Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 26, 2008

Elevator Failure Led to Student’s Death

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.

October 22, 2008

Changes at the Texas Medical Board

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Texas Medical Board has named Alan T. Moore, M.D., as interim medical director of the agency.

Dr. Moore graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and received his medical degree from the U.T. Southwestern Medical School, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed his anatomic and clinical pathology residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he served as chief resident during his fourth year. He also completed a hematopathology fellowship at Parkland.

Dr. Moore is board certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology and hematopathology. He has practiced in Austin for more than 20 years and has served as president of Clinical Pathology Associates as well as on the board of Clinical Pathology Laboratories; medical director of Seton Medical Center Laboratory; chief of Staff at Seton Medical Center; and president of the Texas Society of Pathologists. He has also served as the transplant pathologist for the Seton Medical Center Cardiac Transplant Program.

October 22, 2008

New Rules Could Block Product Liability Suits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is planning to rewrite a wide array of federal rules with changes or additions that could block product-safety lawsuits by consumers and states.

The administration has written language aimed at pre-empting product-liability litigation into 50 rules governing everything from motorcycle brakes to pain medicine. This year, lawsuit-protection language has been added to 10 new regulations, including one issued Oct. 8 at the Department of Transportation that limits the number of seatbelts car makers can be forced to install and prohibits suits by injured passengers who did not get to wear one.

October 21, 2008

EPA Messed Up Water Pollution Controls

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to stem the pollution washing into waterways from cities and suburbs, the National Academy of Sciences reported this week.

According to the report’s authors, there needs to be “radical changes” in the way the federal government regulates stormwater runoff so that all waters are clean enough for fishing and swimming.

Stormwater runoff is the toxic brew of oil, fertilizers and trash picked up by rain and snowmelt as the water flows over parking lots, roofs and subdivisions.

October 20, 2008

MP3 Players Can Cause Permanent Deafness

by Dr. Shezad Malik

BRUSSELS – European scientists warned that many teenagers across Europe could suffer permanent hearing loss after five years if they listen to MP3 players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week.

The risk for hearing damage depends on sound level and exposure time.

October 19, 2008

Lawsuit for Delayed Brain Scan

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A New York jury has awarded nearly $11 million to a woman who suffered a stroke after waiting two hours for a hospital brain scan.

New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens was found by the jurors to be negligent in the medical treatment of a 71 year old woman after she fractured her skull in a fall in 2004.

The hospital denies liability for the woman’s resulting medical condition and is appealing the Oct. 3 decision awarding her $10.7 million.

October 18, 2008

Glaxo Settles Paxil Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

GlaxoSmithKline PLC agreed to pay $40 million to settle claims in a class-action lawsuit that it improperly marketed the antidepressant Paxil for use in children. The suit claimed Glaxo had withheld information that the drug was neither safe nor effective in this age group.

The money will be used to reimburse health plans that paid for Paxil use by children younger than 18. During litigation, Glaxo claimed that Paxil was safe and effective, and denied promoting it for children and concealing information. Glaxo denies any wrongdoing or liability.

Other health plans are suing drug makers on similar grounds, alleging they withheld information that led the health plans to unnecessarily pay for drugs. The Paxil case is the first time a drug company has agreed to pay a settlement in such a case.