Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

September 2, 2009

Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella Side Effect Lawsuits Increasing

At least 50 federal and state lawsuits have been filed against Bayer due to serous side effects associated with Yasmin / Yaz.

Both the drugs are oral contraceptives that contain synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progestin, and are associated with side effects including stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder problems, and kidney problems.

Lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin, alleging the company failed to adequately warn patients and physicians of the increased risk of serious adverse effects from Yaz Birth Control Medication. In certain cases, women have died due to these adverse effects of Yaz Birth Control.

September 1, 2009

Fort Worth Texas Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard and is highly regulated. An estimated 1.3 million employees in the construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. Heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, particularly during the removal of asbestos during renovation or demolition.

Employees are also likely to be exposed during the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials) and during automotive brake and clutch repair work.

September 1, 2009

Florida Teen Sustained Brain Injury in Crash With School Bus

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On Sept. 22, 2006, plaintiff Marcus Button, 16, a student, was a front-seat passenger in his friend’s sedan that was heading east on State Road 54. At the intersection at Meadow Pointe Boulevard where there was no traffic signal, a Pasco County School bus made a left turn and struck the sedan. Marcus sustained a brain injury. Investigators found that the bus driver was at fault.

Individually and as Marcus’ parents, Mark and Robin Button sued Pasco County School Board for the bus driver’s negligence.

Plaintiff’s counsel stated that the bus driver violated state law in not yielding the right of way. Investigators determined that the bus driver was at fault. Plaintiff’s counsel also pointed to the bus driver’s deposition testimony in which he stated that he never saw the plaintiff’s vehicle.

Defense counsel presented an accident reconstructionist who stated that the driver of Button’s vehicle had ample time to observe and avoid the bus.

September 1, 2009

Summary Judgment For Manufacturer in Pain Pump Litigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A federal court has granted summary judgment to the defendant. Kilpatrick v. Breg, Inc., No. 4:08-cv-10052 (S.D. Fla. 6/26/09), in what appears to be the first substantive decision to come out of the multiple suits alleging that a pain pump medical device damages patients.

Judge Michael Moore ruled in favor of medical device manufacturer Breg, finding that the plaintiff, who alleged damage to his shoulder cartilage, did not provide enough reliable expert evidence to link the condition to the defendant’s shoulder pain pump.

Plaintiff Kilpatrick underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in 2004 after an orthopedic specialist discovered a tear in his shoulder socket. To help with post-operative pain, the surgeon inserted a pain pump into plaintiff’s shoulder, which would allow the doctor to administer an anesthetic via a catheter in the patient’s arm.

The surgeon injected bupivacaine into the pump’s attached catheter and further filled it with 100 ccs of anesthetic, which was to be delivered into Kilpatrick’s shoulder over the next 48 hours.

Plaintiff alleges that he began experiencing severe pain in his shoulder in 2006. An orthopedic surgeon diagnosed the pain as glenohumeral chondrolysis, a deterioration of the cartilage, and Kilpatrick underwent shoulder replacement surgery.

He then brought suit, alleging negligence, strict products liability, and violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Kilpatrick claimed that using the Breg pain pump to administer local anesthetic directly into his shoulder joint caused him to develop post-arthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis.

September 1, 2009

Medical Malpractice Victims Awarded $11M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Two teenage sisters have been awarded $11 million in a malpractice lawsuit against a prominent New York pediatrician who failed to take steps to prevent the girls from being repeatedly sexually assaulted by their half-brother when they were children in Lake Placid.

An eight-member jury in U.S. District Court ruled against Dr. Patricia Monroe and her workplace, Adirondack Internal Medicine and Pediatric, ending a federal case rooted in horrific abuse dating back more than nine years.

The older sister, now 18, will receive $6 million, the 16-year-old younger sister $5 million, according to a news release issued by Albany attorneys Pamela Nichols and Stephen Coffey, who represented the victims. He noted they were “never offered a dime” to the settle the case, which dates to 2002.

September 1, 2009

New Study Shows Yaz Birth Control Pill Carries Greater Risk of Blood Clots

by Dr. Shezad Malik

One of the more recent contraceptive pills to come out on the market and which became quite popular very quickly was the Yaz pill which is manufactured by Bayer. Yaz claimed that it could treat moderate acne and that it would treat the symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

However, Yaz may not be as safe or as beneficial as it claims. A new British report has outlined the risks and problems associated with Yaz. While all oral contraceptives carry a risk of causing blood clots in those who take them, Yaz seems to have an increased risk of these clots. While the dosage of hormones in a birth control pill has been known to affect the occurrence of blood clots, it also appears to be that the type of hormone may increase risk as well. Nearly all oral contraceptive pills contain estrogen and progestin and the lowest doses of estrogen correspond with the lowest risk for blood clots.

August 31, 2009

Mechanisms for Yaz, Yasmin And Ocella Blood Clots In Women

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a general rule, all hormonal birth control medications are associated with side effects and health risks, and the oral contraceptive pills YAZ, Yasmin, and Ocella are no exception.

Blood clots can cause serious side effects; stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

A blood clot, or thrombosis, which begins in one part of the body can become an embolus, a blood clot that travels in the bloodstream. This embolus can migrate into any organ but usually migrates into the lungs, heart, or brain.

A deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a thrombosis which most commonly forms in the lower legs’ calf veins. A pulmonary embolism, or PE is a thrombosis which forms in or has moved into the lungs. Thrombosis which develops in the heart can break off and migrate to the brain leading to strokes.

Read new British Medical Journal article on Oral Contraceptives and Thromboembolism

August 31, 2009

Nursing Home Medical Malpractice: Staff Dispensed 10 times Correct Dosage

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On Oct. 18, 2005, plaintiff Alvin Greenberg, 58, disabled, suffered from an overdose of Zyprexa. He had been administered the drug by the staff at the Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Wyndmoor, where he was a resident; the order for the anti-psychotic medication had been called into the facility by his treating physician three days earlier.

Greenberg’s daughter and power-of-attorney, Alicia Greenberg, sued Green Acres, Melanio Aguirre, Greenberg’s attending physician, and Aguirre’s practice, claiming negligence, in order to recover personal injury damages. Prior to trial Greenberg settled with Green Acres for an undisclosed amount but Green Acres still remained in the action as a defendant.

Plaintiff’s counsel alleged that Greenberg was given 10 times the proper amount of Zyprexa, causing Greenberg to require an emergency room admission for Zyprexa toxicity. According to counsel, when Aguirre spoke to the nurse by telephone on Oct. 15, it wasn’t clear whether Aguirre directed the nurse to give Greenberg 25 mg or 2.5 mg of the medication. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that both Aguirre and the nursing home were liable for the overdose because they didn’t ensure that Greenberg receive the proper dosage of the medication he required.

August 30, 2009

Texas Jury Decides Yamaha Not Liable for Teen’s Rhino Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yamaha Motor Co., the world’s second-largest motorcycle maker, is not liable for damages to the family of a Texas teenager who died while driving the company’s Rhino all-terrain vehicle.

Jurors in state court in Orange, Texas, deliberated about two hours before ruling the vehicle wasn’t to blame for the death of 13-year-old Forest “Eddie” Ray in 2007. The Rhino, a cross between a golf cart and an ATV, has been linked to 59 deaths in the U.S. The case is the first of about 500 to go to trial.

August 30, 2009

Jury Awards Whistle-Blower Student $450,000

by Dr. Shezad Malik

When she was thrown out of nursing school just 13 weeks before graduating, Sara Castle was humiliated.

Still, she knew she and her classmates weren’t getting the clinical training they needed because an instructor repeatedly dismissed students early — a practice Castle exposed, and the teacher was fired.

But Castle, too, was a casualty as Appalachian Technical College expelled her for, she asserts, blowing the whistle.

This week a jury awarded Castle $450,000 for the ordeal. The 55-year-old never finished her degree.