Articles Posted in Product Liability

According to federal drug regulators, Merck failed to conduct requested testing on their popular diabetes drugs Januvia and Janumet, which was designed to assess the risk of pancreatis from Januvia and Janumet.

The FDA issued a warning letter to Merck on February 17, and the FDA indicated that Merck failed to comply with proper testing for Januvia and Janumet, and therefore the drugs are now considered misbranded.

Merck promised to conduct the three-month pancreatic safety study when the FDA expanded approvals for Januvia and Janumet.

According to new medical research, Byetta and Januvia may cause increased risk of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

A medical study in 2011 found that users of Januvia and Byetta may be six times more likely to be diagnosed with pancreatitis and three times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer.

Byetta (exenatide) is used to control blood sugar levels and is part of a class of medications known as incretin mimetics, which imitate natural hormones that lower blood glucose levels. In recent years, FDA adverse event reports have raised concerns about a link between Byetta and pancreatitis, including severe cases of necrotizing pancreatitis and hemorrhagic pancreatitis, which have resulted in several deaths.

An initial conference has been set for April in the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving all lawsuits over Wright Medical metal-on-metal hip replacements.

In February, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the Wright Medical hip replacement lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

According to a Pretrial Order issued March 19, the Court is expected to review issues surrounding the organization of the MDL, a deadline for discovery and pretrial motions, as well as a target date for the conclusion of the MDL.

As reported in the New York Times, Johnson & Johnson executives in 2009 phased out their ASR hip implant and sold off their inventory just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration asked the company for added safety data about the implant.

At the same time, the federal regulators told the company that blood tests of some patients who got the all-metal hip showed a “high concentration of metal ions” that it found “concerning.” These concerns were highlighted in the F.D.A. letter, obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

Officials expressed concern that reports showed that the ASR was performing “somewhat more poorly” than data submitted by the company’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit indicated. By mid-2009, data from the UK and Australia showed that the device was failing at high rates just a few years after implantation, rather than lasting 15 years as expected.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, Johnson & Johnson sold their Gynecare Prolift mesh for several years before obtaining FDA approval. Johnson & Johnson has been subjected to product liability lawsuits brought by women who suffered complications allegedly caused by design defects with the vaginal surgical mesh.

Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit began selling the Prolift mesh in March 2005, but it was not approved by the FDA until May 2008.

Johnson & Johnson sold the Gynecare Prolift mesh without approval, and claimed that it was substantially similar to the Gynecare Gynemesh, which was already on the market.

Canadian health regulators have added new label warnings to Pradaxa, the new blood thinner. In Canada it is known as Pradax. The regulators are warning that the risk of bleeding events may be increased among patients with kidney problems.

The Pradaxa warnings were announced on March 16, and recommend that all patients should have their renal function assessed before starting Pradaxa, and that doctors should assess any changes in renal function while on the treatment, especially among patients over 75 years old.

Health Canada indicated that use of Pradaxa was not recommended for patients with rheumatic valvular heart disease, especially mitral stenosis, or patients with prosthetic heart valves, as the safety and efficacy of Pradaxa has not been studied among those patients.

New medical research suggest that the popular diabetes drugs Byetta and Januvia could increase the risk of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

In a study published this summer in the medical journal Gastroenterology, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found a nearly threefold increase in reported cases of pancreatic cancer and a sixfold increase in reported cases of pancreatitis among Byetta and Januvia users.

Researchers also found an increase in thyroid cancer among Byetta users.

A medical study published in the British medical journal, Lancet, has identified that all-metal on metal artificial hips fail more often than other designs. This confirmation has increased concerns about the implants and the researchers are calling for a ban.

British experts at the world’s biggest artificial joint registry said doctors should stop using metal-on-metal hip replacements, citing an analysis showing they have to be fixed or replaced more often than other implants.

The medical analysis in The Lancet, was published recently after Britain’s medical regulators said nearly 50,000 Britons with metal-on-metal hips needed annual check-ups to monitor for problems, including exposure to toxic metals.

Federal lawsuits against Wright Medical Technology, a manufacturer of metal-on-metal hip-replacement is now being consolidated in Multi district Litigation (MDL). Wright Medical Technology’s Conserve Plus implants are under assault for causing injuries similar to those produced by the DePuy ASR and Pinnacle metal on metal hip system.

This is one of three MDLs organized to consolidate pre-trial proceedings for plaintiffs suing over dangerous and defective metal on metal hip implants. The Wright Conserve MDL has been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

DePuy ASR MDL

Bleeding side effects in patients treated with Pradaxa have led a group of New Zealand hematologists to sound the alarm and call for better doctor education.

The hematologists wrote of their concerns in a letter published in the March 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In a two-month review, they identified 78 bleeding episodes, including 12 major bleeds, one of which might have contributed to a patient’s death,

Many of the bleeding incidents involved older patients and patients with reduced kidney function. Importantly prescriber error occurred in about 25% of the complications, revealing a lack of awareness of the potential risks associated with the drug.