Product Liability

February 10, 2009

Yaz Birth Control Pill and Advertising

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals has just introduced a new $20 million advertising campaign for Yaz, the most popular birth control pill in the United States.

But the television ads, are not typical spots promoting the benefits of a prescription drug. Instead, they warn that nobody should take Yaz hoping that it will also cure pimples or premenstrual syndrome.

As part of an unusual crackdown on deceptive consumer drug advertising, the Food and Drug Administration and the attorneys general of 27 states have required Bayer to run these new ads to correct previous Yaz marketing.

February 3, 2009

Texas Peanut Plant Under Investigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A peanut processing plant in Texas run by the Peanut Corp. of America, which is being investigated for a national salmonella outbreak, operated for years uninspected and unlicensed by Texas health officials.

The Peanut Corp. of America plant in Plainview was never inspected until after the company fell under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.

Once inspectors learned about the Texas plant, they found no sign of salmonella there. This finding raises questions; how it could have operated unlicensed for nearly four years and about the adequacy of government efforts to keep the nation’s food supply safe. Texas is among states where the FDA relies on state inspectors to oversee food safety.

February 1, 2009

Criminal Investigation Starts for Peanut Plant

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Federal health officials opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak.

The investigation into Peanut Corp. of America follows reports of poor sanitation practices and inspections that found the company sold contaminated peanut products to food makers.

At least 529 people have been sickened as a result of the outbreak, and at least eight might have died because of it. More than 430 products have been recalled.

January 31, 2009

Florida Tobacco Lawsuit To Restart

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A lawsuit by the widow whose husband died of lung cancer is headed to trial again. Nearly two months after ending in a mistrial, the first of about 8,000 cases against tobacco companies in Florida is scheduled to head to trial again in Florida.

Elaine Hess is suing cigarette maker Philip Morris, alleging her husband’s death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes containing nicotine. Stuart Hess, a locksmith, died of lung cancer at age 55 in 1997.

The case originally went to trial in December, but ended on the second day of testimony after an expert witness for Hess used a racial slur.

January 27, 2009

Peanut Butter Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The plant in Georgia that produced peanut butter tainted by salmonella has a history of sanitation lapses and was cited repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 for having dirty surfaces and grease residue and dirt buildup throughout the plant, according to health inspection reports. Inspection reports from 2008 found the plant repeatedly in violation of cleanliness standards.

January 21, 2009

FDA: Products Recalled in Peanut Salmonella Outbreak

by Dr. Shezad Malik

More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, according to federal health officials.

The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for dogs may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its dog treats.

January 19, 2009

FDA Confirms Salmonella in Peanut Butter Crackers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Food and Drug Administration said that salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made by Kellogg.

Kellogg said that a previously recalled peanut butter-sandwich cracker tested positive for salmonella.

The outbreak has led to 474 reported illnesses and may have caused six deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

January 15, 2009

CDC and Peanut Butter Salmonella Link

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a link between peanut butter and a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 400 people in 43 states.

January 13, 2009

Southlake TX Man Awarded $247,000 For Laptop Battery Fire

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On Dec. 4, 2008, a jury ordered a computer parts distributor to pay $247,000 in damages after one of its laptop batteries short-circuited, resulting in a house fire.

In 2006, Rodger Hill was using his Hewlett-Packard laptop computer, which contained a battery distributed by Kahlon Inc., at his home in Southlake when the battery short-circuited.

The computer caught fire and quickly spread to the rest of the house. Hill blamed Kahlon, alleging the battery was defective.

January 7, 2009

Baxter Contaminated Heparin Class Action Lawsuit Filed

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A class action suit against the maker of a blood thinning Heparin drug claims the company is substituting safer ingredients – cooked, dried pig intestines – with more dangerous ones.

Joyce Ann Osteen of Illinois is suing Baxter over its anticoagulant drug Heparin in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

She claims the company began substituting a more dangerous ingredient to “reap greater profits as a result of utilizing cheap component parts.”

Baxter began making the drug from enzymes found in pork intestines, according to the complaint filed Jan. 5.