Day, when I browsed this interesting article that I would like to share.

I-35W in Fort Worth is the most stressful road in Texas, and fifth overall on the state's list of 100 most congested roadways. According to the Texas Department of Transportation's 2011 edition of the 100 most congested roadways, I35w Interstate 35W north of downtown Fort Worth is the most stressful road to travel on in Texas during peak congestion periods.

The stretch of I-35W between I-30 and 28th Street north of downtown is the fifth most congested roadway in the state, according to calculations made by the Texas Transportation Institute. And I-35W has the highest score in the state when ranked by the congestion level during rush hours -- tied for first place with U.S. 281 in the San Antonio area.

Also in Tarrant County, Northeast Loop 820 between U.S. 377 and the Northeast Interchange is the 17th most congested roadway. If you want to review the list, click here. The top three most congested roads in Texas are Woodall Rodgers Freeway, LBJ Freeway and Central Expressway in Dallas, followed by I-35 in Austin.

There is an obvious relationship between stressful driving and car accidents. Y'all be safe this holiday weekend, as for me I am going to drive into Dallas as soon as this blog is published.

As a Texas medical doctor and YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella Personal Injury attorney, I am providing this litigation update, information and commentary.

Judge Herndon overseeing the federal Yaz and Yasmin MDL, has rejected the consolidation of multiple cases during the early bellwether trials. The Court plans for “meaningful” settlement negotiations after the initial trials are held. These mini trials will help decide how juries will to respond to similar evidence and testimony like other cases in the litigation.

There are more than 6,350 lawsuits that have been centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. All of the cases allege that Bayer failed to adequately warn about the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects of Yaz and Yasmin birth control, such as a stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or gallbladder disease.

In October 2010, the Court issued an order for a handful of cases to be prepared for three early trials, known as bellwether cases. The first trial, which is scheduled to begin in 2012, will involve a pulmonary embolism injury claim. The second trial will involve a gallbladder injury and the third trial will involve a venous thromboembolism (VTE), a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

In August 19, 2011, the Court issued an order for the Gallbladder (“GB”) trial setting, that the Parties shall exchange their GB trial-pool selections on September 7, 2011. For the Venous Thromboembolism (“VTE”) trial setting, the Parties shall exchange their VTE trialpool selections on December 2, 2011.

Each side shall select four GB cases and four VTE cases. Each side shall exercise any veto (maximum of one, minimum of zero) on September 9, 2011, for the GB cases. Each side shall exercise any veto (maximum of one, minimum of zero) on December 6, 2011, for the VTE cases.

On September 14, 2011, after the exercise of any vetoes over the parties’ GB trial-pool selections, the parties shall submit the names of the remaining GB cases to the Court without indicating which party picked which case. Also on September 14, 2011, each party shall provide to the Court and to the other party a factual summary concerning each GB case submitted to the Court for trial selection, so that the Court receives two submissions on each case.

On December 12, 2011, after the exercise of any vetoes over the parties’ VTE trialpool
selections, the parties shall submit the names of the remaining VTE cases to the Court without indicating which party picked which case. Also on December 12, 2011, each party shall provide to the Court and to the other party a factual summary concerning each VTE case submitted to the Court for trial selection, so that the Court receives two submissions on each case.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys requested Judge Herndon to consolidate several cases for the 2nd and 3rd trials. They argued that trying cases one plaintiff at a time would “commit this litigation to a lifespan of eternity.” Plaintiffs states that there has been no movement by Bayer towards a Yaz settlement agreement, and suggested that effeciences would be served by trying several cases at a time after the 1st bellwether trial.

On August 18, Judge Herndon rejected this request and indicated that the 2nd and 3rd bellwether trials will proceed and shall be individual plaintiffs.

“The Court has no intention of presiding over anything into eternity, let alone this litigation, and the Court is presently working on a process that will engage the parties in settlement discussions following the bellwether trials in a meaningful way,” Judge Herndon wrote.

Yaz and Yasmin are birth control pills that contain a newer type of progestin, known as drospirenone, which has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots and other injuries. The Yaz and Yasmin litigation also involves cases filed over a newer version of the birth control pills, sold as Beyaz, as well as generic equivalents, such as Ocella and Gianvi.

Although the first trials are approaching, the number of lawsuits is expected to continue to grow as Yaz and Yasmin lawyers review and file additional cases in the coming months and years for women who have experienced health problems from the birth control pills. Early estimates suggested that more than 25,000 women may eventually file a Yaz birth control suit.

As a Texas Medical Doctor and Dallas dangerous dog attorney, I am writing this update to inform the public about recent dog attacks.

A Washington jury found Pierce County partly responsible for injuries suffered by a woman mauled by a pit bull. The jury awarded $2.2 million to the woman who was attacked by a neighbor's dog who entered her house through an open door.

The jury determined the owners of the dog were 52 percent responsible. Pierce County received 42 percent of the liability because animal control officials took no action after getting a dozen complaints from the neighborhood. The injured woman, was assigned 1 percent of the blame. She suffered injuries while trying to pull the pit bull off her two Jack Russell terriers.
Read full story here.

Around the Web
A 9 tear old girl is recovering after a savage mauling by a neighbor's pit bull and may have suffered permanent nerve damage. Sabrina Carrasco of Sacramento, was attacked after the pit bull got out of the fenced yard where it was kept.
Read full story here.

A 75 year old San Diego woman faced the possible amputation of a second limb after she was attacked by a pair of pit bulls.The woman was jumped by the two dogs in the backyard.

Surgeons at Scripps Mercy Hospital had to remove her badly mauled leg and tried to save her equally mangled arm, but the injuries to the woman's arm were so severe that it might have to be amputated as well. Read full story here.

A 74-year-old Florida man died after two next-door dogs ripped off one of his arms, nearly detached his other arm and severely disfigured his face, police said. Read more here.

A 4-year-old boy died after being bitten in the throat by one of his father's dogs, New York City police said. Read more here.

Four pit bull mix dogs fatally mauled a New Mexico woman while she was on a Sunday afternoon walk, police said. Read full story here.

A pet Rottweiler forced its way into a Houston home and killed its owners' baby daughter. The attack occurred while Alva Vaughn was washing another of her nine dogs in the bathroom. The 3 months old baby, was in a swing in the living room. When Vaughn heard a dog barking, she found the child on the floor with her head and hands mangled. Read the full story here.

Folks need to bear in mind that certain breeds of dogs are dangerous and no amount of love and attention can fix the wild nature. Most if not all people would consider a lion or a tiger impossible to tame and those big cats are too dangerous to be a pet in a neighborhood. Likewise some dog breeds are just bred for their viciousness and attacking qualities. These dogs are too dangerous to be pets.

Read more about dog bites here from the CDC.

As a DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement attorney and Texas Medical doctor I am providing this important update, regarding the first MDL hearing held in my home town of Dallas, Texas.

Attorneys from throughout the United States who represent DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement plaintiffs, met today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. This hearing was held in Dallas, and was the first status conference with the judge presiding over the recently formed multi-district litigation (MDL). The meeting between the plaintiff and defense attorneys was quite cordial and the hearing with Judge Kinkeade, lasted over 2 hours. This was an informal, esssentially a meet and greet type of hearing, much different from other types of contentious hearings.

It was interesting to stand at the back of the courtroom and observe the proceedings, the court room was jam packed, standing room only.

The meeting of the attorneys representing DePuy and various plaintiffs with Judge Kinkeade, addressed the format and structure of the pretrial proceedings and the composition of a committee of plaintiffs’ attorneys, who will serve in leadership positions and perform coordinated actions of the lawsuits consolidated in the MDL.

In May 2011, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) ordered that all DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States will be consolidated for pretrial proceedings before U.S. District Judge Kinkeade.

According to a Master Case List released by the court on July 20, there are already 213 cases consolidated in the MDL. As DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawyers continue to investigate and file new cases, the federal MDL will continue to grow.

All of the suits have similar allegations that the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System was defectively designed or manufactured, and that inadequate warnings were provided about the risk of early complications or problems, which have been developing within a few years of the surgery. In some cases, the DePuy Pinnacle hip problems may result in the need for additional surgery to replace or revise the hip replacement.

Many of the petitions also allege that DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has been aware of the problems with their metal-on-metal hip implants for some time and that a DePuy Pinnacle hip recall should have been issued several years ago.

DePuy filed a brief last week regarding the selection of the plaintiffs’ leadership positions. DePuy claimed that several DePuy Pinnacle lawyers representing plaintiffs in the federal MDL proceedings are continuing to file cases in state courts, naming local defendants such as physicians and sales representatives to avoid removal to federal court. DePuy argued that those attorneys should not be appointed to leadership positions, because such conduct impedes the progress of the litigation and undermines the goals of the MDL proceeding.

Johnson & Johnson and DePuy also face thousands of lawsuits over the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement system, because of a higher-than-expected failure rate. The DePuy ASR hip was approved as a substantial equivalent design to the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip, and faces the similar allegations regarding design problems with the two devices.

In October, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) issued a warning about potential problems with metal on-metal hip replacements, indicating that patients and the medical community should be aware that pain months after hip replacement surgery may be a sign of metal-on-metal hip cobalt toxicity. In addition, the FDA launched a new website in February to provide information about the risks associated with metal-on-metal hip replacements.

As a Texas medical doctor and Actos Bladder Cancer Attorney I am providing this information and commentary.

The maker of the world's best-selling diabetes drug is facing many lawsuits as adverse medical research shows that taking the pill for more than a year raises the risk of bladder cancer.

In June, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. halted sales of Actos, in Germany and France after pressure from government health regulators. Actos (pioglitazone) is a medication manufactured and sold by Takeda Pharmaceuticals for treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The drug is part of the same class of medications as Avandia (rosiglitazone), which has been linked to an increased risk of heart problems. As a result of concerns about Avandia side effects, sales of Actos have grown substantially in recent years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have issued warnings about the cancer risk based on new research. The FDA has approved updated label information for pioglitazone (Actos) and medications that contain it, following its warning in June about bladder cancer risk with the drug.

The FDA new labeling, released Friday, warns that use of pioglitazone for more than a year may increase the risk of bladder cancer, a finding based on an interim analysis of an epidemiological study.

Other medications that will carry the warning include pioglitazone/metformin (Actoplus Met), pioglitazone/metformin extended release (Actoplus Met XR), and pioglitazone/glimepiride (Duetact).

The updated label recommends against use of pioglitazone in patients with active bladder cancer and urges cautious use in those with a history of bladder cancer.

It also urges patients to contact their healthcare provider if they experience any potential symptoms of bladder cancer, including blood in their urine, urinary urgency, or pain on urination.

Actos, despite other serious side effects, became the No. 1 diabetes pill after Avandia, the only other drug in that class, was found in 2007 to greatly increase risk of heart attacks. Avandia's use was banned in the Eurpoean Union and sharply restricted here.

Recently lawsuits were filed in courts across the country. They allege Actos triggered bladder cancer, in some cases deadly, in patients who took the pills daily for years.

The claims allege that when a manufacturer distributes a drug, they owe it to the public to ensure that their product is safe for use and it appears that Takeda Pharmaceuticals failed to fulfill that fundamental duty.

The FDA analyzed data from the first five years of a 10-year Actos safety study Takeda begun in 2002 and concluded this June that risk of bladder cancer was 40 percent higher for patients taking Actos for at least a year.

As a Texas medical doctor and Transvaginal Mesh Attorney I am providing this information and commentary.

Read previous Transvaginal Mesh side effect blog here.
A number of lawsuits over Bard Avaulta mesh and other transvaginal products manufactured by C.R. Bard have been filed throughout the United States. The general allegations in these claims are that women experienced painful complications after receiving the vaginal mesh products for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and other gynecological and urological medical conditions.

Most recently, more than 100 people have filed a Bard Avaulta vaginal mesh lawsuit. At least 84 of the cases are filed in the federal court system, where they have been consolidated for as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, before Judge Goodwin in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Another 37 cases have been filed in New Jersey state court, where the litigation has been centralized before Judge Higbee in Atantic County.

According to a case management order issued in the Bard Avaulta MDL, the next step of the litigation involves the selection of a pool of potential bellwether cases. In the order, Judge Goodwin indicated that the discovery process is not anticipated to begin before October.

Other products manufactured and sold by C.R. Bard have been included in the MDL and New Jersey state court litigation, including the Align, Pelvicol, Pelvilace, PelviSoft, Pelvitex, uretex and Ugytex mesh systems.

All of the complaints involve allegations that the transvaginal mesh products were defectively designed and that C.R. Bard failed to adequately research the risks associated with the mesh or warn about the risk of possible complications that can result in pain and disfigurement.

Bard vaginal slings have been associated with erosion of the mesh into the vagina, infection, recurrence of prolapse, urinary problems and painful sexual intercourse, among others complications. Awareness about the potential risk or transvaginal mesh problems has increased in recent weeks, following a warning issued by the FDA last month.

In July 2011, the FDA issued a statement indicating that they have been unable to find any evidence that Bard Avaulta mesh and other transvaginal mesh systems for repair of pelvic organ prolapse provide any significant benefits over other available means of treatment. More than 1,500 reports of complications with vaginal mesh products, such as the Bard Avaulta Mesh and other similar systems, have been received by the FDA over the past three years

As a Texas medical doctor and Fracking water contamination attorney, I want to pose this rhetorical question; What happens when the foxes are guarding the hen house? Consider that as you savor your morning coffee, which may be contaminated with benzene, from a contaminated water aquifer.

Oil and gas industry as well as government regulators have maintained for many decades that a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that is used for natural gas wells has never contaminated underground drinking water. The fracking process, involves water and toxic chemicals being injected at high pressure into the ground to break up rocks and release the gas trapped there. This process according to industry officials, occurs thousands of feet below drinking-water aquifers and because of that distance, the drilling chemicals allegedly pose no risk.

According to ExxonMobil at a Congressional hearing on drilling...“There have been over a million wells hydraulically fractured ...and there is not one, not one, reported case of a freshwater aquifer having ever been contaminated from hydraulic fracturing...”

But there is in fact a documented case, and the E.P.A. report suggests there may be more. Researchers, were unable to investigate many suspected cases because their details were sealed from the public when energy companies settled lawsuits with landowners. E.P.A. says this practice continues to prevent them from fully assessing the risks of certain types of gas drilling.

The American Petroleum Institute, dismissed the assertion that sealed settlements have hidden problems with gas drilling, and according to their data, they have found that drinking water contamination from fracking is highly improbable.

The documented E.P.A. case, and the report was published in 1987, and the contamination was discovered in 1984. The report concluded that hydraulic fracturing fluids or gel used by the Kaiser Exploration and Mining Company contaminated a well roughly 600 feet away on the property of James Parsons in Jackson County, W.Va., referring to it as “Mr. Parson’s water well.”

“When fracturing the Kaiser gas well on Mr. James Parson’s property, fractures were created allowing migration of fracture fluid from the gas well to Mr. Parson’s water well,” according to the agency’s summary of the case. “This fracture fluid, along with natural gas was present in Mr. Parson’s water, rendering it unusable.”

In their report, E.P.A. officials also wrote that Mr. Parsons’ case was highlighted as an “illustrative” example of the hazards created by this type of drilling, and that legal settlements and nondisclosure agreements prevented access to scientific documentation of other incidents. “This is typical practice, for instance, in Texas,” the report stated. “In some cases, the records of well-publicized damage incidents are almost entirely unavailable for review.”

Industry officials emphasize that all forms of drilling involve some degree of risk. The question, they say, is what represents an acceptable level. Once chemicals contaminate underground drinking-water sources, they are very difficult to remove, according to federal and industry studies.

A 2004 study by the E.P.A. agency concluded that hydraulic fracturing of one kind of natural gas well — coal-bed methane wells — posed “little or no threat” to underground drinking water supplies. The study was later criticized by some within the agency as being unscientific and unduly influenced by industry.

Instances of gas bubbling from fracked sites into nearby water wells have been extensively documented. The industry has also acknowledged that fracking liquids can end up in aquifers because of failures in the casing of wells, spills that occur above ground or through other factors.

Both types of contamination can render the water unusable. However, contamination from fracking fluids is widely considered more worrisome because the fluids can contain carcinogens like benzene.

The risk of abandoned wells serving as conduits for contamination is one that the E.P.A. is currently researching as part of its national study on fracking. Many states lack complete records with the number or location of these abandoned wells and they lack the resources to ensure that abandoned and active wells are inspected regularly.

A 1999 report by the Department of Energy said there were about 2.5 million abandoned oil and natural gas wells in the United States at the time.

Short answer, carbon based energy is not the answer, in this current heat wave that most of the country is withering under, think of the amount of solar energy that can be harvested?

Studies have shown that a solar array set up, in Nevada can supply all of the energy needs of the USA, for the next century.

Continue reading "Fracking Water Contamination" »

As a Texas medical doctor and Transvaginal Mesh Attorney I am providing this information and commentary.

11.6% of women who undergo surgery with transvaginal placement of Ethicon Gynecare Prolift Mesh for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) have to undergo additional operations due to post operative complications.

This complication rate was found as a result of a new study, published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Most of the re-operations were due to urinary incontinence that occurred after the mesh was implanted, with other problems including transvaginal mesh complications and prolapse recurrence.

Researchers reviewed the outcomes for 524 patients who received the Ethicon Gynecare Prolift vaginal mesh over a 4 year period. At a follow up of 38 months, 11.6% had to undergo reoperation after receiving the Prolift Mesh for pelvic organ prolapse. Over 50% of those reoperations were due to urinary incontinence, More than 25% due to mesh-related complications and more than 25% due to recurring prolapse. The researchers found that the number of mesh-related complications and POP decreased when experienced medical teams implanted the mesh.

The Gyncare Prolift Total, Anterior and Posterior Pelvic Floor Repair Systems was first introduced in September 2005, and Gynecare Prolift+M variations were introduced in May 2008. The vaginal mesh or bladder sling is designed reinforce weakened or damaged tissue on the pelvic floor that hold organs in place, such as the bladder, the uterus and the rectum.

Recently, the FDA issued a warning about the risk of problems with Ethicon Gynecare vaginal mesh and other similar products used for pelvic organ prolapse. The agency declared that transvaginal surgical mesh for pelvic organ prolapse does not provide any benefit over other means of treatment, and has been associated with hundreds of reports of serious problems.

Between 2008 and 2010, the FDA received more than 1,500 reports of transvaginal mesh problems after pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery, including erosion of the mesh into the vagina, contraction or shrinkage of the mesh, infection, pelvic pain, urinary problems, vaginal scarring among other complications.

A number of Gynecare Prolift mesh lawsuits have been filed against Ethicon, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. At least 400 complaints have been filed in New Jersey state court over the Prolift mesh and other similar vaginal bladder sling products made by Ethicon, such as Gynemesh, Prolene Mesh and TVT slings.

In addition to Ethicon vaginal mesh products, problems have also been associated with slings sold by American Medical Systems (AMS), Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard and other companies. Transvaginal mesh lawyers are also reviewing potential claims against manufacturers of these products for women who experienced problems with surgical mesh for pelvic organ prolapse repair.

Continue reading "Ethicon Gynecare Prolift Mesh Linked to 11.6% Reoperation Rate" »

As a Texas medical doctor and Dallas DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement Attorney I am providing this information and commentary.

DePuy Orthopaedics ASR hip replacement devices have resulted in a tsunami of lawsuits against DePuy's parent company, Johnson & Johnson. Could the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement result in a similar wave of litigation against the device maker?

According to sources, Johnson & Johnson faces approximately 1,000 lawsuits related to its metal-on-metal hip replacement devices. Both the ASR and the Pinnacle are metal-on-metal devices. The ASR devices were recalled following reports of high failure rates in the devices. The Pinnacle has not been recalled.

DePuy claims that a report from Britain that showed a high failure rate was the first sign that there was a problem with the metal-on-metal hip device. When DePuy knew about the high failure rate of its ASR devices will be a key issue in litigation concerning the ASR. Some lawsuits allege DePuy knew in 2007, approximately two years before the device was recalled, about the high failure rate associated with the ASR.

In addition to failure of the hip device—which can result in revision surgery to replace the faulty hip device—some patients say they have developed toxic levels of cobalt and chromium in their bloodstream, a side effect of metal debris coming loose from the hip replacement device. This medical condition is called metallosis.

Some lawsuits have been filed against DePuy concerning the Pinnacle, although those lawsuits reportedly number in the dozens, not in the thousands. According to reports, similar defects have been reported in the Pinnacle as in the ASR devices. DePuy defends the Pinnacle as a safe and effective device.

According to experts, Johnson & Johnson could face up to $1 billion in liability and costs linked to the DePuy ASR lawsuits. Many lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson have been consolidated in federal court. Whether or not Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopaedics will face a wave of litigation related to the Pinnacle remains to be seen.

Continue reading "DePuy ASR and Pinnacle Metal on Metal Hips" »

As a Texas medical doctor and Yaz Side Effect Product Liability attorney, I am providing this litigation update regarding the increased discovery that has been allowed in the federal MDL.

NON-BELLWETHER CASE-SPECIFIC DISCOVERY.
The judge presiding over all federal Yaz lawsuits and Yasmin lawsuits has expanded the scope of discovery in the litigation beyond the selected bellwether cases. According to Judge Herndon's most recent order, "... This matter is before the Court for case management. The Court is in the process of compiling a list of the the "oldest 100 non-bellwether" cases. Thus, a list identifying the 100 member actions that will be subject to core, case-specific discovery pursuant to Doc. [1866] will be forthcoming..."

In essence the Court is allowing case-specific discovery to move forward in up to 100 other cases filed on behalf of women who allege that side effects of the Bayer birth control pills caused them to suffer injuries. The Court has expanded the scope of discovery beyond the 24 cases selected last year to serve as a pool of bellwether lawsuits. Case-specific discovery, including depositions of individual plaintiffs, will also now be permitted in the oldest 100 non-bellwether cases that have been filed.

About 6,350 lawsuits are now consolidated as part of the Yasmin and Yaz litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and the number of cases is expected to only increase as Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella lawyers file additional cases.

All of the suits involve claims that Bayer failed to properly research their birth control pills or adequately warn about the increased risk of serious and potentially life-threatening injuries from the birth control pills containing drospirenone, such as a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis. Yaz and Yasmin were the first birth control pills to contain drospirenone, a new type of progestin.

The outcome of the bellwether trials and information obtained from the additional plaintiff depositions could help facilitate an eventual Yaz settlement agreement between the parties.

Continue reading "Case Specific Discovery in Yasmin and Yaz Litigation " »

As a Dallas Dangerous Drug attorney, I am writing about this interesting medical study in the recent American Journal of Medicine.

According to the findings of a new medical study, patients with hypertension and heart problems who regularly take common over-the-counter painkillers could be at a greater risk of heart attack, stroke and death.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used in pain management in patients with osteoarthritis and other painful conditions. In the United States an estimated 5% of all visits to a doctor are related to prescriptions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and they are among the most commonly used drugs. In 2004, rofecoxib, VIOXX, marketed as a cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX 2) selective inhibitor, was withdrawn from the market after the results of a randomized placebo controlled trial showed an increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with the drug.

In this recent study, patients with heart disease and high blood pressure were at 47% increased risk of the cardiovascular events if they were chronic users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), examples include Advil, Aleve, Celebrex, Motrin and the recalled drug Vioxx.

The findings were published in the latest issue of The American Journal of Medicine. The study looked at data on 882 long-term NSAID users and 21,694 nonchronic NSAID users. All had hypertension and heart disease and had an average age of 65. Researchers found that 4.4 out of every 100 chronic NSAID users suffered a nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke, or died. The rate was only 3.7 out of 100 for nonchronic NSAID users.

After five years of chronic NSAID use, high blood pressure patients with heart disease were at 126% increased risk of death and 66% increased risk of heart attack.

In June, Danish researchers published a study that found that NSAIDs could cause abnormal heart rhythms. That study, published in the British Medical Journal, found a 40% to 70% increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation among NDAID users. Use of non-aspirin NSAIDs was associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter. Compared with non-users, the association was strongest for new users, with a 40-70% increase in relative risk (lowest for non-selective NSAIDs and highest for COX 2 inhibitors). Atrial fibrillation or flutter needs to be added to the cardiovascular risks to be considered when prescribing NSAIDs.

In January, researchers found that all NSAIDs appeared to increase the risk of heart problems, and all except Aleve carried an increased risk of cardiovascular death. The study was published in the British Medical Journal, focusing on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The researchers looked at the cardiovascular risk of seven different generic NSAIDs, including generic Aleve (naproxen), Advil and Motrin (ibuprofen), Voltaren and Cataflam (diclofenac), Celebrex (celecoxib), Arcoxia (etoricoxib), Vioxx (rofecoxib) and Prexige (lumiracoxib).

In June 2010, Danish researchers published a study that found evidence of NSAID heart problems, with the recalled drug Vioxx, as well as Voltaren and Cataflam being linked to the highest risk of death due to cardiovascular problems. Voltaren and Cataflam were also associated with double the risk of heart attack, while Vioxx was linked to triple the increased risk. The study was published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, that indicated the class of drugs, which include Motrin and Advil, increase the risk of cardiovascular problems in healthy users. The study indicates that the risk appears to vary widely from brand to brand, with Vioxx, Voltaren and Cataflam as the worst offenders, and the pain reliever Aleve actually appearing to lessen the risk of death.

Lawsuits over Vioxx were filed by thousands of people following a September 2004 recall of the drug amid reports that it increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The prescription medication, which was approved for treatment of chronic pain from arthritis and other conditions that cause acute pain, was used by more than 80 million people worldwide.

Keywords: Coronary artery disease, Hypertension, Myocardial infarction, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, Advil, Aleve, Cataflam, Celevrex, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, Motrin, Stroke, Vioxx

Continue reading "Chronic NSAID Usage Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke and Death" »

As a Dallas Denture Cream Side Effect Attorney, I am providing this Poligrip Zinc side effect litigation update.

GlaxoSmithKline may have paid out more than $120 million in Poligrip denture cream settlements to resolve claims brought by consumers who suffered permanent nerve damage due to zinc in the adhesive products. According to sources, the manufacturer has settled more than 100 denture cream lawsuits at an average cost of just over $1 million per case.

Glaxo agreed to remove zinc from its line of denture-cream products after researchers linked some neurological problems, including nerve damage, to use of zinc-laden denture adhesives. The company’s Super Poligrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care products all contained zinc, which improves adhesive power. Glaxo and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), the Cincinnati-based maker of the competing Fixodent denture cream, had lawsuits filed against them consolidated before a federal judge in Florida in 2005.

Product liability lawyers allege that the drugmakers knew for years that their products contained harmful levels of zinc and failed to warn customers. Zinc poisoning can deplete the body of copper, which can lead to nerve damage, resulting in weakness in the arms and legs, balance problems and memory loss.

A flood of law suits followed a 2008 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas medical study of patients suffering from neurological problems. The study linked the cause to denture-cream use. According to the complaints, high amounts of zinc in the denture adhesive can enter the body through use of Super Poligrip, leading to permanent neurological problems like neuropathy, numbness, tingling, pain, weakness, loss of sensation, loss of balance, paralysis and difficulty breathing.

The first Fixodent nerve damage trial is scheduled to begin on June 20. In that case, lawyers for Florida resident Marianne Chapman allege Procter & Gamble defectively designed Fixodent by including zinc in its formulation. The consolidated case is In Re Denture Cream Products Liability Litigation, 09-02051, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida (Miami.)

There have been no reports of Fixodent denture cream settlements. Proctor and Gamble argues that its products contained less zinc than those of Glaxo and that it does not believe Fixodent can cause neurological damage.

All federal lawsuits over zinc poisoning from denture cream have been centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for pretrial litigation. Individual complaints filed by dozens of people throughout the United States have been consolidated to avoid duplicative discovery, inconsistent pretrial rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the court, the parties and the witnesses.

Continue reading "Denture Cream Zinc Poisoning Lawsuit Update" »

As a Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella side effect and blood clot attorney, and Texas Medical doctor I am providing this update regarding the bellwether trial status for the New Jersey State MDL litigation trial schedule.

The first trial dates for any Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella lawsuits pending in New Jersey state court will begin in the fall of 2012, with at least two cases to be selected as test cases out of hundreds of claims pending in the state.

There are about 1,000 Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella product liability lawsuits pending in New Jersey state courts involving claims that women suffered serious or deadly injuries as a result of side effects of Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella birth control, containing the fourth-generation progestin drospirenone which are all manufactured by Bayer.

All of the suits involves claims that Bayer failed to properly research their birth control pills or adequately warn about the increased risk of serious and life-threatening injuries from the birth control pills containing drospirenone, causing stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

According to a case management order issued July 8 by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Martinotti, the first Yaz trial in New Jersey state court should be ready to go before a jury on September 10, 2012. A second trial date has been set for November 27, 2012.

The parties have been directed to identify a pool of 18 cases that may be selected for an early trial date, known as bellwether cases. Judge Martinotti has asked each side to select three cases involving allegations of pulmonary embolism, three involving claims of gall bladder injury and three involving allegations of venous thromboembolism, such as a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

In addition to the cases pending in New Jersey state court, more than 6,000 other cases are pending in federal court and other state court systems. The federal Yaz litigation has been centralized as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) before Judge Herndon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

At least three trial trial dates are anticipated in the federal MDL, one involving a pulmonary embolism, one involving a gallbladder injury and one involving a venous thromboembolism, with the first Yaz trial in federal court expected to begin early next year.

QUICK FACTS: YAZ LAWSUITS ALLEGATIONS
Throughout the United States, a number of Yaz birth control lawsuits have been filed against Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was formerly known as Berlex, Inc. and Berlex Laboratories, Inc., claiming that the drug makers:

Failed to adequately warn consumers and the doctors about the potential risk of Yaz side effects.
Failed to adequately test and research Yaz birth control before placing it on the market, which could have shown that patients would face an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and other life-threatening health problems.
Failed to issue a Yaz recall or remove the birth control pill from the market after it became apparent that it is an unreasonably dangerous drug, for which the harmful side effects outweigh any potential benefits provided over other available birth control pills.
Aggressively marketed Yaz and encouraged misuse and overuse despite the known Yaz dangers to maximize profits at the expense of patients’ health.

The drug makers had access to all the facts concerning the potential Yaz problems, and ignored the connection between their drug and deadly side effects. Yaz safety concerns were hidden and misrepresentations were made to to convince consumers and doctors to use the birth control pill instead of other available products. This increased the drug makers’ profits at the expense of women throughout the United States. Another example of corporations putting profits before people.

In complex litigation involving a large number of claims with similar underlying facts, early trials are useful in helping the parties gauge the strengths and weaknesses of their cases, and may help facilitate a possible Yaz settlement agreement that includes other lawsuits in the litigation.

Continue reading "Yaz Injury Update: New Jersey BellWether Trials To Start" »

As a Vaginal Mesh Defective Product Lawsuits attorney, and Texas Medical doctor I am providing this important update.

According to a safety communication issued by the Food and Drug Administration, Women who have vaginal surgery to fix a gynecologic condition called pelvic organ prolapse may wind up with more problems than benefits if a plastic mesh is used.

The FDA said it plans to convene an advisory committee to determine whether to ban the mesh - manufactured by Mass-based Boston Scientific Corp., Covidien PLC of Mansfield, and several other companies - for this procedure.

About 100,000 women with pelvic organ prolapse are treated with plastic mesh each year, but in most cases, according to the FDA, the condition can be treated successfully without mesh.

Mesh-related problems reported to the FDA include painful sexual intercourse, infections, urinary problems, and bleeding, usually from the mesh eroding through the stitched tissue or from skin contracting tightly around it.

Boston Scientific, is one of several companies that already face lawsuits over the mesh. Dozens of women who said they endured painful complications after the company’s mesh was implanted filed complaints last year in a California court, and many of the cases are now being transferred to jurisdictions across the country where the plaintiffs live.

Covidien, a company incorporated in Ireland with its corporate headquarters in Mansfield, supplies mesh to Bard, which markets it to health care providers to treat pelvic organ prolapse.
According to attorneys who represent more than 100 women in a complaint against Bard lodged in federal court in West Virginia, said the manufacturers initially designed the mesh for hernia repair. While regulators gave companies clearance to market it for pelvic organ prolapse repair, they did not look to see if, mechanically or otherwise, these products worked in the pelvis. “They should have known that they needed to check and test.’’

In 2008, the FDA announced that problems could be associated with transvaginal placement of the mesh, which is used along with surgical stitches to support sagging pelvic organs such as the bladder, uterus, and bowel after they have been lifted back out of the vagina, where they descended. From 2008 to 2010, the FDA received 1,503 adverse event reports associated with mesh used for pelvic organ prolapse repair, five times as many as the agency received from 2005 to 2007. It also received three reports of deaths that were related to the mesh placement procedure.

Recent studies indicate that about 10 percent of women who have the mesh placed transvaginally experience mesh erosion within 12 months of surgery and that more than half require additional surgeries to remove the mesh. Sometimes, the mesh becomes so intertwined with scar tissue that it cannot be removed. Furthermore, the FDA found that the mesh does not make the surgery any more effective.

According to Dr. William Maisel, the FDA’s deputy director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, “The evidence we reviewed calls into question the clinical benefit of mesh, and it certainly shouldn’t be used routinely for all transvaginal prolapsed repairs.''

In 2010, 75,000 women had vaginal surgery with mesh to repair pelvic organ prolapse. That surgery was performed three times as often as abdominal surgical mesh repair, according to the FDA, since it does not require a painful incision through the skin and offers a less painful recuperation for women.

The FDA cited studies showing abdominal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse led to vaginal erosion in 4 percent of women within 23 months of surgery. The FDA urged patients with the condition to ask their surgeon about all treatment options, including those without mesh, before having the operation.

The reassessment of surgical mesh comes as FDA reviews its fast-track system for clearing medical devices, which has been largely unchanged since the 1970s. Like 90 percent of medical devices sold in the U.S., pelvic mesh was cleared under the FDA's fast-track system, which grants market approval in 90 days to devices that are considered low-risk.

Medical device manufacturers have spent the last year lobbying the FDA and Congress to speed up device approvals as the government reviews the process. Safety advocates say the agency has been overusing the system and clearing high-risk devices that should be subject to more testing.

According to Dr. Diana Zuckerman, the agency should have required the studies it is now contemplating before mesh products were approved. "If they had been required to go through the more rigorous approval process, similar to that for prescription drugs, it would have been obvious years ago that surgical mesh has more risks than benefits in many types of surgery," said Zuckerman, who directs the National Research Center for Women & Families.

The FDA will hold a meeting in September to discuss studies that would identify which patients benefit most from mesh implants. The FDA will ask panelists at the meeting whether pelvic surgical mesh should be reclassified as a high-risk device.

Surgeons began using mesh to repair hernias in the 1950s, and over the next 40 years they adapted the technique for women's health conditions. FDA cleared the first mesh for prolapse in 2002, but since it was similar to devices that had been used for decades it did not have to undergo human testing.

The mesh was approved through the FDA's 510(k) process, which calls for companies to prove that a product is "substantially equivalent" to one already on the market -- usually without clinical studies on patients. The approval process is currently being scrutinized by the Institute of Medicine on behalf of the FDA.

Among the manufacturers are Boston Scientific Corp., American Medical Systems Inc. (now part of Pennsylvania-based Endo Pharmaceuticals) and Coloplast. Other companies making the mesh include Cook Medical, Covidien PLC, C.R. Bard Inc., and Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson.

Continue reading "Vaginal Mesh Injury Lawsuits" »

Is an Actos recall in the works? As an Actos Bladder Cancer attorney, and Texas medical doctor I am providing this Actos update.

Actos (pioglitazone) is one of the world's widely prescribed diabetes medications. Also marketed in combination with glimepiride (Duetact) and metformin (Actoplus Met, Actoplus Met XR), Actos is used by millions of patients with Type-2 diabetes. The drug works by controlling blood glucose levels through its action with insulin.

Now, Actos has also been linked to life-threatening side effects. In June 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to alert patients and healthcare professionals of an increased risk of bladder cancer associated with Actos. This followed another FDA warning, issued in June 2007, with reports of liver damage and cardiovascular problems among patients taking Actos.

If you have been diagnosed with bladder cancer or another condition you feel may be linked to taking Actos, the FDA recommends that you schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately.

Bladder Cancer Risk and Actos Usage
The FDA issued its Actos bladder cancer warning after an interim analysis of a 10-year epidemiological study conducted by the drug's manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The analysis showed no increased risk of bladder cancer among users as a whole. The longest-term users of Actos and those with the highest cumulative dose of the drug showed increased levels of bladder cancer.

A separate study of Actos, conducted in France, has also linked the drug to bladder cancer. The FDA is aware of these findings and has stated that it intends to conduct a thorough review of the study and its findings. The agency has also stated that it will continue monitoring data from Takeda's ongoing study.

In the meantime, the FDA has advised patients that taking Actos for longer than a year puts them at risk. The FDA recommends that patients with active bladder cancer avoid taking Actos. Physicians should use caution when prescribing Actos to patients with a history of bladder cancer, weighing the benefits of the drug to the risk of recurrence.

The FDA has also provided the following tips for patients:

Taking Actos may increase your odds of developing bladder cancer
Go to a doctor if you notice that your urine is red in color or if you see blood; if you are experiencing an extreme urge to urinate or pain while doing so; or if you are experiencing pain in your lower abdomen or back
Do not take Actos if you are receiving bladder cancer treatment
Report any side effects you notice to the FDA MedWatch program
Read the medication guide you get with your Actos prescription, which contains detailed information on risks associated with the drug

These warnings and recommendations will appear on the Warnings and Precautions section of the drug's label, and in the accompanying medication guide.

Actos Side Effects and Potential Injuries
The FDA's latest Actos warning follows another warning issued in June of 2007. At that time, the agency issued a "black box warning" requiring the manufacturers of Actos and Avandia (known as thiazolidinediones) to include warnings alerting patients and their doctors of cardiovascular and liver problems linked to the drug. Black box warnings appear on the packaging of drugs and are the strongest action taken by the FDA short of a recall.

These warnings were issued after the findings of a Cleveland Clinic study showed that thiazolidinedione use increased the risk of heart attack by as much as 42 percent. The findings also showed an increased risk of hepatitis, liver inflammation, elevated liver enzymes (an indication of liver damage) and liver failure.

Continue reading "Actos Bladder Cancer Injuries" »

As a Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Blood Clot side effect and wrongful death attorney, and Texas medical doctor I am providing this update.

In one of the latest court battles pitting consumers against a giant drugmaker, thousands of victims are alleging Bayer did not provide adequate warnings about the health risks associated with Yaz, and they are blaming the drug for causing blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and sudden deaths.

Yaz and its predecessor, Yasmin, are oral contraceptives, including widely used generics such as Ocella, that contain a combination of the estrogen ethinyl estradiol and a synthetic hormone drospirenone. Both drugs were made by Berlex Labs, which was acquired in 2006 by Bayer Healthcare, the U.S. division of Bayer AG. The Food and Drug Administration approved Yasmin in 2001, and five years later they allowed Berlex to begin selling Yaz, another version of the drug.

The two pills, backed by heavy marketing campaigns, quickly became best-sellers, generating billions in annual sales for Bayer. When they were approved by the FDA, the pills were considered safer than older forms of oral contraceptives because they were taken for 24 days rather than the usual 21. But there were concerns about the health risks associated with drospirenone. A year after Yasmin went on the market, the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen placed the drug on its list of “Do not use pills.”

The group warned consumers that Yasmin did not work better than older oral contraceptives that were less likely to cause dangerous side effects like blood clots. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said “When you have enough evidence to suggest that there is no unique benefit and there are unique risks, that should be it.”

In the case of Yaz, the product liability lawsuits claim that Bayer provided inadequate warnings about the health risks for women taking the drospirenone-containing birth control pills.

Yaz Pulmonary Embolism PE Risks
It is important to understand that if you are taking Yaz birth control, you are at a higher risk of Yaz pulmonary embolism. Women in the following categories have an even higher risk for Yaz related pulmonary embolism:

If you are over the age of 35
If you smoke more than 15 cigarettes per day
If you have a family or personal history of pulmonary embolism or blood clots

Yaz Death
Pulmonary embolism usually results in death because the emergency units cannot reach the patient in time. A staggering statistic is that 33 percent of all untreated pulmonary embolism attacks result in death. It is hard to process that the death may have been prevented with adequate information and packaging. Women should have been informed of the increased risks involved with taking Yaz birth control including PE and death.

More than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed in Bergen County — one of four courts where the mass tort litigation will be heard. Thousands of other cases are filed in courts in Philadelphia, California and Illinois.

In June, FDA regulators acknowledged new evidence that raised more questions about the safety of Yaz and birth control pills like it, including the top-selling generic Ocella. The agency posted a notice on its website saying it was aware of studies recently published in the British Medical Journal that showed oral contraceptives containing drospirenone were two to three times more likely to cause blood clots than other birth control pills.

Continue reading "Yaz Pulmonary Embolism PE" »

As a Multaq Dangerous Drug attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this information on a drug company sponsored trial of its drug Multaq, which was halted because of increased cardiovascular side effects and injuries.

Sanofi, maker of dronedarone (Multaq), has stopped its phase 3b trial of its antiarrhythmic drug due to an increase in cardiovascular events seen in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation - an unapproved indication for the antiarrhythmic drug. The PALLAS trial was testing the drug in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) and at least one other cardiovascular disease risk factor; at present, dronedarone is approved in patients with nonpermanent AF.

According to the primary medical investigator, ". . . there was a significant increase in major cardiovascular events, and in our study that was defined as a composite of stroke, MI, systemic embolism, or cardiovascular death. . . . These were pretty important events."

Multaq, is approved for patients with the non-permanent kind of atrial fibrillation. The trial, known as the PALLAS study, was testing Multaq’s usefulness in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (more than 6 months of the abnormal rhythms).

Dronedarone has faced a range of criticisms since its approval in the US in July 2009, including questions about its safety/efficacy tradeoff and the design and execution of the ATHENA study. Just last week, newspapers in France reported that French health authorities had concluded that the efficacy of dronedarone was "insufficient"—an opinion that could lead to the drug being dropped from the country's drug reimbursement formulary.

Dronedarone, sold by sanofi-aventis, is currently approved to treat atrial flutter and paroxysmal or persistent - but not permanent atrial fibrillation.

The phase 3b trial, called PALLAS, had enrolled 3,148 patients with permanent atrial fibrillation, with 70% showing symptoms for more than two years, according to a company statement. Sanofi did not specify the cardiovascular events seen in the dronedarone-treated patients, or the magnitude of the increase.

In January, sanofi-aventis and the FDA warned that reports of acute liver injury associated with the drug had been received. The statement noted that patients with permanent atrial fibrillation and "vascular risk factors" are at high risk for cardiovascular events.

An earlier trial of dronedarone in patients with relatively severe heart failure, called ANDROMEDA, was halted early when mortality in patients receiving the drug was found to be twice that seen in the control group.

Sanofi-aventis has alerted healthcare professionals to several reports of liver function test abnormalities and hepatocellular injury in patients treated with its atrial fibrillation drug dronedarone (Multaq). The Dear Healthcare Provider letter included two post-marketing case reports of acute liver failure that required transplantation, occurring at four-and-a-half and six months after the start of dronedarone therapy. The patients - both female and about 70 years old - had had normal hepatic serum enzymes before starting the drug.

In the letter, sanofi-aventis instructed healthcare professionals to tell patients to immediately report any symptoms suggestive of hepatic injury. According to the FDA, these include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, fever, malaise, fatigue, right upper quadrant pain, jaundice, dark urine, or itching.

Periodic liver enzyme tests, especially in the first six months of treatment, should also be considered, according to the FDA, although it is unknown whether such a strategy will prevent the development of liver injury.

Dronedarone's prescribing information will be updated to include the guidance from the Dear Physician letter, and will be distributed after the FDA approves it. The agency confirmed that a warning about potential liver injury will be added to the drug's label.

According to the FDA, from the drug's approval in July 2009 through October 2010, about 492,000 prescriptions for dronedarone were dispensed and about 117,000 patients filled prescriptions at U.S. pharmacies.

The drug was approved with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy to prevent use in patients with severe heart failure or in those with less severe heart failure who were recently hospitalized for the condition. Such patients had a doubling in the risk of death in a placebo-controlled study.

Continue reading "Multaq Study Stopped: Linked to Other Heart Problems" »

As a Texas Chantix side effect and Product Liability Attorney and Texas medical attorney, I am providing this update.
New medical research suggests that Chantix side effects increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.

Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Chantix raises the risk of suffering a cardiac event by 72%, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Researchers found that those who took Chantix were substantially more likely to suffer heart problems than those who took a placebo, and two of the co-authors suggested that the findings were strong enough that the FDA should consider a Chantix recall due to the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The study comes just three weeks after the FDA issued a drug safety communication about the risk of heart problems from Chantix, warning that the smoking cessation drug might increase the risk of certain cardiovascular events, including the risk of heart attack, among individuals who had cardiovascular disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying the public that the smoking cessation aid Chantix (varenicline) may be associated with a small, increased risk of certain cardiovascular adverse events in patients who have cardiovascular disease. This safety information will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section of the Chantix physician labeling. The patient Medication Guide will also be revised to inform patients about this possible risk.

The warning risk of a heart attack or stroke from Chantix is just the latest of serious side effects associated with the drug. Warnings about the risk of life-threatening psychological side effects of Chantix, which increases the risk of suicide, was added to a black box on the medications label two years ago.

Chantix (varenicline) was approved in the United States by the FDA in 2006 as a prescription medication to help people quit smoking. The prescription medication designed to help people stop smoking already holds the title of being the drug associated with the most FDA adverse event reports of any prescription medication in the United States.

A number of Chantix lawsuits have been filed in courts throughout the United States on behalf of individuals who have died or suffered serious injuries as a result of a suicide or unusual behavior allegedly caused by Chantix.

Continue reading "Chantix Increases Heart Attacks" »

As a Dangerous and Defective Drug attorney, I am writing this opinion piece, regarding the latest US Supreme Court Generic Drug Decision, which in my humble opinion is disastrous to Patient Safety. The case is PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing.

On June 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Generic Drug Manufacturers cannot be sued for failing to warn consumers of the possible side effects of their defective products, as long as they use the same warnings on the brand-name drugs. This decision is absurd on its face; this means that brand-name drug manufacturers can be held responsible for their failure to warn consumers about the dangers, but generic manufacturers are now provided an all encompassing shield that brand-name manufacturers do not have.

The seriousness and ramifications of this opinion cannot be understated. The Court’s decision now prevents millions of Americans, who have been seriously injured by generic drugs, from seeking compensation for their injuries. Generic drug manufacturers have a huge business in the United States. This opinion immunizes those drug manufacturers from liability. Another win for Big Pharma, and the consumer gets it again.

The dissent, ridiculed the Court’s decision, stating, “As a result of today’s decision, whether a consumer harmed by inadequate warnings can obtain relief turns solely on the happenstance of whether her pharmacist filled her prescription with a brand-name or generic drug. The Court gets one thing right: this outcome makes little sense.” “In some States, pharmacists must dispense generic drugs absent instruction to the contrary from a consumer’s physician. Even when consumers can request brand-name drugs, the price of the brand-name drug or the consumers’ insurance plans may make it impossible to do so. As a result, in many cases, consumers will have no ability to preserve their state-law right to recover for injuries caused by inadequate warnings.”

In many cases, once generic versions of a drug enter the market, the brand name manufacturers stop selling the drug. A consumer may have no option but to use a generic drug, and then find themselves without a remedy if they develop a catastrophic injury.

This decision also means that brand-name manufacturers will be held to a different yet safer standard. The Supreme Court decided in Wyeth v. Levine, brand-name manufacturers are responsible for their warning labels and required to update them at all times.

Patients will now be taking generic drugs at their own risk. It is absurd that doctors and patients will have to make medical decisions knowing that only brand-name drug manufacturers – not generics – can be held accountable for their drugs' dangerous side-effects.

Today, 70 percent of all prescription drugs are filled with generic versions, accounting for about 2.6 billion prescriptions every year. Additionally, the generic drug industry continues to expand – nine of the industry's 10 biggest blockbuster drugs are going off-patent within in the next few years.

The ruling is an immense blow for consumer rights, equality and fairness, principals upon which the American legal system was founded.

As an Actos Side Effects Lawsuit and Piaglitazone Bladder Cancer Lawyer, I am writing this Actos update, regarding the Actos dangerous drug cancer side effects.

Actos (pioglitazone) is a medication manufactured and sold by Takeda Pharmaceuticals for treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The drug is part of the same class of medications as Avandia (rosiglitazone), which has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks.

What is Actos?
Actos or Pioglitazone is used with a diet and exercise program and sometimes with other medications, to treat type 2 diabetes. Pioglitazone is in a class of medications called thiazolidinediones. It works by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Pioglitazone is not used to treat type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

Fast FDA Facts About Actos
*Sold as a single-ingredient product under the brand-name Actos. Also sold in combination with metformin (Actoplus Met, Actoplus Met XR) and glimepiride (Duetact).
*Used along with diet and exercise to improve control of blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
*From January 2010 through October 2010, approximately 2.3 million patients filled a prescription for a pioglitazone-containing product from outpatient retail pharmacies.

Diabetes Drug Actos Bladder Cancer Risks
The FDA has issued a new warning of increased bladder cancer risk associated with use of the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone).The agency's warning comes five days after Germany and France pulled Actos from the market.

The warning comes after a review of data from a five-year analysis of an ongoing study of Actos by the manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals.The results show that although there was no increased risk of bladder cancer among Actos users overall, there was an increased risk of bladder cancer among those who had used the drug the longest. There was also a greater risk of bladder cancer among Actos users who had been exposed to the highest cumulative dose of the drug.

According to the FDA, Actos should not be prescribed to people with bladder cancer or people with a history of bladder cancer.Some medical experts believe that an Actos recall is imminent or that new warnings about the risk of bladder cancer from Actos should be added to the medication.

Research Data Summary
To address the long-term risk of bladder cancer associated with pioglitazone use, the drug manufacturer (Takeda) is conducting a ten-year, observational cohort study in patients with diabetes who are members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) health plan. Patients selected in this study had diabetes mellitus and were ≥40 years of age at study entry. The study group included 193,099 patients with diabetes.

The primary outcome of the cohort study is an incident (new) diagnosis of bladder cancer identified from the KPNC cancer registry. A planned five-year interim analysis was performed with data collected from January 1, 1997 through April 30, 2008.

The results showed that after adjusting for risk factors, there was no significant increase in the risk for bladder cancer in patients ever exposed to pioglitazone compared to patients never exposed to pioglitazone.

But, the risk of bladder cancer increased with increasing dose and duration of pioglitazone use. Compared to never being exposed to pioglitazone, a duration of pioglitazone therapy longer than 12 months was associated with a 40% increase in risk. The hazard ratio after more than 24 months of pioglitazone use was 1.4. Based on these data, FDA calculated that duration of therapy longer than 12 months was associated with 27.5 excess cases of bladder cancer per 100,000 person-years follow-up, compared to never use of pioglitazone.

Possible signs or symptoms of Actos bladder cancer may include:

Blood in the Urine
Pain During Urination (Dysuria)
Frequent Urination
Feeling of Need to Urinate Without Results

Although it appears that information about the risk of Actos cancer problems has been known to the manufacturer for some time, inadequate warnings were provided to consumers and medical doctors. Further, it appears that the manufacturer may have placed their desire for profits ahead of patient safety by failing to adequately warn about the potential risk of bladder cancer. As a result, consumers diagnosed with bladder cancer may be able to obtain compensation through an Actos lawsuit.

Continue reading "Actos Bladder Cancer Warning & Side Effects" »

As a TEXAS Zimmer NexGen Knee replacement attorney, I am providing this update regarding the request for consolidation of these cases in one federal court.

A motion was filed in June, calling for all Zimmer NexGen knee lawsuits filed in various federal district courts throughout the United States to be centralized before one judge for coordinated handling during pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

Zimmer NexGen knee replacement lawyers expect that there may become many similar claims filed on behalf of individuals who allege that they received a defective knee implant and had to undergo revision surgery or suffered permanent and debilitating injuries as a result of a problems with a Zimmer NexGen knee.

The motion was filed on June 6 on behalf of plaintiff Fred Stone, who has proposed that the federal Zimmer NexGen knee litigation be consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

At the time the motion was filed there were 28 Zimmer NexGen knee implant claims pending in 13 federal judicial districts across the country, and plaintiff attorneys indicated that there were at least 200 other potential cases that had not yet been filed.

All of the lawsuits involve problems with the Zimmer NexGen high-flex knee implants, Zimmer NexGen MIS tibial components or Zimmer NexGen LPS gender solutions. Some patients who received the Zimmer NexGen knee replacement systems complained about a number of problems, including reports of pain, loosening of the implant and failure of the replacement knee leading to revision surgery.

Plaintiffs claim to have suffered catastrophic implant failures, had permanent problems walking or had to undergo revision surgery to remove or replace the implants because they failed far in advance of their projected lifespan. Plaintiffs allege that the device maker stated that using the Zimmer NexGen knee was safe, despite knowledge of serious injuries associated with the components. Zimmer also understated the risk of Zimmer NexGen knee problems, according to allegations raised in the complaints.

In September 2010, recalls were issued for several components due to apparent manufacturing defects or design defects. A Zimmer NexGen MIS recall was issued for more than 68,000 knee components following at least 114 reports of problems that caused some individuals to experiencing loosening of the parts or the need for additional knee surgery. In addition, a Zimmer NexGen LPS recall was issued due to nonconfirming and inconsistent geometry.

More than 150,000 Zimmer NexGen CR and Zimmer NexGen CR-Flex Porous Femoral implants have been sold since 2003, and some doctors have reported experiencing a substantially higher-than-expected failure of the replacement knee within a few years of surgery.

MDL Consolidation Pending
Consolidation of the lawsuits over Zimmer NexGen knee replacement systems before one judge as part of an MDL is designed to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid contradictory rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the court, witnesses and parties. While the pretrial management of the cases in an MDL is often managed similar to how a Zimmer NexGen class action lawsuit would be handled, each claim will still remain an individual lawsuit.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is scheduled to consider consolidation of the cases next month at a hearing on July 28 in San Francisco, California.

Continue reading "Zimmer NexGen Knee Replacement Injury" »

As a Texas Zocor 80 mg Rhabdomyolysis Side Effects & Injury Attorney, I am providing this update regarding the recent FDA June 8, 2011 warning notice.

The FDA is calling for severe limits on the use of the cholesterol drug ZOCOR, generic simhttps://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htmvastatin at its highest dose, because of an increased risk of muscle injury, myopathy and rhabdomyolysis from Zocor side effects. The product liability lawyers at Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm are evaluating and accepting potential Zocor lawsuits for individuals who have been injured, since it appears that the manufacturer knew or should have known of these serious side effects and failed to issue warnings for the 80 milligram (mg) dosage.

On June 8, the FDA required that new warnings to be added to the label for cholesterol-lowering medications containing simvastatin, indicating that 80 milligram dose has been associated with an increased risk of myopathy. The medication is also used in combination with other drugs in the medications Vytorin and Simcor.

Zocor rhabdomyolysis side effects causes 5 out of every 100,000 people who regularly take Zocor 80 mg dose to be hospitalized. Rhabdomyolysis from Zocor is a rare but serious and potentially life-threatening injury, which causes muscle tissue to break down and can lead to kidney damage or kidney failure, requiring kidney transplant.

Symptoms and Signs of Zocor rhabdomyolysis include:
Muscle Cramps, Muscle Tenderness, Stiffness, Pain
Dark Urine, no Urine

Zocor is a cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. All statins carry some risk of rhabdomyolysis and myopathy, BUT the risk appears to be unacceptably high with 80 mg doses of simvastatin. That risk is increased even further when combined with certain other drugs and in people who are genetically predisposed to Zocor rhabdomyolysis.

The FDA released these new recommendations and warnings after reviewing clinical trial data and other information which has been available to the manufacturers for some time.

Fast Facts About ZOCOR Simvastatin
*Sold as a single-ingredient generic medication and under the brand-name Zocor. It is also sold in combination with ezetimibe as Vytorin, and niacin as Simcor.
*Used together with diet and exercise to reduce the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) in the blood to decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.
*The 80-mg dose lowers the LDL cholesterol by an additional 6% over simvastatin 40 mg.
*It is estimated that approximately 2.1 million patients in the U.S. were prescribed a product containing 80-mg simvastatin in year 2010.

ZOCOR LAWSUIT EVALUATIONS
Individuals who have suffered Zocor muscle problems or rhabdomyolysis after using 80 mg simvastatin may be entitled to compensation through a Zocor lawsuit as a result of the manufacturer’s failure to fully research the side effects of simvastatin at high doses or adequately warn about the risk of Zocor problems.

If you as a patient have a severe injury from taking ZOCOR you can file a complaint with the FDA HERE:

Contact FDA
Report a Serious Problem
1-800-332-1088
1-800-FDA-0178 Fax

MedWatch Online

Regular Mail: Use postage-paid FDA Form 3500
Mail to: MedWatch 5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857

Continue reading "Zocor Rhabdomyolysis Side Effects & Injury" »

As a Crestor Side Effect attorney and cardiologist, I am writing this blog article to highlight the side effects of cardiac for patients who are taking statins, particularly Crestor to manage their high cholesterol levels.

According to new medical studies, the use of statins, especially Crestor, can be a major cause of cardiomyopathy, a heart problem caused by heart muscle weakening. Statins are prescribed to lower cholesterol levels. The drugs do this by by inhibiting the key enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is involved in the cholesterol synthesis pathway. But a side effect of statins leads to reduced levels of Coenzyme Q10, an important chemical required for proper muscle functioning.

A 2009 Lancet article focused on that issue and indicated that statins, like Crestor, as one cause of heart failure. (See Florkowski, S Molyneux, P George, M Lever, N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and statins in heart failure, Lancet 2009.)

Cardiovascular side effects from Crestor use are serious and may be life-threatening. If you or a loved one experienced cardiovascular injury or death, congestive heart failure, or immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy while taking Crestor, you may have a claim.

Crestor (generically known as Rosuvastatin), is an oral prescription drug designed to reduce the cholesterol blood levels when used together with lifestyle changes of diet and exercise. AstraZeneca, the manufacturer, designed the drug to reduce the production of cholesterol in the liver and by increasing the liver’s ability to remove “bad” LDL cholesterol. Crestor has been marketed as a "super-statin" because it claims to lower LDL cholesterol more than other statin drugs.

There are currently five statin drugs on the market in addition to Crestor: Lescol (fluvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin) and Zocor (simvastatin). Baycol (cerivastatin), another statin drug, was removed from the market in 2001 because of serious side effects reported by patients.

Crestor History
The FDA withheld approval for Crestor following concerns to the recall of Baycol and the kidney and muscle side effects reported in Crestor drug trials that were similar to those associated with Baycol. The FDA approved Crestor in August 2003 for the 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg doses following a clinical trial involving approximately 12,000 patients. The 80 mg dosage was not approved.

In March 2004, the non-profit organization Public Citizen asked the FDA to remove Crestor from the market, stating that Crestor side effects were severe and that the drug should never have been placed on the market. Read the FDA response to the Public Citizen petition on Crestor. The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory for Crestor on June 9, 2004, warning of the “increased risk for serious muscle toxicity (myopathy) associated with Crestor use, especially at the highest approved dose of 40 mg.”

In March 2005, the FDA issued an alert warning that “Rhabdomyolysis (serious muscle damage) has been reported in patients taking Crestor as well as other statin drugs. The labeling for Crestor has been revised to include information on the safe use of Crestor to reduce the risk for serious muscle toxicity, especially at the highest approved dose of 40 mg.”

Zocor Side Effects and Warnings
FDA in June 2011 warned about the risk of muscle injury in patients taking the highest dose of anti-cholesterol Zocor. Now patients and plaintiffs considering a Crestor lawsuit may be considering if the FDA’s Zocor warning applies to Crestor side effects. The FDA has recommended to patients and doctors that, “Zocor, Simvastatin 80 mg should not be started in new patients, including patients already taking lower doses of the drug.”
Click here for Public Citizen opinion of Zocor.

SEARCH Study Results Leads to FDA Zocor Warning
The recent FDA study was based on data from the trial SEARCH (Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine) which assessed the frequency of serious cardiovascular injuries, including heart attack and death, in patients who took the maximum Zocor dosage of 80 mg as compared to those who took only 20 mg of the drug.

Crestor Side Effects Similar to Zocor Warning
Zocor muscle injuries are similar to the Crestor side effects. The higher the dosage of a “super-statin,” the greater the risk a patient runs of developing Crestor side effects such as muscle pain and weakness, and the potentially fatal rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle fiber breakdown products is released into the bloodstream and causes kidney damage or failure.

Continue reading "Crestor Side Effects & Cardiomyopathy" »

Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently evaluating and accepting Fosamax long bone fracture cases and defective drug product liability claims. We are providing this Fosamax lawsuit update for the benefit of our readers and current Fosamax injury clients.

All federal Fosamax Femur low-impact bone fractures lawsuits have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of a new MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which will be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

At least 37 Fosamax fracture lawsuits are currently pending in federal district courts throughout the United States, and those cases will be transferred to New Jersey for further litigation. In addition, as new complaints over femur fractures on Fosamax are filed in the federal court system, they will also be added to this new MDL.

Fosamax lawsuits over jaw problems, known as osteonecrosis of the jaw, which will remain centralized as part of a different MDL in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

All of the complaints involve similar allegations that side effects of Fosamax, can increase the risk of atypical thigh bone fractures, which often occur with little or no trauma at all. Plaintiffs claim that Merck failed to adequately warn about the risk of femur fractures from Fosamax, or that users should seek immediate medical attention if they experience groin pain, which may occur several weeks before a complete fracture while on Fosamax.

In October 2010, the FDA required new warnings about the risk of bone fractures from Fosamax and other similar bisphosphonate medications. There are currently more than 900 Fosamax jaw lawsuits consolidated in New York, as part of an MDL that was established in August 2006. Fosamax fracture lawsuits were previously excluded from that MDL, because it was determined that the evidence of general causation leading to femur fractures would likely differ substantially from cases dealing with jaw bone damage.

Continue reading "Fosamax Bisphosphonate Femoral Fracture Litigation" »

As a Texan YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella Dangerous Drug and Side Effect Attorney and medical doctor, we are in the process of evaluating, accepting and filing lawsuits against Bayer regarding the dangerous side effects of YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella oral contraceptives.

The Food and Drug Administration said it is conducting a safety review of certain types of drospirenone containing birth-control pills to see if they increase the risk of blood clots when compared to other older birth control pills.

The FDA said the review is focusing on products that contain drospirenone, which is used in pills including Yaz and Yasmin, which are marketed Bayer AG. Drospirenone is a type of female sex hormone called a progestin.

Most birth-control pills contain two types of hormones, estrogen and progestin. The FDA said two recently published studies reported a greater risk of blood clots for women taking birth-control pills containing drospirenone, compared to birth-control pills containing another progestin known as levonorgestrel.

The FDA said some previous studies have reported that the risk of blood clots for women who use birth-control pills containing drospirenone is higher than that for women who use birth-control pills containing levonorgestrel.

Blood clots form inside a vein, known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. The clots can break loose and travel to other areas of the body such as the lungs, known as pulmonary embolism, or PE.

The FDA said it is "currently evaluating the conflicting results from these studies and will look at all currently available information to fully assess the risks and benefits of drospirenone-containing birth-control pills." An FDA-commissioned study involves more than 800,000 U.S. women and results are expected later this summer.

The European Medicines Agency said the risk of developing blood clots for oral contraceptives containing drospirenone was higher than that of pills containing levonorgestrel. EMA said the product labels of birth-control pills containing drospirenone will be updated.

The most recent studies were published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal. They compared women taking birth-control pills containing drospirenone with women taking birth-control pills containing levonorgestrel and found the risk of blood clots to be 2 to 3 times greater among women taking drospirenone products.

Continue reading "FDA To Investigate YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella" »

As a Dallas, Texas Personal Injury and Product Liability attorney I am providing this update regarding the risk of brain cancer and cell phone use.

In 2010, a major study in 13 countries found no clear evidence that exposure to the radiation from cellphones causes brain cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a unit of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared this week that the radiation is “possibly carcinogenic” to humans.

The agency, stated that heavy users of cellphones had an increased risk of developing a rare brain tumor known as a glioma. Cellphones were placed in a “possibly carcinogenic” category.

The report comes as a proposed class action lawsuit against 19 defendants, mostly cell phone manufacturers and telecommunications companies, has landed at the U.S. Supreme Court. The defendants which include Nokia, AT&T Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are accused of misrepresenting that their cell phones are safe, when they in fact knew of potential dangers.

Still, many experts remain skeptical, and despite a huge world wide increase in cellphone use over the past twenty years, brain cancer rates in the United States have been declining. Scientists are unclear as to how the radio frequency waves emitted by cellphones, which may break chemical bonds and disrupt DNA, cause cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the safety of cellphone emissions, said it would review the forthcoming research study carefully but that “the existing weight of scientific evidence does not show an association between non-thermal radio frequency energy and adverse health outcomes.”

Heavy users of cellphones might want to use headsets, speaker phones or text messaging to keep the device at a distance. Many folks would be surprised to learn that cellphone manufacturers, to prevent personal injury liability claims, already advise users in very small print to hold the phones a short distance from the body while making telephone calls.

Continue reading "Cell Phones and Brain Cancer Attorney" »

We are currently evaluating and accepting PROPECIA induced sexual dysfunction cases.

Eddie Sebastia from Florida has filed a product liability lawsuit against Merck, he alleges that side effects of the hair loss drugs Propecia and Proscar ruined his sex life.

The Propecia erectile dysfunction lawsuit was filed by Sebastia, claims that Merck failed to warn doctors and patients that side effects of Propecia, or Proscar, could result in permanent sexual problems.

Sebastia took Propecia and Proscar from 1998 to 2008, and claims that the medications caused him to develop erectile dysfunction, testicular pain, descreased sex drive, depression and anxiety.

Propecia (finasteride) was approved in 1992 for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, and also is approved to treat male pattern baldness. It was originally marketed by Merck as Proscar.

In March, researchers from the U.S. published a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine that found side effects of Propecia were linked to sexual problems in men. Researchers indicated that the class of drugs known as 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors can cause loss of libido, depression erectile dysfunction, reduced semen production and growth of male breast tissue. They also agreed that in some cases these side effects appeared to be permanent.

While the drugs carried some warnings, the lawsuit alleges that those warnings were insufficient and understated the potential risks.

Continue reading "Propecia Side Effect Attorney" »

I am a Texas YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella Dangerous Drug Attorney and medical doctor and we are in the process of evaluating, accepting and filing lawsuits against Bayer regarding the dangerous side effects of YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella oral contraceptives.

Bayer’s birth control pills will be reviewed by FDA regulators after some studies suggested they may cause more blood clots than other oral contraceptive medicines.

According to the FDA, two recent reports in the British Medical Journal found a twofold to threefold greater risk of blood clots in women taking pills like Bayer’s Yaz.

European regulators said last week that they were revising the products’ prescribing information to include the new safety findings.

While all birth control pills pose a risk of blood clots, the F.D.A. review focuses on the hormone drospirenone, found in Bayer’s Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz and Safyral. The agency expects to have results later this summer of an 800,000-person study it commissioned to examine the risks.

In the meantime, regulators said doctors and patients should watch for symptoms of blood clots, including leg or chest pain.

RECOMMENDATION: If your birth control pill contains drospirenone, do not stop taking it without first talking to your healthcare professional. Contact your healthcare professional immediately if you develop any symptoms of blood clots, including persistent leg pain, severe chest pain, or sudden shortness of breath. If you smoke and are over 35 years of age, you should not take combination oral contraceptives because they increase the risk that you could experience serious cardiovascular events, including blood clots.

Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:

Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm

Continue reading " YAZ, Yasmin, Ocella Dangerous Drug Side Effect" »

As a DePuy Pinnacle Hip Failure and Replacement Attorney, I am providing this new information for my product liability clients.

On August 2010, there was a recall of the DePuy ASR XL artificial hip, and now DePuy may be facing the recall of the Pinnacle Acetabular Component. All federal lawsuits over DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement problems have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which will be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order establishing the MDL, which will result in the transfer of 60 DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits currently pending in federal district courts throughout the United States.

Like the DePuy ASR XL, the Depuy Pinnacle is a metal on metal system that was designed to last at least 10-15 years but now, orthopedic surgeons are reporting that these devices have been failing within one to two years of being implanted into their patients.

DePuy, a division of Johnson & Johnson, has implanted over 150,000 Pinnacle hip replacements since 2001. Its recent recall of the defective ASR metal-on-metal hip implant systems has thousands of hip implant patients to have additional hip revision surgeries.

The ASR and Pinnacle are both metal on metal systems, and the ASR is a monoblock design, the Pinnacle uses a modular system. The ASR cup is made of one solid piece of metal, the Pinnacle has an outer shell and the Pinnacle is designed allow the surgeon the option to place a metal, ceramic or polyethylene liner inside the metal outer cup.

The Pinnacle 36 mm Ultamet Metal-on-Metal component is failing at an unacceptably high rate. Research suggests that there is a design problem, and the device has been created with one of the lowest clearance levels in the industry. Experts investigating the product design believe that DePuy created a very narrow window for proper placement of the prosthesis and inadequately trained surgeons in the proper implantation technique.

The recalled DePuy ASR system and the Pinnacle was permitted under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 510(k) approval process, which allows a medical device to be placed on the market without being subjected to clinical trials as long as the manufacturer can show that the device is “substantially equivalent” to a device already approved on the market. DePuy’s ASR system avoided clinical trials by showing that it was similar to the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system.

The FDA has received complaints and adverse incident reports against the Pinnacle system, and the Pinnacle’s propensity to prematurely separate from the bone. Constant friction in the metal on metal Pinnacle causes an increased risk of metallosis, the release of metal particles into the surrounding soft tissue or bloodstream, particularly chromium and cobalt.

The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm hip replacement team continues to investigate claims of Pinnacle failures and counsel our clients on what to do in the event that they need revision surgery.

Continue reading "DePuy Pinnacle Replacement Recall Lawsuit " »

Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is investigating the connection between SimplyThick and cases of http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002133/">necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants. What is the Connection Between SimplyThick and Necrotizing Enterocolitis?

NEC has no definitive known cause. An infectious agent has been suspected, as cluster outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have been seen, but no common organism has been identified. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is suspected for causing necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants and neutropaenic cancer patients, often secondary to gut colonization. A combination of intestinal flora, inherent weakness in the neonatal immune system, empirical antibiotic use for 5 days or more, alterations in mesenteric blood flow and milk feeding may be factors. The most common area of the bowel affected by NEC is near the ileocecal valve (the site of transition between the small and large bowel). NEC is almost never seen in infants before oral feedings are initiated. Formula feeding increases the risk of NEC by tenfold compared to infants who are fed breastmilk alone. Expressed breast milk protects the premature infant not only by its antiinfective effect and its immunoglobulin agents but also from its rapid digestion.

There are 15 reported cases of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants who were fed mother’s breast milk or infant formula thickened with SimplyThick, and 2 of the babies have died. The babies were fed SimplyThick for varying amounts of time before symptoms of NEC appeared. Major NEC symptoms include the following:

green vomit
diarrhea or bloody stools
swollen belly (abdomen)
red or blue color in the belly
breathing problems
slow heart rate.

The cases of necrotizing enterocolitis all involve premature infants who became sick over the past six months. Necrotizing enterocolitis most often occurs in babies within the hospital early in their premature course. But among the SimplyThick babies, some had been discharged from the hospital to home on a feeding regimen that included SimplyThick and then fell ill at home.

Severe cases of NEC can result in the following:

A segment of intestine may need to be removed.
Scarring and narrowing of the bowel.
The intestine may not be able to absorb nutrients normally, malabsorption.
If SimplyThick caused the NEC, and the baby dies, then the family has a wrongful death claim against the manufacturer.

Continue reading "SimplyThick Necrotizing Enterocolitis NEC " »

As a Dallas SimplyThick Necrotizing Enterocolitis attorney, I am providing this FDA update and press release.

FDA notified parents, caregivers and health care providers not to feed SimplyThick, a thickening agent for management of swallowing disorders, to infants born before 37 weeks. The product may cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening condition characterized by inflammation and death of intestinal tissue. SimplyThick is a brand of thickening agent—available to consumers and medical centers—to help manage swallowing difficulties. It is sold in packets of individual servings and in 64-ounce dispenser bottles. The product can be purchased from distributors and local pharmacies throughout the United States.

On May 20, the FDA issued a SimplyThick public health warning following 15 cases of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants who were fed it, including at least two deaths. The FDA said the thickening agent should not be given to any infants who were born before 37 weeks of gestation.

FDA officials said they were first made aware of the potential risk of bowel problems from SimplyThick after reports were submitted by doctors to the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) on May 13. At least four different medical centers have had infants contract necrotizing enterocolitis from SimplyThick.

FDA officials indicate that they are unable to determine, why SimplyThick side effects would cause necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants. The condition usually affects infants very early, but those that appear to be related to SimplyThick had a late onset, with some not being affected until they had been released from the hospital.

Necrotizing enterocolitis is an intestinal disorder that results in inflammation and necrosis of intestinal tissues. It is usually diagnosed in premature babies and can be life-threatening. Symptoms can include a bloated abdominal area, green-tinged vomiting and blood stools.

The FDA is currently investigating the link between SimplyThick and the bowel problems for infants. Parents, doctors and care givers are urged not to give SimplyThick to premature infants. Parents and caregivers who have questions or concerns related to the use of the product and/or who have medical concerns should contact their health care provider.

Health care professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of this product to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program by:

Completing and submitting the adverse report online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
Downloading the pre-addressed, postage-paid FDA Form 3500 (calling 1-800-332-1088 request the form), and faxing it to 1-800-FDA-0178; or
Mailing the completed form to MedWatch 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

Continue reading "SimplyThick Necrotizing Entercolitis Recall" »

As a Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice attorney, I providing this tragic case of wrongful death following a fairly common plastic surgery procedure.

Lisa Martinez, 32, went in for a procedure with Dr. Robert Young, a San Antonio plastic surgeon. Lisa was getting a plastic surgery procedure known as a "Brazilian Butt Lift."

According to court documents, Dr. Young was collecting fatty tissue from the hips and lower and mid back, and then injecting it back into her buttocks. During the surgery, according to the medical examiner, Lisa suffered intra-abdominal hemorrhaging due to a perforated aorta. The artery supplying blood to the rest of the body was punctured. The family ordered an autopsy and the family is filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

All surgical procedures are associated with complications, and the surgeon has to take care to avoid the complications and to be vigilant in order to diagnose, recognize and treat the potential complications.

The failure to diagnose, recognize and treat the potential complications, is considered negligence and forms the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The surgeon should have anticipated some bleeding from this type of surgery and if the patient continues to deteriorate, then he needs to take extra steps to diagnose and treat the problem. Here it appears that the perforation in the aorta, which is extremely rare complication from this type of surgery, considering the anatomy, was unrecognized and untreated leading to the tragic outcome of death.

Will there be any justice for Lisa and her family, who have been impacted by this tremendous loss? Only time will tell. In Texas medical malpractice cases, pain and suffering is capped at $250,000 and if Lisa was not employed, that would be the maximum compensation the family could possibly receive. And only if they are successful in a jury trial. In Texas in medical malpractice cases, the plaintiffs are only successful in 15% of lawsuits. In other words 85% of Texans are poured out, so much for Tort Reform. Good luck to you if you get injured or killed by medical malpractice.

Continue reading "Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death During Plastic Surgery" »

As a Dallas Antidepressant SSRI Birth Defects & Cranial Malformation Attorney, I am writing about the current state of SSRI induced birth defect lawsuits.

Selective seratonin reuptake inhibitor drugs are known as SSRI antidepressants.
Serious side effects are linked to the following antidepressants when taken while pregnant:

* Prozac®, * Xanax®, * Wellbutrin®, * Paxil®

Children born with heart birth defects, lung birth defects and other congenital birth defects have been linked to the possible use of a group of antidepressant drugs classified as Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRI) by women during pregnancy. In a medical study, infants exposed to SSRI antidepressants during the first trimester of pregnancy had a 60% higher probability of developing congenital heart defects compared to newborns whose mothers did not take SSRI antidepressants.

According to the FDA, healthcare professionals are advised to carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits of using SSRI therapy in women during pregnancy and to discuss these findings as well as treatment alternatives with their patients.

Additional research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that use of anti-depressant medications during the latter half of pregnancy increases the risk the newborn will develop a serious respiratory disorder known as Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN). When a newborn suffers from Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN), the pulmonary arteries (blood vessels in the lungs) fail to fully open, and the newborn is unable to oxygenate his/her blood. Without an adequate supply of oxygen-rich blood, the infant can suffer serious complications.

Data from this study indicate that the use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac®, Zoloft® and Paxil® during the second half of pregnancy may increase the risk of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN) by as much as six times the normal risk.

The anti-depressant drugs – known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) include the following:

* Paxil® (paroxetine), * Zoloft® (sertraline), * Wellbutrin® (bupropion), * Celexa® (citalopram), * Cipralex® (escitalopram), * Luvox® (fluvoxamine), * Remeron® (mirtazapine), * Effexor® (venlafaxine), * Prozac® (fluoxetine)

Continue reading "Antidepressant SSRI Birth Defects & Cranial Malformations " »

As a Texas Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease side effect attorney I am providing this Accutane lawsuit update regarding Accutane and the generic versions of the drug.

The Judge overseeing the New Jersey State MDL for Accutane has proposed that brand name Accutane litigation against Hoffman-LaRoche be combined with lawsuits against the manufacturers of the generic version of the drug, isotretinoin.

If granted, the additional defendants in the consolidated Accutane lawsuits would include the following manufacturers. Ranbaxy Laboratories manufactured an Accutane version called Sotret which has been withdrawn. Barr Pharmaceutical manufactured Claravis, which contains the same active agent as Accutane (isotretinoin). Claravis continues to be manufactured with similar Accutane side effects and warnings. Mylan, Inc.is a generic pharmaceutical company and distributes Amnesteem, a form of isotretinoin, which presently remains in stores.

Genpharm, ULC was the first manufacturer authorized by the FDA to produce generic versions of Accutane and manufactured Amnesteem. The manufacturing and packaging activities were delegated to Cardinal Health 409 and sold to Mylan Laboratories, who distributed it around the world. Along with Cardinal Health 409 and Mylan Inc., Genpharm could be among the generic drugmaker defendants in the consolidated Accutane lawsuits.

Judge Higbee who is overseeing the centralized New Jersey Accutane lawsuits, implemented an April 15 deadline by which parties could comment or object to the addition of the generic drug makers to the centralized Accutane litigation. No final decision has yet been announced.

Accutane is a acne medication manufactured by Hoffman LaRoche and the subject of an Accutane recall in 2009. According to scientists, Accutane has serious long term side effects including Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

If you took Accutane to treat acne and suffer from IBD, our Accutane attorneys may be able to recover you and your family compensation by filing an Accutane Crohns lawsuit or Accutane Ulcerative Colitis lawsuit against the manufacturer of the acne medication.

Continue reading " Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease Side Effects " »

As a Texas Plavix Side Effect attorney, I am providing this update regarding the current status of Plavix injury lawsuits and a request for consolidation in New Jersey State Courts.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Aventis pharmaceutical companies are calling for centralization of all Plavix lawsuits filed in New Jersey state court, pointing to a growing number of complaints filed by users who allege that the drug makers fraudulently promoted their popular blood thinner and failed to adequately warn about the risk of potentially life-threatening side effects of Plavix.

Plavix (clopidogrel) is a antiplatelet agent that prevents blood platelets from sticking together to form clots. It is prescribed to prevent heart attacks, strokes and blood clotting (thrombosis) when drug coated stents are used in patients with coronary arteriosclerosis.

More than 40 people have filed a Plavix lawsuit in courts throughout the United States, including at least five in Atlantic County, New Jersey. Many cases are likely to be filed in New Jersey state court, where Sanofi-Aventis is headquartered and Bristol Myers Squibb has five facilities.

All of the complaints filed so far allege that the makers of Plavix promoted the expensive medication as a safer alternative to aspirin, although it may actually provide no benefit over taking aspirin. Plaintiffs allege that they suffered injuries as a result of their unnecessary use of Plavix, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, heart attacks, strokes and a blood disorder known as TTP, or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpora.

Plaintiffs say that the two companies repeatedly overstated the safety and effectiveness of Plavix, and point out that the companies were repeatedly cited by the FDA for illegal, off-label promotions and for ads and campaigns that touted its benefits over aspirin.

The two companies say that the lawsuits and their claims are numerous and similar enough to warrant mass tort designation in New Jersey, and have asked that the caseload be transferred to Bergen County, due to its current low mass tort caseload.

A mass tort designation would centralize all cases filed in New Jersey state court before one judge for pretrial proceedings in order to avoid duplicate discovery and conflicting rulings. The claims would remain individual lawsuits for purposes of determining damages and each claim would be judged independently at trial.

The commonly used combination of Plavix and aspirin may expose patients to a higher risk of bleeding than previously believed, according to the findings of a new study. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released the results of a study on the side effects of Plavix and aspirin when combined to help fight blood clots (DAT Dual Antiplatlet Therapy).

The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and determines that there is a clinically significant risk of hemorrhaging when the drugs are used together that doctors and patients need to recognize and anticipate.

CDC researchers compared the rate of incidents from acute hemorrhaging from DAT to those related to another antiplatelet drug called Warfarin. They found an estimated 7,654 emergency department visits every year for hemorrhage-related adverse events from DAT, compared to 60,575 emergency department visits from Warfarin bleeding incidents. Once the researchers adjusted for the rate of prescriptions they found that the rate of emergency department visits due to acute hemorrhages from Plavix and aspirin combined was 1.2 per 1,000 outpatient prescription visits, compared to 2.5 per 1,000 for Warfarin.

Continue reading "Plavix Side Effect Lawsuits" »

As a YAZ, Yasmin, and Ocella Side Effect and Injury attorney, I want to bring to the attention of my blog readers, the latest medical information regarding these 4th generation oral contraceptive pills. According to a pair of studies published this weekend in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the most popular birth control pills used by teenagers, Yasmin and YAZ doubles the risk of blood clots compared to a older generation birth control pill. Two new studies add to the growing evidence that birth control pills containing a newer type of progestin may put some women at higher risk for blood clots.

The medical report and analyses is a major warning for the heavily-marketed Yasmin and YAZ, which are popular with young adults and women with a history of menstrual disorders.

In the first study, researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine examined women ages 15 to 44 who started taking Yasmin and YAZ, which contain a contraceptive called drospirenone, instead of the much older drug levonorgestrel, which is sold under a variety of brand names. Accodrding to researchers those women who used Yasmin and YAZ were twice as likely to hospitalized with their first deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolisms, known as venous thromboembolism. Thromboembolism is the medical term for a blood clot in the veins, often in the legs, that gets dislodged and can cause fatal clogging in the lung arteries.

"These findings support more recent studies that suggest that drospirenone oral contraceptives are not as safe," wrote Susan Jick and Rohini Hernandez in the BMJ. Jick and Hernandez recommended that "in the absence of other consideration, [Yasmin and YAZ] should not be the first choice in oral contraception."

A second study published in the BMJ only examined UK patients and found an even higher risk; three times the chance of blood clots compared to the older drug.

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which manufactures Yasmin and YAZ, in a statement, said that the side effects were "an uncommon event" and noted that pregnancy would increase the deadly risks even more. Pregnancy actually puts women at higher risk for blood clots than birth control pills, a blood clot occurs in one pregnant woman for every 1,000 to 1,500 pregnant women, while one in 3,000 women who take birth control pills experience some form of blood clot, according to the National Blood Clot Alliance. This is a flawed argument, Bayer should compare non pill users wiith women taking YAZ, Yasmin.

In March 2010, Bayer put additional risk warnings on the European product label for the Yasmin pill but said at the time that the overall benefit-risk profile remained unchanged.Bayer said in its 2010 annual report that there were about 6,850 lawsuits pending in the United States with plaintiffs claiming they had suffered injuries from Bayer's Yasmin and Yaz pills or generic copies sold by Teva's Barr Laboratories.

So what does it all mean? The increased risk suggested by these studies is about two to three times those from older pills, and that any woman taking the newer medicines will get a blood clot is higher than other types of birth control. And the whole idea of medication is that the cure is less risky than the disease; here the data coupled with other research, unequivocally demonstrates that there are safer oral contraceptives than YAZ and Yasmin and that the company is putting profits over people safety. Remember physicians, the Hippocratic Oath, "first do no harm."

Read my earlier blog, questioning whether YAZ, Yasmin would be recalled.

Continue reading "YAZ, Yazmin, Ocella Side Effects And Injury " »

As a Dallas Car Accident Attorney I am providing this update regarding the most dangerous time for car accidents in Dallas.

Minimizing risk is not about when you are on the road, but how careful you are while on the road. The most dangerous month, is August, and Saturday the most dangerous day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Auto accidents kill more than 40,000 people in the U.S. each year; they are the No. 1 cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 34.

Time of Day Does Matter According to the the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, IIHS, an average 6.6 people are killed between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and another 6.6 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Those rates are the overall highest of any time during the day. In 2007, 14,055 people were killed in the 5 p.m. hour. But the hours between midnight and 4 a.m. have the highest number of fatalities when calculated as a percentage of the amount of people on the road, according to AAA. During that time, statistically speaking, 5.87 per 100 million people on the road will be killed.

Time of day plays an important role in evaluating fatal crashes, because other dangerous factors are increased at night. Drunk driving, speeding and driving without a safety belt all increase during the night hours and each factor contributes directly to increased fatality rates.

Speeding is a factor in 30% of all fatal crashes, according to the NHTSA. 18% of fatal crashes during the day are alcohol-related, while 54% of crashes at night are alcohol-related. Two out of three the people killed at night are not wearing a seat belt.

Nationwide, 49% of fatal crashes happen at night, with a fatality rate per mile of travel about three times as high as daytime hours. During the day, the percentage of unrestrained fatalities tends to be under half.

The fewest deaths by crash in 2007, the latest year with complete data, happened early in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Those hours see significantly less traffic--only 9% of the average amount during peak hours.

Mid-week days like Tuesday and Wednesday also pose the lowest number of fatalities, both averaging fewer drivers and 96 and 100 deaths per day, respectively. So the answer is if you want to drive without getting killed, limit your driving to Tuesday and Wednesday morning, between 4 and 5 am. Hardly a practical solution to this epidemic.

Weekends--when the greatest number of people are on the road--predictably see the highest numbers of crash victims, with a combined average of 143 deaths for Saturday and Sunday, according to the IIHS.

Read more here.

Continue reading "Car Accident Guru Reveals The Most Dangerous Time for Accidents" »

I have handled a few dog bite cases in my time. Nothing galls me more, especially when a child gets mauled by a so called pet dog. As a Dallas Dog Bite and Dallas Dog Attack Attorney, I have heard many instances where a dangerous dog such as a pit bull attacked a child aged around two years old or other infants. The child did not stand a chance.

Currently I am handling a case where a 2 year child was attacked and mauled by a small stray chihuahua dog who had been taken in 2 weeks earlier. My 2 year old client was bitten on the face and sustained injuries to her lip...the injuries could have been a lot worse.

I will keep you readers appraised of the development in my case.

Read more about dog bite rights here.

Continue reading "Dog Bites And Dog Attacks " »

As a Depuy ASR XL and ASR resurfacing hip recall attorney, I am trying to provide answers for my clients and potentials victims of the DePuy debacle.

If you are a victim of an ASR XL Acetabular System or an ASR Hip Resurfacing System, both of which were recalled by DePuy/Johnson & Johnson, you should expect financial compensation. In determining the amount of compensation you may be entitled to, you need to consider the following: the types of damages that available to people injured by defective products, and the recent results of a Sulzer hip implant lawsuit.

DePuy has promised, that it “…intends to cover reasonable and customary costs of treatment if you need services associated with the recall of ASR, including revision surgery if it is necessary.” DePuy names specific out-of-pocket expenses that it considers “reasonable,” including lost work time and travel expenses.

DePuy not provided any details on how, it intends to compensate you for the pain and suffering your DePuy hip replacement may have caused. To protect your legal rights, you should not call DePuy or sign any document the company provides without first speaking with a DePuy hip replacement attorney.

In a product liability case, a victim can recover economic damages (medical bills and lost wages) and non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering).

In 2000, Sulzer Orthopedics, Inc. recalled approximately 30,000 of its Inter-Op Acetabular Shell units. Because of a defective product, many recipients of this hip device required revision surgery, like with the DePuy hip recall. In 2002, Sulzer agreed to settle its class action and the company paid $1 billion to settle all the lawsuits. Those patients who required revision surgery were paid more than $200,000 each, and those who received faulty implants but did not undergo revision surgery received roughly $1,000 each. So time will tell regarding what DePuy will do and if history is going to be a guide.

We at this time do not know how the hundreds of DePuy ASR lawsuits will end up either through settlement or litigation. The fact is that taking legal action may be your only chance to recover financial compensation from DePuy. One thing is for certain, in mass tort cases, the companies usually settle, because it makes economic sense to do so and not because of any moral imperative or ethical considerations. It finally boils down to dollars and cents, like everything in life.

I have a client who is to undergo a double DePuy extraction next week, for cobaltism, metalosis and severe pain in both hips. She takes care of an elderly mother and her husband has chronic medical problems. She has been the main care giver to her family. Now with a double hip replacement, she will be the one who will require significant care and rehabilitation and she will need to make sure her family is taken cared of during her recovery, which could take as long as 6 months. The question she asks, will DePuy take care of her family diuring her rehabilitation? We have to wait and see.

Continue reading "Can I Get Compensation For a DePuy Hip Replacement Lawsuit?" »

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has dismissed an Agent Orange petition in a case originally brought by Vietnam veterans more than 30 years ago. This is a sad and tragic verdict for our men who gallantly fought for this country and who have been severely impacted by the diseases brought on by toxic exposure.

After their disability claims were denied, five veterans in 1979 filed a challenge to a 1978 Veterans' Administration publication suggesting that only limited claims could be brought based on chemical exposure to Agent Orange and other defoliants during the Vietnam War.

The Federal Circuit, after recounting the labyrinthine history of the case, ruled that it lacked jurisdiction because there was no court avenue for procedural challenges to Department of Veterans Affairs regulations until the 1988 Veterans' Judicial Review Act.

Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971.

A 50:50 mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, it was manufactured for the U.S. Department of Defense primarily by Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical. The 2,4,5-T used to produce Agent Orange was later discovered to be contaminated with 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, an extremely toxic dioxin compound. It was given its name from the color of the orange-striped 55 US gallon (200 L) barrels in which it was shipped.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

As a Texas Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Dangerous Drug Side Effect Attorney, I am providing this litigation update for current clients and potential new victims.

Many women who have suffered by side effects of Yaz and Yasmin birth control are expected to call for Bayer to issue a Yaz and Yasmin recall at an upcoming shareholder’s meeting. They claim that the popular birth control pills may be responsible for the death of more than 190 women in the United States. Bayer will hold its annual shareholder meeting on April 29 in Cologne, Germany.

Lawsuits against Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals continue to be filed on behalf of women who claim to have suffered serious injuries as a result of Yaz or Yasmin (generic: Ocella) birth control pills. Consumer groups and some members of the medical community are questioning Yaz side effects and the increased risk for blood clots and strokes. Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella are considered “fourth generation” combination birth control pills. They contain a newer type of synthetic progestin called drospirenone. This contraceptive is one of the most popular contraceptives and has been heavily marketed to women throughout the United States promoting its use in treating premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

In the latest study of teenage girls and birth-control habits suggests the oral contraceptive Yaz is more popular with teenage girls and young adults than ever before. In the study, Yaz was named “by far” the most popular oral contraceptive for US women aged 13-18. The study was based on the behaviors of more than 3 million American women between 2002 and 2009.

The FDA has at least 190 reports of Yaz and Yasmin deaths in the United States that were linked to the use of the highly successful birth control pills. That number is likely to be a fraction of the actual number of deaths from Yasmin and Yaz, as it is acknowledged that only about 1% to 10% of all adverse events associated with the use of medications are ever reported.

Bayer’s line of drosperinone-based oral contraceptives, Yaz and Yasmin, have been found to carry an 80% increased risk of thrombosis events than older birth control pills by some studies. Thousands of women throughout the United States have filed a Yaz lawsuit or Yasmin lawsuit against Bayer, alleging that the drug maker failed to adequately research the risks associated with the medication or warn women that they may be exposed to an increased risk of serious and potentially fatal side effects when using the birth control pills. Lawsuits also allege that Bayer engaged in deceptive and misleading advertisements that were directed to consumers and the medical community.

The Yaz and Yasmin lawyers at Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm represent women throughout the United States who are pursuing a lawsuit over an injury or death that may have been prevented if Bayer had recalled Yaz and Yasmin or provided adequate warnings. Potential Yaz and Yasmin recall lawsuits are being reviewed for women who have suffered an injury or death as a result of a:

* Stroke or Heart Attack
* Pulmonary Embolism
* Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
* Gallbladder Disease

Continue reading "Will Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella Be Recalled?" »

As a Dallas Car Accident DUI Attorney, I am reporting this tragic pedestrian monster car wrongful death accident.

The parents of a Granbury college student who was struck and killed by a monster truck outside a Dallas strip club, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver of the truck and the club.

The lawsuit comes after Kasey McKenzie, 23, was killed while leaving with friends after a party at the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Club shortly after 2 a.m. when Eric Crutchfield, pulled his custom 2003 Ford F-250 truck out of a parking space and ran over her with both front and rear tires.McKenzie died at the scene.

The lawsuit claims that the club was negligent when bartenders served Crutchfield past the legal limit of intoxication and allowed him to get in his vehicle and drive, even though it was apparent he was drunk, according to the parent's lawyer.

The lawsuit also claims that Crutchfield was driving with a suspended license and was so intoxicated at the time of McKenzie's death that he didn't know he had hit anyone.

Crutchfield's truck had a lift kit that limited his field of vision and was not in keeping with federal and state regulations.

The Dallas resident was charged with intoxication manslaughter after his blood alcohol level was shown to be 0.18, more than twice the legal limit at 0.08, according to Dallas police spokesman Kevin Janse.

Continue reading "Dallas Monster Car Accident Wrongful Death" »

Defective Drugs and Product liability attorneys have submitted a proposal for the selection of bellweather trials in the federal NuvaRing multidistrict litigation (MDL).

NuvaRing is a form of birth control that releases a combination of etonogestrel and ethinyl estradiol through a ring that is inserted into the vagina once a month.

All NuvaRing lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. These complaints all involve women who suffered the following injuries; stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or sudden death. The claims allege that the drug makers failed to research the birth control ring or warn about the potential increased risk of these serious problems.

The bellweather process is common in complex litigation involving a number of claims that raise similar allegations. By selecting a small group of cases for an early trial, the parties are able to get an idea how a jury is likely to respond to evidence and testimony. The outcome of these trials shapes the litigation and may lead to an agreement to settle NuvaRing birth control lawsuits by the drug maker.

To reduce the number of cases that must go through expert discovery, the parties have proposed that nine cases constitute the final trial pool. Expert discovery would then be limited to the nine cases in the final trial pool, which will occur over 2012.

As of the end of 2010, more than 730 victims had filed a NuvaRing lawsuit and the number of cases is expected to increase over the next year. The vast majority of the pending NuvaRing cases filed throughout the country are included in the MDL, but additional lawsuits are pending in New Jersey state court and other state courts throughout the United States.

Continue reading "NuvaRing Birth Control Lawsuits Moving Ahead" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident and Truck Accident attorney, I am reporting this tragic accident that lead to a wrongful death of the truck driver, from a tanker gasoline explosion. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Raya family.

Fort Worth police have arrested and charged Louis Nieves, 23, with intoxication manslaughter after a fiery traffic accident early in the morning that killed the driver of a fuel tanker truck and shut down the freeway most of the day.

Nieves was the driver of a small red pickup truck. Police reported he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 30 when he slammed into the oncoming 18-wheeler near the Beach Street exit at 2:37 a.m.

The freeway was shut down and traffic was backed up through downtown Fort Worth after the deadly wrong-way crash. The tanker exploded after impact, killing its driver. The truck was so badly burned that the flames destroyed the tanker and damaged the surface of the freeway.

The red pickup showed significant front end damage, but did not catch on fire. Emergency crews rushed Nieves to a nearby hospital. He was treated at the hospital, released and booked into the Fort Worth jail. Officers said several people called 911 to report the wrong-way driver.

The other two lanes remain badly damaged and must undergo extensive repairs. TxDOT said the road must be resurfaced and, underneath, steel beams and the concrete support system that burned must also be replaced.

The tanker was so badly burned, there is no obvious way to determine who owns it or even to whom it was registered.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has opened an investigation into where a 23-year-old pickup driver was drinking before he was involved in a fiery crash.

Louis Nieves, 23, who was arrested after the wreck, told a reporter for WFAA/Channel 8 TV that he had drunk 10 beers before getting behind the wheel and leaving a bar on East Eighth Street near the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Family and friends identified the tanker driver as 45-year-old Alejandro Raya of Fort Worth.

The beverage commission is investigating but won't identify the business until the investigation is further along.

Nieves, who faces a charge of intoxication manslaughter, remained in the Mansfield Jail with bail set at $90,000, according to Fort Worth police.

Alejandro Raya left a wife and three children, ages 21, 14 and 12. Alejandro Raya moved to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s. Raya was working for Petro-Chemical Transport, based in Addison, according to a company spokeswoman. Gasoline fuel that spilled from the tanker ignited, melting steel beams and concrete in the I-30 bridge over Sycamore Creek.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Truck Explosion Accident Wrongful Death" »

Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure

This article is one in a series of articles that I am writing as a Dallas Mesothelioma Attorney to educate folks about the man made toxins in the environment. Mesothelioma is called a “signature” disease—which indicates that the person was exposed to the causative agent. If someone has mesothelioma, they were almost certainly exposed to asbestos.

Mesothelioma rates continue to climb and by some estimates is set to peak around 2012-2015. Asbestos has been placed in many buildings as a fire retardant and insulator and now because of the long latency period, many contractors, pipe fitters and plumbers are coming down with the disease, some including folks who had exposure as long as 30-40 years ago. What a national tragedy.

Lung cancer, is a multi-factorial disease—Environmental factors are important in lung cancer causation. Lung cancer is cancer that starts in the lungs.

There are two main types of lung cancer:
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer.
Small cell lung cancer makes up about 20% of all lung cancer cases. If the lung cancer is made up of both types, it is called mixed small cell/large cell cancer.

If the cancer started somewhere else in the body and spread to the lungs, it is called metastatic cancer to the lung.

The most important environmental factor is smoking. Asbestos exposure is important risk for development of lung cancer. Exposure to asbestos increases your risk of developing cancer—by an average of five times the risk of a non-smoker who was not exposed to asbestos.

Smoking makes a person ten times more likely to develop lung cancer. But for someone who smokes and was also exposed to asbestos, the risk of developing lung cancer is 50 times higher.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has included construction workers (including plumbers, electricians, painters and other construction-related trades), demolition workers, shipyard workers, firefighters and automobile mechanics among those at risk for dangerous asbestos exposures.

See NCI Asbestos Fact Sheet.

Continue reading "Mesothelioma And Asbestos Update" »

As a Dallas Personal Injury Wrongful Death Attorney I am outraged and saddened at this tragic Cleburne school bullying death case.

Now I known and have witnessed first hand bullying in school and in colleges. And as we can see bullying exerts a tremendous toll on the psychological and physical well being of our youth. For too long the teachers and the school personnel with whom we entrust our kids, have a "I don't care attitude." They have to do a better job.

In Texas most teachers and principals have a "don't give a damn attitude" because of sovereign immunity under the Texas Tort Claim Act.

Hopefully this attitude will be majorly adjusted once the school districts have to shell out large significant money damages and which hits them in their pocket book. Charging individuals, such as teachers, principals and district superintendents would be significant to school bullying cases because it might change behavior. This is unfortunately the only language negligent people understand. My condolences and prayers are with the Carmichael family, and I hope they are successful in their case.

A federal lawsuit filed in Dallas alleges the Joshua school district and several school officials of violating the civil rights of 13-year-old Jon Carmichael by ignoring repeated acts of bullying against him.

The suit was filed by Carmichael's parents and seeks damages and compensation for his estate and heirs.

The lawsuit alleges school employees failed to intervene when he was bullied in physical education class and when he was thrown into a dumpster. In another incident, students saw that his head was placed upside down in a toilet and "flushed several times."

"Just prior to his death, he was stripped nude, tied up and again placed into a trashcan," according to the lawsuit. "The event was videotaped, put on YouTube but was later taken down."

According to Martin Cirkiel of Round Rock, Carmichael's attorney, the school personnel knew about many of the bullying incidents, then ignored or covered up other ones they didn't see firsthand.

The lawsuit also accuses school staff members of telling a student who had a video of the assault to destroy it and says Carmichael's personal journal has been "knowingly destroyed, withheld or purposefully hidden by staff, as well."

Carmichael hanged himself in a barn near his family home in Cleburne. He was the second Johnson County teenager to kill himself in six months. In both cases, families attributed the deaths partially to bullying. In October 2009, Hunter Layland, a 15-year-old freshman at Cleburne High School, shot himself.

Joshua school policy requires principals or appointees to investigate reports of bullying within 10 days. But the lawsuit says those policies weren't followed as "school district personnel clearly had an actual practice and custom of looking the other way."

Continue reading "Texas Joshua School District Sued For Bullying Wrongful Death" »

As a Texas Darvocet and Darvon Recall Attorney, I am providing this update regarding the request for consolidation of the litigation in federal court.

This week, a panel of federal judges will hear arguments to consolidate a growing number of Darvocet and Darvon lawsuits that have been filed over cardiac sudden death problems allegedly caused by these medications.

Plaintiffs first requested the consolidation in December, now some Darvocet lawyers expect that thousands are cases are likely to be filed by victims diagnosed with a heart arrythmia or sudden heart-related death from side effects of the medication.

In December, plaintiff Kristine Esposito, filed a Motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation seeking to have the Darvon and Darvocet litigation centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Other plaintiffs have filed documents known as briefs, requesting that the cases be consolidated in either the Eastern District of Louisiana or Western District of Louisiana.

The plaintiffs want to have the cases consolidated in one court, since all of the Darvon and Darvocet suits contain similar allegations that the manufacturer failed to adequately research the side effects of Darvocet and Darvon and failed to warn doctors and patients that propoxyphene-based drugs caused heart rhythm problems.

These type of consolidation is similar to class actions, and are known as an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.This type of centralization is usual in complex product liability claims involving a large number of lawsuits over injuries associated with a particular product. The process is designed to avoid duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent rulings by different judges and to promote the efficient litigation, both in time and cost.

Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the name-brand versions of Darvon and Darvocet, has opposed consolidation of the litigation.

If the MDL Panel grants consolidation and determines that is appropriate in the litigation over Darvocet and Darvon, Xanodyne will argue that the cases should be centralized in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Xanodyne, the drug maker is headquartered in Kentucky.

Continue reading "Darvocet, Darvon, and Propoxyphene Wrongful Death Consolidation" »

As a Dallas Wrongful Death attorney, I am providing this lawsuit article from Cleveland.

The family of a Cleveland man who was gunned down in 2009 during a robbery at a local bar have filed a lawsuit against the building owners and the security company.

The wrongful death suit claims local security officers did nothing to stop a group of men from attempting to rob Jeremy Pechanec and eventually executing him and a friend in a park across from the bar.

None of the bar's security cameras were on, the suit claims, and bar tenders continued to serve the men even as they began to harass Pechanec. The wrongful death lawsuit is seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

What is a Wrongful Death Lawsuit? Dallas Wrongful Death Attorney explains
A wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the victim was killed as a result of negligence on the part of the person or business entity being sued, and that the victim’s survivors are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the negligent act and improper conduct.

This type of legal civil claim is different from a normal negligence lawsuit, which is filed by the person injured for the resultant damages. Originally under “common law” (the general legal principles or judge made law, passed from England to the United States over many years), a wrongful death claim did not exist based upon the legal reasoning that the claim died or was extinguished with the victim where there was no way to compensate him for damages. The surviving family members then could not claim damages from the person who caused the victim's death. This was an injustice for the dead victim's family and a legal loop hole.

Read more here.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Suit Filed After Man Murdered Outside of Bar" »

As a Dallas Slip and Fall Attorney, I would like provide a quick explanation and an update of Texas Slip and Fall law.

A slip and fall accident is a type of personal injury claim that occurs when a person slips and falls on another person’s property. It is based on the breach of duty that the owner of the property was negligent in failing to correct the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall.

If you were in a public place or a private residence in Texas and hurt yourself due to a slip and fall, you may file a slip and fall lawsuit. But if the accident was your fault, or there is some other intervening circumstance that does not satisfy the slip and fall lawsuit requirement, you can expect that it would get dismissed.

You have to prove negligence on the part of the company or private citizen at whose Texas property the slip and fall injury took place. A classic example would be a wet floor. We are all familiar with businesses that mop their floors and put out bright yellow or orange caution signs and/or cones to warn people that the area is wet and not to cross it. If these signs are clearly posted and you cross into the slippery area anyway, the business has a good chance of not being liable for the fall.

The term Premises Liability is used when assigning responsibility for injuries caused by the defective design or maintenance of property, including private homes, public buildings, and anywhere a person would have a reasonable expectation of safety.

"Negligence" means failure to use ordinary care to provide a safe place and to reduce or eliminate an unreasonable risk of harm created by the condition or use of a place, equipment or procedures.

Property owners have a duty to keep their property safe. To hold the property owner responsible, one of the following three conditions must apply to the incident:

1. The owner of the property, or one of their employees, caused the worn or torn spot, the spill or the dangerous surface that resulted in the slip and fall.
2. The property owner knew about the dangerous condition but didn’t do anything about it.
3. The owner of the property should have known about the dangerous condition because a reasonable person tending to a piece of property would have detected the problem and taken steps to correct it.

To read more, click here.

Continue reading "Slip and Fall Premises Liability Update" »

As a Dallas Mesothelioma and Asbestos Attorney, I am reporting this Virgina Mesothelioma verdict against Exxon.

A jury awarded a former shipyard employee $25M in his lawsuit against Exxon for asbestos-related medical problems. The suit was filed against Exxon, the ship owner, rather than the parts supplier.

The lawsuit argued that Exxon knew about the problems with asbestos, and even developed rules to protect workers at refineries beginning in 1937, but did not warn shipyard workers or crew members.

An attorney for the worker said the case proved Exxon knew about the cancer link since the 1940s, and knew by the 1960s that it caused mesothelioma.

Asbestos is a carcinogenic fiber that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the lining of the body’s major organs and cavities. Asbestos was used in construction for over a century because of its versatility and heat resistance, making it an ideal insulator.

Continue reading "Exxon to Pay $25 M For Shipyard Worker Mesothelioma" »

As Dallas Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella lawsuit attorney, I am providing this litigation update for folks who have either filed or contemplating filing a lawsuit against Bayer for the personal injuries they have suffered as a result of taking these medications.

This week, plaintiff attorneys who have filed a Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella lawsuit against Bayer, filed a motion in Southern Illinois federal court to extend deadlines for the discovery process.

The parties have asked that the specific discovery deadline for bellwether cases to be pushed back to April 14, 2011 and for the first trial to be pushed back from September, 2011, to January, 2012.

About 6,500 cases are currently in the federal MDL Yasmin and Yaz litigation. All of the lawsuits involve allegations that Bayer failed to adequately research their birth control pills or warn that Yaz and Yasmin may increase the risk of blood clots when compared to other birth control pills, resulting in strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and gallstones.

The plaintiff attorneys say they have received over 50 million documents from Bayer to review and anticipate millions of more pages of documents that will need to be produced before trials can commence.

In October 2010, a Case Management Order (CMO) was filed in the federal MDL, scheduling three bellweather Yaz and Yasmin trials to occur in September 2011, January 2012 and April 2012. Cases are being prepared for these trial dates to help both parties test the strengths and weaknesses of cases and facilitate a Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella settlement.

According to allegations in complaints, the increased risk of Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella is linked to the use of drospirenone, a fourth generation progestin that is only found in these oral birth control pills and their generic equivalents.

Continue reading "Yaz Yasmin Ocella MDL Lawsuits March Update" »

As a Dallas Medical Malpractice attorney and licensed medical doctor, I am providing this article regarding an Indiana surgeon who has been a fugitive on the run for many medical malpractice claims.

An Indiana surgeon who was on the run for over five years faces a wrongful death negligence lawsuit claiming he caused the death of a woman in 2004 after failing to diagnose her with lung cancer.

The lawsuit alleges that the woman went to see the doctor in 2004 with a sore throat, that she received unnecessary surgery and delayed treatment, and died after lung cancer was not treated.

The surgeon was captured in Italy in 2009 and faces more than 350 medical malpractice suits.

Continue reading "Fugitive Medical Doctor Faces 350 Medical Malpractice Lawsuits" »

As a Dallas Toxic Tort attorney I am providing this environmental pollution story.
Conroe Texas is ground zero in a battle between this Houston city, and EPA regulators against Texas environmental officials who approved an underground landfill. In Conroe, the fear is of contaminated water that could cause permanent harm to the only water source for the half-million residents in Montgomery County. And that aquifer feeds additional underground streams that provide water to millions of people in 54 counties.

"Once your water is dirty, you'll never get it clean again," said Rebecca Kaiser, a Conroe resident.

TexCom Gulf Disposal LLC, wants to inject liquid commercial waste into a well underground, that could include cancer-causing benzene and other toxic chemicals. This injection well is less than a mile from hundreds of homes and several schools.

The proposed waste site in Conroe is an oil field with hundreds of abandoned wells. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is concerned that these wells could act as a pathway for the waste to travel to aquifers, and contaminate the drinking water.

There have been many similar problems in Texas, for example in Winona — an East Texas town where a company was forced to close its injection well in 1997 because of spills that residents alleged increased cancer rates and birth defects.

Also in 2005 in Chico, a North Texas town, where waste from an injection well bubbled up through other wells. Finally radioactivity forced the shutdown of municipal water wells.

Continue reading "Conroe, Texas Toxic Landfill Could Contaminate Drinking Water" »

As a Dallas Fort Worth Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorney, I am providing this promising new cancer regimen for devastating mesothelioma disease.

Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), a consortium of 19 cancer testing centers, is in the process of conducting Phase 1/Phase 2 trials on the use of cediranib maleate in combination with pemetrexed disodium (marketed as Alimta) and cisplatin to treat mesothelioma patients who have not received previous chemotherapy treatment.

Mesothelioma is caused by inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers. At least 2,500 Americans are diagnosed with this deadly disease each year, most in the final stages. A typical prognosis for mesothelioma, at this stage, is about a year to live.

Mesothelioma, which occurs in 3 out of 4 cases in the mesothelial lining around the lungs, is often treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, or a combination of, but most treatments are considered palliative rather than curative. That is, they reduce pain and improve breathing, but in most cases do not extend lifetimes beyond a few months at best. Pemetrexed and cisplatin, a platinum-based compound, are the chemicals of choice for treating mesothelioma.

The addition of cediranib maleate (sometimes called AZD2171, or Recentin), because of its ability to block the delivery of needed enzymes and blood to cancer cells, is expected to improve the performance of the Alimta/cisplatin package of chemotherapy agents.

Continue reading "Promising New Cancer Therapy for Mesothelioma" »

As a Dallas car accident attorney, I am writing to inform folks about the dangers to automobiles and drivers from highway construction zones.

Construction sites and highway construction zones are adversely impacted by poor communication, a work force in a hurry, third party contractors, a mind set of profits before people and safety and negligence.

The first rule of safety is to eliminate the danger; if that is not possible, then the second rule of safety is to barricade the danger and if that is not possible then you communicate the danger and warn. The trouble is how can you communicate with somebody who does not understand or speak English.

Safety violations can occur; by breaking and ignoring local, municipal, city, county, state or federal regulations, for example when equipment is left too close to the side of the road, or when proper safety policies and procedures are not followed, construction companies and employers can be held financially liable.

Highway and road construction zones are the most dangerous road conditions in Texas. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area major highways and thoroughfares are always under construction, leaving drivers to deal with improperly marked roads, obstacles, and other hazardous road conditions. In our Metroplex, we have over 6,000 miles of highways and roads. Hundreds of drivers and passengers of cars, semi-trucks, buses and motorcycles are injured or killed every year in construction zone accidents that could have been easily prevented and avoided.

If you or a family member has been injured in a highway or construction zone car accident, there may be more than one party that can be held responsible and required to compensate you for your injuries. Road maintenance crews, highway design engineers, and other drivers are often held legally accountable for their negligence Contractors, subcontractors or government agencies in charge of construction zones may also be held liable if they were negligent in their duties.

The following is a list of some factors that may lead to an auto accident in a construction zone:

Substandard road maintenance
Unmarked or unfixed potholes
Dangerous gravel on the road or road resurfacing
Slippery road surfaces due to spills especially chemicals or oil
Substandard or defective marked construction zones
Dangerous unmarked changes in road conditions
Defective or missing Guardrails
Substandard marked intersections
Negligently or reckless designed roadways, bridges, and rights-of-way

Continue reading "Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Car Accidents" »

As a Fort Worth Bus Accident attorney, I am reporting this bus crash lawsuit, which was just filed in Fort Worth district court.

A lawsuit was filed against a Fort Worth-based bus company on behalf of Denton church members who were injured in a Colorado bus crash in December.

The defendants are the bus driver, Fred Kornegay of Grand Prairie, and the bus company, Gotta Go Express Trailways Inc. in Fort Worth.

The members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Denton were injured during a ski trip to Crested Butte, Colo. There were 46 people on the bus, including the driver.

The group was on Highway 114 outside of Gunnison, Colo., when the bus went out of control, collided with a post and rolled down an embankment striking a tree.

Colorado investigators determined that Kornegay was driving at high speeds before the crash, including passing as many as three vehicles at a time on a two-lane road -- despite dangerous icy conditions and decreased visibility.

Kornegay was issued a citation by Colorado authorities for careless driving in the crash.

Continue reading "Colorado Bus Crash Law Suit Against Texas Bus Company" »

As a Fort Worth Darvon, Darvocet and Propoxyphene recall attorney I am providing this update regarding the upcoming MDL hearing, presently set for late March in California.

There is going to be a hearing that will decide whether all Darvon and Darvocet lawsuits should be consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation in federal court.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on MDL (JPML)has set a hearing for March 30th in San Diego, where they will consider the proposed consolidation of the Darvon and Darvocet litigation.

There are currently at least four different lawsuits over Darvocet that have been filed against Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals in three different federal district courts.

All of the suits contain allegations that the manufacturer failed to adequately research the side effects of Darvocet and Darvon and failed to warn doctors and patients that propoxyphene-based drugs caused heart rhythm problems that could sometimes be fatal.

A Darvon and Darvocet recall was issued on November 19, 2010, after the FDA determined that propoxyphene-based painkillers may increase the risk of heart rhythm abnormalities, including heart arrhythmias or sudden heart-related death.

Multidistrict litigation, and centralization is common in complex product liability claims involving a large number of lawsuits over injuries associated with a particular product. The process is designed to avoid duplicate discovery, prevent inconsistent rulings by different judges and to promote the efficient litigation of the cases.

Xanodyne has opposed consolidation of the Darvocet litigation, stating that much of the evidence and discovery in the cases will focus on the individual health of each plaintiff. The company also stated that some plaintiffs took versions of Darvon or Darvocet that were not made by Xanodyne, and so arguing that the Xanodyne could not be held liable in these cases.

Furthermore, Xanodyne argues that the cases should be centralized in the Eastern District of Kentucky, where the drug maker is headquartered.

Continue reading "Darvocet, Darvon, and Propoxyphene MDL March Hearing" »

As a Fort Worth Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease attorney, I am providing this latest update to the Accutane lawsuits which have been filed in New Jersey.

3,000 Accutane lawsuits have been filed in New Jersey state court, Atlantic City, alleging that makers of the acne skin medication failed to adequately warn about the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease.

All of the New Jersey state court lawsuits over Accutane and generic versions have been consolidated as a Mass Tort.

The first Accutane lawsuit was filed on September 23, 2004 and the 3,000th case was filed earlier this month, on February 9, 2011.

Roche discontinued Accutane in June 2009 due to the increasing costs associated with the Accutane litigation, but a number of generic versions remain available under names such as Claravis, Sotret, Amnesteem and generic isotretinoin.

Roche has lost all six cases that have reached a jury verdict.

A trial is scheduled to begin this month before Judge Higbee involving three Accutane suits, including one brought by actor James Marshall.

Continue reading "Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease" »

As a Dallas Benzene Cancer attorney I am providing this information blog because I have recently talked to some potential plaintiffs who believe that they may have been exposed to Benzene and that their cancers may be related to this industrial exposure.

Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon that is produced by the burning of natural products. It is a component of products derived from coal and petroleum and is found in gasoline and other fuels. Benzene is used in the manufacture of plastics, detergents, pesticides, and other chemicals. Research has shown benzene to be a carcinogen (cancer-causing). With exposures from less than five years to more than 30 years, individuals have developed, and died from, leukemia. Long-term exposure may affect bone marrow and blood production. Short-term exposure to high levels of benzene can cause drowsiness, dizziness, unconsciousness, and death.

Benzene is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, and the construction industry.

Individuals employed in industries that make or use benzene may be exposed to the highest levels of benzene. These industries include benzene production (petrochemicals, petroleum refining, and coke and coal chemical manufacturing), rubber tire manufacturing, and storage or transport of benzene and petroleum products containing benzene. Other workers who may be exposed to benzene because of their occupations include steel workers, printers, rubber workers, shoe makers, laboratory technicians, firefighters, and gas station employees.

Continue reading "Benzene Cancer Update" »

Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that is caused by exposure to asbestos, which is a naturally occurring silicate mineral that exists, in a fibrous state composed of microscopic crystals. Asbestos was used in a variety of building applications, as a heat insulator, electrical resistant insulator, and as a composite material in joint compound and concrete.

Mesothelioma litigation represents the longest running Mass Tort in the history of America. Every year, 10,000 people die from mesothelioma, and 800,000 claimants have sought compensation against approximately 8,400 defendants.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos and glass particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos or glass can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases the risk of other asbestos-induced cancers

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that attacks the thin layer of cells that line the body's internal organs, known as mesothelium.

Mesothelioma disease exists in three forms. The most common type is pleural mesothelioma, and this disease accounts for approximately 70% of all mesothelioma cases. Pleural mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the lungs, known as pleura.

The second variety of mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma, occurs in the lining of the heart, known as the pericardium.

The third form, peritoneal mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the abdominal cavity, known as peritoneum.

Continue reading "Asbestos Mesothelioma Update" »

As a Fort Worth Avandia Product Recall Attorney, I am providing this latest Avandia lawsuit information.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has settled a lawsuit alleging its Avandia diabetes drug caused a North Carolina man to die of a heart attack, thus avoiding a jury determination over risks associated with the medicine.

The U.K.’s biggest drugmaker resolved the suit by the family of James Burford, an Avandia user who died in 2006.

The lawsuit, scheduled for trial this week in Philadelphia federal court, was the first of 2,000 heading to court alleging Glaxo hid Avandia’s health risks.

Glaxo announced Jan. 17 that it is taking a $3.5 billion charge to cover expenses linked to investigations and suits over Avandia. The reserve brings to $6.4 billion the amount the drugmaker has set aside in the past 12 months for legal costs tied to Avandia.

The latest settlement resulted from Glaxo’s move to resolve all Avandia cases brought by plaintiffs' attorneys in Philadelphia of more than 1,600 cases consolidated there.

The company still faces at least 1,600 cases filed in Philadelphia and another 400 in state courts across the U.S., lawyers for Avandia users and the company said last week.

Lawyers for Burford’s family alleged that Glaxo refused to take Avandia off the market, even though studies concluded it increased risks of heart attacks and strokes. They also claimed Glaxo officials withheld studies by regulators showing the increased risk tied to the drug.

The case is Deborah A. Burford v. SmithklineBeecham Corp., 07-CV-05360, U.S. District Court for the District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

Continue reading "Dallas Avandia Heart Attack Death Update 817-717-1772" »

As a Fort Worth Traumatic Brain Injury, Wrongful Death and Truck Accident attorney I am providing this jury verdict out of California. Count this as a win for the good guys, but unfortunately no amount of money can turn back the clock and fully compensate the victims of this tragic and needless accident.

A California jury has awarded $49 million in a lawsuit stemming from a highway accident in 2007 that left one man dead and a police officer paralyzed.

Officer Pedeferri had pulled over motorist Andres Parra on U.S. Highway 101 north of Ventura when a man driving a truck slammed into them, killing Parra, and rendering the police officer a quadriplegic.

Jurors awarded Parra's parents $10.2 million for the loss of their son.

The truck driver pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and transporting marijuana. He was sentenced in 2008 to 15 years in prison.

Continue reading "$49 M Awarded in Wrongful Death Drunk Driving Truck Accident" »

As a Fort Worth DARVON Product Liability Attorney I am providing this Darvon, Darvocet Update.

Since Dec. 3, seven lawsuits have been filed in federal court alleging that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., the manufacturer of Darvocet and Darvon, knew of the risks but failed to warn doctors and the general public that the medications could contribute to heart disease.

The recalled pain pills Darvocet, Darvon, or the generic propoxyphene are some of the most dangerous drugs ever sold in the United States, and we are urging folks to stop taking Darvocet, Darvon, or the generic version propoxyphene pain pills immediately.

Many people we have talked with, who took Darvocet, or Darvon, developed severe heart rhythm issues including sudden death, and now are either medicated to control their heart beat, or they have a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator.

The suits, some them class actions, were filed on behalf of people who suffered from heart problems or died after taking the drugs. Plaintiffs' lawyers already have moved to consolidate the cases into multidistrict litigation.

Continue reading "Darvocet Wrongful Death Product Liabilty Lawsuits" »

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney, I am providing the jury verdict and a win for the good guys.

Jurors awarded $10.1 million in damages to the family of an overdose victim, hoping the verdict strikes fear into other "pill mills" that have turned Houston into a national center for prescription drug abuse.

"Our verdict shows how much our community is against these pill mills and wants things to change," said juror Lauren Simmons, after finding gross negligence led to the overdose death of Michael Skorpenske of Conroe.

Skorpenske, 54, died July 7, 2007, two days after his only visit to the Family Medi Clinic in The Woodlands where he received a prescription for three potent drugs: hydrocodone, xanax and soma.

He had sought help there for chronic pain he suffered from a motorcycle injury and a fall at a petrochemical plant.

According to records, the clinic's director, Dr. Maurice Conte, had prescribed this same drug combo at least 3,800 times between 2006 and 2007 at more than 17 pain area clinics that he supervised. Dr. Maurice Conte, was forced to surrender his license to the Texas Medical Board after Skorpenske died.

Conte, who repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during the four-day trial, was found grossly negligent and slapped with the stiffest penalty: $9.05 million.

Continue reading "Houston Doctor and Clinic Busted for Wrongful Death" »

The law is always changing when it comes to accidents, and as a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney I read with interest this car accident case which is now in front of the Texas Supreme Court.

Seven years ago, near Fredericksburg, Courtney Foreman of Cedar Park drowned after construction work left a 15-foot gap in a bridge guardrail room enough for her car, sliding on wet dirt and gravel, to hit the Pedernales River.

She was 18. But a lawsuit against the construction company that followed those plans was thrown out, only to be reinstated on appeal.

Now the case is before the Texas Supreme Court, which will determine whether the Allen Keller Co. had a duty to protect drivers like Foreman from a potentially dangerous situation. The answer could have repercussions for Texas contractors, construction firms and accident victims.

Continue reading "Texas Supreme Court to Answer: Is Builder Liable for Bridge's Guardrail Gap?" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney, I am writing about this tragic loss of life in a car crash just before New Years day.

Spc. Clinton Young, on leave for Christmas, and was to return Jan. 3 to finish training at the 14th Military Police Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He died just before New Years day when a collision knocked him off an overpass on U.S. 287 in southeast Fort Worth, where he was standing after his car crashed into a guardrail.

His mother, Ruby Young said she was on the phone with her son moments before he was killed. "He loved his family very much and his family dearly loved him," his mom said. "But we'd like people to know that Clinton was proud to serve his country. He wanted to be a soldier."

Ruby Young said she was told that her son lost control of his car on a U.S. 287 overpass and smashed into the guardrail. An 18-wheeler then crashed just past her son's vehicle, blocking the road.

Another 18-wheeler stopped in the road because the driver couldn't get around the wreckage. Then a vehicle slammed into the second truck's trailer and careered into Clinton Young, who was standing next to his vehicle.

The collision threw him over the guardrail and he fell dozens of feet onto East Loop 820, Fort Worth police reported. My thoughts and prayers are with this young man;s family at this time of need.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Car Crash Leads to Death of Promising Young Soldier" »

As a Dallas Product Liability attorney and Bard Recovery and G2 IVC Filter lawyer, I am writing an update about this latest FDA warning regarding the Inferior Vena Cava filters.As I wrote previously in my blog, there are serious and fatal complications of the widely used Bard inferior vena cava (IVC) filters.

G2TM IVC Filter Lawsuits

G2™ Filter System Lawsuits allege that the G2TM Filter System possesses manufacturing and design defects which resulted in device failure. The injured plaintiffs experienced fracture and migration of the G2TM Filter.

In 2005, Bard Peripheral Vascular began selling its G2TM IVC filter. This replaced the RecoveryTM IVC filter. Despite the "enhanced fracture resistance" and "enhanced migration resistance" advertisements by Bard Peripheral Vascular, the device has still been shown to fracture, fail and migrate.

RecoveryTM IVC Filter Lawsuits

The RecoveryTM IVC filter was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002. It was placed on the market for use in 2003. Its manufacturer, Bard Peripheral Vascular withdrew the RecoveryTM IVC filter from the market in 2005 and replaced it with the G2TM IVC filter. The G2TM IVC filter is the "second generation" of the RecoveryTM IVC filter.

A recent medical report has found that 25% of all Bard Recovery IVC filters and 12% of Bard G2 IVC filters fractured. These fractured filters have the potential become dislodged and cause serious and fatal injury. 71% of the broken pieces migrated through the veins of the patient to the heart. The FDA has received more than 900 reports of adverse events, including:

* Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

* Filter Fracture, Migration or Embolization, leading to Injury to the Heart, Lung or Vena Cava

* Cardiac or Pericardial Tamponade

* Severe Persistent Chest Pain

* Shortness of Breath

* Death

Continue reading "Dallas Bard Recovery and G2 IVC Filter Lawsuits" »

As a Fort Worth Product Liability attorney and Bard IVC Filter lawyer, I am writing about this latest FDA warning regarding the Inferior Vena Cava filters.

Patients who suffer from the threat of pulmonary embolism and are contraindicated for anticoagulation therapy may find themselves receiving an Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter to prevent pulmonary embolism.

Inferior vena cava filters are an alternative treatment for patients at risk for a pulmonary embolism. They are often used when an anticoagulant is contraindicated or if such medications have not been effective. They contain a number of legs or struts that extend out like a spider to catch blood clots that may break free elsewhere in the body, such as the deep veins of the legs. But, if there is an IVC filter strut fracture, small pieces of the filter may travel to other parts of the body, such as the heart or lungs.

Since 2005, the FDA has received 921 device adverse event reports involving IVC filters, of which 328 involved device migration, 146 involved embolizations (detachment of device components), 70 involved perforation of the IVC, and 56 involved filter fracture.

These types of events may be related to a retrievable filter remaining in the body for long periods of time, beyond the time when the risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) has subsided.

RECOMMENDATION: FDA recommends that implanting physicians and clinicians responsible for the ongoing care of patients with retrievable IVC filters consider removing the filter as soon as protection from PE is no longer needed.

Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:

* Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
* Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178

Read more here about the IVC Filters.

These IVC Filter devices have recently come under investigation due to a high number of Bard IVC filter fractures which can cause pieces of the devices to travel through the body and damage the heart, lungs and other organs, causing embolisms and possibly death.

In a study published in November in the Archives of Internal Medicine, two Bard IVC filters were found to have a particularly high rate of problems. According to Dr. Rita Redberg in an editorial published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, both of those filters, the Bard G2 and Bard Recovery, were approved with virtually no real clinical data showing they were safe or effective.

Redberg said that researchers suggest that the number of Bard G2 filter fractures is likely to increase as they stay on the market and have been in patients’ bodies longer. She said that data indicates about 62,000 people have received the implants, and as many as 7,000 can expect to experience a Bard IVC filter fracture.

A number of Bard IVC filter lawsuits have been filed against C.R. Bard over the last year alleging that serious injuries or deaths were caused by design defects associated with these filters.

Continue reading "FDA Warns Against Inferior Vena Cava Filters " »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident and Wrongful Death Attorney, I have the following accident to report.

According to the police, a 33-year-old Denton woman died after being ran over by a moving trailer.

Police said a group of people were helping friends move out of an apartment complex, when Andrea Noecker sat down on the tongue and hitch connected to a trailer. One in the group was moving a pickup truck to the street when Noecker fell off in the parking lot and was run over by the trailer.

Noecker was flown to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth where she died from her injuries.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family in their time of need.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death attorney I am providing this news regarding this tragic wrongful death case.

A California family has filed a lawsuit against a big rig trucker and his employer over the death of a cyclist last month.

The accident happened as the cyclist turned right into the path of the truck. The lawsuit accuses the driver of negligence and violating the cyclist's right-of-way.

The trucker and his employer paid $1.5 million to settle a separate wrongful death suit stemming from a 2007 collision that involved the trucker and a bicyclist in Santa Cruz.

This trucker has been involved in three fatal collisions while on the job, according to CHP records, but investigators have never found him to be at fault.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Product Liability and Defective Drug attorney I am providing this update.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Upjohn Co have agreed to a settlement with two Nevada women who claimed hormone replacement drugs caused their breast cancer.

Court documents report that Nadine Bender, who died while awaiting trial began taking the drugs when she was 30 to help regulate her menstrual cycle. She continued once her menopausal symptoms started and stopped using the drugs when diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995.

Bender, who died while awaiting trial, and Scott, 81, claimed Wyeth's estrogen pill, known as Premarin, and the drug Prempro, as well as Upjohn's progestin pill, Provera, caused their breast cancer.

Shelia Scott began the estrogen-progestin combination in 1989 and stopped when her breast cancer was found in 2001.

Recently the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed a $58 million jury award to three women who made similar claims against Wyeth, which "are among thousands filed across the country.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney I am providing this Texas medical malpractice update.

Texas lawmakers passed legislative changes in 2003, which made it more difficult for patients to be awarded damages in any health care medical malpractice setting.

The tort reform state lawmakers passed in 2003, the toughest in the country, capped medical liability for non economic damages at $250,000 per health care provider, with a maximum award of $750,000.

This is particularly true in emergency rooms medical malpractice claims, where plaintiffs must prove doctors acted with "willful and wanton" negligence. This standard means that they not only put the patient in extreme risk but knew they were doing it. Plaintiffs must prove that ER doctors acted with conscious indifference, or gross negligence, rather than simple negligence.

Tort reform advocates say the law is needed to protect ER doctors operating in volatile environments.

Medical malpractice attorneys argue the threshold is nearly impossible to cross, the “willful and wanton” rule means ER care in Texas is some of the most dangerous in the country, because no one can be held accountable for failure to diagnose, failure to treat or wrong care.

Unfortunately Texans are unaware that their Legislature has mandated a very low standard of care — almost no care, and heaven forbid they or a loved one gets injured by the negligence of an ER doctor, then they find out, the hard way, that they have no legal recourse.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney I am very proud of the recent verdict announced this week against a major tobacco company.

Cigarettes in my humble opinion should be banned; they serve no purpose and are extremely dangerous substances in its present manufactured form. As medical studies have demonstrated, they are nicotine delivery systems, surely there are less dangerous ways to deliver nicotine. People get addicted and the immense cost to human life is clearly palpable and with the resultant medical care and untold pain and suffering.

A Massachusetts jury has ordered cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. to pay $81 million in punitive damages to the estate of Marie Evans, who suffered a deadly addiction to Newport cigarettes.

The punitive damages came on top of $71 million awarded last week in compensatory damages.

Evans's estate was awarded $50 million in compensatory damages, and her son, was awarded $21 million. Only the estate of Marie Evans, the person directly injured by the company's actions, was eligible to collect punitive damages.

The lawsuit alleged that the tobacco company’s marketing plans induced Evans to start smoking as a child. She died in 2002 from lung cancer.

According to the defendants, the company no longer passes out samples of Newport cigarettes, it no longer advertises cigarettes on radio or television, and the company agrees that cigarettes cause cancer and other diseases.

The jury had already that found the company seduced Evans into smoking when she was just 13 by handing out Newport samples.

The free samples was part of the marketing strategy to reach out to youngsters in black neighborhoods, where menthol brands are popular. The jury found that Lorillard acted with negligence, breach of trust, and in a manner that was wanton and reckless.

Finally Big Tobacco is having to pay the price for its negligent activities, but it is too little too late for the victims.

Now Big Tobacco has set its sights on the Third World masses with their free samples, unfiltered cigarettes and lack of any governmental oversights to breed a new crop of addicts.

Talk of putting profits before people. The moral outrage, continues dear friends, we are slowly winning, the flame of justice just burned a little brighter this week with the announcements of these jury verdicts.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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Virginia Jury Verdict: $10.5 Million in Wrongful Death

A Virginia jury has awarded $10.5 million to the family of a woman who died in 2007 after a concrete mixer truck fell onto her car.

The wrongful death victim was aged 25, and she died after eight days in hospital. The victim's husband survived the horrific accident. Their car was crushed as they drove on State Route 53 and were hit by a truck driven by William Sprouse, working for Allied Concrete Co. Sprouse later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 30 days in jail.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth car accident attorney I am proud to relay this Texas jury verdict involving a bus accident.

An El Paso jury ordered a local Texas bus company to pay more than $132 million to the victims of a 2005 Colorado deadly crash.

The jury found that the van had bald tires and no safety belts. Two people died, and several others were severely injured in the crash. After a four-day trial, the judgment was reached against Los Paisanos bus lines and its owner, Uriel Chavira.

According to the plaintiff attorneys, and the lawsuit, the Los Paisanos bus company treated these victims like cattle, and the van, without seat belts, was driven over 188,000 miles in two years in an illegal interstate operation to move Mexican citizens across state lines.

33 people from El Paso and Juárez boarded a Los Paisanos bus in El Paso and headed for Denver.

According to witness testimony, the van was on a highway just outside Denver when the driver, Heriberto Flores-Garcia, began speeding and eating at the same time. He lost control of the van, which went over an embankment and rolled.

Read Article: El Paso Times

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether generic-drug makers can be sued for not warning patients about the risk of dangerous side effects.

The Court has agreed to hear the lawsuits involving Mylan Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. These lawsuits by two women allege that they contracted a severe neurological disorder, tardive dyskinesia, as a result of long-term use of metoclopramide.

A federal appeals court let both suits proceed, noting that a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that permitted failure-to-warn suits against brand-name drugmakers.

The drug companies argue that the 2009 ruling shouldn’t apply to them because federal law requires generic drugs to include the same packaging insert as the one used by the brand-name drug company that produces the medicine.

Trial courts across the country have rejected that argument.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a Defective Drug, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Attorney and Car Accident Attorney I am providing this latest update regarding the on going Toyota Product Liability Lawsuits.

The California federal judge said that he is inclined to let personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. move forward.

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna issued a preliminary opinion denying the automaker's motion to dismiss key causes of action in 51 lawsuits.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed since the Japanese automaker starting recalling millions of vehicles because of sudden-acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.

If the order is finalized, Selna's order would be a victory for plaintiffs suing Toyota for negligence, design defects, failure to warn and fraudulent concealment.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a car accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled Over Chewing Tobacco Death

The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently accepting and evaluating potential Smokeless Tobacco Wrongful Death claims.

A chewing tobacco manufacturer has agreed to a $5 million settlement with the family of a man who died from cancer, allegedly caused by the product. The man began chewing tobacco at age 13 and died of tongue cancer at age 43. The lawsuit and settlement is the first of its kind related to chewing tobacco.

Read Article: The Hartford Courant

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney I am providing this update on drunk driving related car accidents and fatalities. These incredible statistics reveal why drunk driving is a major public policy issue.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving MADD, these are the statistics for 2010 for the State of Texas.

Rank: 45

3 time offenders: 124,662

5 time offenders: 18,271

DUI Fatalities: 1,235

% of total traffic deaths DUI related 40%

% of change in DUI fatalities from previous to current year: -6

State subsidy of drunk driving fatalities: $5.8 Billion

Summary:

The Legislature rejected lifesaving interlock legislation and sobriety checkpoint legislation in 2009; MADD is working toward the 2011 session.

Alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 26%

Binge alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 17%

Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2007 and 2008.

We are following closely this local story involving a drunk Fort Worth police officer and the tragic car accident that he was involved in. Read full Fort Worth Star Telegram story here.

An accident investigator said a former Fort Worth police officer's alcohol intoxication is to blame for a fatal car crash.

Jesus Cisneros, a former undercover narcotics officer, is charged with intoxication manslaughter in the wrongful death of a 27-year-old mother.

Sonia Baker died in December when a Fort Worth issued SUV driven by Cisneros crashed into her. The SUV apparently was speeding at 76 mph in a busy residential area when it collided with Baker's car. Baker could not have been able to avoid the accident, according to the investigators.

According to State Prosecutors, the crash came after Cisneros attended a birthday party for a fellow officer at a Fort Worth bar. Video that was recorded at the party show him drinking heavily.

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As a Fort Worth Darvon, Darvocet, Propoxyphene Recall Attorney, I have special knowledge because of my cardiology background. Darvon, Darvocet and Propoxyphene can affect your heart electrical activity and rhythm.

If you have suffered from cardiac blackouts, ventricular fibrillation, Torsade De Pointes, cardiac arrest, required CPR or defibrillation, and are taking these medications, your medical condition may be linked to the toxic side effects.

This following information is available from the FDA.

Propoxyphene is an opioid medication that was first approved by FDA in 1957. It has been marketed in the United States since 1976 as a Schedule IV Controlled Substances used as either a single ingredient (e.g., Darvon) or in combination with acetaminophen (e.g., Darvocet) to treat mild to moderate pain.

In January 2009, the FDA held an advisory committee meeting to address the efficacy and safety of propoxyphene.

In July 2009, the FDA decided to permit continued marketing of propoxyphene with a new boxed warning added to the drug label alerting patients and health care professionals to the risk of a fatal overdose.

Recently Xanodyne (Pharmaceutical manufacturer) conducted a study in healthy volunteers to determine an appropriate dose that could be used in the definitive cardiac study. Data from that study demonstrated that even when propoxyphene was taken at recommended doses, there were significant changes to the electrical activity of the heart including prolonged PR interval, widened QRS complex and prolonged QT interval.

FDA is now recommending that propoxyphene products be removed from the US market.

FDA Questions and Answers here.

If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous and defective drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Dallas Texas Darvon Darvocet Propoxyphene Recall Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 817-900-8439, 888-210-9693 or Contact Me Online.

The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently evaluating and accepting Darvon, Darvocet and Propoxyphene cardiac arrest or wrongful death cases.

The first of many hearings on the DePuy ASR XL hip implants lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson was held in Durham, North Carolina on November 18, 2010.

The U.S. Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation, JPML, heard arguments from defense lawyers for Johnson and Johnson and the plaintiffs attorneys for the affected and injured consumers.

This hearing will determine where the lawsuits should be coordinated for pretrial management, and which judge should be assigned to handle the cases.

The most significant health risk from the metallic hip is the exposure to patients of high levels of chromium and cobalt metal debris from the implants. The faulty and defective design of the ASR XL prosthetic hip leads to excessive pressure on the edges of the cup, causing extensive wear and tear and this leads to the release of ionic metal debris into the patients hip.

According to the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Metallosis is usually defined as aseptic fibrosis, local necrosis, or loosening of a device secondary to metallic corrosion and release of wear debris.

Chromium and cobalt are natural trace elements which the body requires for healthy function. The chromium and cobalt ions released by the DePuy ASR metal on metal grinding joint, are toxic to the tissues in the hip.

Chromium and cobalt exposures in industrial settings have been demonstrated by medical studies, and that these metals are highly toxic to the liver, kidneys, and brain tissue.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth DePuy ASR Hip Recall Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about a DePuy ASR Hip Recall, please fill out our contact online for a free consultation.

As a Fort Worth Texas Dilantin Stevens Johnson Syndrome SJS attorney, we are providing this update.

Dilantin (Generic: Phenytoin) is an antiepileptic drug prescribed to manage seizures. A major side effect of Dilantin is a severe skin reaction called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS).

Stevens Johnson Syndrome involves the skin and the mucous membranes and is a serious systemic disorder with the potential for severe illness and even death.

With Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a patient develops blistering of mucous membranes, usually in the mouth, eyes, and genitals. Nearly all cases are caused by a drug reaction, most commonly sulfa antibiotics, barbiturates, anti-seizure medication such as Dilantin and certain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The disorder occurs in all age groups but is more common in older people and people of African American descent.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Dilantin Stevens Johnson Syndrome Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about drug induced Stevens Johnson Syndrome, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

Continue reading "Dilantin Stevens Johnson Syndrome SJS Attorney" »

As a Fort Worth Darvon Darvocet Product Recall Attorney we are providing this update. The FDA announced that it has requested manufacturers of propoxyphene, brand name Darvon, Darvocet and its generic equivalents, be withdrawn from the market due to serious and fatal heart risks.

Recent clinical data has shown that patients who take propoxyphene are at risk of fatal heart arrhythmia. This study showed that, even when taken at recommended doses, propoxyphene causes significant changes to the electrical activity of the heart visible on an electrocardiogram (EKG). These changes in electrical activity can increase the risk for abnormal heart rhythms linke

Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc, the maker of brand name Darvon and Darvocet, has agreed to withdraw the drug from the U.S. market and the FDA has notified manufacturers of generic propoxyphene products of Xanodyne’s decision, requesting they do the same.

Stand Alone Propoxyphene

* Darvon
* Darvon-N
* PP-Cap

Propoxyphene Combination Products

* Balacet (containing Acetaminophen and Propoxyphene)
* Darvocet A500 (containing Acetaminophen and Propoxyphene)
* Darvocet-N (containing Acetaminophen and Propoxyphene)
* Darvon Compound 32 (containing Aspirin, Caffeine, and Propoxyphene)
* Darvon Compound-65 (containing Aspirin, Caffeine, and Propoxyphene)
* PC-CAP (containing Aspirin, Caffeine, and Propoxyphene)
* Propacet (containing Acetaminophen and Propoxyphene)
* Propoxyphene Compound 65 (containing Aspirin, Caffeine, and Propoxyphene)
* Wygesic (containing Acetaminophen and Propoxyphene)

If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous and defective drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Darvon Darvocet Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 888-210-9693, 817-900-8439 or Contact Me Online.

As a Fort Worth Dilantin Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndrome Attorney, we are providing an update on Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndrome (TENS).

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), is a more severe form of Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) with death and illness rates that are much higher than SJS.

Like SJS, TEN Syndrome are an immune complex-mediated hypersensitivity complex that involves the skin and mucous membranes. There is significant involvement of oral, nasal, eye, vaginal, urethral, GI, and lower respiratory tract mucous membranes.

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TENS) is a very serious, and life threatening disease. In these cases lead to mucosal scarring and loss of function of the involved organ system leaving the patient blind and unable to breathe, eat or speak on their own.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Dilantin Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis or Stevens Johnson Syndrome, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

As a Fort Worth Truck accident attorney, I would to share my thoughts about the causes of truck accidents and injuries.

There are many causes of Trucking Accidents, most common include Driver Fatigue, and Mechanical Failure involving the cars and trucks.

Deadly Trucking accidents can result from driver fatigue, inclement weather or road conditions, and vehicle failure.

Usually there is no contest between a fully loaded 100,000 lbs 18 wheeler truck and a 5,000 lbs automobile. And usually death or catastrophic injuries are the invariable outcome.

Across the United States, trucking accidents are caused by the dangerous and negligent actions of truck drivers. Speeding at unsafe speeds, not observing the traffic signals and rules, failure to yield and failing to follow rules of the road result in thousands of traffic accidents each year.

As an internal medicine resident, ER physician and practicing physician, I have encountered and treated some mild cases of Stevens Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, TENS, medical conditions.

Now as a Fort Worth Steven Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis lawyer, we are providing this update.

Dilantin, Depakote, Levaquin and Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs are among some of the drugs that may cause Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS).

Dilantin and Depakote are anti-epileptic and anti-convulsion drugs which can cause Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

These drugs – Dilantin, Depakote, Levaquin and Motrin have serious side effects, among them aching, headaches, and fever followed by a red rash and blisters. This could be a sign of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a rare but fatal skin disorder. Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a life-threatening skin disease that can cause rashes, skin peeling, and blisters on the body's mucous membranes.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) are two versions of the same disease, distinguished from each other by severity. Both are hypersensitive life-threatening skin reactions.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Steven Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis lawyer, Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about Steven Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Attorney and DUI Car Accident Attorney I am providing this latest update regarding the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and car accidents.

An Indiana judge has awarded $15 million to the family of a man who was killed in a 2005 crash caused by a drunk driver.

The crash, which occurred on the Indiana Toll Road, killed four people in all, but Stanislaw Gil, the man responsible, was unharmed.

The truck driver had also been driving longer than federal regulations allow and his employer, Net Trucking, had doctored their logs to conceal this fact, an investigation discovered. Gil has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and 10 years probation.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a hit and run, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

As a Texas Benzene Cancer Exposure Attorney, I frequently write articles about this new scourge of the 21st century.

I firmly believe, based on my medical knowledge, that all this drilling and fracking for oil and gas is setting us up for a new wave of benzene induced cancers, particularly leukemias.

Earlier this year, there was a huge gas leakage at BP’s Texas City refinery, which led to the company having to flare gases. As the company worked to fix the leakage, approximately 530,000 pounds of noxious pollutants were released into the Texas City air. This included 17,000 pounds of benzene, a known carcinogen.

BP never informed the public about this leak that was spread out over 40 days.

Many thousands of Texas City residents have complained about the effects of that exposure to benzene, including respiratory difficulties, sinus infections, as well as headaches and nosebleeds. These are acute benzene exposure symptoms.

But the real danger may not manifest itself for years down the road, when folks would have forgotten about this benzene leakage into the environment. Benzene-induced leukemia has a usual latency period of 5 to 15 years and, in many cases, is preceded by aplastic anemia.

Folks, we are talking about acute and chronic leukemias, which will kill you.

We are the Fort Worth Texas Fosamax Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik.
The FDA found that in some cases two types of drugs that were supposed to be preventing serious medical problems were, in fact, causing them.

Bisphosphonates like Fosamax, Actonel and Boniva, will now have to carry labels saying they can lead to rare fractures of the thigh bone, a discovery that came after another finding that they can cause a rare degeneration of the jawbone called osteonecrosis.

The other is Avandia, a blockbuster drug which was prescribed for diabetics. Diabetics are at high risk because of the disease process, for heart attacks and heart failure. Now the F.D.A. and drug regulators in Europe are restricting Avandia’s use because it appears to increase heart risks, according to research studies. Talk about a double whammy.

In both cases, the respective drug companies continue to deny any liability to the disease processes associated with the usage of their drugs.

Read Article: The New York Times

Continue reading "When Dangerous Drugs Happen to Good People: Drug Product Liability Attorney" »

Medtronic said it is resolving claims that wires connecting implantable Sprint Fidelis defibrillators to patients' hearts were defective. In 2009, the company estimated that at least 13 people may have died because of the problem.

Medtronic said it has agreed to pay $268 million to settle U.S. lawsuits and claims related to its Sprint Fidelis family of defibrillation leads which it recalled three years ago.

The settlement "will provide an average payout of more than $33,000 to patients who have defibrillators with wires that have broken or are considered likely to break." Company officials estimate "that 170,000 people worldwide still have defibrillators with the Sprint Fidelis leads inside them." Read full story Bloomberg News.

Continue reading "Medtronic to Pay $268 M to Settle Law Suits Over Defibrillator Wire Defects" »

The first Yasmin and Yaz Product Liability Federal lawsuit trials are underway according to the recent MDL Southern District of Illinois Court Order. Our Fort Worth Yaz Injury Lawyer law firm is currently handling many cases in the Federal Yaz MDL which is consolidated in Southern District of Illinois, based in East St Louis.

These Federal MDL product liability cases involve allegations that women who took the oral contraceptive birth control pills suffered serious medical problems. 10% of the injury cases are strokes, 40% are venous thromboembolism (VTE), which include deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) and the remainder are gallbladder injuries.

Bell Weather Trial Case Selection and Process

In Complex Class action or MDL litigation, bell-weather trials allow the parties to evaluate how jurors respond to evidence that will be presented in the upcoming individual litigation.

The Court's order calls for the parties to each choose 25 cases. All of the injury cases will be either gallbladder injuries or VTE. Yaz and Yasmin stroke lawsuits will not be part of the bell-weather trials because of their low percentage of personal injuries.

After case-specific discovery on the 50 chosen cases, the list of cases will be reduced to 24. The parties will select four PE cases, four gallbladder cases and four other VTE lawsuits. Each party will be allowed to veto one of the other side’s cases from each injury group. The Court will then choose one case from each group to serve as the bell-weather trial. The two other cases are backups in the event the first case cannot be tried for some reason.

The Yaz bell-weather trials will begin with a pulmonary embolism lawsuit on September 12, 2011, followed by a gallbladder injury lawsuit that has been set for trial January 9, 2012 and another VTE case that has been set for trial to begin April 2, 2012.

Continue reading "Yaz Lawsuit Update: Plaintiff Mini Trials to Start Fall 2011" »

As a Fort Worth Defective Drug Product Liability Attorney I am providing this update regarding the status of class actions lawsuits involving Prempro.

According to Bloomberg News, "Pfizer Inc.'s Wyeth unit properly warned a Virginia woman's doctors about the risks of its Prempro menopause drug, the jury ruled in rejecting her claim for damages."

Jurors found that "Georgia Torkie-Tork couldn't show that Wyeth officials downplayed the breast-cancer risks associated with Prempro, a hormone-replacement drug.

The decision was Wyeth's fourth straight victory in a Prempro suit weighed by a jury."

Over "6 million women took Prempro and related menopause drugs to treat symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings before a 2002 study highlighted their links to cancer."

As a Fort Worth Product Liability attorney I read with interest this new FDA Meridia warning and recall.

The F.D.A. has announced a recall of the diet drug Meridia due to its link to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Abbott Laboratories has agreed to voluntarily withdraw its obesity drug Meridia (sibutramine) from the U.S. market because of clinical trial data indicating an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A recent study showed that people who take Meridia experience a 16 percent increase in the risk of serious heart problems, including non-fatal heart attacks, non-fatal strokes. Read Article: The Washington Post

Continue reading "FDA Recalls Meridia Due To Heart Problems" »

As a Fort Worth DePuy ASR class action attorney and law firm, we have been following closely the events surrounding the DePuy artificial hip replacement and the lawsuits that have followed.

The negligent actions by DePuy Orthopaedics have led to multiple DePuy ASR Class Action Lawsuits involving patients from the world. The main negligence allegations are that the company knew about the high failure rate of its hip devices for years before taking action to fix the device or remove it.

On August 19, 2010 the FDA sent a warning letter to the manufacturers of the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement, DePuy Orthopaedics, regarding other orthopedic devices.

Read here the DePuy Recall Guide for patients.

If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous and defective drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 888-210-9693, 817-900-8439 or Contact Me Online.

The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently evaluating and accepting DePuy ASR Hip Replacement cases.

Continue reading "Fort Worth DePuy ASR Class Action Lawsuits " »

As a Dallas Benzene Leukemia Attorney I have followed the news surrounding the oil and gas extraction from the Barnett Shale.

The gas companies are releasing untold amounts of Benzene into the atmosphere and polluting the ground water.

Folks, wake up and smell the roses. We have only one Texas and one World. If you crap this up, we have no where to go. Raise your hands those of you who want to live in a sewer.

Benzene is a volatile hydrocarbon, a product from the Petroleum Industry.

Trouble is, Benzene it is a known carcinogen and very toxic. Many blood cancers occur as a result of exposure to this chemical.

Continue reading "Dallas Benzene Leukemia Attorney" »

As a Southlake car accident and car wreck attorney I frequently provide updates to my readers.
If you are involved in a car accident, car wreck, hit and run, fender bender or any other terms you that may use for a car collision, you should be familiar with the Texas driving rules of the road.

As a Fort Worth Car Wreck attorney, I am involved with many of the similar types of car accident cases as I read about this weekend.

Dallas taxi broadsides SUV, leads to critical injuries of a stranded driver. Read full story here. A taxicab carrying seven passengers broadsided a Buick at a downtown Dallas intersection Saturday morning, sending the SUV crashing into a man as he filled his dead vehicle with gas.

Obviously the taxi cab driver did not keep a proper lookout and went through a busy intersection, causing the accident and causing significant brain trauma to a pedestrian.

In Texas, all drivers have to keep a “proper lookout”and observe the speed, traffic signals/signs and traffic conditions for that particular stretch of road. It is the law in Texas to wear a seat belt and so buckle up. That means that the driver has to pay continuous attention to the road as well as other drivers and failure to observe this could result in a Texas car accident because of negligence.

Every driver in Texas- whether you live in Southlake, or any other area- has a responsibility to be careful when driving. Remember a Texas driver license is a privilege and not an automatic right to use the road.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about a car accident, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

The personal injury sage continues. As a Fort Worth Personal Injury attorney I am writing this blog to hopefully provide insight to my readers, about the law works with its byzantine rules and regulations.

The Law and its practical applications are murky at best and we as lawyers have developed our own rituals and our own special language. Because if we spoke in plain English, then it would not be special anymore.

In my last missive I detailed the week before an actual trial that we were getting ready to do on our slip and fall case. The case got continued. Now we are using this opportunity to continue in our siege of the defendants castle. We continue to press our charge and are unrelenting in our skirmishes.

The defendants strategy in every personal injury case, irrespective of the claim, is to first deny the claim, then to deflect the claim ie somebody elses fault and then finally to delay the case going to trial. They hope with this strategy with wear out the plaintiff and make the cost of litigation prohibitively expensive to continue.

This standard strategy is designed to sap the will of the opponent, to make the risk reward ratio tilt in their favor. This tactic may have traction in some quarters especially in the claim is weak or ill founded, but to us it is like waving a red flag to a bull. We are only spurred on, and I have a natural dislike for bullies, and that is what the defense are; bullies by any other name are still bullies, with their repeated denials and rejections of liability and fault.

In this particular instance, we have been at it for over 3 years. The defense is a stubborn lot, mangy and dogged in their delay tactics. We shall prevail, Justice will triumph in the end and the dark forces crushed.

Ultimately the defendants insurance is going to rein them in especially when they have spent more in defending this case than they could have settled it for. They are consumed by over reaching hubris and a lack of common sense. They will ultimately lose this account.

As a Fort Worth Dog Attack and Dog Bite attorney, I read with interest this unusual dog bite wrongful death case. Usually human bites are more infective than dog bites.

The death of a Washington state man from a dog bite has prompted a lawsuit by the man's family against the dog's owner. Kenneth Bock developed an infection from a bacteria contracted through the dog's saliva and died of a blood clot 10 days after being bitten, the suit states. The family claims the incident was not the first time the dog had bitten someone and that its owner. Nicole Tsong, Seattle Times 09/09/2010
Read Article: Seattle Times

As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Lawyer I read with sadness the story excerpted below. Currently my law firm is actively handling 5 Wrongful Death cases, including 3 from medical malpractice, 1 from a pedestrian-car accident and 1 from a death at a gym. Any time there is a loss of life, it is tragic all concerned, especially if somebody else is to blame or be liable.

An Austin family has reached a $500,000 settlement with a group of fraternity members at California Polytechnic State University over the death of their son in 2008. The suit alleged Carson Starkey died of alcohol poisoning during a hazing-related incident with members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Staff Report, Austin American Statesman 09/12/2010
Read Article: Austin American Statesman

Here there is a senseless and tragic loss of a college student. I hope the fraternity learn their lesson and hopefully other fraternities will get the message.

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war."

And so it begins, twenty four hours from now, with a drop of the hammer and a cry of "Order, Court now in session," the battle banners would have unfurled with the sounds of trumpets.

As a Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney, I would like to offer the following insights. As I mentioned in my last posting from the battlefront, we were due in court tomorrow to argue our slip and fall case which just got canceled and set for a new date.

The foul air would have been filled with the clanging of steel, the clashing of shields, the stench of panic and fear permeating the air to be supplemented with whiffs of gunpowder. My friends, this was no ordinary skirmish, but the accumulation of 3 years hard labor. But it was not to be...

My friends that is what a court room feels and sounds like, all shrouded in the fog of war and at the end of the day, one victor and the vanquished. Carnage and havoc for both.
Trials are no easy things and the plaintiffs all want their day in court. It is hard to then explain to them when you get a worse deal at trial that in settlement talks a year earlier.

In this particular battle, the decision to go to war was easy, we had no offers to settle or offers through mediation. Here, if we had failed to press our charge and we lost, what did we lose? We came with nothing and left with nothing. Then the next time the defense would know we spared no quarter, we yielded no ground, and we fought to the last man. Each man died a hero, with sword in hand, a bloody battle indeed.

In this battle dear readers, there are no prisoners.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Who Will Fight For You 817-900-8439" »

Today I settled one of my trucking-car accident cases through mediation. Mediation for those of you who are not familiar with the process, is an alternative dispute resolution process that I frequently employ with good results. As a Dallas Wrongful Death Attorney, I use mediation as a settlement instrument in 80-90% of my personal injury cases.

Usually after the lawsuit is filed, initial discovery is shared and the first round of depositions have taken place, both sides of the dispute will have a good idea of the strength and weaknesses of their respective case. No one case is perfect on all counts.

That is when I usually approach the opposition and ask them to consider and participate in the mediation process. Today we had such a meeting, which was held at a neutral place, the office of the neutral attorney mediator. It is the job of the mediator to listen over a period of several hours to both sides of the conflict and urge both sides to come to a settlement.

Sometimes the mediation process fails and the case goes to trial, this usually happens when the parties are too far apart. That happened to me at the last mediation, 2 weeks ago on a dog bite case. We go to trial in October.

In the present mediation, my client had significant soft tissue injuries after she was rear ended by a 18 wheeler truck. She developed chronic pain and had to have significant medical therapy. The outcome could have been much worse, she could have died as a result of the accident. In this case both vehicles had become locked as a result of the accident and the truck driver did not realize that he was in an accident as he continued to drive. It came to his attention when another truck driver called him on the radio that he was pushing a car up the hill.

I am glad to report that the case settled for a confidential amount and the truck driver/company accepted liability.

Continue reading "Dallas Wrongful Death Attorney 817-900-8439" »

This weekend I am in a contemplative mood. I was thinking about one of the medical malpractice cases I am handling. As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice Attorney and licensed medical doctor, I receive up to 100 telephone calls and email inquiries per month. After talking and carefully screening all of these possible inquiries, I end up selecting only 4-5 cases per year to litigate and to take to the next level.

This case concerns a middle aged woman who comes into a major North Texas hospital for treatment of a fractured hip. She is appropriately evaluated and scheduled for hip replacement under spinal anesthesia.

Then tragedy strikes, there is an accident during the administration of the anesthesia. My client stops breathing and has full cardiac arrest while in the OR. These events were not immediately recognized or treated by the attending anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist who were responsible for the care of the patient.

After much delay, the patient was resuscitated, but she had developed severe irreversible anoxic brain damage from the lack of oxygen.

The client lingered on in a profound vegetative state for 3 months and then ultimately died.

You would guess that the doctors and nurses would do the right thing and accept liability in this tragic medical malpractice case. You guessed right...they deny liability and we have a fight on our hands.

I have a very good friend, Spencer Aronfeld, Aronfeld Law Firm in Miami Florida who also handles wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases. I told him about this case...he was shocked and dismayed. Then he regaled me with similar cases of his own.

Folks every day is a battle to get people justice in this world, please note we are doing it street by street, house by house and city by city. The work for justice never ends and Injustice never sleeps.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Medical Malpractice Attorney 817-900-8439" »

Folks I am a man of simple tastes. When I woke up this morning I sat down with a steaming cup of java and opened up my lap top. I looked out over the back yard, the temperature was cool for Texas (70 F) and the sky was a deep blue...

Is it great to have a contemplative 3 days with the Labor Day Weekend? A great weekend for shopping and getting out and about and then as a result, more slip and falls.

As Dallas Fort Worth Slip and Fall attorney, I review and screen many slip and fall and trip and fall accident/personal injury claims. That reminds me, we have a case currently against a large and well known grocery store. My client is a 75 year old sprightly woman in otherwise good health. She went to the store to do her shopping but did not get very far. She tripped up on the entrance on the floor mats which were not taped down as per the store's policy and procedures.

Instead the mats were allowed to get buckled and frayed and my client tripped up, falling, breaking her hip and shoulder.

You know the rest of the story...the store will not do right by her, she had to retain an attorney and we are in litigation. She had a long hospital stay and extensive rehab and is now finally back on her feet.

We will keep you posted, dear readers of the progress in this case. The defendants have stated that they want to settle and mediate this case...

Continue reading "Dallas Fort Worth Slip and Fall Attorney 817-900-8439" »

Folks I am a man of simple tastes. When I woke up this morning I sat down with a steaming cup of java and opened up my lap top. I looked out over the back yard, the temperature was cool for Texas and the sky was a deep blue...

Is it great to have a contemplative 3 days with the Labor Day Weekend. A great weekend for shopping and then as a result more slip and falls.

That reminds me, we have a case currently against a large and well known grocery store. My client is a 75 year old sprightly woman in otherwise good health. She went to the store to do her shopping burt did not get very far, she tripped on the enterance over the floor mats which were not taped down as per the store's policy and procedures.

Instead they were allowed to get buckled and frayed and my client tiripped up, falling, breaking her hip and shoulder.

You know the rest of the story...the store will not do right by her, she has to retain an attorney and we are in litigation. She has had a long hospital stay and extensive rehab and is now finally back on her feet.

We will keep you posted dear readers of the progress in this case. The denfendants have stated that they want to settle and mediate this case...

Continue reading "Dallas Fort Worth Slip and Fall Attorney 817-900-8439" »

There are thousands of car, truck and motor bike accidents through out the Dallas Fort Worth multiplex on an annual basis. Many people get severely injured, maimed for life or die as a result of the motor vehicle accident.

I got a call today from a potential client in San Antonio. She told me the sad story of the death of her son's father from a car accident. Apparently the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and been charged with vehicular manslaughter. The driver is in jail awaiting sentencing.

I do not know all the details but in this particular instance at least 3 people have been affected, the woman, the son and the father...

Continue reading "Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney" »

According to OSHA, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009.

"With every one of these fatalities, the lives of a worker's family members were shattered and forever changed. We can't forget that fact."
-Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor

Poorly Managed Construction Sites Are Dangerous.

Construction site injuries include:

* Falls
* Struck by falling object
* Struck by laterally moving object or equipment
* Impalement or penetrating injury
* Truck or other motor vehicle accident
* Electrocution
* Explosions
* Burns

Continue reading "Dallas Fort Worth Construction Sites Can Lead to Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries" »

I am proud of our work this week. We just settled another car accident injury claim. My client was minding his own business, one night in Dallas. Somebody plowed into him and rear ended him. The folks who hit him were drunk and tried to run. They were caught by an off duty apartment security guard.

Come to find out they were high as a kite and ready to fly.

Luckily for my client he had minor soft tissue injuries, but he had pre-existing neck problems including cervical neck fusion. Obviously we were concerned that he may have had neck injuries. But after medical evaluation he was cleared of major injuries.

We settled for insurance policy limits.

When you need to help after an injury or accident, you need to find the Dallas Fort Worth Texas personal injury lawyers.

We evaluate and accept cases all over Texas including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio car accidents, auto wrongful death cases, mesothelioma, burn injuries, Accutane side effect bowel disease, Paxil birth defects, brain injuries, 18 wheeler, semi truck, tractor trailer accidents, diesel truck or big rig accidents.

If you have been injured in an accident as a result of the negligence of others,
please call 817-900-8439, 888-210-9693 or Contact Me Online.

A Houston company failed to adequately mark the path of a buried 36-inch natural gas pipeline in Johnson County that was struck and exploded in June, killing one person, according to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Enterprise Products Operating Llc. violated several state regulations, the commission said in a report. Fines could be $10,000 per day per violation.

The explosion, which could be seen for miles, occurred June 7 when the carbon-steel pipeline was struck by an auger drilling a 48-inch-diameter hole to install high-wire electrical poles. The operator of the auger truck was killed. McClatchy Newspapers, Houston Chronicle 09/01/2010
Read Article: Houston Chronicle

Continue reading "Texas Cites Local Energy Company in Fatal Blast" »

A Virginia jury has awarded $1.95 million in a lawsuit over the death of a woman less than two days after she received plastic surgery.

Maritess Lopez was sent home an hour after her July 2008 surgery even though she was having respiratory problems, dizziness and fever, the lawsuit claims.

She died the next day of aspiration pneumonia. The suit accused Dr. Matthew Galumbeck and his staff of completely ignoring Lopez and her symptoms, which resulted in her death. Jen McCaffery, Virginian Pilot 08/27/2010
Read Article: Virginian Pilot

Continue reading "Jury Awards $1.95M in Post-Surgery Wrongful Death Death" »

Central DuPage Hospital in Illinois has agreed to a $5.3 million settlement with the husband of a woman who died of a stroke in 2006.

The suit claimed Dr. Mark Kelly and Dr. Henry Echiverri "failed to properly evaluate and treat" Samantha Medina in December 2006, which lead to her death.

Lawyers for the doctors said the doctors did nothing wrong, but that they settled to "avoid even the small risk of a runaway jury verdict." Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune 08/26/2010
Read Article: Chicago Tribune

Continue reading "Illinois Malpractice Suit Settled For $5.3 M" »

Victims of the deadly 2007 Minneapolis Interstate 35W bridge collapse reached the end of their legal fight after an engineering firm agreed to pay $52.4 million to settle scores of lawsuits.

The settlement by San Francisco-based URS Corp. resolves the last major piece of litigation brought by victims. All told, the state and two of its contractors will have paid out $100 million to the families of the 13 people who died and the 145 people who were injured when the Mississippi River bridge broke apart during rush hour.

BRIAN BAKST, AP, The Washington Post 08/24/2010
Read Article: The Washington Post

Continue reading "Firm to Pay $52.4M in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse" »

John Peter Smith Hospital (Ft Worth) officials will review the medical response to a man who collapsed and died in the hospital pharmacy after witnesses complained that help was slow to arrive and that emergency equipment did not appear to work properly.

Jeff Dickerson, who was picking up a prescription at the pharmacy, said it took medical workers nearly 10 minutes to get there. Once there, he said that two defibrillators the workers tried to use did not appear to work.

Alex Branch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 08/19/2010
Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Continue reading "Witnesses Raise Questions About Death at Fort Worth Hospital Pharmacy" »

A Brownsville, Texas, woman has reached a $3.2 million settlement in a lawsuit she filed over the death of her husband in an explosion in 2006.

Juan Perez was filling up a tanker truck at a RTW Properties L.P. terminal when the truck exploded, killing him. Perez's wife, Live Lara Gutierrez, RTW Properties was negligent in providing proper safety measures at the terminal which could have prevented her husband's death.

Ildefonso Ortiz, Brownsville Herald 08/19/2010
Read Article: Brownsville Herald

Continue reading "Settlement Reached In Fatal Texas Tanker Truck Explosion" »

A Chicago strip club has agreed to a $1 million settlement after a patron left the club and got into a car accident, killing two other people.

John Homatas was kicked out of Diamond's Gentlemen's Club for being too drunk in January 2006. According to the lawsuit, he and John Chiariello got into Homatas' car and left the club.

Homatas crashed into an SUV driven by April Simmons. Simmons, who was pregnant, and Chiariello were killed in the accident. Homatas is serving a 12-year sentence for DUI and reckless homicide. Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune 08/12/2010
Read Article: Chicago Tribune

Continue reading "Chicago Strip Club Reaches Settlement" »

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is an extremely rare disorder characterized by a severe skin reaction to medication

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a rare but serious and potentially life-threatening condition. SJS is defined as a hypersensitivity disorder affecting the skin and mucous membranes.

The most severe form of Stevens Johnson Syndrome is Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TENS).

It can be caused by adverse effects of drugs (allopurinol, diclofenac, etravirine, Isotretinoin, aka Accutane, fluconazole, valdecoxib, sitagliptin, oseltamivir, penicillins, barbiturates, sulfonamides, phenytoin, azithromycin, oxcarbazepine, zonisamide, modafinil, lamotrigine, nevirapine, pyrimethamine, ibuprofen, ethosuximide, carbamazepine, nystatin, and gout medications).

Medications that have traditionally been known to lead to SJS, erythema multiforme and toxic epidermal necrolysis include sulfonamides (antibiotics), penicillins (antibiotics), barbiturates (sedatives), lamotrigine and phenytoin (e.g. Dilantin) (anticonvulsants). Combining lamotrigine with sodium valproate increases the risk of SJS.

Read more here at Wikipedia

Continue reading "Texas Medical Update: Stevens Johnson Syndrome" »

The AP (8/4) reported, "A BP Texas City refinery that was the site of a massive 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers has a pattern of poor operation and maintenance practices, Texas environmental regulators reported after investigating a 46-day release of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals from the plant this spring.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality handed its findings over to the state's attorney general because BP's violations are 'egregious,' the company has a poor compliance history and the courts have the power to hand down greater monetary fines, said John Sadlier, deputy director of TCEQ's Office of Compliance and Enforcement."

Continue reading "Texas CEQ Report Accuses BP in Texas City Refinery Explosion." »

A Palm Beach County widow has been awarded over $2 million in a tobacco case over the death of her husband.

The jury on Thursday found R. J. Reynolds and Philip Morris had acted recklessly. The same jurors will now decide how much the companies should pay 60-year-old Liz Piendle in punitive damages. AP, Miami Herald 08/06/2010

Read Article: Miami Herald

Continue reading "Jury Awards Widow $2.2M in Tobacco Case" »

A woman in Florida has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motors over the death of her husband in a fiery car accident. Patrick Ambroise, a Florida Highway Patrol, died in his Ford Crown Victoria cruiser when the rear end burst into flames when it was rear-ended.

The suit claims that Ford poorly designed the vehicle and placed the gas tank in an unsafe position to where it may ignite of the car was hit from behind. The seeks unspecified damages. Staff Report, Miami Herald 08/06/2010

Read Article: Miami Herald

Continue reading "Widow Files Lawsuit Against Ford In Husband's Death" »

In a column in the Washington Post (8/6), Petula Dvorak writes, "Over their fences, at community picnics but mostly at funerals, the people of one Frederick neighborhood near Fort Detrick wondered whether it was just a horrible coincidence that so many of them had cancer."

They "immediately looked to their former next-door neighbor, Fort Detrick, where anthrax and Agent Orange were studied for decades and where about 400 acres known as Area B were used for storage and dumping."

Scientists "determined that vapors rising through the ground from the discarded chemicals had seeped into the" home of Randy White. White "is considering a class-action lawsuit against the Army."

Continue reading "Residents Suspect Cancer Cluster Near Fort Detrick, MD." »

Bayer drug companies have produced more than 10 million pages of documents to women suing over oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz.

U.S. District Judge David Herndon, is handling about 2,000 Yasmin and Yaz suits from around the nation, and he has posted an order on July 9, reminding plaintiffs of their obligation to provide name, social security number, basic facts of their claims, and authority to release medical records.

Bayer had moved a day earlier to dismiss claims of 11 plaintiffs in six suits, for lack of fact sheets.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Yaz Texas Update: Bayer’s Yaz Birth Control Lawsuits Now at 2,000" »

ACCUTANE STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME: In February 2010, Health Canada reported that it had received reports of severe skin reactions, including sometimes fatal reaction known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome from Accutane.

At least 66 reports of Accutane skin reactions were identified by Health Canada, including adults and children, with two of the cases resulting in death.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a severe skin reaction that occurs as a side effect of several medications.

When the skin lesions affect more than 30% of the body, the condition is referred to as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

Continue reading "ACCUTANE STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME" »

The number of Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella lawsuits that are part of a mass tort docket in New Jersey has increased significantly since the product liability cases were consolidated in February.

The number of Yaz lawsuits, Yasmin lawsuits and Ocella lawsuits centralized in Bergen County Superior Court has gone from 39 to about 400, according to court documents.

The New Jersey Yaz litigation was consolidated because of concerns about court filings, since New Jersey is the corporate headquarters in the United States for Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which manufacturers the birth control pills.

Continue reading "Yaz Lawsuits Moving Forward in New Jersey State Court" »

The death of a woman who was hit by a car on a crosswalk at the Salt Lake City International Airport has prompted a lawsuit from the woman's husband.

The lawsuit claims that airport officials were aware of the "dangerous traffic situation" at the crosswalk but had done nothing to make it safer.

The airport had been warned by an employee of the potential for accidents at the crosswalk, the lawsuit states. The suit also names the driver of the car, Evelini Kinikini, as a defendant. Sheena McFarland, The Salt Lake Tribune 07/28/2010

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Accident at Utah Airport" »

A sports bar in Austell, Ga., has agreed to pay $1 million to the widow of a man killed by a drunk driver who was allegedly over-served by the bar staff.

The lawsuit claims that in October 2008, The Sports Grill served alcohol to William Paul Davis IV when he was already drunk.

Davis then crashed his car into Cuneyt Erturk's vehicle, killing Erturk. The judge also sanctioned the bar after it was discovered that they destroyed video tapes and bar tabs that showed Davis drinking. Andria Simmons , Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/27/2010

Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Continue reading "Bar To Pay Damages In Fatal Drunk Driver Crash" »

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve more than 800 cases alleging its Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects in some users’ children, according to people familiar with the settlements.

The settlements, which provide an average payout of more than $1.2 million to families of affected children, leave more than 100 birth-defect cases pending, the people said. Officials of Glaxo, the U.K.’s biggest drugmaker, said July 15 they set aside $2.4 billion to resolve litigation over Paxil and its Avandia diabetes drug.

Read full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Glaxo Said to Have Paid $1 Billion Over Paxil Suits" »

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against a pharmaceutical company by a Watertown woman who linked her prescribed use of Paxil to the death of her infant son, according to court files.

Jennifer Berg of Watertown sued SmithKline Beecham, doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, in October 2007. The complaint said Nathan Berg died in 2004 because of a heart disorder caused by her use of the antidepressant Paxil while she was pregnant. WAYNE ORTMAN, AP , The Washington Post 07/20/2010

Read Article: The Washington Post

Continue reading "Court Files Indicate Settlement in Paxil Lawsuit" »

A lawsuit was filed against two northern railroad companies this week by the family of a Chicago woman who was hit by a train and killed.

Katie Ann Lunn died in the train accident earlier this year when an Amtrak train hit her SUV, which was stopped on the tracks in heavy traffic.

The lawsuit contends that the Illinois Central Railroad Co. and Wisconsin Central Ltd. failed "to ensure crossing-protection systems were functioning properly," among other things, which would have prevented the accident. The suit is seeking unspecified damages. Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune 07/14/2010
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Continue reading "Fatal Train Wreck In Illinois Prompts Lawsuit" »

In treating diabetes, it might not matter much whether the Food and Drug Administration halts sales of the drug Avandia.

An FDA committee of outside experts met last week to provide advice on whether any regulatory action — from stronger warnings to removal — is needed. The FDA has the final say on the committee's recommendations and could decide within weeks.

Doctors already have given their verdict. Avandia prescriptions have plummeted since a study in The New England Journal of Medicine in May 2007 raised concerns about whether the drug increased heart attack risk.

Rule the full story here.

Continue reading "Doctors Say It's Already Over For Diabetes Drug Avandia" »

The New York Times (7/16, B2, Jolly, Harris) reports that UK pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline announced on July 15 that "it would take a second-quarter charge of $2.36 billion related to legal cases involving its drugs Avandia [rosiglitazone] and Paxil [paroxetine]."

This announcement comes one "day after an American medical advisory panel recommended that Avandia, a controversial diabetes drug, should either be withdrawn from the market or be severely restricted in its sales because it increases the risks of heart attacks." According to GSK, "the charge announced Thursday, which will amount to about $2.1 billion after taxes, 'includes provisioning for settled cases and an estimate for those cases which we have received and are still outstanding.'"

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "GSK to Take Charge of $2.36B Related to Paxil, Avandia." »

An FDA panel has made a recommendation to the agency that the controversial diabetes drug Avandia should either be taken off the market or its sales should be severely restricted.

Avandia and its maker, GlaxoSmithKline, have recently come under fire for trial results that reveal that patients taking Avandia are at an increased risk for heart attacks.

A majority of the committee decided that if Glaxo wants to keep Avandia on the market, it must complete another clinical trial to prove it is safe.

FDA officials said they will consider the recommendations of the committee and make an official decision as soon as possible. Gardiner Harris, The New York Times 07/14/2010
Read Article: The New York Times

Continue reading "FDA: Avandia To Be Restricted" »

Sugar Land-based Imperial Sugar has reached a settlement with federal regulators seeking to fine the company for safety violations after a 2008 explosion at its Georgia refinery killed 14 workers near Savannah, GA.

The Feb. 7, 2008, explosion killed 14 workers and injured 36. Investigators determined that dangerous levels of sugar dust accumulated inside the plant and ignited like gunpowder. RUSS BYNUM , AP, Houston Chronicle 07/07/2010

Read Article: Houston Chronicle

Continue reading "Imperial Sugar, OSHA Settle Explosion Case" »

The 2005 BP plant disaster in Texas City has taken on new relevance, because the investigations that were done in its aftermath reveal so much about the company that is responsible for what's happening now in the Gulf. Government probes, court filings and BP's own confidential investigations paint a picture of a company that ignored repeated warnings about the plant's deteriorating condition and instead remained focused on minimizing costs and maximizing profits.

According to a safety audit BP conducted just before the 2005 blast, many of the plant's more than 2,000 employees arrived at work each day with an "exceptional degree of fear of catastrophic incidents." What BP has -- or hasn't done -- to improve conditions at the Texas City plant since the explosion is also laid out in the documents. Ryan Knutson, ProPublica's Lisa Schwartz, Nicholas Kusnetz and Sheelagh McNeill contributed to this report., ProPublica 07/06/2010

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Continue reading "Blast at BP Texas Refinery Foreshadowed Gulf Disaster " »

Natural gas utilities might have to dig up neighborhoods across Texas to replace hundreds of thousands of steel service lines to prevent explosions.

The Texas Railroad Commissioner will propose that utilities replace the lines, which bring natural gas from pipelines under neighborhood streets to homes.

Texas has at least 525,000 steel lines, maybe a million. Regulators targeted the service lines after several deadly home explosions. The problem is that the old service lines are made of rigid steel, which can shift and corrode. ELIZABETH SOUDER , The Dallas Morning News 07/06/2010

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Continue reading "Texas May Require Utilities to Replace Steel Gas Lines" »

Utility provider PG&E has agreed to pay $5 million to the mother of a 20-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident involving one of the company drivers.

Mary Bernstein and a friend were killed in the wreck in 2006 when John Mayfield, a diabetic, blacked out a the wheel after forgetting to test his blood sugar. Under the terms of the agreement, PG&E agreed to record the resolution as a judgment, rather than a confidential settlement.

Mary's mother Lisa has also said she will petition California legislators to pass regulations that require companies to more closely monitor their fleet drivers. Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News 07/06/2010
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Continue reading "PG&E Agrees to Settlement Over Fatal Car Accident" »

We were recently featured on Dallas CBS Channel 11 evening news.

Please click here to read the interview and watch the video link.

Our client suffered massive brain damage following the use of Yaz.

Continue reading "Dallas CBS 11: North Texas Yaz Yasmin Lawsuits" »

On the front page of its Business Day section, the New York Times (7/7, B1, Greenhouse) reports, "Wal-Mart Stores has spent a year and more than a million dollars in legal fees battling a $7,000 fine that federal safety officials assessed after shoppers trampled a Wal-Mart employee to death at a store on Long Island on the day after Thanksgiving in 2008."

The company's "all-out battle against the relatively minor penalty has mystified and even angered some federal officials," but Wal-Mart "says that regulators are trying to enforce a vague standard of protection when there was no previous OSHA or retail industry guidance on how to prevent what it views as an 'unforeseeable incident.'

Read the full story here at the New York Times.

Continue reading "Wal-Mart Fighting $7K OSHA Fine in Trampling Death." »

A Maryland jury awarded $2.025 million to the family of an inmate who was hit by a truck and killed while he was picking up trash on work detail in 2007.

According to the lawsuit, Rodney Jennings was crushed by a speeding dump truck that was exiting the highway he was working on.

The lawsuit also alleges that jail officials mistakenly believed that a vehicle had been in place to block the exit ramp from traffic, keeping the inmates safe. Ruben Castaneda, The Washington Post 06/25/2010

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Continue reading "Jury: State to Pay Damages for Death of Inmate" »

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/23, Levy) reports on a case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals in which Burlington Northern Santa Fe is appealing "a record $21.6 million" verdict awarded "to the families of four young people killed in a 2003 train-car accident in Anoka," MN.

BNSF attorney Sam Hanson said that Washington County Judge Ellen Maas' "failure 'to eliminate Minnesota state common law and replace it with federal regulations' when instructing the jury at the start of the trial 'entitled' BNSF to a new trial, based on federal preemption."

Read full story here.

Continue reading "BNSF Argues MN $21.6M Train Death Verdict Preempted By Federal Law." »

ABC World News (6/28, story 7, 2:20, Sawyer) reported, "Two major studies have found the medicine called Avandia [rosiglitazone] could create a significant new risk of heart attack and other serious problems."

The Washington Post (6/29, Stein) reports that one study, "involving more than 35,500 people, found that Avandia significantly raises the chances of a heart attack." A separate study "of more than 227,500 Medicare patients -- the largest such study to date -- found that the drug boosts the risk for strokes, heart failure, and death."

Los Angeles Times (6/29, Roan) reports that the first study "found Avandia raised the risk of heart attacks by 28% to 39% as compared with other diabetes medications. The study was published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine."

Bloomberg News (6/29, Cortez) quotes Steven Nissen, MD, lead author of the study, as saying, "I think we've got more than enough evidence to say this drug should not be used."

USA Today (6/29, Marcus) reports that in the second study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "scientists from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration evaluated data from 227,571 Medicare beneficiaries taking either Avandia or Actos [pioglitazone hydrochloride]." The investigators found "no differences in the risk for heart attack between the two drugs, but the study found that compared with Actos, Avandia was associated with a 25% increased risk of heart failure, a 27% increased risk of stroke and a 14% increased risk of death."

Lawmakers call for Avandia to be pulled from market. The Hill (6/28, Pecquet) "Healthwatch" blog reported that "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Monday called for the diabetes drug Avandia to be pulled from the market in the wake of two new medical studies." In a joint statement, Sen. Grassley said, "The serious issues delineated in these two new, independent reports put additional onus on advisory committee members when they meet in July."

Bloomberg News (6/29, Peterson, Cortez) reports that "Grassley and Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, in February released a report that said Glaxo knew Avandia may cause heart damage several years before" a "study documented the risk."

Continue reading "Update: 2 Studies Suggest Avandia Increases Risk of Heart Problems." »

A lawsuit has been filed against the University of Cincinnati police and the University Hospital in the Taser death of a psychiatric patient.

Kelly Brinson was tased by police officers while under restraints at the hospital, the lawsuit claims, sending him into cardiac arrest and killing him three days later.

Brinson suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, delusions and other mental disorders. The lawsuit accuses police of using extreme force and hospital officials of negligence in caring for Brinson. Eileen Kelle, The Cincinnati Enquirer 06/28/2010

Read Article: The Cincinnati Enquirer

Continue reading "Ohio Man Killed By Police Taser, Lawsuit Filed" »

The diabetes drug Avandia, once the world's top-selling diabetes medication, took two more hits with one new study linking it to an increased risk of heart attacks and a separate study linking it to an increased risk of heart failure and stroke.

The research comes only weeks before an upcoming federal hearing to reconsider its fate. Shari Roan, LA Times 06/29/2010

The drug, known by its generic name, rosiglitazone, was approved in 1999 to help people with Type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar. At the time, it was considered a safer alternative than existing diabetes drugs used instead of insulin. Soon after approval, the drug was linked to an increased risk of heart failure and bone fractures; worries about the drug's safety increased in 2007 when a meta-analysis — a pooling of previous studies — concluded that the drug increased the risk of heart attack.

Read Article: LA Times

Continue reading "Bad News Continues for Avandia Diabetes Drug" »

A jury has ruled that Enterprise Rent-A-Car must pay $15 million to the family of two girls who died in a fiery car crash in 2004 in one of the company's rental cars.

Raechel and Jacqueline Houck were riding in a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser when the car crashed, killing the girls, the lawsuit stated.

The month before the crash, Chrysler had issued a recall of PT Cruisers for a defect that could cause the car to catch on fire, but the company had not returned its PT Cruisers for repairs.

Enterprise admitted in May through a signed statement that "their negligence was the sole proximate cause of the fatal injuries." Jondi Gumz, San Jose Mercury News 06/21/2010

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Continue reading "Enterprise Car Rental Liable for Fatal Crash in Recalled Vehicle" »

An $835,000 settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against the city of Louisville over an accident with a police cruiser that killed a local man in 2006.

Donnie Puente was standing next to his car in the emergency lane on a Kentucky highway when a police car driven by Officer Kenten Measle swerved into the lane, striking and killing Puente.

Measle was suspended for 30 days, but the death was ruled accidental. Jason Riley, Louisville Courier Journal 06/14/2010

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Continue reading "Louisville City Settles Suit Over Fatal Police Collision" »

The National Law Journal (6/11, Bronstad) reports, "Dozens of sudden-acceleration lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in California's state courts will be coordinated in Los Angeles.

California Chief Justice Ronald George issued an order to that effect on Tuesday, following a hearing on May 21 when Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Carl West coordinated at least 21 lawsuits into a single proceeding."

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Sudden-Acceleration Suits to be Coordinated in Los Angeles." »

The AP (6/11) reports, "Texas jury has awarded $82.5 million in damages to the family of a man who died in a 2007 explosion at a natural gas processing plant in Hood County.

Houston-based Hanover Compressions L.P., which has since been renamed Exterran Energy Solutions L.P., constructed, engineered and installed the natural gas processing plant.

The jury found the company grossly negligent in the death of 27-year-old Joshua Wade Petrie, an employee of Fort Worth, Texas-based Quicksilver."

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Exterran Energy to Pay $82.5M for Texas Worker's Death in Gas Explosion." »

The Wall Street Journal (6/11, B4, Whalen, Mundy) reports that David Graham, an FDA drug-safety official argues in a new study that the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) may have led to thousands of heart problems that could have been prevented if patients had been using a different medication.

The agency is already scheduled next month to evaluate the Avandia's safety. Graham, along with other experts, has said that drug should be removed from the market.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Study by FDA Links Avandia to Increased Heart Risks." »

An Alabama woman has filed a lawsuit against the city of Huntsville, Ala., and three police officers that were involved in a police chase in May 2008, which resulted in the death of her husband.

Darren Spurlock was killed in a car accident when he was hit by a woman who was fleeing from the police.

The suit alleges that police officers violated their duties and acted negligently by engaging in the high-speed chase. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Brian Lawson, Huntsville Times 06/07/2010
Read Article: Huntsville Times

Continue reading "Wife Files Suit Over Husband's Death in Ala Police Chase" »

A subcontractor trying to install an electrical pole hit a 36-inch natural gas transmission line south of Pecan Plantation today, leading to a huge gas explosion that burned for more than two hours.

Two or three people, most likely workers at the scene of the blast, were missing, officials said, presumably dead..

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/06/07/2245581/explosion-in-johnson-county-startles.html#my-headlines-default#ixzz0qDv1v6Eb

Continue reading "Massive Pipeline Gas Explosion Hits Johnson County Texas" »

The widow of long-time actor David Carradine has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against film production company MS2 S.A., claiming they did not provide Carradine with "sufficient assistance" while he was shooting a movie for them.

Carradine died last June and his death, which was initially thought to have been a suicide, has been ruled not to have been. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages from the production company for allegedly violating their contract with Carradine. Staff Report, United Press International 06/04/2010

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Continue reading "Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over Actor Carradine's Death" »

A Myrtle Beach hospital has been ordered to pay $2.88 million to the husband of a woman who died from a seizure after being treated by a hospital doctor in 2002.

The South Carolina jury determined that Grand Strand Regional Medical Center and Dr. Stephen Law were negligent in the care of Kelly Fay, who went to the hospital in January 2002 complaining of stomach pain and was diagnosed with kidney stones.

According to the lawsuit, Fay was sent home after a few hours with some pain medication. While at home, she had a seizure and went into septic shock, dying two days after leaving the hospital, the suit claims.
Adva Saldinger and Dawn Bryant, The Myrtle Beach Sun News 05/28/2010

Read Article: The Myrtle Beach Sun News

Continue reading "SC Jury Finds Hospital Negligent in Death of Patient " »

Lawsuits in California state court against Toyota Motor Corp. related to sudden acceleration of its vehicles should be coordinated so they can be handled more efficiently, a judge said.

Judge West said he will recommend to the California Supreme Court’s chief justice that the cases be coordinated in either Los Angeles or Orange County. He also said he would recommend that the personal injury cases either proceed as a separate group before the same judge or in one group on separate tracks with the class-action lawsuits alleging economic loss.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, faces at least 228 federal and 99 state lawsuits including proposed class actions over economic loss and claims of personal injuries or deaths allegedly caused by sudden-acceleration incidents. The federal lawsuits were combined April 9, before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Lawsuits in California Might Be Coordinated " »

A Miami-Dade jury has awarded a Sarasota man more than $14 million after deciding that the asbestos he inhaled in the 1970s caused his deadly abdominal cancer.

Jurors found that chemical giant Union Carbide was negligent for selling asbestos fibers to other companies, which had used the fibers to make joint compounds used by construction companies -- such as the one William Aubin's family owned.

Jurors also found that four of the compound manufacturers, including Georgia-Pacific, share some of the responsibility for causing Aubin's illness.

Read the full Miami Herald (5/21, Morales) report here.

Continue reading "Florida man Awarded $14 M in Asbestos Case " »

A lawsuit has been filed against CVS and a Chicago store employee who allegedly strangled a man to death for shoplifting crayons and toothpaste.

Michael Johnson said in his lawsuit that an unnamed employee chased his son, Anthony Kyser, from the store and put him in a choke hold that resulted in death.

County medical examiners ruled the death a homicide, but police determined the death to be an accident. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Staff Report, Chicago Tribune 05/12/2010

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Continue reading "Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over Strangling Death of Shoplifter" »

The city has offered a record-setting $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was killed with a Taser during a confrontation with police last year.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the settlement according to an agenda posted online.

It's the biggest lawsuit settlement offer Fort Worth has ever had in a case involving death or injury, Assistant City Attorney Gerald Pruitt said.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/15/2190966/fort-worth-offers-2-million-to.html#ixzz0o74VMXhm

Continue reading "Fort Worth Offers $2 M to Settle Lawsuit over Taser Death " »

The Harris County Commissioner's Court approved a $167,500 settlement in a lawsuit over a woman who died while in a county jail in 2008.

The lawsuit alleged that Margarita Saavedra had begged for medical treatment from the jail staff for a staph infection in the days before she died.

She was being held in the county jail awaiting trial on drug charges when she died. Chris Moran, Houston Chronicle 05/11/2010

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Continue reading "Harris County Settles Lawsuit Over Woman's Jail Death" »

Popular birth control pills taken by millions of women might be causing serious side effects, that in some cases have led to death. That's the claim of a growing number of lawsuits.

Yaz and its sister drug Yasmin are big sellers marketed to women under 35. Hormones in all birth control pills can cause blood to thicken, but there are more than 1,000 lawsuits saying Yaz and Yasmin cause more blood clots than others.

Read the full story here

Scott Wilson, a 23-year-old civil engineer, was killed while driving to his mother's house in Wellington when his Hyundai Sonata was struck by a black Bentley driven by wealthy polo club owner John Goodman.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is still investigating whether Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, should face any criminal charges. Scott Wilson's father and his mother, Lili Wilson, filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Goodman.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Family to File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Fatal Palm Beach Car Crash" »

Bayer recently released its Annual Report for 2009. The report is 274 pages long. Here are the highlights:

* By Bayer's count, as of February 15, 2010, about 1,100 lawsuits were filed against it by women injured by Yaz or Yasmin.

* Yaz and Yasmin are Bayer’s best-selling pharmaceutical products for at least the second year in a row.

Continue reading "1,100 Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits Filed and New Versions of Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control " »

Accutane® (isotretinoin or roaccutane) is considered by many dermatologists to be the strongest, most effective weapon against persistent, severe acne.

It is a derivative of Vitamin A, and the drug works by reducing the skin's production of oil.

A current Black Box warning on Accutane cautions consumers about its potential to harm unborn children. Additional serious side effects associated with Accutane use include depression, colitis, and liver disease. Roche Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Accutane, has been named in thousands of lawsuits filed by patients who experienced severe side effects or whose loved ones experienced adverse reactions following Accutane use.

Continue reading "Dallas Accutane Lawsuits Update" »

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the second-biggest U.S. cigarette maker, must pay $46.3 million to the widow of a Florida man who died from lung cancer in 1995, according to a Florida jury.

Six state-court jurors in Gainesville voted unanimously in favor of the widow of Frank Townsend, who started smoking at age 13 or 14, according to Greg Prysock, who represented Lyantie Townsend in the case.

The verdict is the latest in favor of a smoker or family member in the state following a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision in the “Engle” case, which allowed individual smoker lawsuits after the court decertified a statewide class-action case.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "R.J. Reynolds Loses $46.3 Million Smoker's Verdict" »

The family of a firefighter trainee killed during a training exercise has sued the city of Baltimore for her suffering and death.

The mother and two children of Racheal Wilson, 29, who had been with the fire department three months, allege in their $35 million lawsuit that the exercise was conducted in violation of dozens of federal requirements.

In February 2007, Wilson was sent with other cadets into a burning rowhouse in which instructors had set seven fires, although national guidelines allow only one. The cadets weren't properly prepared, nor was an evacuation plan drawn up, the lawsuit alleges. Wilson was given inadequate breathing equipment and clothing that didn't protect her from the extreme heat, the suit maintains, with allegations based on an independent investigation of incident.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Fire Trainee's Family Sues For Her Wrongful Death" »

Three women from Texas have filed Nuvaring blood clot lawsuits against Organon and Merck & Co., the drug makers, alleging that the popular birth control ring caused them to suffer from a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism and other injuries.

The Nuvaring lawsuits were filed on March 26 in the Marshall division of the Eastern District of Texas by Stephanie Huckabee, Amber Dawn Morgan and Christina Renee Pritchard. The women allege that the manufacturers failed to warn consumers about the risk of blood clots from side effects of NuvaRing.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Texas NuvaRing Blood Clot Lawsuits Filed Over DVT and Pulmonary Embolism" »

A Mississippi jury has awarded $15 million to a 71 year-old oil industry worker who developed asbestosis after years of handling bags of product containing 99 percent asbestos.

Plaintiff Troy Lofton, who testified at trial with tubes in his nose and ears and holding an oxygen bottle that assists his breathing 24 hours a day, alleged that ConocoPhillips manufactured a dangerous product while knowing of its dangers.

The case is only the third to go to trial of over 700 pending cases involving oilfield workers who developed lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma after handling products made by ConocoPhillips or its subsidiaries.

Among the evidence at trial was a handwritten document indicating that the company had weighed the cost of personal injury lawsuits against the profits of continuing to sell asbestos.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $15M Asbestos Verdict : Dallas Texas Mesothelioma Attorney" »

Bayer releases two studies it commissioned as proof that the drugs are safe, but other studies have found that contraceptives like Yaz and Yasmin increase the risk of blood clots more than other types of birth control pills.

Yasmin, first marketed in 2001, and Yaz, introduced in 2006, are made with a synthetic progestin called drospirenone. Two 2009 studies published in The British Medical Journal have called drospirenone's safety into question.

One study, which looked at blood clot risks in healthy Danish women ages 15 to 49, found that of 4,213 cases of various kinds of blood clots reported between 1995 and 2005, more than 2,000 occurred in women who used oral contraceptives. Contraceptive pills made with the synthetic progestins desogestrel, gestodone and drospirenone all had a higher risk of blood clots compared to those made with an older form of progestin called levonorgestrel.

Continue reading "Bayer Insists That Yaz and Yasmin Are Safe: Dallas Yaz Lawyer" »

Don't ignore flashing lights, bells and other warnings when approaching railroad crossings.

And in Burleson, officials were working to get that message across.

After three fatalities at railroad crossings in about a year, the Burleson Police Department, along with the Union Pacific Railroad, conducted an enforcement operation at the Alsbury Boulevard and Renfro Street crossings in Burleson. Nine drivers were cited for ignoring the warning signals, receiving a ticket that carries a $176 fine.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/15/2118783/burleson-cracks-down-on-illegal.html#ixzz0lKdK2ch5

Continue reading "Burleson Texas Cracks Down on Illegal Train Crossings After Wrongful Deaths " »

A Denton County grand jury returned a murder indictment against a chronic drunken driver on charges that he drove drunk again on Easter and caused a wreck, killing two members of an Argyle family and seriously injuring three others.

John Patrick Barton, 30, is accused of causing the wreck on Interstate 35E in Lewisville that killed Kandace Hull, 33, and her 13-year-old daughter, Autumn Caudle.

Critically injured were Hull's husband, Anthony Hull, and their two other children, ages 12 and 16.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/15/2118917/suspected-dwi-crash-on-easter.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0lKRIIzys

Continue reading "Suspected DWI Crash Results in Murder Indictment in Denton County Texas " »

Students at Crowley High School mourned the loss of sophomore Germain Harris II, who died in a car wreck.

Harris, 16, died after his car struck a sign pole in front of an Arby's restaurant in the 3800 block of Altamesa Boulevard in southwest Fort Worth. The wreck happened at about 10:20 p.m.

The 1992 Lexus coupe was traveling at a "high rate of speed," said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a Fort Worth police spokesman.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/16/2121090/crowley-high-school-mourns-death.html#ixzz0lKGU8DSm

Continue reading "Crowley Texas High School Mourns Death of Student in Car Crash " »

Two years ago, 4-year-old Colin Holst drowned in a Life Time Fitness swimming pool surrounded by adults and lifeguards.

After being hit with a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit by Colin's parents, Life Time is suing Colin's mother and two of her friends, accusing them of trespassing, fraud and breach of contract. The company claims that Jana Holst, Jennie Stafford and Deborah Stack did not follow the gym's guest policy and that the women should pay damages, court costs and all other expenses related to the lawsuits surrounding Colin's death.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Life Time Fitness Company Sues Mother of Drowned Boy" »

Many lawsuits have been filed against the pharmaceutical companies associated with the birth control product NUVARING® in the United States.

NUVARING® is a birth control product that releases two synthetic hormones, etonogestrel (a progestin) and ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen), into the woman’s body.

The lawsuit complaints allege that the parties named as defendants, which includes Organon USA, Inc., Organon Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Organon International, Inc., Akzo Nobel NV, Organon Biosciences, N.V., and Schering-Plough Corporation, not only knew about the potential side effects associated with NUVARING®, but concealed those risks from the public, including the FDA during the approval process.

Continue reading "NUVARING® Manufacturers and Distributors Sued for Wrongful Death " »

The widow of a Cintas Corp. worker who died after falling into an industrial dryer in Tulsa has settled her wrongful death lawsuit against the nation's largest uniform supplier, according to federal court records.

The settlement with the Cincinnati-based company came four days before a federal trial was to begin in Tulsa, details of the settlement were confidential.

Read full AP story here.

Continue reading "Settlement Reached in Cintas Wrongful Death Case" »

A St Louis police officer and the bar that served her alcohol have agreed to pay a total of $2.255 million — the limit of their insurance policies — to compensate the families of four young people killed and one man injured in a traffic crash in Des Peres last year.

A wrongful-death lawsuit, brought by the survivor and the dead victims' families, claimed that Officer Christine L. Miller, who was off duty, drank "a high quantity" of alcohol that night at O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar, and then drove her car into oncoming traffic.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Officer, Bar, Pay $2.255 M to Settle Suit in Crash That Killed 4" »

An Illinois maker of asbestos-laden shipboard parts was hit with a $2.99 million verdict brought by the spouse of a former Navy sailor who died a year ago of asbestos-related cancer.

After a 12-day trial in Newport News Circuit Court, a seven-member jury sided with the wife of Robert Hardick, a former Navy petty officer who was exposed to asbestos on Navy ships between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $3M Damages in Mesothelioma Lawsuit" »

When the oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz came on the market in 2001 and 2006, respectively, they were thought to be safer than other birth control pills because they contained a different kind of synthetic progestin.

But in the lawsuits against the pills' maker, Bayer HealthCare, plaintiff attorneys claim that the progestin contained in the pills, drospirenone, is the cause of health problems, including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the deep veins), strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease.

Read the full story here at the LA Times.

Continue reading "Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella Concerns Bring Lawsuits But Few Answers" »

Federal regulators are requiring Bayer Healthcare to revise its marketing materials for Yaz and Yasmin to reflect new safety information that was recently added to the drugs’ labels. In a letter to Bayer dated April 7, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said revisions must include “prominent disclosure of the important new safety information.”

Bayer announced that it was updating the “Warning” sections of the Yaz and Yasmin labels to include additional information about the risk of blood clots associated with the birth control pills. The new information is based on two large, multiyear studies of more than 120,000 women taking contraceptives in the U.S. and the U.K., Bayer said.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Bayer Told to Revise Yaz, Yasmin Marketing Materials" »

Toyota Motor Corp has suspended sales of a new Lexus SUV in the U.S. market to investigate the risk for rollover accidents in the latest blow to the reputation of the world's largest automaker.

Toyota took the unusual action of stopping sales of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 after Consumer Reports urged shoppers not to buy the sport utility vehicle, calling it a "safety risk" because of a potential handling problem in certain turns.

Read full Reuters story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Halts Lexus SUV Sales After Safety Warning" »

NuvaRing, a contraceptive device marketed by Organon Pharmaceuticals and Merck & Co., has been named in some 300 product liability lawsuits. The lawsuits claim that NuvaRing caused plaintiffs to suffer serious, life-threatening blood clots.

NuvaRing is a transparent, flexible vaginal ring that provides month-long birth control by emitting a continuous dose of estrogen and progestin for 21 days. The device releases a combination of ethinyl estradiol, a form of the hormone estrogen, and etonogestral. Nuvaring is marketed as providing the same efficacy as birth control pills but more convenient by offering month-long protection.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "NuvaRing Named in 300 Product Liability Lawsuits" »

The parents of a 7-year-old girl killed by a falling concrete slab last year allege in a lawsuit that the slab was part of a sanitary sewer structure built by the city and later abandoned.

Ryan and Amanda Crow are seeking damages against the city for the death of their daughter, Macie Crow, and injuries to their son, 9-year-old Jordan Crow. The children were playing in a deteriorated concrete structure in a ravine near their home when part of the structure collapsed.

City officials said at the time that they did not know what the structure had been but speculated that it was part of a long-abandoned industrial site. The lawsuit says it was part of a sanitary sewer built by the city in 1978.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Death of 7-Year-Old" »

A record $5.2 million cash settlement for malpractice and mandated changes in procedure at Albany Medical Center Hospital have not brought closure to family members who watched Diane Rizk McCabe, 32, of Rotterdam, bleed to death over the course of 15 hours following a mishandled Caesarean section delivery of her second child on Sept. 3, 2007.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=918008&TextPage=1#ixzz0kH0JlFZ3

Continue reading "Settlement Approved in NY Malpractice Lawsuit" »

The mother of a 17-year-old girl killed in a hit-and-run accident in Escondido, California is suing the woman accused of the teenager’s death for $25 million.

The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed in Vista Superior Court, alleges that Tiffany St. Ives, 54, may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she struck Marlene Resendiz with her car while the girl was crossing a street on Nov. 24, 2007.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash" »

The families of two north Mississippi girls killed in a 2008 accident have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the maker of an all-terrain vehicle.

Melissa and Richard Lee Bates and Aundria and Thomas Dilworth filed the suit in Gwinnett County, Ga., against Yamaha Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corp. of America.

The lawsuit claims multiple design and engineering flaws contributed to the deaths of the two 11-year-old girls.

Emily Bates and Lauren Dilworth were riding a Yamaha Rhino ATV when it flipped as it went off the pavement in a subdivision near Olive Branch.

The lawsuit does not seek a specific dollar amount.

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2010/04/01/2070467/miss-families-sue-over-deaths.html#ixzz0kBe0ezix

For 14 years until just last month, GlaxoSmithKline sold a denture cream called Super Poligrip that contained high levels of zinc.

The zinc helped with adhesion and was probably safe so long as people used moderate amounts of cream. Indeed, the human body needs small amounts of zinc to function. But some people ended up using much larger amounts, and they began to develop the kind of nerve damage associated with excess zinc.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Poligrip and Fixodent Litigation Update" »

Michael Jackson's doctor is "hanging on by a thread" and must be allowed to continue practicing medicine in order to pay for his defense on a manslaughter charge in the pop star's death, the physician's lawyers said in court papers.

Responding to a bid by the California attorney general to suspend Dr. Conrad Murray's medical license pending trial, attorneys Ed Chernoff and Joseph Low said that the effect would be devastating to the doctor who already faces a slew of financial problems.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Michael Jackson Doctor Fights to Keep Medical License" »

A Suffolk County jury found a Randolph doctor was negligent in the death of a college basketball player and awarded more than $2 million to the parents of Antwoine Key, who died in 2005 during a game in Worcester.

Dr. Dorina R. Abdulah had examined Key, a 22 year-old student in 2001 in order to decide whether he was medically eligible to play college sports.

After his death, an autopsy found Key had died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that often affects athletes.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Jury Finds Doctor Negligent in Death of Basketball Player" »

More than 100 deaths have now been blamed on sudden acceleration of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, nearly twice the number that had been reported two months ago, according to a Times review of public records.

With a recent surge of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration factored in, sudden acceleration has been raised as a possible cause of crashes involving Toyota vehicles that led to 102 deaths, according to NHTSA records, lawsuits and police reports.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Blamed For More Wrongful Deaths And Car Crashes" »

Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, was accused in a lawsuit of ignoring health risks of the contraceptive Yaz and advertising the drug as safe to boost sales.

The Yasmin family of birth-control pills, known as Yaz and Yasmin, carries a four times increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism compared with other contraceptives, according to the suit, filed in St. Catharines, Ontario, by two women. They seek class-action, or group, status to represent all women who used the drugs.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Bayer Accused in Canadian Lawsuit of Hiding Yaz Risks " »

FORT WORTH - Tarrant County and the County Hospital District has settled a lawsuit with the mother of a man who died while in the county jail for $30,000, according to county officials.

Tarrant County Commissioners voted 4-0 to pay $15,000 to Brenda Smith, the mother of Santana Smith, a 34-year-old Fort Worth construction worker who died on October 26, 2007 while an inmate in the Tarrant County Jail.

The hospital district, also known as JPS Health Network, also agreed to pay $15,000 to settle the case.

Read the full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Continue reading "Tarrant County Settles Lawsuit Over Inmate's Wrongful Death" »

Another lawsuit has been filed against Bayer by a California woman who suffered gallbladder disease after using Yasmin, alleging that the drug maker knew the birth control pill carried unacceptable health risk but released it any way.

The Yasmin gallbladder lawsuit was filed in San Mateo County Superior Court by Louise Thanos.

The case is one of about 1,100 Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits filed on behalf of individual women who allege that they suffered injuries as a side effect of the birth control pills. In addition to lawsuits for gallbladder problems, cases have been filed by women who allege the pills caused them to suffer blood-clot related injuries, such as a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis.

Continue reading "Yasmin Gallbladder Disease Lawsuit Filed Against Bayer" »

A Seattle couple have sued Toyota in federal court, demanding that the company either take back the vehicle they just bought or reimburse them for its loss in value since the automaker's sudden-acceleration troubles became news.

The lawsuit alleges that the issues plaguing Toyota violate the state's Consumer Protection Act and amount to a breach of contract. The lawsuit is a proposed class action and, if certified by a federal judge, could apply to other Toyota owners in Washington with similar issues.

It claims more than 100 class members exist in Washington and that the damages in question will exceed $5 million.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Seattle Couple Sue Toyota Over Vehicle's Lost Value" »

The Texas Supreme Court threw out a $15.8 million verdict, ruling unanimously that lawyers improperly introduced evidence that a gravel truck driver involved in a 2002 accident that killed four members of a Wise County family was an illegal immigrant.

By repeatedly mentioning the truck driver's immigration status, lawyers for the Hughes family clearly sought to inflame jurors' passions against the driver and his employer, TXI Transportation Co., the court ruled.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Texas Supreme Court Tosses $15.8 M Verdict in Case Involving Illegal Immigrant" »

The family of a bicyclist killed last year in a collision with a truck in Baltimore has filed a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the driver and his employer.

On Aug. 4, John R. "Jack" Yates, 67, was riding his bike behind a truck when he became caught in the vehicle's rear wheels and was run over as it turned right, police said at the time. Yates died at the scene.

The civil suit, filed in Baltimore Circuit Court on behalf of Yates' wife, son and daughter, alleges negligence by driver Michael Dale Chandler of Severn and his employer, Potts & Callahan Inc., a demolition, excavation and equipment rental company, and seeks compensatory damages.

Read full story here at the Baltimore Sun.

Continue reading "Family of Cyclist Killed in Accident Files $5 M Lawsuit" »

On October 7, 2006, Steven Butler, by his own admission, was drunk and disorderly. He refused an order from a police officer in his hometown to get off a city bus. The officer used his Taser ECD (officially, an "Electronic Control Device") three times.

According to doctors, Butler suffered immediate cardiac arrest. He was revived by emergency medical technicians who happened to be close by, but his attorneys say his brain was deprived of oxygen for as long as 18 minutes. He is now permanently disabled.

Read the full CNN story here.

Continue reading "Tasers Under Investigation After Claims of Death and Injury" »

The family of the man whose Aug. 28 death spurred the first recall of Toyota vehicles for unintended acceleration has filed a products liability and negligence lawsuit against the Japanese automaker.

Mark Saylor, 45, a California Highway Patrol Officer, was killed along with his family after the 2009 Lexus he was driving suddenly accelerated out of control while on Interstate 125 near San Diego.

Read full story here at Law.com

Continue reading "Law Suit Filed in Crash That Prompted First Toyota Recall" »

Family members of a Fort Worth woman killed in a December wreck involving an allegedly intoxicated off-duty Fort Worth police officer filed suit today against the Fort Worth bar at which the officer had been drinking.

At a news conference in Dallas today, the family's attorney said the family of Sonia Baker decided to sue The Pour House not as a quest for money, but to hold such establishments accountable for over-serving patrons and “placing profits ahead of safety.”

The lawsuit is filed under the state’s Dram Shop Act, which allows those who sell alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person to be held liable for resulting damages.

Read the full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Continue reading "Family of Fort Worth Woman Killed in Crash Sues Bar That Served Officer" »

In an annual 2009 report released by Bayer, the number of contraceptive lawsuits over Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella has risen to about 1,100 filed cases, and that number will continue to increase as thousands of women are considering claims for serious injuries that have been caused by side effects of the birth control pills.

Included among the claims are five Yasmin and Yaz class action lawsuits; three filed in the United States and two filed in Canada, according to Bayer’s 2009 annual report released late last month.

Read the full Bayer 2009 Report here

Continue reading " Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella 1,100 Birth Control Lawsuits Filed" »

A Fairfax County jury has awarded nearly $3 million to the family of a man who died after his esophagus tore while he was swallowing a piece of steak, finding an Alexandria radiologist liable for misdiagnosing the man's condition as a hiatal hernia.

Large civil jury verdicts are rare in Fairfax, and Virginia's cap on medical malpractice judgments required the jury's award of $2,933,500 to be cut by more than half, to about $1.25 million.

Read full story at the Washington Post.

Continue reading "Fairfax VA Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Case, Family Awarded $1.25 M" »

For what appears to be the first time, a former resident of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has been permitted to move ahead with a claim against the Marine Corps for years of water contamination that she says led to the development of her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The U.S. Department of the Navy, which includes the Marines, this week lost its bid to dismiss the case of Laura J. Jones of Iowa, who lived at Camp Lejeune from 1980 to 1983 as the spouse of a Marine officer.

In 2005, more than two decades after she left North Carolina, Jones was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Continue reading "Judge: Lejeune Resident Can Move Ahead With Injury Claim" »

Monty and Linda Hardy had taken their 2008 Toyota Avalon to a Grapevine dealership "several times" with complaints about uncommanded acceleration but were told there was nothing wrong, their attorney says.

On the day after Christmas, Monty Hardy was driving the Toyota in Southlake when it sped through a T-intersection, barreled through a steel fence, struck a tree and landed upside down in an icy pond. He and all three passengers in the car were killed.

Read full story here at Dallas Morning News

Continue reading "Toyota Owners Took Concerns to Dealership Before Fatal Southlake Crash" »

GlaxoSmithKline Plc rejected allegations that it concealed safety information about its diabetes drug Avandia or acted inappropriately in marketing it, saying a U.S. Senate staff report was inaccurate and incomplete.

The company diligently studied the drug’s safety and effectiveness, and communicated its findings to governments, regulators, scientists and doctors, London-based Glaxo said in a statement.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Glaxo Backs Avandia’s Safety Says That US Report Biased " »

The pressure on Toyota Motor Corp. intensified as the company disclosed subpoenas from a federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission related to sudden acceleration in its cars, while the leaders of a congressional panel accused Toyota of misleading the public about safety problems.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in an 11-page letter, previewed issues its members likely will raise at a hearing Tuesday. The letter criticized Toyota for resisting the possibility that electronic defects could be responsible for the reports of unintended acceleration.

Read full story here at the WSJ.

Continue reading "Federal Subpoenas Hit Toyota on the Eve of Hearing " »

The Food and Drug Administration, under fire from a new Senate report questioning the safety of GlaxoSmithKline PLC's diabetes drug Avandia, told doctors that patients taking the medicine should stay on it unless their doctors say otherwise.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), the chairwoman of the House appropriations panel that controls the FDA's budget, said: "I strongly urge the FDA to remove Avandia from the market until a truly independent, science-based advisory panel can evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the drug."

Read full article here at the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading "FDA Faces More Pressure to Pull Avandia Diabetes Drug" »

A pedestrian wearing a hooded jacket has been killed by a commuter train in Dallas.

The woman walked into a Trinity Railway Express train, which links Dallas and Fort Worth and carries about 10,000 passengers daily, during afternoon rush hour Monday.

Read full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Continue reading "Texas Woman Dies After Walking Into Train in Dallas" »

Three years ago, Dr.Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, conducted a landmark study that suggested that the best-selling diabetes drug Avandia raised the risk of heart attacks. The study led to a Congressional inquiry, stringent safety warnings, a sharp drop in the drug’s sales of GlaxoSmithKline, Avandia’s maker.

The battle between Dr. Nissen and GlaxoSmithKline was waged from afar in news releases and published papers. But on May 10, 2007, 11 days before Dr. Nissen’s study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, he and four company executives met face to face in a private meeting whose details have not been disclosed until now.

Read the full article here at the New York Times.

Continue reading "Heart Attack and Heart Failure Side Effects of Avandia Diabetes Drug" »

Tobacco smoke contamination lingering on furniture, clothes and other surfaces, dubbed thirdhand smoke, may react with indoor air chemicals to form potential cancer-causing substances, a study found.

After exposing a piece of paper to smoke, researchers found the sheet had levels of newly formed carcinogens that were 10 times higher after three hours in the presence of an indoor air chemical called nitrous acid commonly emitted by household appliances or cigarette smoke. That means people may face a risk from indoor tobacco smoke in a way that’s never been recognized before, said one of the study’s authors, Lara Gundel.

Read the full Bloomberg article here.

Continue reading "Third hand Smoke Forms Cancer-Causing Residue Indoors" »

Confidential studies by Food and Drug Administration officials recommend that GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, a diabetes medicine, get pulled from the market because it is linked to heart attacks.

The studies, released as part of a report on Avandia by staff of Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Max Baucus (D., Mont.), also say any head-to-head trial where patients get Avandia and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s diabetes medicine Actos would be "unethical and exploitative." GlaxoSmithKline is currently sponsoring a study, called TIDE, where patients get either Avandia, Actos or other medicines.

Read the full Wall Street Journal Story here

Continue reading "GlaxoSmithKline Knew of Avandia's Cardiac Risks, Senate Report Says" »

Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market.

The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.

Read full New York Times dtory here.

Continue reading "FDA Report Avandia Diabetes Drug Harms Heart" »

Toyota Motor Corp. and U.S. regulators are looking into possible steering problems in the company's popular Corolla compact, the latest quality issue to surface in the wake of two recalls that covered millions of vehicles and forced Toyota to halt U.S. sales of eight models.

The Corolla investigation could start as early as Thursday, said a U.S. Transportation Department official. The inquiry will cover about 500,000 model-year 2009 and 2010 Corollas, officials said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 163 complaints about the steering in Corollas from those model years, according to the safety agency's Web site.

Read the full Wall Street Journal Article here.

Continue reading "U.S. to Probe Toyota Corolla Steering Reports " »

U.S. regulators on Tuesday opened an investigation into whether Toyota Motor Corp acted in a timely way to recall cars for acceleration problems, and the automaker moved to slow its U.S. production to avoid a costly ballooning of inventories.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had requested production data, consumer complaints and other documents expected to shed light on how and when Toyota learned of problems affecting about 6 million vehicles it has recalled in the United States.

Read full Reuters story here.

Continue reading "U.S. Opens Probe into Toyota Recalls; Output Cut" »

A year after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plunged into a house near Buffalo, killing all 49 people on board and a man in the house, lawyers are preparing to negotiate in dollars and cents the price of raw grief and loss.

Thirty-four lawsuits filed by the husbands, wives and children of passengers demand compensation for negligence, wrongful death and punitive damages from Houston-based Continental Airlines and Colgan Air, the Manassas, Va., regional carrier operating the Feb. 12, 2009, flight. Also named are Colgan parent Pinnacle Airlines of Memphis, Tenn.; Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace, which made the plane; and FlightSafety International, which helped train the pilots.

Click here to read full story.

Continue reading "Families of Plane Crash Victims Must Put Value on Grief " »

Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles have been linked to 34 deaths by consumers filing complaints with the U.S. government over unexpected acceleration, according to the Transportation Department.

The total jumped by 13 fatalities since Jan. 27 as nine more filings were added to a database the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration uses to track deaths, injuries and consumer complaints.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601209&sid=aPso41xXZS60Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Acceleration Complaints Cite 34 Deaths, U.S. Data Show" »

The wife of the driver of a 2008 Avalon that shot into a pond in Southlake and flipped, killing four people, said she believes quicker action by Toyota could have prevented the tragedy.

Linda Hardy's husband, Monty, was behind the wheel of his car that landed upside down in a small pond in Southlake.

Read full story here at WFAA

Continue reading "WFAA: Wife of Southlake Texas Driver Who Died Slams Toyota " »

Federal investigators found scores of problems at UC Irvine Medical Center during a fall inspection that again put the troubled hospital's Medicare funding at risk, according to report released Thursday.

In an 85-page report on their surprise October inspection, regulators said they observed poor oversight and mistakes by UCI doctors, nurses and pharmacists, leading to inadequate care that in some cases harmed patients.

Read full story here at the Los Angeles Times.

Continue reading "More Medical Malpractice Problems Discovered at UCI Medical Center" »

The company vigorously denies that its vehicles' acceleration problems might stem from an electronic or software glitch. But it remains an open question, and any such finding would be devastating.

In the nearly five months since it launched a string of recalls to stop its cars from accelerating out of control, Toyota Motor Corp. has been adamant about one thing: It's not the electronics.

Company officials first put the blame on floor mats that could entrap the accelerator, later amending that to include gas pedals themselves that could stick.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Car Recall: Now Electronics Questions" »

A Colorado man has fought mostly unsuccessfully to get his concerns heard since his wife's Prius car accident in 2006.

Before his wife's Prius suddenly accelerated uncontrollably to 90 miles per hour on a mountain highway, you'd have been hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of Toyota than Ted James.

A middle-school science teacher and ardent environmentalist, James got a Prius for his wife, Elizabeth, and a Corolla for himself.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times.

Continue reading "Colorado Man's Crusade to Bring Attention to Defective Toyota Cars" »

Former regulators hired by Toyota Motor Corp. helped end at least four U.S. investigations of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the last decade, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.

Christopher Tinto, vice president of regulatory affairs in Toyota’s Washington office, and Christopher Santucci, who works for Tinto, helped persuade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end probes including those of 2002-2003 Toyota Camrys and Solaras, court documents show. Both men joined Toyota directly from NHTSA, Tinto in 1994 and Santucci in 2003.

Read full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Ex NHTSA Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt Investigations" »

Four Toyota Motor Corp. units were named as defendants in a racketeering lawsuit that claims the companies collaborated to sell cars they knew were unsafe.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 8 in federal court in Covington, Kentucky, targets Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., as well units that produce Toyota’s Camry and Avalon models and handle leasing and engineering.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Units Named in Suit Claiming Racketeering " »

Legal expenses and damages could add billions to Toyota's recall costs, with dozens of suits pending over injuries and deaths and at least 30 seeking class-action status over lost use of vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive recalls for acceleration and braking problems are creating a huge legal liability for the company -- and Toyota owners may share in the pain.

Toyota faces dozens of lawsuits over injuries and deaths attributed to safety problems, with many more suits expected. Lawyers and legal experts said the lawsuits could be particularly expensive for the automaker if plaintiffs prove that Toyota was aware of problems but failed to correct them.

Read full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Faces Massive Legal Liability From Defective Cars" »

Two defibrillator brands made by Boston Scientific Corp. have a design flaw that can result in the devices delivering potentially life-threatening shocks to the hearts of patients, authors of a medical journal article say.

The defect can cause the Cognis and Teligen brand defibrillators to deliver the shocks when they aren't needed in the many patients who get the devices implanted just under the skin, according to an article in the journal HeartRhythm. The potential malfunction, while appearing to be extremely rare, could in theory affect any of the more than 90,000 devices implanted, said the authors. They advised physicians to look for the problem should the devices malfunction.

Read the full story here at the Wall Street Journal

Continue reading "Boston Scientific Defibrillator Safety Questioned " »

A Jefferson County jury has found Christus St. Mary Hospital negligent in its treatment of a 41-year-old woman who died of a heart attack within hours of an emergency room visit.

In the verdict, filed Jan. 21, the jury found that the Port Arthur hospital along with Dr. Michael Peterson committed “willful or wanton negligence,” in their treatment of Stacy Meaux.

The jury awarded a combined $1.3 million in damages to Meaux; her mother, Mary Ann, Licatino; and her two children.

Limitations on the amount of money that can be awarded for mental anguish pain and medical malpractice will limit this to $250,000 per defendant.

Read the article here

Toyota said that its dealers are working overtime to fix sticking gas pedals on some 2.1 million recalled vehicles at a rate of 50,000 per day and have so far repaired 225,000 cars.

Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles last fall to repair what it called floor-mat "entrapment" of the gas pedal, and an additional 2.1 million cars last month to fix what it calls an unrelated sticky-gas-pedal problem.

Read the full story here at the Washington Post.

Continue reading "Toyota to Fix Gas Pedals as Lawsuits Increase" »

The parents and daughter of a man killed in a car crash have sued the bar that allegedly sold alcohol to the driver who was not only drunk, but also underage.

Michael Slay Chapman died on Nov. 27 when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck by a vehicle driven by Bo Pillsbury. Before the incident, the 19-year-old Pillsbury had been drinking at the Dixie Dance Hall in Beaumont's Crockett Street Entertainment District.

Chapman's parents, Wayne and Teresa Chapman, and his daughter, Zoe Jane Chapman, filed a lawsuit against Dixie Host Ltd. on Feb. 1 in Jefferson County District Court.

"Despite being obviously intoxicated and/or showing obvious signs of intoxication that a reasonable person, especially a provider of alcohol should recognize, employees of Defendant continued to serve Bo Pillsbury alcohol," the suit states.

"After drinking for an extended period of time at the Dixie Dance Hall, Bo Pillsbury was allowed to leave the premises and drive away. As he was driving in an intoxicated state, Bo Pillsbury lost control of his vehicle and struck a vehicle in which Michael Slay Chapman was a passenger."

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Family of Crash Victim Sues Dixie Dance Hall for Serving Drinks to Driver " »