Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 7, 2009

Bayer Sued Over Health Claims About Multivitamin for Men

A nonprofit health advocacy group wants Bayer correct its marketing techniques — this one involving its Men’s One A Day multivitamin.

The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is suing the German drug giant for allegedly claiming falsely that selenium in the men’s multivitamin might reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, comes on the heels of several multimillion-dollar settlements that Bayer has paid out to resolve claims about misleading advertising. This year, Bayer agreed to run a $20 million corrective advertising campaign about its birth control pill Yaz.

In 2007, it paid a $3.2 million fine over weight loss claims involving its One A Day vitamin as part of a consent decree reached with the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice and another $8 million to resolve allegations, raised by state attorneys general, that it hid safety issues surrounding its cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol.

October 7, 2009

Wrongful Death: Water-Drinking Radio Contestant

by Dr. Shezad Malik

After drinking a gallon and a half of water, Jennifer Strange’s thinking would have been so impaired by the time she left a radio station on the day she died that she might as well have been drunk, according to a doctor who testified.

If medical personnel had been on site at the time she left the studios of KDND “The End” 107.9, they could have advised her that she needed a doctor’s care and she likely would have survived, Dr. George Alan Kaysen testified.

Kaysen said hyponatremia, or acute water intoxication, can be easily treated with an intravenous sodium drip.

October 7, 2009

Teen’s Fatal Overdose Blamed on Fentanyl Patch

by Dr. Shezad Malik

For a 15-year-old, or anybody else, Michael Blankenship had already been through a lot when he arrived at Seattle Children’s hospital for some routine dental work.

What left him dead, was the painkiller-laced patch — meant to ameliorate chronic pain in cancer patients and others — that was prescribed to Blankenship.

Discharged to his mother’s home the day of the March 9 tooth extraction, Blankenship was found dead in his bed the following morning. According to a civil suit filed earlier this month in King County Superior Court, a medical examiner found Blankenship had died from a drug overdose caused by the fentanyl patch.

October 6, 2009

$3.7M Awarded in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.