Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 31, 2008

Fen-Phen $3M NJ Verdict

Wyeth, which set aside more than $21 billion to resolve lawsuits over the fen-phen diet combination, must pay $3 million to a woman who contracted a lung-destroying disease from the drugs.

The New Jersey jurors deliberated about two hours before finding that Wyeth’s Pondimin drug was a cause of the woman’s primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). The trial loss was Wyeth’s first in four years in a case involving the often-fatal illness.

The ruling comes as the New Jersey-based Wyeth seeks to wrap up more than a decade of litigation over fen-phen, which combined the company’s Pondimin and Redux with the generic phentermine. This medication combination was taken by patients as a weight reduction method to suppress their appetites.

October 30, 2008

Medical Malpractice Judgment Upheld

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A $4 million award to the family of a woman misdiagnosed with cancer and then given a lethal dose of painkillers was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

The patient’s daughter brought a wrongful death suit against Hospice Ministries and Dr. William Causey. The hospice settled during the trial for the maximum $1 million in insurance coverage.

The daughter said a simple lab test could have prevented the entire thing. The 66 year old patient was diagnosed in 2001 with pancreatic cancer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and sent to Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland in June 2001. She died about a month later.

October 29, 2008

Texas Medical Board Suspends License of a Dallas Doctor

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A panel of the Texas Medical Board suspended the license of Harold Clay Henderson, M.D., of Dallas, license number G3937, after determining that Dr. Henderson’s continuation in the practice of medicine presents a continuing threat to the public welfare.

The temporary suspension hearing took place Monday, October 27, under the Board’s authority, granted by S.B. 104 of the 78th Legislature, to suspend or restrict a physician’s license without notice when it determines the physician’s continuation in practice would constitute a continuing threat to the public welfare. The suspension is effective immediately.

The action was based on the panel’s finding of Dr. Henderson’s inability to safely practice medicine due to intemperate use of drugs or alcohol, or mental or physical disability. The panel also found that Dr. Henderson had aided and abetted the unlicensed practice of medicine by employing a physician in his office whose licensed was suspended.

October 29, 2008

BPA In Dental Sealants

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Parents are worried about a chemical substance found in the popular sealants that are painted on children’s molars to prevent decay.

The chemical is bisphenol-A, or BPA, which is widely used in the making of the hard, clear plastic called polycarbonate, and is also found in the linings of food and soft-drink cans. Most human exposure to the chemical clearly comes from the food supply. But traces have also been found in dental sealants.

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reassured consumers that the chemical appears to be safe, it has received increasing scrutiny in recent months from health officials in the United States and Canada. See earlier post

October 28, 2008

Nevada and Narcotic Painkillers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Nevada doctor has been accused of causing the deaths of three patients and has numerous examples of alleged prescription drug malpractice.

Investigations of the doctor are on going, but the Nevada State Medical Examiners Board has not suspended his license or taken any steps to force him to curtail his prescribing of large quantities of narcotic painkillers.

The medical board has the authority to summarily suspend the license of a doctor who is putting patients in imminent harm.

October 27, 2008

Study Shows Problems with Medronic’s Heart Stent

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A new medical study out recently shows that Medtronic‘s new drug-coated stent was associated with more heart attacks and blood clots than a rival stent made by Johnson & Johnson.

Results from the cardiology study named Sort Out III, which included more than 2,000 patients, showed that heart patients who received the Medtronic device, called Endeavor, had more heart attacks and blood clots and needed repeat procedures more often than those treated with the J&J stent, known as Cypher.

October 26, 2008

Elevator Failure Led to Student’s Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A college freshman was killed in a dormitory elevator accident two years ago at Ohio State University.

Ohio State has taken safety measures, such as installing video cameras in all its high-rise elevators this year, in case someone gets trapped and as a way to help identify causes of mechanical malfunctions.

One other student (Morris) was in the elevator when the freshman was crushed between the ceiling of the elevator and the third-floor lobby. The fatally injured student was trying to get off the overloaded elevator when it unexpectedly descended with its doors open.

October 25, 2008

Ovarian Cancer Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose, making it one of the most deadly. The ovaries are not accessible for examination, and the symptoms that are associated with ovarian cancer are vague and can be confused with other less life-threatening conditions.

Because of its hidden nature, ovarian cancer often is not caught in time to save the patient. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, three of every four ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, after the malignancy has spread beyond the ovary.

October 24, 2008

Pfizer to Settle Bextra and Celebrex Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Pfizer Inc. said it agreed earlier this week to pay $894 million to settle most Celebrex and Bextra claims.

Pfizer said in a statement that it is taking an after-tax charge of $640 million against profit in the quarter to cover the settlement sum.

Pfizer said it plans to settle most lawsuits involving the painkillers Bextra and Celebrex. The large size of the settlement heightens the pressure to cut costs, because Pfizer’s blockbuster cholesterol drug, Lipitor, is losing market share and sales growth of its once-promising antismoking drug, Chantix, has slowed because of safety concerns.

October 23, 2008

20 Drugs on FDA Watch List

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The FDA is “evaluating” new adverse-event reports for 20 drugs, the agency announced in September. A 2007 federal law requires the FDA to disclose all its investigations into reports of possibly drug-related adverse events.

The reports on the list come from the FDA’s early-warning system for drugs already on the market. This Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) collects reports from patients, hospitals, doctors, and drug companies about suspicious problems that might be related to a medication.