Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 6, 2009

$3.7M Awarded in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A WI Brown County jury awarded the survivors of a deceased farm worker $3.7 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Gustavo Espinal-Santos died Jan. 1, 2004, after contracting blastomycosis, a fungal infection often transmitted through water or soil.

Espinal-Santos twice visited the Bellin Family Medical Center in Bonduel in December 2003 complaining of illness. Espinal-Santos was seen by physician assistants who determined he had pneumonia. He said they failed to run basic diagnostic tests, specifically X-rays.

October 6, 2009

Bar And Insurance Company to Pay More Than $1M in Wrongful Death Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The parents of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a drunken driver in December 2006 have settled their lawsuit against the driver and the bar that served her for slightly more than $1 million.

Berky’s agreed to pay Barbara Nordlund and Robert L’Ecuyer $1 million in the death of Paul L’Ecuyer, and Melissa Arrington’s insurance company agreed to pay $25,000 — one day before the case was to go to trial in Pima County Superior Court, said plaintiff’s attorney John Osborne.

October 6, 2009

9/11 Workers Can Now Sue Over Illnesses

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Thousands of sickened 9/11 recovery workers whose legal claims have been barred because of missed deadlines can now join a massive group suing New York City under a law signed by Gov. David A. Paterson, officials said.

The law immediately allows more than 3,000 Ground Zero workers to revive lawsuits that were thrown out by a federal judge in July on the technical ground that they were not filed within 90 days of the workers’ conditions being diagnosed.

October 6, 2009

Bayer Sued, Accused of Hiding Yaz Risk to Boost Sales

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, was sued by two Pennsylvania pension funds and accused of misrepresenting the safety and effectiveness of the Yaz contraceptive to boost sales.

Bayer unlawfully promoted the drug from March 2006 to March 2009 by concealing side effects including blood clots, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms, two health and welfare funds for firefighters and city employees said in a federal court complaint made public today in Philadelphia.

The Yasmin family of birth control pills, known as Yaz, Yasmin and Yasminelle, were Bayer’s top-selling drugs last year, bringing in about $1.8 billion, a 17 percent increase over 2007.

October 5, 2009

Jury Awards Plaintiff $9.5 M for Permanent Damage From Erectile Dysfunction Treatment

by Dr. Shezad Malik

John Henry Howard, is brave — Howard sued an Atlanta men’s clinic after its erectile dysfunction therapy caused permanent damage to Howard’s penis.

Before and during trial, Howard settled with two of the three named defendants. Boston Men’s Health Center Inc. was the defendant hit with the verdict.

October 4, 2009

$21.4 M Settlement of Kodak Race Discrimination Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The proposed settlement of a pair of lawsuits charging that Eastman Kodak Co. discriminated against African-American employees is now in a judge’s hands.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs this week filed a motion asking that U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman approve the settlement worked out between the company and the plaintiffs. The filing also requests a hearing on Oct. 23 for final arguments regarding fairness of the settlement.

The lawsuits — one filed in 2004 and the other in 2007 — alleged that Kodak discriminated in regards to pay, promotions, job assignments and layoffs.

October 4, 2009

Yaz and Yasmin: Get the Medical Facts

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The New York Times reported September 25 on the controversy surrounding Yaz and Yasmin, two popular birth control pills (BCPs).

The controversy is a result of the marketing and manufacturing processes identified by the Food and Drug Administration. The major concern is whether these medications increase the risk of blood clots.

Yaz and Yasmin use both estrogens and progestins to prevent ovulation. Estimates are that at baseline about 1 women in 10,000 will have a blood clot this year; that number increases to about 3 women in 10,000 if they are taking BCPs.

Also the fact is that more than 50 women in 10,000 will get a blood clot due to pregnancy.

October 3, 2009

Yaz/Yasmin Product Liability And Injury Lawsuits to be Consolidated in Illinois

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Several lawsuits filed on behalf of women who were injured or killed by the popular birth control drugs Yaz and Yasmin will be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation group in the Southern District of Illinois, a federal judicial panel has ruled.

A total of 32 federal lawsuits have been filed against Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., the maker of Yaz and Yasmin. The two contraceptives use different doses of the same hormone, drospirenone, which has been linked to increased levels of potassium in the blood and many user deaths and serious injuries.

From 2004 to 2008, there were at least 50 deaths in the United States associated with the use of Yaz, the Food and Drug Administration has said. Women taking the drug have reported suffering heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and other types of blood clotting, and gallbladder disease.

October 3, 2009

NJ Court Upholds $4.5M Judgment in Vioxx Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Supreme Court of New Jersey backed a $4.5 million award to the widow of a man who suffered heart problems after using Merck’s painkiller Vioxx, ending of the last unresolved lawsuits related to the drug.

The court dismissed Merck’s appeal and upheld the award in the case McDarby v. Merck, according to the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg. The firm said the ruling was issued on May 7. A jury found that Merck and Co. failed to warn patient John McDarby about Vioxx’s cardiac risks, which later caused the drug to be taken off the market.

October 3, 2009

Family of Cheerleader Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Plastic Surgeon

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The parents of an 18-year-old suburban Boca Raton cheerleader who died last year after breast augmentation surgery called for a ban on the use of general anesthesia at outpatient surgical centers.

Such centers are not equipped to deal with emergencies such as the one that ultimately killed their daughter Stephanie, both Joanne and Thomas Kuleba said during a news conference.