Diseases and Conditions

Zocor Lawsuits Focus on More than Rhabdomyolysis

2012-01-31T14:48:00.001-08:00

More lawsuits involving the statin Zocor are moving beyond rhabdomyolysis, a treatable kidney disease, and toward other side effects that are focused on to a lesser degree. Problems with Zocor, as with other cholesterol lowering drugs, include cardiomyopathy, liver damage, and erectile dysfunction.

While rhabdomyolysis can be treated if caught early enough, cardiomyopathy can cause heart attacks that kill without warning. It's believed that Zocor and other statins deplete conenzyme Q10 levels in patients who take the drugs. Depletion of Q10 leads to cardiac events including congestive heart failure.

Hormones derived from cholesterol include testosterone and statins inhibit cholesterol synthesis. This in turn has lead to research linking erectile dysfunction and statins.

Using statins may also increase liver enzymes, which can lead to permanent liver damage if not treated. It is recommended that patients who take Zocor and other statins have a blood test six weeks after they begin taking the drugs to see where their liver enzyme levels are.

Zocor side effects, including liver damage and muscle damage, have cause the FDA to issue warnings about the drug since 2002.

If you or a loved one is suffering from the side effects of Zocor, or another type of drug, please contact an experienced defective drug attorney in your area today.

Losing Sleep Due to Drugs?

2011-12-22T08:43:00.001-08:00

Can't sleep? Do you know why? Although there are lots of things that can keep us awake at night, such as stress, anxiety, and depression, none of these might be the reason we toss and turn. Or, maybe these feelings are simply the symptoms of what's really at the root of our insomnia. Furthermore, is it a racing mind or nightmares, or even sleepwalking that is ruining sleep?

Millions of people are taking all sorts of medications for dozens of different ailments, both big and small. Yet, the one thing they may have in common is the dreaded problem of being unable to sleep. Some of them get so tired that, just like the narrator in Fight Club, "everything is a copy of a copy of a copy" while they're awake. But what are these medications and what can you do about it?

Common Medications that Cause Sleep Disorders

Some of the most common medications that cause sleep disorders include:

Heart medication – Beta blockers, cholesterol lowering drugs, statins, and more can cause sleepless nights and groggy days
Asthma medication – A drug called Theophylline has chemicals similar to caffeine, and corticosteroids, such as prednisone, can give patients the jitters
Antidepressants – Insomnia is more common with antidepressants than other drugs, and SSRIs have been linked to this common complaint, as well as other more serious side effects
ADHD medication – Drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) are stimulants meant to help people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but either keep users awake or from falling into REM sleep

Over the counter medications, such as cold and allergy medications that contain pseudoephedrine may help people get through their day, but slow release medications can keep you from sleeping well. If you have a cold, this can only prolong the misery – something we've all gone through.

Although problems with sleep are a fairly common complaint, you may be able to change to a medication that doesn't cause insomnia or nightmares. Speak to your doctor about what the problem is and how he or she might be able to help.

If you have suffered a drug injury, please contact an experienced drug injury attorney in your area today.

Former NFL Players File Lawsuit against League for Covering up Side Effects of Toradol

2011-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

A lawsuit by a group of former NFL players against the National Football League states the league did not adequately protect players from head injuries, as well as that the league concealed risks associated with concussions and the side effects of medication given to them.

The medication, Toradol, is an anti-inflammatory that was repeatedly administered to players for injuries, including concussions. The players’ lawsuit contends the players are now suffering chronic problems due to high-impact head injuries on the field. These symptoms include short-term memory loss, headaches, lack of concentration and focus, loss of sleep, vertigo, dizziness, and depression.

Toradol comes in because it can mask the symptoms of a head injury, while possibly inducing cerebral bleeding. Cerebral bleeding greatly increases the chance of long-term brain damage. The drug was given to players either as an intravenous injection or orally. The risks were allegedly not discussed with the players prior to being given to them. One of the instructions of Tradol is that it not be given if there is a closed head injury, like a concussion, or bleeding in the brain.

The goal of giving players Toradol is to get them back on the playing field, even if they are injured and should be taken out of the game. If a player cannot tell a doctor what his symptoms are, the doctor cannot necessarily say the player suffered a concussion.

Counsel for the players says that Toradol is the “unspoken doping scandal within professional football.”

They go on to say:

“We believe that many teams continue numbing their athletes with the drug in order to get them through games when in fact considerable evidence exists that Toradol magnifies the severity of concussion. We hope our lawsuit can expose the egregious misuse of this drug, which appears to be widely used by many NFL teams as well as college and high school football programs around the country.”

If you or a loved one has suffered a drug injury, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today.

Diseases and Conditions Halloween Special

2011-10-31T10:07:00.001-07:00

In honor of Halloween and the birth of the seventh billion person born (blessings and happiness to the Camacho-Galura family in Manila), it's time to address disease in general. While we focus on side effects of specific drugs, and, yes, you are far more likely to be struck by one of them than you are a plague, let's take a look at some of the world's worst diseases. Can you get these by taking a pill? No. Not yet.

Plague

The black plague, or Black Death, wiped out between 30 and 60 percent of Europe in the 14^th century. At the beginning of the plague, which is suspected to have spread from China, there were around 450 million people in the world. After the plague ran its course, there were an estimated 350 to 375 million. It took the world's population over 150 years to recover. While this is bad, the Plague of Justinian in the 6^th century, is estimated to have wiped out almost half of Europe's population. Constantinople itself lost 40 percent of its inhabitants.

Currently, plagues come and go. The bacterium that caused the Black Death, Yersinia pestis, is still around. Bubonic plague rears its head yearly in the US, but its victims are mostly prairie dogs these days. Hope your cat or dog doesn't bring it home, if you know what's good for you.

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

OK, so it isn't a disease, but VHFs are terribly frightening. Fever, bleeding out, and death are par for the course here. The most popular of these is Ebola. However, there's also Lassa, Hantavirus, Rift Valley fever, Dengue and Marburg. These are more likely to occur in Africa and South America, both tropical and underdeveloped.

Sticking with Ebola, a disease centered around Lake Victoria, which sits between Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the average fatality rate is over 50%. Luckily, it isn't highly contagious. Unfortunately for the victims, this is because you're probably going to die before anyone else catches it from you. It is thought to be caught from bats. Chimpanzees and gorillas may have been the cause of infections in 2001 and 2003, but fruit bats may have given it to them.

Symptoms are terrifying, including a sudden onset of fever, chills, malaise, chest pain, and nausea. This then leads to abdominal pains, diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat, hiccups, cough, and other respiratory problems. If victims get to the headache, confusion, seizures, and coma stage, it will most likely be accompanied by blood from the mucous membranes, and bruising, or hematomas, at various parts of the body.

Influenza

In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish Flu killed around 100 million people around the world. As a true pandemic, this was not just your typical flu. According to one doctor on the scene, "The faces wear a bluish cast; a cough brings up the blood-stained sputum. In the morning, the dead bodies are stacked about the morgue like cordwood." It was said the lucky ones simply drowned caused by the fluid in their lungs. The unlucky developed bacterial pneumonia and suffered in agony. At the time, there was no cure because antibiotics were not available.

More recently, H1N1 and H5N1, avian influenza or the bird flu, has people concerned. This is because the virus may mutate and spread worldwide. First infecting birds, it has already spread to humans. It can survive in the environment for long periods and can be picked up simply by touching an infected surface. The first breakout was in Hong Kong in 1997, which was linked to poultry. It spread throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, killing 60 percent of those who caught it. This is a serious concern today because of global travel. What starts in Asia may be in Europe the next day, and the US after that.

There is treatment available, but there are different types of avian flu now. Symptoms include coughing, diarrhea, fever over 100.4 F, headache, muscle aches, difficulty breathing and more. Experts say the outlook for those who catch it depends of its severity. Death is possible.

Prevention for all these diseases depends on the situation. Avoiding avian flu means avoiding going to countries where it is present. However, it is impossible to keep out everyone who may be infected from traveling to the US, or even your hometown.

The key to keeping from freaking out in a world where you can catch something fatal because the infected breathed on you, or coming down with a terrible side effect from a drug is to remember that it most likely will not happen. In fact, you are more likely to be brought down by the flu than you are by taking a drug that may cause side effects.

However, if you are sickened by a drug, please contact an experienced defective drug attorney in your area. If you realize the world's population is being overrun with a deadly disease, run for the hills.

Start Up Company Calls Out FDA for Mislabeling Epilepsy Drug Warnings

2011-09-30T12:38:00.001-07:00

Adverse Events, a California start-up company whose aim is to be a "service provider to deliver accurate, real-time information on adverse drug events reported to the FDA," states that epilepsy drugs taken by pregnant women may be more dangerous for their unborn children than is advertised.

Some epilepsy drugs are known to cause birth defects, as well as stillbirths, in gestating fetuses.

The FDA uses a "pregnancy category" that warns which medications may cause harm to a developing fetus. The fetuses of pregnant epileptics are especially at risk because their mothers do not have an option of discontinuing their medication. Due to this, the FDA's pregnancy category is labeled A (no known risk). B. C. D. and X (Danger – Do not use). Adverse Events believes the risks of taking these drugs have been understated and that the FDA has failed to recognize or analyze the risks after the drugs have gone to the market.

Adverse Events used their "17-step data refinement system" they call RxFilter to analyze relevant adverse event reports to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS). They found that between the beginning of 2004 to March 31, 2011 there were reports filed about 18 different epilepsy drugs prescribed during pregnancy. Ten of the 18 drugs had more than 25 birth defect-related case reports.

Looking at nearly 3000 "primary suspect" cases of birth defect-related adverse events, most of them were indeed defects or malformations. There were over 500 cases of stillbirths and nearly 80 cases of cleft lip/palate. The results show that many category C class drugs were just as dangerous as category D drugs. In fact, there was really no difference between the two categories.

If your child has suffered birth defects because of side effects from a medication you are taking, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today.

Second Class I Recall this Year for Medtronic Painkiller Implant

2011-08-31T09:24:00.001-07:00

Medtronic has announced a second Class I recall this year for its SynchroMed II drug infusion implantable pump over concerns the batteries can suddenly fail. This one comes after a late-May report showed there were at least 55 cases of device failure.

SynchroMed includes a catheter and pump infusion system that is implanted to deliver drugs to a specific area of the body. There are currently around 140,000 of the drug pumps in use worldwide.

According to reports, the problem is that a "filmy substance" seems to be building up on the pump battery, which causes the device to suddenly shut down. All of the reported problems, but one, are in pumps with batteries manufactured before 2005.

The first recall was issued in February over "pocket fill." Pocket fill occurs when drugs are injected into the tissue where the pump is implanted rather than at the appropriate site. This can cause a serious injury or even death due to overdose or underdose of the drug.

A Class I recall is the most serious type of recall there is and is reserved for those situations where there is a "reasonable probability of serious adverse consequences or death."

Many painkillers used with pumps like this can have serious adverse side effects. Adding the threat of a defective pump only amplifies their danger.

If you or a loved one has become seriously ill due to a defective pain pump or from the painkiller within the pump, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today.

Zyvox Linked to Central Nervous System Reactions when Taken with Psychiatric Medications

2011-07-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the antibacterial drug Zyvox (linezolid) can cause serious central nervous system reactions when taken in conjunction with certain psychiatric medications working through the serotonin system.

Linezolid is used to treat infections of the skin, pneumonia, and infections caused by the resistant bacterium Enterococcus faecium. Linezolid is a reversible monoamine oxidase A inhibitor. Because linezolid inhibits monamine oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down serotonin in the brain, and serotonergic psychiatric medications build up serotonin, the drug interaction may create a condition known as Serotonin Syndrome.

A toxic buildup of serotonin in the brain, Serotonin Syndrome causes several symptoms including mental changes (confusion, memory problems, and hyperactivity), excessive sweating, fever, trouble with coordination, twitching muscles, shaking and shivering, and diarrhea.

The FDA states that 29 psychiatric medications taken with Zyvox can cause Serotonin Syndrome. These include popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, and Zoloft. However, when conditions arise where it is imperative that patients take both Zyvox and psychiatric medications, the FDA stresses physicians weigh the risks of other treatments against the dangers of Serotonin Syndrome.

If you or a loved one has suffered Serotonin Syndrome as a result of taking Zyvox and a psychiatric medication, please contact an experienced defective drug attorney in your area for an initial consultation.

SCOTUS Sides with Generic Drug Makers in Labeling

2011-06-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court dealt victims of defective generic drugs a major blow when they sided with manufacturers over what is said, or unsaid, in labels. In essence, the Court has decided that the companies cannot be sued under state law over their abject failure to provide adequate warning labels about side effects.

The case specifically involved two women who were taking generic versions of Reglan. The drug metoclopramide is taken for nausea, heartburn, and vomiting. It can also cause a neurologic disorder known as tardive dyskinesia. This disorder causes involuntary and repetitive movements of the body, such as lip smacking, grimacing, tongue protrusion, and more.

The women first began taking the drug when the labeling stated "therapy longer than 12 weeks has not been evaluated and cannot be recommended." In 2004, the warning was changed to say that users should not exceed 12 weeks of therapy. In 2009, the FDA ordered the warning to list specifically that it caused tardive dyskinesia, and it should be added to Reglan and metoclopramide.

The US Supreme Court overturned a US appeals court ruling that the women could sue Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan Inc's UDL Laboratorie,s and Iceland-based Actavis Inc. The companies argued federal law barred lawsuits because the drug was already approved by the FDA. Federal law states that generic drugs must contain the same labels as their brand name equivalents. Thus, generic drugs have received the same pre-emption shield that other companies get.

This is a serious setback not only for the many victims of metaclopramide, but for all those who may be injured in the future by generic drug side effects. Since 70 percent of drugs used in the US come in the form of generics, this will not be the last we hear of individuals injured by defective drugs.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or made ill by a dangerous drug, please contact an experienced defective drug attorney in your area for an initial consultation.

Many Problems with Potential Drug Shortages

2011-05-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Scarce supplies of medications for life-threatening conditions have left hospitals looking for substitutes for patient or forcing the delay of treatment. According to the University of Utah’s Drug Information Service, drugs listed in short supply have tripled over the last five years to 211 medications. In the first few months of 2010, 89 drug shortages have occurred.

Most of the drug shortages involve injectables used in emergency rooms, ICUs, and cancer wards. Because of the types of drugs used, there are sometimes no good alternatives. The causes of the shortages include trouble importing raw materials, spikes in demand, factories that shut down for upgrades, and recalls of contaminated vials. Compounding the problem is that it is mostly cheap generic drugs made by fewer manufacturers that are experiencing shortages. The name brand, and very expensive, drugs seem to be just fine.

One of the issues that has cropped up is substitute drugs causing harm to patients who should be taking something else. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices reports that two people died last year because they were given the wrong dose of a morphine substitute.

Solutions have involved the Food and Drug Administration to ask foreign companies to ship their versions of the scarce drugs to the US temporarily. Two drugs whose shortages were eased by this include the anesthetic propofol and thiotepa, a drug used in transplants.

Other manufacturers are increasing their production capacity, but others say it’s the FDA’s fault for some shortages. The Generic Pharmaceutical Association, an industry trade group, says drug inspections and stockpiling of different drugs can lead to shortages.

Lawmakers area also taking notice of this problem. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) has urged the Federal Trade Commission to look into how pending drug company mergers might create or exacerbate drug shortages.

If you or a loved one has been injured by taking a substitute drug because of drug shortages, please contact an experienced pharmaceutical liability attorney in your area to set up a consultation.

Janssen Recalls 70,000 Prefilled Invega Sustenna Syringes

2011-03-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

Janssen, a division of Johnson & Johnson unit Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals, has recalled approximately 70,000 prefilled syringes containing the drug Invega Sustenna, an antipsychotic drug, due to some of the syringes having cracks in the side. The cracks have the possibility of affecting the sterility of the drug.

Janssen sent a letter to health care providers and pharmacists about the voluntary recall of the syringes. The recall affects certain lots of the 234-milligram strength syringes. None of the other strengths of the antipsychotic drug are affected by the recall. The cracks are unnoticeable because the cracks are located under the label.

So far, there have not been any reports of leaks from the cracked syringes, infections, or negative effects since the launch of the prefilled Invega Sustenna syringes. The recall of the syringes is completely voluntary.

Invega Sustenna is related to the drug Risperdal, which along with other antipsychotic drugs has been linked to neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). Both Risperdal and Invega are approved to treat symptoms of schizophrenia like catatonia, and Invega is marketed by Janssen in the United States.

Most of the inventory of the 234-milligram strength prefilled syringes are affected by the recall. Janssen expects to continue shipping syringes without cracks by early March. Normal product availability levels will be assumed by April.

If you or someone you love has been affected by a dangerous drug, please contact us to locate a dangerous drug attorney or pharmaceutical liability lawyer in your area.

Counterfeit Extenze Prompts Drug Recall

2011-02-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

Two lots of the nutritional supplement tablets Extenze are being voluntarily recalled by Biotab Nutraceuticals, Inc. The two recalled lots are counterfeit products not manufactured, packaged, or distributed by Biotab. They are falsely marked with the identical numbers used to identify the genuine Biotab lots. The lot numbers affected are 0509075 and 0709241.

The FDA notified Biotab of the counterfeit drug, which contains ingredients of drugs that are undeclared. The counterfeit drug may have adverse affects, pose serious health risks, and may negatively react with other drugs if taken at the same time. The counterfeit drugs are sold nationwide.

Biotab is voluntarily recalling the two lots affected by the counterfeit drug. There may be other lots and products on the market that are counterfeit and unidentified. If you have any of the affected counterfeit drugs, please return the unused product to your local retailer for a refund. If you have any questions about the recall, please call 626.775.6334. You can learn more about the recall and get further instructions.

Even legitimate Extenze pills may be dangerous as they contain yohimbe extract, which has been linked to kidney failure, seizures, and wrongful death.

If you have suffered an adverse reaction after taking counterfeit Extenze or the original Extenze product, please contact us to locate a dangerous drug attorney or defective product lawyer in your area and learn about your legal rights.

FDA to Increase Scrutiny of Dietary Supplements

2011-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Last month, the FDA sent a warning letter to manufacturers and marketers of diatary supplements that it will be targeting the hundreds of products that contain drugs or chemicals that function like drugs.

Unlike prescription drugs, which must undergo thorough safety and effectiveness testing before receiving FDA approval, dietary supplements are not strictly regulated.

Most of the dietary supplements the FDA is going after are for weight loss, bodybuilding, and “sexual enhancement.” Some contain compounds that are regulated as pharmaceuticals, and others contain similar substances with unknown side effects.

Supplements Contain Dangerous and Deadly Drugs

For example, most of the targeted sexual enhancement supplements contain sildenafil, which is the active ingredient in Viagra and is known to cause headaches, dyspepsia, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, hypotension, heart attack, heart arrhythmias, and stroke.

The weight loss supplements frequently contain the prescription drug sibutramine (Meridia), which was recently recalled due to high risk of heart attack and increased blood pressure.

The FDA is also targeting bodybuilding supplements that contain anabolic steroids, many of which are analogues of regulated substances and have unknown side effects.

Other pharmaceutical-laced dietary supplements have been found to cause stroke, liver damage, renal failure, pulmonary blood clots, and death.

If you or a family member has had a heart attack or other adverse event after taking a dietary supplement, please contact us to locate a product liability attorney in your area.

FDA Review: Weight-Loss Drug Contrave Fails Key Tests

2010-12-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

The third diet drug under FDA review in 2010, Contrave, has failed tests for safety and effectiveness. Made by Orexigen Therapeutics, Contrave is a combination of the antidepressant drug bupropion (Wellbutrin) and the anti-addiction opioid drug naltrexone (Revia/Depade/Vivitrol).

The primary concern for the FDA was that patients taking Contrave lost just 4.2% more body weight than the placebo group in Orexigen’s clinical trials, just shy of the 5% benchmark set by FDA guidelines.

The FDA is also concerned, however, about the risk of cardiovascular problems associated with similar diet drugs like sibutramine (Meridia), which was recently taken off the market due to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

FDA researchers were especially concerned that Orexigen intentionally enrolled very few clinical trial patients who were elderly or had previous heart problems. Such exclusion would make the drug look safer than it really is, since most drug-related heart attacks occur in these groups.

Contrave’s negative review comes just after the FDA’s October rejection of diet drugs Qnexa and Lorcaserin. Qnexa met the weight loss benchmark, but was deemed unsafe due to associated heart problems and birth defects. The FDA stopped the approval process for Lorcaserin after testing in rats produced cancerous tumors.

If you have suffered a heart attack, stroke, or other adverse effect from weight loss medication, please contact us today to get in touch with an experienced pharmaceutical injury attorney in your area. You may be entitled to money damages for your injury or illness.

Darvon, Darvocet Withdrawn from US Market

2010-11-30T14:57:00.001-08:00

After reviewing new data demonstrating that the painkiller propoxyphene (marketed as Darvon and Darvocet) significantly increases the risk of possibly fatal heart arrhythmia, the FDA has requested Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and other companies making generic versions to remove the drug from the market. The pharmaceutical companies have agreed.

Though the FDA has received two previous requests for a recall of Darvon, the agency decided as recently as July 2009 to let the defective drug remain on the market, albeit with strong warnings. At the same time, the FDA ordered Xanodyne to conduct further scientific testing of the drug's side effects. The results of that study, which showed that propoxyphene harms the heart's electrical activity even at normal doses, prompted the FDA to ask for a recall of the drug last week.

Consumer advocate groups, such as Public Citizen, have roundly criticized the FDA for not recalling Darvon in the US more quickly after it was recalled in the UK six years ago and more than one year ago in Europe. Public Citizen estimates that approximately 120 million prescriptions for propoxyphene have been filled in the US, potentially resulting in thousands of deaths, since the UK's ban in 2004.

If you or a loved one has experienced heart problems after taking Darvon or Darvocet, please contact our pharmaceutical injury attorneys today to set up a free case evaluation.

FDA Severely Restricts Avandia

2010-10-28T13:30:00.001-07:00

On September 23^rd, the FDA announced severe restrictions to be placed on GlaxoSmithKline’s controversial diabetes drug Avandia. These restrictions make Avandia an option only for patients with Type 2 diabetes who cannot use other medications to control their symptoms.

The European Medicines Agency announced the same day that it was taking Avandia off the European market completely. The FDA and international regulators have been examining the safety record of Avandia since a 2007 study highlighted serious risk of heart attacks and heart disease in patients taking the drug.

An FDA advisory panel voted 20-12 in July of this year to allow Avandia to remain on the market with labeling requirements. Questions have been raised about conflicts of interest on this Avandia panel after it was reported that members of that panel may have had improper or undisclosed financial relationships with Avandia’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline.

The 2007 study by Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic showed that diabetes patients on Avandia were significantly more likely to experience:

heart attack
heart disease
congestive heart failure
stroke

That research was followed up by further studies showing similar risk profiles, including one from June, 2010 by FDA scientist Dr. David Graham estimating that Avandia had caused 100,000 cases of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and death.

The FDA’s September decision to restrict Avandia is akin to a defective drug recall, though it does not completely remove Avandia from the prescription drug market. While not a full defective drug recall, the decision does lend credibility to potential Avandia drug injury lawsuits. This could add to the millions of dollars GlaxoSmithKline has already paid this year in defective drug injury compensation.

If you or a loved one has had a heart attack or stroke after taking Avandia or has taken another defective drug and been harmed, please contact the pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at a personal injury law firm near you.

FDA Reviews Actos for Bladder Cancer Risk

2010-09-20T12:36:00.001-07:00

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday that it is reviewing Takeda Pharmaceuticals' diabetes drug Actos due to concerns that the drug increases the risk of bladder cancer in patients who take it over a long period of time. Actos, along with the similar diabetes drug Avandia made by GlaxoSmithKline, has previously been linked to heart disease, heart attack, and heart failure but was left on the market by FDA with new labeling requirements.

Concerns over conflicts-of-interest in previous reviews of Actos may lead to increased scrutiny of the FDA's deliberations on the risks of Actos and Avandia. During previous reviews of Actos, FDA panel members have revealed financial relationships with Takeda Pharmaceuticals and rival GlaxoSmithKline, causing some to question the panels' independence.

The FDA has not yet concluded that Actos definitely increases the risk of bladder cancer and says that patients currently taking Actos should not stop taking their medication, but should speak to their doctor about any concerns they have about dangerous side effects.

If you or a loved one has taken Actos and been harmed, please contact the Actos injury lawyers at a personal injury law firm near you.

Accutane Verdict Reversal Favorable To Roche

2010-08-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Roche Holding AG, the maker of the acne drug, Accutane, has won a reversal of a $10.5 million verdict because a judge barred the company from using evidence about the drug’s use. Lawyers for Roche should have been able to use data about how many people had used Accutane in the 2008 trial of Kamie Kendall, a Utah resident who blamed the drug for causing her IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), a disorder commonly associated with taking the acne drug. This is a huge victory for Roche, a company who has lost all seven cases against Accutane since 2007. Roche paid well over $45 million to plaintiffs in those cases.

According to the appeals court, "Roche was unduly impeded at this trial from adducing and advocating numerical proofs that could have potentially and reasonably led a jury to reach a different verdict."

Accutane, Roche’s second biggest-selling drug, has been taken by approximately 13 million people since it went on the market in 1982. The drug has also been linked to birth defects and depression.

If you or a loved one has taken a defective drug and been harmed, please contact the pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at a personal injury law firm near you.

Jury Decides Merck Must Pay $8 Million in Damages from Fosamax

2010-07-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Drug giant, Merck, lost its first battle in the Fosamax war. A jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found that the osteoporosis drug was defectively designed and "unreasonably dangerous."

The jury awarded $8 million in compensatory damages to a 72-year-old woman named Shirley Boles from Fort Walton Beach, Florida because Fosamax was found to have caused the disabling and disfiguring disease, osteonecrosis of the jaw. The plaintiff’s legal team was led by Tim O’Brien of the Levin, Papantonio Law Firm and was co-counseled by Gary Douglas of Douglas & London. Jim Green was also on the victorious legal team. According to Mr. O’Brien: : "This jury saw what we at Levin Papantonio saw in Ms. Boles. She's the world's bravest great-grandmother and this horrible injury never should have happened to her. But it did, so she took on a giant. And she won."

If you or a loved one has suffered due to a defective drug, please contact an experienced defective drug attorney near you today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation. Personal injury attorneys work on a contingency basis, which means they do not get paid unless they win your case.

Brain Damage Suffered by NFL Players

2010-06-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Justin Strzelczyk who was killed in a fiery automobile crash in 2004 at the age of 36. Autopsy reports showed that the former football star had a condition similar to that generally found only in boxers with dementia or people in their 80s.

Strzelczyk was found to have brain damage in post mortem studies due likely to the persistent head trauma he suffered playing football. Since Strzelczyk's findings were released, at least five other former NFL players have been found to have similar brain damage. These findings add to the growing evidence that longtime football players, particularly lineman, are enduring hidden brain trauma and permanent brain damage.

The condition that has been found in the NFL players (and has been found in many boxers) is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition evidenced by neurofibrillary tangles in the brain's cortex, which caused memory loss, depression and eventually Alzheimer's disease-like dementia.

Unfortunately, the tests that show someone has CTE cannot be performed on a living person other than through an intrusive tissue biopsy. For now, NFL players, even those who have never had a concussion like Strzelczyk, will not being able to find out if they have suffered brain damage until it is too late.

If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, please contact an experienced brain injury attorney in your area today.

Over $5 Million Awarded to Mesothelioma Victim

2010-05-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

New Jersey engineering and construction firm Foster Wheeler Corp. has been ordered to pay $5.2 million to the survivors of an employee who died in 2006 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer related to asbestos exposure. Richard Walmach was a career naval machinist who died after filing the suit, which claimed the company failed to disclose asbestos risks. Foster Wheeler Corp. is a supplier of boilers, steam generators and other power equipment for the U.S. Navy.

Foster Wheeler has faced many other asbestos-related suits and has paid over $100 million in damages, but this is the first time the company has been ordered to pay punitive damages. Of Walmach's $5.2 million, $2 million was for punitive damages. Walmach worked at the company for 37 years and used jackhammers to remove asbestos-packed insulation from boilers. He also worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard when asbestos was being removed there in the 1960's.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to exposure to asbestos, please contact the Law Offices of Peter Angelos today to schedule a confidential consultation.

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2010-04-28T08:55:00.001-07:00

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Weight Loss May Aid in Bad Breath

2010-04-12T15:14:00.001-07:00

Now there's another good reason to go on that diet after the holidays. Researchers have published a study that finds a direct link between obesity and bad breath: the more overweight you are, the more likely your breath will smell unpleasant to those around you.

The research, led by breath expert Prof. Mel Rosenberg from the Department of Human Microbiology and The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, was reported in the Journal of Dental Research. The study also reported, for the first time, scientific evidence that links bad breath to alcohol consumption.

The Study

The study was done in Israel and included a sample of 88 adults of varying weights and heights. While at a clinic for a regular check-up, they were asked by graduate student Tsachi Knaan, a co-author in the study, whether he could test the odor of their breath and ask questions about their daily habits.

Prof. Rosenberg, Knaan and Prof. Danny Cohen concluded from the data that overweight patients were more likely to have foul-smelling breath. "This finding should hold for the general public," says Prof. Rosenberg. "But we don't have any scientific evidence as to why this is the case. That will be the next step."

He surmises that the connection between obesity and bad breath could be caused by several factors. Obese people may have a diet that promotes the condition of dry mouth. Prof. Rosenberg also suggests that people who are obese may be less in tune with taking care of their mouths and bodies. "We have certainly opened a window of questions here," says Prof. Rosenberg.

History of Bad Breath

While widespread obesity is a modern invention, bad breath is not. The phenomenon goes back thousands of years.

Says Prof. Rosenberg, "I have read reports of bad breath in ancient Egypt. In ancient Rome there was a man named Cosmos who sold breath-freshening agents. Bad breath is frequently mentioned in Jewish scripture - The Talmud - stating that if you were a 'Cohen' (a priest) you couldn't perform holy duties on the Temple if your breath was bad."

"If you were a newlywed groom, you could annul a marriage if on your wedding night you discovered that your wife had bad breath. In ancient times, we learn, bad breath was considered a 'no-no,' as bad as having leprosy."

Self-Examination Is Not Really Possible

The problem remains today. Bad breath - and the fear that you might have it - plagues millions of people because it isn't easy for one to check one's own breath. Indeed, nine people in the study were unaware of their bad breath.

Says Prof. Rosenberg, who co-edits the Journal of Breath Research, "I can't go out into the world and smell everybody's breath, and quite frankly I've already smelled many thousands of cases. My goal now is to give people a list of the potential factors that could lead to this condition, so they can treat themselves." Obesity is now added to the list, which includes dry mouth, poor dental hygiene, and possibly even the morning cup of coffee.

"You should tell people in your family if they have bad breath," says Prof. Rosenberg. "It is curable in almost all instances, and it can be a sign of disease." So, people just might appreciate hearing this difficult truth in the long-run.

Teen Track Star Dies from Sports Cream Overuse

2010-04-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

A New York medical examiner has blamed using too much over-the-counter muscle cream on a 17-year-old track star's death. Arielle Newman, a cross country runner from Staten Island, died after her body absorbed toxic levels of methyl salicylate, the anti-inflammatory found in sports creams such as Bengay or Icy Hot These creams are used to soothe muscle aches and stiffness.

A spokesperson for the medical examiner who performed the teen's autopsy said the teen used "topical medication" to excess. The young athlete's death is the first reported death in New York from using a sports cream. Methyl salicylate poisoning is highly unusual, and deaths from high levels of it are rare. The medical examiner said the girl either used the cream way too often, slathered her body with it, or used a normal amount and her body absorbed an abnormally high amount of methyl salicylate.

Dangerous Diabetes Drugs

2010-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Avandia and Actos, both drugs for the treatment of type 2 Diabetes, have been found to increase the risk of heart failure; way back in 2007, the FDA required the drugs carry a black box warning, which is the strongest warning the Food and Drug Administration can issue to a drug manufacturer. Avandia is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and Actos is made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.

The American Diabetes Association will soon publish a study performed by Harvard researchers that focused on 26,375 diabetic patients who took Avandia from 2000 to 2006. This group was compared to another group who took Actos during the same time period. Researchers were looking for a link between the drugs and the occurrence of myocardial infarction (heart attack). This study found that patients taking Avandia were twice as likely to suffer cardiac problems as those taking Actos.

While Glaxo has conducted its own study and the Mayo Clinic did similarly, with differing results, the basic idea is the same: the public must know that these drugs can be dangerous, especially if you have mild heart disease or any kidney problems.

At the time of this writing, approximately 13,000 people have filed personal injury lawsuits against Glaxo after taking Avandia and suffering some form of cardiac distress.

If you have been harmed or if you have lost a loved one due to a defective drug, you should contact a product liability attorney in your area today to schedule a confidential, no-cost consultation.

Zicam Maker Issued Warning

2009-08-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a letter to the manufacturer of Zicam, Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., due to reports that Zicam nasal sprays, gels, and swabs are causing users of these over-the-counter homeopathic decongestant products to lose their sense of smell (anosmia). At the time of this writing, there have been over 130 reports (at the time of this writing) of Zicam users losing their sense of smell.

If you live in Virginia or northeast North Carolina and have suffered the adverse effects of Zicam, experienced pharmaceutical injury attorneys will be able to tell you whether or not you have a valid legal claim. They can help you recover monetary compensation for your suffering; please contact a defective drug attorney in your area to schedule a confidential, free consultation as soon as possible as there are time limits (statutes of limitation) on defective drug cases.

While having no sense of smell may not seem like a serious medical condition, it actually is. If you are not able to smell, then you would not smell a gas leak or something burning in your home. Also, since the sense of smell is directly tied to the sense of taste, you would not be able to taste your favorite foods. You may be able to detect spiciness or saltiness, but you would not be able to discern flavors, and everything would taste rather bland.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by Zicam products, please contact a personal injury attorney in your area today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation.

New Risks of Mad Cow Disease From Farmed Fish

2009-06-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

The results of a new study that were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease suggest there is a chance humans could contract mad cow disease from eating certain types of fish. The three scientists that performed the study say that there is a chance farmed fish could carry and transmit mad cow disease to humans.

When farming fish, the animals are often fed various different foods like bone meal and other foods with cow meat. The study looked at the chances of fish being able to carry Creutzfeld Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease. Mad cow disease is a fatal brain disease in cows, and scientists believe it can cause Creutzfeld Jakob disease in humans.

According to the scientists who performed the study, Creutzfeld Jakob disease can incubate within the body for decades before being diagnosed. This long incubation period makes it difficult to know exactly how someone contracted the dangerous brain disease.

The scientists are also calling for the government to ban feeding fish bone meal or cow byproducts because of the chance of fish transmitting disease to humans. Although the scientists have not definitively proved that fish can transmit the disease to humans, they do say there is a chance that it could happen.

If you or a loved one has become seriously ill from eating any kind of food, you may be able to recover compensation for the injuries suffered. Please contact an experienced defective product attorney in your area today to schedule you case evaluation.

Lose Weight and Your Bad Breath

2009-04-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Asbestos Fibers and Cancer Being Studied

2009-02-02T09:33:00.001-08:00

Researchers at Ohio State University have been studying the molecular makeup of cancer cells in order to examine the individual bonds between asbestos and human cells. While any meaningful discoveries may be years away, the findings may prove helpful in studying illnesses caused by asbestos exposure such as mesothelioma, a very deadly cancer. Researchers are using atomic force microscopy to see how a single asbestos fiber binds with a specific receptor protein on the surface of a cell. Researchers believe that at least one of the deadly forms of asbestos triggers events inside cells that lead to illness, sometimes as much as decades after exposure.

Some of the more common illnesses caused by asbestos exposure are:

Mesothelioma
Chronic respiratory disease
Lung cancer
Asbestosis

Because of its high durability and resistance to heat, asbestos in its fibrous form has been used in manufacturing since the 1800s. Though its use is now highly regulated, it is still found in many materials. It has been estimated that as many as 1.3 million Americans face significant exposure to asbestos on the job.

If you or a loved one suffers from an asbestos-related disease, please contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney in your area today to schedule a confidential consultation.

Link between Popular Asthma Drug and Suicide Probed by FDA

2009-01-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

The FDA announced that it was investigating a possible link between increased risk of suicide and the asthma drug Singulair marketed by Merck & Co. It was Merck’s number one selling product last year to people 17 years old and younger, posting sales of $4.3 billion. The FDA noted that asthma patients taking Singulair should not stop taking the drug until they have spoken with a doctor.

Although the reports of suicide have come to the company anecdotally, and the number is believed to be small, Merck has been working closely with the FDA over the last year to make appropriate changes to Singulair's label. The new labeling changes will note that Singulair may increase "tremor, depression, suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior) and anxiousness."

The FDA is also looking into whether other related drugs including Accolate, Zyflo, and Zyflo CR should be investigated for potential risks. Singulair is a leukotriene receptor antagonist which targets parts of the inflammatory process in the body. It is prescribed to prevent exercise-induced asthma, as well as the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, or symptoms which occur primarily in the nose and eyes.

Clinical Trials

In a random, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial, Merck looked at over 11,000 adults and children who were treated with Singulair. In over 40 studies, there were no reports of suicidal thinking or behavior. In a similar trial that compared Singulair with other asthma medicine, one patient who received Singular attempted suicide, and three other patients who took other asthma medications attempted suicide.

Dr. David Weldon, director of the Allergy and Pulmonary Lab Services at Scott & White in College Station, Texas, said that he has not seen any increase in psychiatric behavior in people taking Singulair, but noted that some users suffered nightmares after beginning the drug.

Pregnant Mothers Taking Antidepressants May Risk Baby's Health

2008-12-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

In recent years, women have been advised to avoid medications during pregnancy and while breastfeeding their infants; yet, at the same time, some conditions pregnant women suffer such as hypertension (high blood pressure), asthma, epilepsy and depression require long-term and continued medication management.

It appears as though pregnant women suffering from depression may be in a no-win situation because failure to manage depression with continued SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) medication may affect the health of both mother and child. However, in February 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study indicating that mothers taking SSRI antidepressants after the 20th week of pregnancy were six times more likely to give birth to an infant with a serious hearth defect than mothers not taking SSRI antidepressants.

Depression is a serious illness that often carries with it an increased risk of suicide in the sufferer and should be treated by your doctor(s). For decades, SSRIs have helped thousands of men and women fight depression. However, the statistics clearly show that there are serious risks involved with taking SSRI medication during pregnancy.

Memory Loss After Traumatic Brain Injury

2008-09-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Memory loss is one of the most common cognitive side effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Even in mild TBI, memory loss is still very common. The more severe the victim's memory loss after the TBI, the more significant the brain damage will be most likely. TBI's are very common, especially in motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle accidents. Falls often cause both minor and severe traumatic brain injuries.

Some TBI-related amnesia such as patients unable to recall what happened just before, during and after the head injury is temporary. Temporary memory loss is often caused by swelling of the brain in response to the damage it sustained. But because the brain is pressed against the skull, even parts that were not injured are still not able to work. The patient's memory typically returns as the swelling goes down over a period of weeks or even months. Temporary memory loss may also be an emotional response to the stressful events surrounding a TBI.

Damage to the nerves and axons (connection between nerves) of the brain may also result in memory loss. The brain cannot heal itself like an arm or a leg, so any function that is damaged during a TBI is permanently impaired unless the brain learns how to perform that function differently. Fixed amnesia may include the loss of meanings of certain common, everyday objects or words, or a person may not remember skills he had before the TBI.

A different kind of memory loss is called anteretrograde amnesia, which is an inability to form memories of events that happened after the injury. Doctors are not sure, exactly, why this happens, but some research has shown that it may have something to do with the fact that TBI's reduce the levels of a protein in the brain that helps the brain balance its activity. Without enough of that particular protein, the brain can easily overload and memory formation is affected.

At the current time, there is no treatment for memory loss following TBI; if the memory does not come back on its own, it will be lost permanently. There is a great deal of research in the field of TBI and memory loss, but, sadly, there are no cures for TBI-related amnesia at this time.

Family Sues After Woman Dies Following Gastric Bypass

2008-07-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

The family of a woman who died two weeks after gastric bypass surgery has filed a lawsuit against her doctors and a Houston, Texas hospital. Freda Brantley, 48, was discharged from the hospital after vertical-banded gastroplasty on June 6, 2005. The suit alleges that Ms. Brantley was discharged to go home without the appropriate treatment. She died from kidney failure on June 21, 2005, just fifteen days after the surgery. She had vomited for those two weeks and was malnourished.

The suit seeks unspecified damages against Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Dr. Beryl Harberg and Park Plaza Hospital. Hospital officials who were contacted for comment stated, "While patient privacy laws prohibit us from speaking directly to this case, we will vigorously defend the integrity of our care, quality and services."

In March 2007, the mother of a Houston woman who died one year after undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2004 filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Houston surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan and Houston Community Hospital. Prior to that, an Austin woman died from a heart attack also just two weeks following gastric bypass surgery.

MRI Contrast Agent Gadolinium Blamed for Young Man's Death

2008-06-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

An Ohio woman has filed a lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals of Wayne, New Jersey claiming the drug Magnevist, a contrast agent containing the heavy metal gadolinium, caused her 24-year-old son's death in August 2004. Trevor Drake of Norwalk, Ohio was injected with Magnevist at the Cleveland Clinic prior to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure for his advanced kidney disease. Contrast agents like Magnevist that contain gadolinium are injected into patients prior to some tests to help diagnosticians visualize the body's internal organs and blood vessels.

Drake's mother, Beverly Rockwell, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of her son. The lawsuit specifically claims that Magnevist caused Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), a skin and joint disease which proved to be fatal to the young man. NSF, also known as Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD), is a condition that only develops in patients with kidney disease. Patients with NSF/NFD have swelling and tightening of the skin, usually only involving the extremities but sometimes affecting the torso. The thickening and swelling of the skin inhibits flexion and extension of the arms and legs, and severely affected patients may even be unable to walk.

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that there were 200 reports worldwide of NSF/NSD cases that had developed following patient exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents; many of these cases were fatal. In mid-May 2007, the FDA advised the makers of gadolinium-based contrast agents to place a "Boxed Warning" about the risks of developing NSF/NFD after being injected with Magnevist. A boxed warning is also referred to as a black label warning and means that medical studies indicate the drug carries a significant risk of serious and even life-threatening side effects. A black label warning is the strongest warning the FDA issues prescription drugs.

Seroquel Causes Many Adverse Effects

2008-02-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

Seroquel is a drug manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis, such as visual and auditory hallucinations. Seroquel has also been prescribed for the treatment of bipolar disorder and is in the group of drugs called atypical antipsychotics, which were developed to avoid the loss of motor control caused by the older antipsychotic drugs. Seroquel has recently been linked to several very serious side effects including diabetes, neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), and tardive dyskinesia (TD). NMS is a life-threatening nervous system disorder whose symptoms include high fever, stiff muscles, irregular heartbeat, changes in blood pressure, and confusion. TD is a disorder characterized by muscle movements that cannot be controlled.

To date, Seroquel has not been recalled and there is no black box warning for the drug; however, in 2004, there was an FDA warning regarding all atypical antipsychotics due to their link to diabetes and hypoglycemia. If you have taken Seroquel and have experienced any of the serious side effects discussed here, you should contact your physician immediately.

Mesothelioma Victim Awarded $5.2 Million

2008-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

Foster Wheeler has faced many other asbestos-related suits and has paid over $100 million in damages, but this is the first time the company has been ordered to pay punitive damages. Of Walmach's $5.2 million, $2 million was for punitive damages. Walmach worked at the company for 37 years and used jackhammers to remove asbestos-packed insulation from boilers. He also worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard when asbestos was being removed there in the 1960's.

High Schools Paying More Attention to Sports-Related Concussions

2008-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Head injuries such as concussions are very common in high school sports, especially contact sports like football. Players often do not display typical symptoms of a brain injury in the days immediately following the injury, but now there is technology available that allows a closer look at brain function following a traumatic injury.

In Colorado, high school officials are not in agreement about how best to treat brain injuries among young athletes, prompting debate in a state that has seen three high school student-athletes die from on-the-field brain-related trauma in 16 years. Experts estimate that between 1.6 and 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur each year in the United States.

However, there may be a solution in the midst. A computerized test, called ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), was developed in 1998 by University of Pittsburgh doctors to assist trainers and physicians in determining when athletes suffering from brain injuries can safely return to play. The program is a 20- to 25-minute computer test that measures a variety of brain functions, including memorization.

Already a majority of NFL teams use ImPACT, as do several teams in the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. At this time, more than 40 Colorado public schools use the computerized program for brain testing.

NFL Players' Depression Correlated With Concussions

2008-01-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

A recent study conducted by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes indicates the rate of diagnosed clinical depression among retired National Football League (NFL) players is strongly correlated with the number of concussions they sustained while playing professional football. The report was based on a general health survey of over two thousand retired NFL players and was published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. This study certainly calls into question the NFL's long-held contention that concussions have no long-term effects on the players.

At the end of May 2007, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced several initiatives including the creation of a fund to help pay the medical expenses of players suffering from dementia-related illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. Goodell also announced obligatory neuropsychological testing for all players suffering a concussion and a "whistle blower system" whereby players and doctors can anonymously report a coach who attempts to override a doctor's order regarding a concussed player.

Mesothelioma Victim Awarded $5.2 Million

2007-12-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

Woman Sues After Husband Dies of Cancer

2007-12-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

A Kentucky woman, Verona Beasley, has filed a lawsuit against 10 defendants claiming her husband died from pancreatic cancer after being exposed to benzene and butadiene. Beasley claims her husband, Donald, was diagnosed with cancer in early 2006 and was told by doctors that his cancer was related to exposure to benzene and butadiene. Donald Beasley was a tire builder at General Tire and Rubber Company in Mayfield, KY for 26 years.

Mrs. Beasley claims that during the course of her husband's employment there, he was exposed to and inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed benzene and butadiene, which were designed, manufactured, sold or distributed by the defendants. Those defendants include BP Amoco, Chevron, Continental Tire, Shell Oil and ConocoPhillips.

Benzene is a hydrocarbon that is produced by the burning of natural products, is found in gasoline and other fuels, and is used to make some types of dyes, rubbers, lubricants, drugs, detergents and pesticides.

Butadiene is an industrial chemical used in the production of synthetic rubber.

The suit claims the defendants had a duty to exercise reasonable care and caution for the safety, health and welfare of her husband but failed by including those chemicals in their products even though they would have a toxic and dangerous effect on the health of anyone handling them.

The suit further claims the defendants failed to provide adequate warning and instructions, failed to recommend use of protective equipments, and failed to recall or cease using benzene and butadiene.

Mrs. Beasley claims that her husband's cancer disfigured and disabled him, caused pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost wages. She is seeking damages in excess of $150,000.

Avandia Issued Second Black Box Warning

2007-12-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are now pushing for a second black box warning to be added to Avandia's label. Avandia, a formerly very popular type II diabetes drug, currently carries a black box warning for heart failure; however, the FDA wants a second warning about the risks of heart attack.

The second warning would be more serious than the first and could result in further decreased sales of the diabetes drug. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (October 24, 2007), the new warning would focus on the risk of ischemic problems in which blood is prevented from reaching the heart. The FDA has said that Avandia is linked to a 38% increased risk of ischemic events.

Avandia has come under fire since an analysis showed a 43% increased risk of heart attack in patients who took the drug. In October the Department of Veterans Affairs removed Avandia from its national formulary. According to Grassley's letter, at the FDA DSOB meeting the Department of Veterans Affairs also voted to remove Avandia from the market.

Many patients have suffered heart attacks, heart failure and fluid retention as a result of taking Avandia for their diabetes. The FDA has so far found that the benefits of Avandia outweigh the risks. However, can a drug that carries two black box warnings really be doing more good than harm? Two black box warnings seem like a lot for one drug to carry, especially when black box warnings are the most serious warnings a drug label can carry. Should patients really be taking a drug that has that many risks associated with it?

Patients who are concerned about the risks of Avandia should consult with their physician about possible alternatives. Do not stop taking Avandia without first speaking to a doctor.

Lawsuits have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline alleging that the company knew about the risks associated with its diabetes drug but did not properly warn the public. People who have had loved ones die of heart attacks following the use of Avandia have also filed lawsuits.

MRSA Concerns Growing Rampant

2007-11-14T08:38:00.001-08:00

Parents across the nation are worried by the seemingly rampant reports of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infections in schools all over the United States. In recent weeks, a teenage boy has died and dozens of students have contracted the bacterial infection. Health experts say overuse of antibiotics has contributed to the rapid spread of MRSA, once a problem confined primarily to hospital settings. The public health concern of growing antimicrobial resistance is a prime reason 50 percent of dermatologists report cutting back on antibiotics to treat acne according to the Galderma Quality Report for Dermatology and Managed Care.

On the surface, acne sufferers might feel frustrated, believing that their treatment options have narrowed. But holistic health experts say curbing the reliance on antibiotics is a step in the right direction for the millions of Americans who suffer from acne --and to the general public in light of the prevalence of drug resistant bacteria.

Chris Gibson, a holistic health and lifestyle coach and author of the book, Acne Free in 3 Days, believes antibiotics are a problematic treatment choice for acne. He urges parents to be cautious when seeking an acne regimen that's safe and effective for kids.

"You have your family doctor saying we don't want to over-prescribe antibiotics," says Gibson. "Then you take your teenager to a dermatologist and typically one of the first options has been antibiotics. With the drug-resistant 'super-bugs' in the news, no wonder parents are anxious. Just look at the numbers involved. An estimated 80 percent of teens have some acne, so imagine the volume of antibiotics being consumed if only a fraction of these teens get prescriptions."

The growing problem of drug resistance isn't the only drawback to antibiotics. Side effects are also a major concern. For example, antibiotics can upset the natural balance in your digestive track and stain your teeth.

"I can speak from experience about the side effects," says Gibson, who once suffered from chronic acne. "The digestive issues alone can create a major disruption to the balance of good bacteria in your body- the bacteria that your immune system needs to stay healthy."

Other medications such as Accutane have been the subject of lawsuits after being linked to heart, liver and bowel disease along with depression and suicide. Accutane, normally reserved as a drug of last resort for people with severe, cystic acne, is also known to cause birth defects. But many acne sufferers reach a point of desperation where they'd try just about anything to improve their skin.

Exposure to Pesticides Can Lead to Parkinson's Brits Say

2007-11-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

Researchers in Great Britain recently reported that exposure to pesticides can significantly increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. According to the study, individuals heavily exposed to pesticides had a 41% increased risk of developing Parkinson's, and even those with low exposure had a 13% increased risk of developing the disease.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects speech and motor skills. Sufferers experience muscle tremors, muscle rigidity, slowing physical movements and sometimes total loss of physical movements. Other symptoms include high level cognitive dysfunction and language problems.

According to the United States National Parkinson Foundation, Parkinson's affects equal numbers of men and women usually after the age of 65. The specific causes of Parkinson's disease are still unknown; however, researchers believe the causes are a combination of environmental triggers, e.g. the toxins in pesticides, and a genetic predisposition to the disease.

Enzyme Blocker May Increase Risk of Death

2007-11-06T12:03:00.001-08:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that accumulating evidence suggests a Bayer AG drug used to prevent excessive bleeding during heart bypass surgery increases the risk of death when compared with other drugs.

The announcement came as a Canadian study comparing the safety and efficacy of the drug, Trasylol, with two others was halted. Preliminary results from that trial also suggested Trasylol increased the risk of death when compared with the other drugs. The trial was to include 3,000 patients.

Trasylol, (generic aprotinin) works by blocking enzymes that dissolve blood clots. Bayer said it believes Trasylol remains a safe and effective treatment option, but that the company would work with the FDA and regulators in other countries to re-evaluate the drug's risks and benefits and determine where any label changes are needed.

The announcement came a month after FDA advisers recommended Trasylol remain on the market despite its links to an increased risk of death and other serious side effects. The FDA approved the drug in 1993 to slow the loss of blood and prevent the need for blood transfusions in surgeries to bypass clogged coronary arteries.

Zelnorm and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

2007-11-02T09:08:00.001-07:00

Zelnorm (generic tegaserod) is a drug prescribed for the short-term treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in women. IBS is a disorder that gives millions of people abdominal pain and either severe diarrhea, constipation or both. IBS occurs mainly in women, and Zelnorm is only prescribed to women. Zelnorm has been the only drug therapy for the constipation-causing form of IBS approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In March 2007 the FDA notified healthcare professionals that the manufacturer of Zelnorm, Novartis Phamaceuticals Company, agreed to discontinue marketing Zelnorm in the United States.

FDA studies showed a large number of severe cardiovascular events (angina, heart attack, and stroke) in patients taking Zelnorm. The drug has also been linked to serious cases of diarrhea and ischemic colitis. Prior to the March 2007 decision to remove Zelnorm from the market, the FDA had received 21 reports of severe diarrhea that caused low blood pressure (hypotension) and fainting (syncope).

Seroquel Produces Lengthy List of Adverse Effects

2007-10-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Deaths Linked to Ortho-Evra Patch

2007-10-23T06:09:00.001-07:00

For more than two years now, the efficacy of the birth control patch, Ortho-Evra, has been in question after research indicated 23 deaths related to the. About 17 of those deaths appeared to be blood clot related. Dozens more women in their teens and twenties suffered strokes and other blood clot related events.

Due to the many adverse side effects associated with Ortho-Evra, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered that changes be made to the patch's label. In November 2005, a new warning stated that women who use the patch are exposed to approximately 60% more total estrogen in their blood than if they were taking a birth control pill containing about 35 micrograms of estrogen. Because the patch had been marketed with claims stating that it was just as safe as the pill, the FDA required the manufacturer, Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals, to add another warning about the increased risk of injury due to high levels of estrogen released from the patch.

Smoking cigarettes while wearing the patch increases the risk of serious adverse effects on the heart and blood vessels. This risk increases with age. Simply put, women who take hormonal birth control medication should not smoke.

Ortho-Evra should not be taken by women with a history of:

High blood pressure
Heart attack or stroke
Blood clots in the legs, lungs, or eyes
Diabetes with complications
Chest pain
Cancer
Vaginal bleeding

Mesothelioma Victim Awarded $5.2 Million

2007-10-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Memory Loss After Traumatic Brain Injury

2007-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Brain Injuries Often Due to a Lack of Oxygen

2007-10-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of a TBI may range from mild, such as a brief change in mental status or a temporary loss of consciousness to severe, such as an extended period of loss of consciousness or amnesia. In the United States, there are over 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries each year. Of those 1.4 million, over 200,000 require hospitalization for those injuries, and 50,000 of those TBIs result in death.

While most brain injuries are associated with some sort of trauma, in many cases the injury to the brain is caused by a lack of oxygen. Head traumas often cause swelling in the brain, and swelling causes decreased blood flow resulting in oxygen deprivation. When the brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended length of time, the brain will be damaged or die. It is this lack of oxygen that causes many injuries and deaths.

High Schools Paying More Attention to Sports-Related Concussions

2007-10-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

Family Sues After Woman Dies Following Gastric Bypass

2007-10-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to medical malpractice or negligence, please visit the Personal Injury Lawyer Directory to find an experienced Gastric Bypass Malpractice Attorney in your area.

Brain Diseases Linked to Dementia

2007-10-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

A new study indicates that a person's likelihood of having clinical signs of dementia increases with the number of different disease processes present in the brain. Although many older adults show some sort of brain abnormalities, the new research suggests that the combination of Alzheimer's disease and strokes is the most common mix of pathologies in the brains of people suffering from dementia.

A study of 1,200 elderly volunteers who agreed to be evaluated every year and to donate their brains upon death compared clinical and autopsy date on the first 141 participants who died. Exams showed that while they were alive, 50 of the 141 had dementia. Upon their deaths, their brains were analyzed by a neuropathologist. The autopsies showed that 85% of the people had evidence of at least one chronic disease such as Alzheimer's, strokes, tumors, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, or others. Only 30% of the people studied with signs of dementia had Alzheimer's disease alone.

The findings that Alzheimer's disease combined with strokes is common in people with dementia adds to the emerging evidence that healthcare professionals might be able to reduce some of the risk of dementia with the same tools used for cardiovascular disease.

Women Should be Warned About Birth Defects

2007-09-26T11:52:00.001-07:00

A new study suggests that doctors are not doing a good job of warning young women to avoid getting pregnant while they are taking prescription drugs that can cause birth defects. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researchers found that nearly half of the women taking medicines that can cause birth defects were not counseled by their doctor about using contraceptives or other birth control measures to prevent pregnancy.

There are several drugs that may cause birth defects including some antibiotics, acne meds, cholesterol reducers, anti-seizure drugs, sleep aids and blood thinners.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies drugs into categories of whether they are safe or potentially harmful to developing fetuses. But, often, busy physicians do not consult the FDA listings for these drugs.

Researchers did find that women on the acne drug Accutane (generic isotretinoin) got more pregnancy prevention counseling than anyone else. Anyone taking Accutane is required to use birth control, pass a pregnancy test before each monthly refill and enroll in a national registry. Women taking statins for cholesterol got the least amount of counseling.

Vioxx Maker Being Sued by State of New York

2007-09-25T06:26:00.001-07:00

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co. Inc. accusing the drug manufacturer of hiding risks posed by the pain reliever Vioxx and thereby defrauding Medicaid of the money paid out for the prescriptions.

Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 because it significantly increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. The drug was approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhea, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

The action papers state that before they stopped selling the drug, Merck carried out a "concerted and tenacious campaign of false and fraudulent statements" to minimize the strength of the link between Vioxx and heart problems. This campaign continued up to one month before Merck stopped selling the drug. During that month, doctors in New York continued to prescribe Vioxx. Had those doctors been aware of the risks, they would not have prescribed the drug to their patients.

Woman Sues After Husband Dies of Cancer

2007-09-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

Butadiene is an industrial chemical used in the production of synthetic rubber.

Mrs. Beasley claims that her husband's cancer disfigured and disabled him, caused pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost wages. She is seeking damages in excess of $150,000.

FDA Recommends Medical Device User Fee Program

2007-09-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

The FDA has proposed a recommendation to Congress for reauthorizing the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization ACT (MDUFMA), which would help to ensure that safe and effective medical devices get to patients in a timely fashion. Under this program, industry covers a portion of the costs of the FDA's pre-market review program through a variety of fees. The additional revenues generated from the fees paid by the medical device industry would continue to be used to ensure patients have timely access to safe and effective medical devices.

This proposal, if adopted, would foster the development of innovative in vitro diagnostic tests by issuing new industry guidance on emerging issues and reviewing some low-risk devices to determine whether any of them could be exempted from the need for product review.

The Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002, which expires on September 30, 2007, amended the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to provide the FDA with new responsibilities and resources to keep with the rapidly growing device industry and advancing medical device technology.

Ketek Being Linked to Burn-like Blisters

2007-09-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

The side effect most often associated with the antibiotic drug Ketek is liver failure; however, at least one person has had a different, life-threatening reaction to Ketek. Now people who have taken the drug are investigating the possibility of filing lawsuits against the manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis for the side effect toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN).

Ketek is an antibiotic that has been under scrutiny for years due to its link to liver failure in patients taking the drug. But now, TEN is a much more serious side effect linked to Ketek. Most recently, a young woman in Canada spent four weeks in a burn unit after taking Ketek for a sinus infection. The woman allegedly had a serious reaction to the drug, which resulted in burn-like blisters all over her body.

The condition was diagnosed as TEN; TEN often leaves patients with permanent scars and other serious health problems. The woman's skin peeled over her entire body, inside her mouth, and she lost her eyelashes. She was treated with intravenous antibiotics to prevent infection, and lotions were applied to keep her skin lubricated.

In the United States, Ketek has been linked to 53 cases of liver damage and four deaths; the FDA reports that Ketek has been linked to nine deaths worldwide.

The FDA voted to keep Ketek on the market to treat mild to moderate pneumonia last year. However, the FDA warned that Ketek should only be used as a secondary alternative to other medications. The FDA panel also recommended that Ketek should have a black box warning about its serious side effects.

Many wonder why Ketek has not been taken off the market yet and point out that there are other drugs available that can treat infections without the risk of liver failure.

Funding to Research Carcinogens Awarded

2007-09-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a group of UC Berkeley scientists a $4.7 million grant yesterday to develop new methods for detecting lymphoma and other diseases caused by environmental exposure to contaminants.

Researchers from several departments are teaming up to form the Center for Exposure Biology and work on three interdisciplinary projects developing sensors that could detect blood cancer risks on a large, cost-efficient scale.

The grant is part of the institutes' Genes, Environment and Health Initiative, whose aim it is to understand interactions between environmental exposure to contaminants and genetic variations on human disease.

One project from the center focuses on mapping out adducts, compounds produced by the body when proteins react with chemical carcinogens, to determine what chemicals cause cancer and how the disease can better be diagnosed.

According to Stephen Rappaport, adjunct professor of environmental health sciences and director of the program, the researchers will examine adducts produced by exposure to chemicals such as benzene, found in gasoline and cigarettes. An additional part of the project focuses on using microchips to process fluid samples in small volumes, possibly allowing the detection of early signs of leukemia and lymphoma based on a single cell rather than thousands or even millions.

This technology could be useful in remote locations, for over-the-counter tests, or during major emergencies.

FDA Warns Consumers About Counterfeit Drugs Sold on Internet

2007-09-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

In the past few years, more and more people have been buying prescription drugs over the Internet; however, the FDA is cautioning consumers about the dangers associated with buying drugs online. The FDA alert is based on information it received indicating that 24 apparently related Web sites may be distributing counterfeit prescription drugs.

Xenical, an FDA-approved drug prescribed to help obese individuals lose weight, is one of the drugs that consumers thought they were buying but actually got a counterfeit version instead. Three different consumers in three states in recent months bought what they thought was Xenical, but instead, they received a counterfeit version in the mail.

The FDA investigation is on-going, but at this point, it appears that the Web sites selling the counterfeit Xenical are operated from outside the United States. We have a partial list here of the Web sites being investigated, but a full list of the 24 sites that may be involved in the distribution of counterfeit drugs is available on the FDA web page www.fda.gov/buyonline/:

AllPills.net
Pharmacy-4U.net
DirectMedsMail.com
Brandpills.com
Emediline.com
RX-ed.com
RXePharm.com
PillsPharm.com

Pediatric Vaccines Containing Thimerosal Linked to Autism

2007-09-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

In June 2007, the United States Federal Claims Court in Washington D.C. will begin hearings on 4,800 claims filed by parents who believe pediatric vaccinations caused their child's autism. The lawsuits claim that thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury and is used in vaccines, causes autism. After an extensive three-year investigation led by the Committee on Government Reform, it was concluded that mercury does not belong in vaccines and that thimerosal poses a very serious risk to those subjected to its toxicity.

As far back as 1982, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for the removal of thimerosal from all over-the-counter products. But it was not until July 1999 that the FDA asked manufacturers to remove thimerosal from pediatric vaccines. When researchers looked carefully at the vaccine schedule, they found that if the schedule were followed, American children had been exposed to 30 times the minimum acceptable level of mercury from vaccines.

The number of children affected by autism has been drastically growing in recent years. In 1970, autism affected 1 in 2,000 children. In the year 2000, 1 in 250 were affected. According to the Autism Society of America, in 2006, a staggering 1 in 150 children was diagnosed with autism. Autism is currently the fastest growing developmental disability in young people. Even though vaccines with mercury have been proven to contribute to autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurological conditions, clinics still use thimerosal because other products containing mercury have been phased out.

Currently, lawsuits involving the makers of products containing thimerosal abound. These claims state the drug companies, for years, have failed to tell doctors how much mercury was contained in vaccines prior to the FDA being ordered by Congress to find out in 1997. Some of the large drug companies being sued are GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth-Ayerst and Eli-Lilly.

Permax and Dostinex Pose Serious Heart Problems

2007-08-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

The New England Journal of Medicine has published two new studies that confirm that the Parkinson's drugs Permax (generic pergolide) and Dostinex (generic cabergoline) increase the risk of heart valve damage. Permax and Dostinex have also been prescribed to treat the tremors associated with restless leg syndrome. Permax is manufactured by Ili Lilly & Co., and Dostinex is manufactured by Pfizer, Inc. The type of heart valve damage these drugs cause is the same problem that led to the recall of the diet drug combination known as Phen-Fen.

As the heart muscle contracts and relaxes, the valves open and close, letting blood flow into the ventricles and out to the body at alternate times. Heart valves can have one of two malfunctions:

Regurgitation: The valves do not close completely, causing the blood to flow backward instead of forward through the valve.

Stenosis: The valve openings become narrowed or do not form properly, inhibiting the flow of blood out of the ventricle or atria. The heart is forced to pump blood with increased force in order to move blood through the stiff stenotic valves.

Heart valves can have both malfunctions at the same time. When heart valves fail to open and close properly, the implications for the heart can be serious, possibly hampering the heart's ability to pump blood adequately through the body. Heart valve problems are one cause of heart failure.

In a study conducted in Great Britain, the medical records of over 11,000 patients showed that patients taking the highest doses of Permax had a 37 times greater risk of developing heart valve damage than those who took other drugs. The patients taking the highest doses of Dostinex had a 50.3 times greater risk of developing heart disease.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Permax was withdrawn from the market in March 2007; Dostinex has not yet been recalled and carries only the precaution of heart valve damage.

Erectile Dysfunction Drugs May Produce Many Side Effects

2007-08-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

To date, there are only three FDA-approved drugs to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). The drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra work by increasing the flow of blood to the penis so that when a man is sexually stimulated, he can get an erection. All three drugs take approximately 15-30 minutes to take effect, but how long the drugs last varies.

Viagra typically lasts about four hours; Levitra about five hours; and Cialis can work up to 36 hours. These drugs must be prescribed by a doctor and are not suitable for everyone with erectile dysfunction. Your doctor will determine if you have ED and will decide if one of these drugs is right for you.

Men who have suffered a heart attack, stroke, or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) should not take ED drugs, and if you have uncontrolled low or high blood pressure or have chest pain during sex, you should avoid these drugs.

Some of the common side effects include headache, heartburn, flushing, nasal congestion, changes in vision, and back pain. More serious adverse effects and ones that require immediate medical attention are rash, painful erection, prolonged erection, fainting, chest pain, and itching/burning during urination. Blindness has been reported in several cases of men taking Viagra. Please see the August 6, 2007 blog entry entitled, "Viagra Linked to Blindness" to learn more about this.

Bowel Cleansing Solution Associated with Renal Insufficiency

2007-08-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning that the use of oral sodium phosphate (OSP) products for bowel cleansing has, in some patients, caused a rare but serious and potentially fatal form of kidney failure (renal insufficiency) referred to as acute phosphate nephropathy. Three over-the-counter OSP products used for bowel cleansing prior to colonoscopies, radiographic procedures, and surgeries are Fleet Phospho-soda solution, Fleet Accu-Prep solution, and Visicol tablets.

Serious side effects of Fleet Phospho-soda solution, Fleet Accu-Prep solution, and Visicol tablets include severe electrolyte abnormalities, cardiac arrhythmias, and renal (kidney) failure. Users of these products who already have renal insufficiency and bowel perforation are at an even greater risk for suffering these serious side effects, and patients who have misused or overdosed on sodium phosphate are also at a greater risk for serious side effects. Patients of advanced age and those taking diuretics, ACE inhibitors, ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers), and NSAIDS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are also at-risk groups and are more prone to developing the above-mentioned side effects.

In mid-May, 2007, a Texas woman filed a $10 million personal injury lawsuit against the C.B. Fleet Company, maker of Fleet Phospho-soda Bowel Prep Solution. The lawsuit alleges that the Fleet solution interacted with her medication prescribed for hypertension (high blood pressure) and caused kidney damage and failure. The suit further alleges that Fleet was well aware of the potential life-threatening danger of their OSP products but did nothing to protect users of these products. Currently, there are 21 documented cases of patients diagnosed with acute phosphate nephropathy following use of an OSP solution for bowel cleansing prior to a colonoscopy, radiographic procedure, or surgery.

Pregnant Mothers Taking Antidepressants May Risk Baby's Health

2007-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

It appears as though pregnant women suffering from depression may be in a no-win situation because failure to manage depression with continued SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) medication may affect the health of both mother and child. However, in February 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study indicating that mothers taking SSRI antidepressants after the 20^th week of pregnancy were six times more likely to give birth to an infant with a serious hearth defect than mothers not taking SSRI antidepressants.

Depression is a serious illness that often carries with it an increased risk of suicide in the sufferer and should be treated by your doctor(s). For decades, SSRIs have helped thousands of men and women fight depression. However, the statistics clearly show that there are serious risks involved with taking SSRI medication during pregnancy.

Drug Allergies Can Result in Deadly Stevens Johnson Syndrome

2007-08-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

August 2007 has been designated as Stevens Johnson Syndrome Awareness Month and has been recognized in the following states so far: Colorado, Arizona, Alabama, Connecticut and Tennessee. Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) affects more than two million Americans and causes more than 140,000 deaths annually. Hopefully, more states will take notice of this deadly disease and recognize SJS Awareness month, also.

SJS is an allergic reaction that is commonly caused by drugs, many of which are over-the-counter. Allergic drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and almost any drug can cause SJS, even ibuprofen. Other drugs that have been linked to SJS are Bextra, Celebrex, Daypro Allopurinol, Carbamazepine, Phenytoin and sulfa and penicillin antibiotics. SJS can also occur in response to infections or illnesses, and 25-50% of all cases derive from unknown origin.

SJS patients suffer from inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes. The disease process for SJS typically begins with a nonspecific upper respiratory tract infection. Early SJS symptoms occur in the first 1-14 day period during which fever, sore throat, chills, headaches and malaise may be present. Vomiting and diarrhea are sometimes also noted in the early symptoms. Skin and mucous membrane lesions can develop abruptly with clusters of outbreaks lasting from 2-4 weeks. Continued fever and localized worsening of the lesions suggest a superimposed infections; however, continued fever has been shown to occur in 85% of SJS cases. In some cases, the lesions of the mouth and mucous membranes are so severe that patients may not even be able to eat or drink.

Up to 15% of serious SJS patients die. In the most severe cases, the lesions lead to significant scarring of the involved organs and loss of function of the organ systems. SJS treatment is focused on the management of disease symptoms because at the current time there is no treatment able to stop the spread of the disease.

Most Stevens Johnson Syndrome patients are older than 40, but cases have been reported for children as young as three months old. The ratio of male to female occurrence is two to one. In the United States, cases of SJS tend to cluster in the early spring and winter, with a rate of about two to three cases per million persons. The incidence and frequency outside the United States is similar.

Viagra Linked to Blindness

2007-08-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

Viagra (generic sildenafil citrate) is prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and is manufactured by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company. ED (erectile dysfunction) is the repeated inability to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. Viagra increases the body's ability to achieve and maintain an erection during sexual activity. Viagra was first introduced in the United States in 1998 and has become one of the most well-known drugs of all time.

But for two years now there has been an alarming number of men reporting vision problems and blindness after taking Viagra.

Viagra has been a generally well-tolerated drug, but there are side effects associated with the drug including: headache, flushing, upset stomach, urinary tract infection, diarrhea, stuffy nose.

Viagra Blindness

But for two years now there has been an alarming number of men reporting vision problems and even complete blindness after taking Viagra. Viagra blindness is a potentially devastating side effect that has been under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Viagra blindness is caused by a condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). This causes a restriction in blood flow to the optic nerve, which can lead to temporary or permanent vision loss.

The correlation between Viagra and NAION blindness is the topic of heated debate in medical circles around the world, though the exact link between the two is not yet fully understood. Startlingly, in many reported cases, Viagra users developed the symptoms of NAION blindness within hours of taking Viagra.

NAION is the most common form of blindness that can affect people over the age of fifty. It is estimated that approximately six thousand Americans suffer from NAION blindness each year. NAION blindness is caused by the restriction of blood flow through the optic nerve to the eye. This leads to inflammation of the optic disc, compressing the optic nerve until NAION blindness occurs. NAION blindness is sometimes referred to as a “stroke of the eye” because the blood supply to the eyes is cut off with NAION just as the blood supply to the brain is cut off during a stroke.

Pfizer has refuted claims that the drug caused vision problems, and, instead, states that some of the underlying causes and conditions related to erectile dysfunction may also predispose an individual to developing serious vision problems.

If you would like to learn more about this potentially dangerous drug and its link to NAION blindness, please visit the website of the experienced Viagra Attorneys at the Oklahoma Law Offices of Stipe, Harper, Laizure, Uselton, Belote, Maxcey and Thetford.

Welcome

2007-07-16T08:09:00.001-07:00

Coming soon!