Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

August 29, 2009

Family Awarded $4.4M in Suit Over Fatal Accident

A District Court jury has awarded nearly $4.4 million to the widow and children of a UT Payson man who suffered fatal injuries in 2006 when he tried to swerve around backed-up traffic on Interstate 15 and hit other vehicles.

That amount will be reduced by almost $2 million because of a state law that caps damages against the state and because of the victim’s share of responsibility for the accident.

The family of Richard Kunzler claimed in a lawsuit that the state Department of Transportation and a subcontractor working on a bridge reconstruction project near Spanish Fork failed to post appropriate signs warning motorists about traffic delays. Vehicles were backing up to Benjamin and drivers were given insufficient warning about the construction, the suit claimed.

August 28, 2009

Chantix Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Side Effects

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Since the Chantix black box warning was announced earlier in July 2009, the focus has been on the increased risk of suicides. Pfizer also quietly added new information to the warning label about reports of serious skin reactions, such as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, referred to as SJS, is a rare skin reaction that can occur as a side effect of several medications. It results in severe rashes and blistering of the skin and mouth.

It often requires treatment in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU) or burn care unit, and it can result in death. If the top layer of the skin detaches from the lower layers and lesions cover more than 30% of the body, SJS is often diagnosed as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

August 28, 2009

Exxon Loses Second Phase of New York Water-Well Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Exxon Mobil Corp. lost the second phase of a trial in which New York City accused the company of poisoning the city’s groundwater, with a jury ruling that a gasoline additive will remain in water wells for years.

The case is part of larger litigation over methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE. More than 70 lawsuits filed by water providers and state and local governments were consolidated before U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin for pretrial information-gathering, according to an industry Web site.

An 11-member jury decided today that MTBE will contaminate the output of six affected wells at a peak level of 10 parts per billion in 2033. The verdict came on the third day of deliberations, less than two hours after jurors told Scheindlin they were deadlocked on a part of the case.

August 28, 2009

J&J Unit Warns of Deadly Skin Reaction With HIV Drug Intelence

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Johnson & Johnson warned doctors of reports of a deadly skin reaction and liver failure tied to its HIV medicine Intelence.

The skin condition called toxic epidermal necrolysis has killed one patient and injured another since Intelence was approved in January 2008. Another patient taking the tablets reported a hypersensitivity reaction accompanied by liver failure.

The prescribing information for Intelence was revised to include these reports and a caution that doctors stop treatment immediately if patients develop severe skin reactions or hypersensitivity symptoms, according to a letter e-mailed today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Similar side effects were seen in some study participants and have also been linked to other drugs for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

August 28, 2009

South Texas Jury Finds Yamaha not Negligent in First Rhino Rollover Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

It only took a few hours for Southeast Texas jurors in the first trial over Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicle rollovers to return a swift ruling of no negligence — a verdict in the company’s favor that could have far reaching effects.

With hundreds of Yamaha ATV suits pending in courts around the country, the victorious outcome obtained in Orange County may influence how Yamaha proceeds with similar litigation.

The product liability trial of Johnny Ray vs. Yamaha Motor Co. kicked off Aug. 18 and ended Aug. 27.

Jurors in the Orange County District Court of Judge Buddy Hahn were tasked to decide if Yamaha Motor Co. cut costs and negligently placed a defective off-road vehicle into the stream of commerce.

August 27, 2009

Hotel Drowning Wrongful Death Jury Verdict $3.8 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A jury returned a nearly $3.8 million verdict against a Montgomery hotel where a 19-year-old football player suffered injuries that led to his death two years ago.

Derrick Marshall was a standout receiver who had signed with Alabama State University.

Marshall was about to start two-a-day workouts with the Hornets when he drowned in the pool at the hotel during a family reunion July 29, 2007, said Josh Wright, an attorney for Marshall’s family.

Marshall did not die immediately, but was left in a vegetative state. He died at the age of 20 in November 2007 at Jackson Hospital.

August 27, 2009

FDA Accuses J&J of ‘Misleading’ Advertising for Ertaczo

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An advertisement for Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) Ertaczo, a product to treat the fungal infection known as athlete’s foot, makes unproven claims about the medicine’s effectiveness and omits key information about risks associated with the product, federal regulators said on Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration said Johnson & Johnson used “misleading” information and did not mention certain risks in a medical journal advertisement for its athlete’s foot cream Ertaczo.

In an Aug. 21 letter released by the FDA Wednesday, the agency said the journal advertisement broadens the approved indication, contains unsubstantiated effectiveness claims about the product, and omits important risk information. Also, the FDA said J&J failed to submit the journal advertisement under current FDA regulations.

The company has until Sept. 4 to respond to the FDA letter.

“We have received an untitled letter from the FDA, which we are currently reviewing, and are in the process of preparing our response to the FDA,” said Marc Boston, a spokesman for J&J’s Ortho Dermtalogics unit, in a statement.

August 27, 2009

Dallas Cowboys Staffers File Lawsuits Over Sport Facility Collapse

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant who was left paralyzed and a special-teams coach whose neck was broken in the May 2 collapse of the team’s practice facility in Irving filed separate lawsuits against the Pennsylvania-based company that built the structure.

The lawsuits, which also name an engineer and five other companies involved in construction and maintenance of the facility, contend that structural problems and code violations were kept from the team for years before the tentlike structure collapsed in gusting winds.

Rich Behm, who was paralyzed from the waist down, and coach Joe DeCamillis are seeking an undisclosed amount for their pain and suffering and for punitive damages.

August 27, 2009

Jury Says Altria Must Pay $13.8 M in Smoker Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, the Marlboro cigarette maker, must pay $13.8 million in punitive damages to the daughter of a lifelong smoker who died of lung cancer in 2003, a jury found.

The verdict for Jodie Bullock, daughter of Betty Bullock, who smoked Marlboro and Benson & Hedges cigarettes for 45 years, was reached in Los Angeles. An earlier award of $28 billion from a 2002 trial had been first reduced by the trial judge and then canceled by an appeals court that ordered a new trial on punitive damages.

August 27, 2009

Camp Lejeune Residents Blame Rare Breast Cancer Cluster on the Water.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Camp Lejeune residents blame rare breast cancer cluster on the water.

For three decades, dry-cleaning chemicals and industrial solvents laced the water used by local Marines and their families. Mike Partain and at least 19 others developed male breast cancer.

One night in April 2007, as Mike Partain hugged his wife before going to bed, she felt a small lump above his right nipple. A mammogram — a “man-o-gram,” he called it — led to a diagnosis of male breast cancer. Six days later, the 41-year-old insurance adjuster had a mastectomy.

Partain had no idea men could get breast cancer. But he thinks he knows what caused his: contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was born.

Over the last two years, Partain has compiled a list of 19 others diagnosed with male breast cancer who once lived on the base.