Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 17, 2008

Eli Lilly To Settle Zyprexa Lawsuits

Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to pay $62 million to some states, to settle claims it improperly marketed Zyprexa, its top-selling drug, to patients who did not have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, its only approved uses.

Attorneys general from several states had accused Lilly of marketing Zyprexa for off-label uses and inadequately disclosing the drug’s side effects to health-care providers. Doctors are free to prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA, but drug companies cannot market them for those situations.

But Lilly has settled more than 31,000 product liability claims against the drug since 2005, paying out more than $1.1 billion. The drugmaker still faces separate litigation with 11 other states, generally involving consumer protection issues or Medicaid reimbursement.

October 16, 2008

Texas Medical Board Disciplines 34 Doctors and Issues 276 Physician Licenses

by Dr. Shezad Malik

At its October 9-10 meeting, the Texas Medical Board took disciplinary action against 34 licensed physicians.

The actions included three violations based on quality of care; two actions based on unprofessional conduct; one action based on violation of probation or prior order; one action that terminated a prior suspension; two actions based on other states’ actions; one action based on inadequate medical records violations; two actions based on impairment due to alcohol or drugs or mental/physical condition; five actions based on non-therapeutic prescribing; two actions based on failure to properly supervise or delegate; two actions based on criminal convictions; three voluntary surrenders; and 10 licensees agreed to enter into administrative orders with the Board for minimal statutory violations. In addition, the board issued two cease and desist orders against unlicensed individuals.

At its October 9-10 meeting, the Texas Medical Board issued 276 physician licenses.

October 16, 2008

EPA Issues New Standard For Lead

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued new air quality standard for lead that is expected to have a major impact in Missouri, in the heart of the nation’s lead belt.

The new standard is 10 times more tougher than the old standard for lead, a toxic metal which known to impair neurological development in children.

The new standard of 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter of air represents the first time the agency has revised airborne levels of lead since 1978, when the metal was phased out of gasoline. According to experts it is a good standard and EPA has got to enforce it.

The EPA was under a court order to revise the standard as a result of successful 2004 lawsuit.

October 15, 2008

J&J Paid $68 Million to Settle Ortho-Evra Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to court recordsJohnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company’s Ortho Evra birth-control patch.

Majority of users claimed that the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis, (blood clots in the legs), and pulmonary embolisms, (when the blood clots from the legs travel into the lungs). The complaints blamed Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women, strokes and heart attacks.

October 14, 2008

Gadolinium Litigation Involves 391 Lawsuits in State and Federal Court

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to documents filed in federal court, the makers of gadolinium-based contrast agents currently face 391 lawsuits filed by individuals who allege that they developed a rare condition known as NSF, or nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, after an enhanced MRI.

Gadolinium contrast injections are commonly used during MRI and MRA tests to allow doctors to distinguish blood vessels from surrounding tissue by providing enhanced clarity to the images. However, in patients without properly functioning kidneys, side effects of the MRI contrast agents could lead to the hardening and thickening of the skin, which severely restricts movement and could be fatal.

October 14, 2008

Waxahachie Truck Accident Settles For $1.5M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS — An Ellis County jury awarded two men $1.5 million as compensation for injuries they received in an 18-wheeler accident.

The two men were driving northbound on Interstate 35E in Waxahachie when a northbound 18-wheeler banged their car, causing it to roll several times. One of the men received a fractured vertebra and the other man received injury to his right knee, which required several reconstructive surgeries.

October 13, 2008

Utah Medical Malpractice Case Settles for $1M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Federal government has agreed to pay a Utah family nearly $1 million to settle a medical malpractice case. The man was being treated for leukemia at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City in 2004 when he developed a severe infection and died. His survivors sued, claiming the hospital failed to give him antibiotics in time. He died of sepsis from a low white-blood-cell count.

The Government agreed to settle the case for $950,000 to cover general damages and future lost income.

October 12, 2008

Botched IV Injection Leads to Amputation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Vermont woman was awarded more than $6 million when a jury ordered Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company, to pay her for failing to warn her about the risks of one of its drugs.

But this case was appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court and the Court is set to hear arguments this November.

This case concerns “Federal Pre-emption,” a legal doctrine that can prevent plaintiffs from suing in state court when the products that injured them had met federal standards.

October 11, 2008

Dallas North Tollway Collision

by Dr. Shezad Malik

There was a Dallas North Tollway collision early last Saturday, when a man drove the wrong away. His car collided with two others, killing a female passenger in one of them.

A Dallas police officer noticed a Honda Accord driving north in the southbound lanes of the tollway about 1 a.m. Saturday. The Honda, continued north until near Walnut Hill Lane, where it slammed into a Lexus sedan. The Honda then collided with a Chevrolet pickup. The driver was unhurt.

October 10, 2008

HIV-Aids Origin

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A new study claims that the most common global strain of HIV began spreading in humans around 1900 in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study, which is published in Nature, found that HIV began spreading between 1884 and 1924, around the same time urban centers in west central Africa were established.

Previous studies have shown that HIV spread from chimpanzees to humans in southeastern Cameroon.