Uncategorized

January 31, 2015

J&J Ethicon Mesh Injury Settlements

There are over 75,000 women who have filed personal injury claims against the various manufacturers of the transvaginal and bladder sling products. According to sources, Johnson & Johnson has settled at least four Ethicon transvaginal mesh lawsuits.

These are the first few settlements reached out of over twenty thousand personal injury cases filed against the Johnson & Johnson Ethicon subsidiary company.

These settlements were reached in state court claims, and included a one wrongful death claim that alleged the vaginal mesh caused a deadly infection.

January 22, 2015

Actos Bladder Cancer Federal Trials

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The U.S. District Judge overseeing the federal Actos litigation has issued orders requiring that the Court be provided with details about each of the cases filed, information about potential settlements and motions in various state courts throughout the country.

There have been eight Actos Bladder Cancer trials to date across the United States. The majority of them have been held in various state courts and only one has been tried in the federal MDL out of thousands filed.

The federal MDL case, a real bell ringer for Takeda, saw a Louisiana jury award over $9 billion – most of it in punitive damages – to the plaintiffs. The eye popping award was lowered in October to $38.1 million, and the jury was allowed to hear information that the judge sanctioned Takeda for destroying documents.

Most recently, in November 2014, a jury fined Takeda $155,000 for destroying documents that could have helped plaintiff Richard Myers.

The panel in that case found that Takeda officials intentionally destroyed the files.Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., was also ordered to pay more than $2 million to a plaintiff who claimed that the company’s Actos diabetes medicine caused her bladder cancer. Jurors in state court in Philadelphia found that the Japan-based Takeda failed to properly warn Frances Wisniewski’s doctors about Actos’s cancer risk.

Federal Court Issues New Orders

Judge Doherty is requiring the parties to provide the Court with particularized information about each case pending in the federal court system.Defendants have been required to provide a summary of information contained on each plaintiffs’ fact sheet, including information on their exposure to Actos, medical history, bladder cancer treatments and other risk factors for the disease.Plaintiffs have been ordered to provide information about each case from the defendants’ fact sheet, outlining sales representative information received and any contact the drug companies had with the plaintiffs’ treating physicians.

Takeda Knew in 2004 of Cancer Link

According to court documents, Takeda knew by 2004 that studies found links between Actos and cancer, and didn’t issue a warning until seven years later to protect billions of dollars in Actos sales.

December 4, 2014

Xarelto MDL Consolidation Hearing

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Today, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) heard oral arguments to consolidate all federal Xarelto lawsuits before one judge, in one centralized U.S. District Court.

It is widely anticipated that the U.S. JPML will establish centralized proceedings for coordinated discovery and a series of bellwether trials.

Patients who took Xarelto accuse the drug manufacturers of downplaying Xarelto’s bleeding risks and asked that the cases be sent to U.S District Judge David Herndon in East St. Louis, Illinois. An order maybe granted before the upcoming holiday season.

November 11, 2014

Stryker Settles Metal on Metal Hip Implant Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Stryker Corp. agreed recently this month to pay more than $1 billion to settle lawsuits over thousands of hip implants recalled in 2012 after patients complained of early hip implant failure, pain, and metal debris causing metallosis from the devices.

Stryker Settlement Details

Stryker will pay a base amount of $300,000 per case to patients who had the devices surgically removed. The hip implant device manufacturer is exposed to more than 4,000 suits consolidated in New Jersey state court and federal court in Minnesota.

October 18, 2014

Levaquin Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuits Heat Up

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Johnson & Johnson faces the first product liability personal injury lawsuit over side effects of Levaquin that caused peripheral neuropathy for Karyn Grossman, from Maryland. According to Grossman, she developed the severe and often permanent form of nerve damage after using the popular antibiotic.

The lawsuit was filed in September in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, against Johnson & Johnson, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary and the drug distributor, McKesson Corp. as defendants.

FDA 2013 Warnings

October 6, 2014

Takeda Actos KO’D in Bladder Cancer Trial $2M Verdict

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Philadelphia jury spoke loud and clear. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., the manufacturer of the popular diabetic medication, was ko’d by the jury, and ordered to pay more than $2 million to a plaintiff who claimed that Actos caused her bladder cancer. This was the latest Actos trial over bladder cancer claims from the medication.

Last week, jurors in state court in Philadelphia found that the Japan-based Takeda failed to properly warn Frances Wisniewski’s doctors about Actos’s cancer risk. Jurors found that Actos is linked to severe injuries and in some instances of death by causing bladder cancer in some unsuspecting diabetic patients who took the popular medications.

According to Wisniewski’s attorney, Mike Miller, the jury found Takeda “clearly failed to warn, and it clearly caused her damage. She’s got a life of bladder cancer; it’s a fair verdict,” he added.

Takeda Knew in 2004 of Cancer Link

January 7, 2014

Quack Medicine? Testosterone Gels Is Not Without Major Side Effects

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Texas Medical Doctor and a Dallas Dangerous Drug attorney, I am concerned by the onslaught of tv advertisements that specifically target older men. The ads ask the questions with a concerned male voice over, “Have you noticed a recent deterioration of your ability to play sports?” “Do you have a decrease in sex drive?” “Do you have a lack of energy?”

If so, the ads warn, you should “talk to your doctor about whether you have low testosterone” — “Low T,” is the new buzz word.

February 11, 2012

Discontinue Fosamax and Actonel After Femur Fracture

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to new medical research, patients who have suffered a femur fracture while using Fosamax, Actonel or another bisphophonate medication can decrease their chances of having a second break if they stop taking the drug.

$fosamax-femur-fracture-attorney.jpg$

Findings presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons indicate that the risk of suffering a second femur fracture drop significantly when people stop taking the osteoporosis drugs, which include Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, Reclast and Zometa.

Such femur fractures involve sudden breaks that typically occur with little or no trauma at all, such as while taking a step or falling from standing height.