Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

March 6, 2009

US Supreme Court Rejects Limits on Drug Lawsuits

The Supreme Court forcefully rejected calls for limiting consumer lawsuits against drug makers, upholding a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm to gangrene following an injection.

The decision is the second this term to reject business groups’ arguments that federal regulation effectively pre-empts consumer complaints under state law.

Diana Levine of Vermont once played the guitar and piano professionally. Her right arm was amputated after she was injected with Phenergan, an anti-nausea medicine made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, using a method that brings rapid relief, but with grievous risks if improperly administered.

In a 6-3 decision, the court turned away Wyeth’s claim that federal approval of Phenergan and its warning label should have shielded the company from lawsuits like Levine’s.

March 5, 2009

Texas Jury Awards $3 M in Houston Death Involving Excessive Force

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago.

After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote that three of the four deputies named in Shirley Nagel’s lawsuit used unreasonable and excessive force as the deputies detained Nagel’s son, Joel Don Casey.

Casey’s death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy found the 52-year-old man died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.

He also suffered fractures to his seventh cervical vertebrae and to his thyroid cartilage.

March 4, 2009

Florida Smokers’ $580 M Trust Fund and Justice Department Settles for $18 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The trustee of a trust fund for sick Florida smokers is prepared to settle some claims by the federal government for $18 million, freeing up the rest of the $580 million fund for smokers and their attorneys.

“We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice in full settlement of all claims for reimbursement of Medicare and Veterans Administration benefits received by beneficiaries” of the fund, according to fund trustee Miles McGrane.

When it comes to how the settlement money would be paid, McGrane offered two scenarios — a quick and easy method dividing the total by about 45,000 authorized claimants for a charge of $400 each or a belabored process of running their Social Security numbers through Medicare and VA databases to check for individual benefit payments.

March 3, 2009

Birth Injury in Jail Leads to Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Chelsie Barker, now a 10-year-old girl, needs round-the-clock attention as a result of a lack of oxygen during birth in a Michigan jail.

Jail officers are being sued in federal court, for violating the girl’s constitutional rights by not getting her mother, an inmate, to a hospital for the delivery.

Their defense is Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision. Attorneys for the officers say they are not liable because the child had no 14th Amendment right before she was born.

The jail officers “had sufficient warning that the child was on the way and did not get her the medical care she needed immediately prior to, during, and after the birth,” according to the U.S. District Judge.

March 2, 2009

Seroquel Increased Risks of Diabetes

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to plaintiffs’ attorneys AstraZeneca PLC failed to warn physicians and patients about risks associated with its widely used schizophrenia drug Seroquel.

According to documents that were just unsealed in a U.S. federal court case showed AstraZeneca knew about the risk of weight gain and diabetes in 2000.

The company “not only failed to warn physicians and patients about the risk of diabetes but they also marketed them in a way that represented that there was no risk.”

March 1, 2009

FDA Requires Boxed Warning and Risk Mitigation Strategy for Metoclopramide-Containing Drugs

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A class of drugs to treat stomach disorders needs a strong warning about the risk of involuntary, repetitive movement on several parts of the body seen with long-term use or high doses, according to U.S. regulators.

The drugs contain the ingredient metoclopramide and are available in various forms including tablets, syrups and injections, the Food and Drug Administration said.

According to the FDA more than 2 million Americans use the medicines to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease and other stomach ailments.

February 28, 2009

Coppell Texas Mannatech to Pay Millions to Settle Diet-Supplement Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Dallas based dietary supplements seller Mannatech Inc. will return $4 million to customers and its founder will pay a $1 million fine for lying about the health benefits of its products, according to the Texas attorney general’s office.

Attorney General Greg Abbott said the Coppell-based company tricked people into thinking its products would prevent, treat or even cure diseases.

February 27, 2009

Arlington Texas Family Struggles to Cope After Drunken Driving Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An Arlington, Texas boy aged 2, who was critically injured in a drunken driving crash last week remained on life support as his parents coped with his devastating prognosis.

Eighty percent of Abdallah Khader’s brain was destroyed in the crash, according to his doctor, Jeff McGlothlin. If Abdallah survives, he will be severely disabled for the rest of his life.

February 26, 2009

California Woman Infected With Herpes Wins Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A California jury has awarded nearly $7 million to a 56-year-old woman who was unknowingly infected with herpes by a 77-year-old man.

The lawsuit alleged that Thomas Redmond knew he had genital herpes for more than 25 years but did not disclose it before his sexual relationship began with Patricia Behr and did not use a condom.

The lawsuit claimed that Behr suffered unnecessary stress and humiliation as a result of the defendant’s conduct, which it called “outrageous and beyond the bounds of decency.”

February 25, 2009

Detroit to Pay $2 M for Wrongful Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Detroit has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 67-year-old man in a police lockup.

James Stone, arrested for a parole violation, had a heart attack and died in August 2005 at the police department’s Second Precinct. Lawyers for his estate said he complained for hours about chest pain, but no one took him to a hospital.

The case was settled for $2 million before a jury was picked in federal court.