Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

February 1, 2010

Pfizer Update: 93% Cut in Prempro Punitive-Damages

Pfizer Inc. persuaded a Pennsylvania state court judge to slash by 93 percent a $75 million punitive-damages award to a woman who blamed the company’s menopause drugs for her breast cancer.

Judge Ackerman in Philadelphia reduced the award to Connie Barton to $5.6 million after finding it was excessive. Jurors also awarded Barton $3.7 million in compensatory damages in her lawsuit against Pfizer’s Wyeth unit over the hormone- replacement drug Prempro. Ackerman left that award undisturbed in his post-trial ruling, according to court docket entries.

Read the Bloomberg story here.

February 1, 2010

F.D.A. Aims at Doctors’ Drug Pitches

by Dr. Shezad Malik

In the world of fashion magazines, beauty editors have often relied on prominent dermatologists and plastic surgeons to keep them current on advances in cosmetic medicine. This relationship has benefited magazines eager for beauty scoops and doctors seeking visibility — and patients.

But now the Food and Drug Administration has cracked down on one of the most widely quoted cosmetic doctors, sending shudders through the ranks of opinion leaders in fashion publishing and vanity medicine. Read the FDA Warning Letter here. Download file

Read the full story here.

January 31, 2010

Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney: Toyota’s Slow Awakening to a Deadly Problem

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The 911 call came at 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 28 from a car that was speeding out of control on Highway 125 near San Diego.

The caller, a male voice, was panic-stricken: “We’re in a Lexus … we’re going north on 125 and our accelerator is stuck … we’re in trouble … there’s no brakes … we’re approaching the intersection … hold on … hold on and pray … pray …”

The call ended with the sound of a crash.

January 30, 2010

Allergan Trial Will Focus on Botox’s Safety in Cerebral Palsy Treatments

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The family of Kristen Spears alleges an overdose of the drug manufactured by Irvine-based Allergan Inc. killed her at age 7.

Spears started getting Botox injections at the age of 6 — not to smooth furrows in her brow, but to calm spasms in her legs.

The girl was born with severe cerebral palsy, and Botox, best known as a face-lift-in-a-syringe, can relax contorted muscles and sometimes help young patients walk without surgery.

Read full story here.

January 29, 2010

Dental Malpractice: Drill Bit Left in Maxillary Sinus

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Donna Delgado just wasn’t healing properly after dental surgery.

There was too much bleeding, too much pain. Her head hurt. She was dizzy. She had nosebleeds and sinus infections.

Lodged in Delgado’s right maxillary sinus, the drill bit burr made the 35-year-old woman miserable for nearly a year as she held down a job and cared for her children, according to her lawsuit.

Read the full story here.

January 28, 2010

Kimberly-Clark Unit Must Pay $4.75 M in Product Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Multnomah County jury ordered a medical-device company to pay $4.75 million to a Portland, Oregon, man and his wife in a product-liability lawsuit that may have national implications, according to a report in The Oregonian.

The jury found I-Flow Corp. liable for destroying the cartilage in Matthew Beale’s right shoulder and leaving the 38-year-old father of four with constant pain and a disabled arm, the newspaper reported.

January 27, 2010

Heart Patients Warned Against Using Meridia, an Anti-Obesity Drug

by Dr. Shezad Malik

European and American drug regulators had two starkly different reactions this week to data on an obesity drug. The raw data from the study indicated that people with certain health problems who took the prescription diet drug Meridia had more heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems than people getting a placebo.

January 26, 2010

RI Meat Company Recalling 1.2M Pounds of Salami

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Rhode Island meat company recalled 1.24 million pounds of pepper-coated salami, after officials conducting a months-long, multistate investigation of a salmonella outbreak compared shopping receipts of those who got sick.

The recall by Daniele International Inc. comes amid an outbreak that’s sickened 184 people in 38 states since July.

Daniele has been identified as the source of the ongoing outbreak by William Keene, a senior epidemiologist at the public health division in Oregon, where eight people have gotten sick.

January 25, 2010

Pediatrician Accused of Sexual Abuse and Medical Malpractice

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Parents of a victim of an accused pedophile pediatrician in Lewes, Delaware have sued the doctor and Beebe Medical Center, where he worked.

The suit, filed in New Castle County, accuses Dr. Earl B. Bradley of sexually abusing a child twice in his office on Dec. 3 and Dec. 14, and charges that Beebe failed for years to report concerns about the pediatrician’s conduct.

January 24, 2010

Big Tobacco Strategy Scares Off Potential Plaintiffs

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Florida smokers who lose personal-injury suits against tobacco companies could be on the hook for the opposition’s attorney fees under a settlement strategy being pursued by cigarette makers.

Tobacco companies have been offering the state’s 8,000 smoker plaintiffs minuscule amounts of money — typically $500 to $2,500 — to settle wrongful death and negligence cases potentially worth millions of dollars. The catch: Florida law says plaintiffs who obtain a significantly smaller judgment than a rejected settlement offer must pay the other side’s attorney fees.