Medico-Legal News

July 3, 2009

Texas Patient Awarded $10 M in Medical Malpractice Claim

A Harris County Texas jury has ruled in favor of a Houston man in a medical malpractice case, awarding him $10 million in damages stemming from a lawsuit against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated him there.

John German developed gangrene that required the amputation of his left leg above the knee, all the toes on his right foot and all of his fingers in the aftermath of heart surgery in 2002 .

“It’s been a long time coming, but I feel vindicated,” said German, who was a 32-year-old mechanic at the time of the care.

July 1, 2009

FDA: Varenicline (marketed as Chantix) and Bupropion (marketed as Zyban, Wellbutrin, and generics)

by Dr. Shezad Malik

FDA has required the manufacturers of the smoking cessation aids varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban and generics) to add new Boxed Warnings and develop patient Medication Guides highlighting the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients using these products. These symptoms include changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and attempted suicide. The same changes to the prescribing information and Medication Guide for patients will also be required for bupropion products (Wellbutrin and generics)that are indicated for the treatment of depression and seasonal affective disorder.

June 26, 2009

Caraco Digoxin Manufacturer Raided by Federal Agents

by Dr. Shezad Malik

At the request of the FDA, U.S. Marshals raided generic drug manufacturer Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd., shutting down manufacturing and seizing inventory. The action came after FDA inspections found that the drug maker was continuing to fail to meet federal safety and health requirements.

In March 2009, Caraco recalled digoxin, a heart medication, after it was discovered that some tablets distributed were thicker or thinner than they were supposed to be. This created a serious risk for consumers, as receiving too much of the drug could cause a potentially life-threatening condition known as digoxin toxicity, and receiving too little of the medication could result in injury from the underlying heart condition.

June 24, 2009

Texas Medical Board New Rules June 2009

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The following is a summary of the changes effective on June 24, 2009. Click here for the complete board rules.

Chapter 162, Supervision of Medical School Students, with amendments to §162.1 Supervision of Medical Students, which clarifies the intent of the amendment previously adopted, which became effective on March 9, 2009. The Board determined that the revised language was necessary based on questions received regarding interpretation.

Chapter 165, Medical Records, with amendments to §165.3, Patient Access to Diagnostic Imaging Studies in Physician’s Office, which expands the rule to include non-static diagnostic imaging studies and imaging studies that are maintained in electronic format. The Board determined that the rule change was necessary to clarify the definition of diagnostic imaging studies for the purpose of releasing such records to requestors for medical records.

Chapter 173, Physician Profiles, with amendments to §173.1, Profile Contents, which requires that the profile of each licensed physician shall contain the physician’s full name as the physician is licensed. The Board determined that the change was necessary to allow the Board to appropriately track all physicians licensed by the Board rather than allowing physicians to identify themselves under multiple names when submitting documents to the Board.

June 15, 2009

Texas Medical Board Disciplines 71 Doctors

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Since its April board meeting, the Texas Medical Board has taken disciplinary action against 71 licensed physicians.

The actions included 15 violations based on quality of care; 11 actions based on unprofessional conduct; two nontherapeutic prescribing violations; six agreed orders based on inadequate medical records violations; one action based on impairment due to alcohol or drugs or mental/physical condition; four actions based on other states’ or entity’s actions; one action based on failure to properly supervise or delegate; two actions based on peer review actions; two actions based on violation of probation or prior order; one agreed order modifying a prior order; and five voluntary surrenders. Twenty-one physicians entered into administrative orders for minor statutory violations.

At its May 28-29 meeting, the board issued 526 physician licenses.

June 7, 2009

Woman Who Sued Doctor’s Insurer Awarded $3.8 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

When Debbie Daniels was scheduled to undergo a hysterectomy in 2003, her doctor suggested he do a “tummy tuck” as well.

But the obstetrician/gynecologist did not tell her that he had never been trained to perform the procedure that gets rid of excess skin and fat.

She also did not know he had been kicked off the staff of another hospital for doing tummy tucks without proper credentials — or that he did the procedure unlike any other doctor, according to court records.

Two days after Dr. David Lee Grimes cut Daniels open and stitched her back up, her wound burst, leaving a basketball-sized hole in her belly 7 to 8 inches deep, one of her lawyers said. She had to undergo emergency surgery — the first of many — and be placed in a medically induced coma for a month.

May 12, 2009

Texas Medical Board Suspends License of Rodney Dotson, M.D.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Texas Medical Board entered an Automatic Suspension Order against Rodney Norman Dotson, M.D., license number D9988, on Monday, May 4, after determining that Dr. Dotson had violated a previous disciplinary order.

The February 8, 2008, Mediated Agreed Order required, among other provisions, that Dr. Dotson take and pass the Special Purpose Examination. The 2008 order also contained a provision that, after a proper hearing, if a Board panel found that Dr. Dotson had violated this term of the 2008 order, his license could be automatically suspended.

May 6, 2009

TMB May 2009 Board Rules Changes

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The following is a summary of the changes effective on May 6, 2009. Click here for the complete board rules.

Chapter 166, Physician Registration, with amendments to §162.2 Continuing Medical Education, would allow members of the Board’s Expert Physician Panel up to 12 hours of formal continuing Medical Education for time actually spent in reviewing standard of care cases and providing a report to the board.

April 30, 2009

Accutane Injury Results in $10.5 Million Judgment

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A woman who said she developed ulcerative colitis from taking Accutane was awarded $10.5 million by a New Jersey jury. It was the third of 425 lawsuits alleging that Accutane caused inflammatory bowel disease in some users to go to trial. All three cases have resulted in multi-million dollar judgments against Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc., the maker of Accutane.

Approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982, Accutane has been the subject of controversy for years. In addition to inflammatory bowel disease, the drug has been associated with myriad other serious side effects.

It was known in the late eighties for causing severe birth defects. It has also been known to cause psychiatric problems, and has been linked to 266 cases of suicide in the United States.

In addition to inflammatory bowel disease, Accutane has also been associated with problems of the liver, kidneys, central nervous system, and pancreas, as well as the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and auto-immune systems.

April 25, 2009

Routine Removal of Ovaries is Questioned by New Research

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Women who have their healthy ovaries removed when they have a hysterectomy face a higher risk of death — including death from coronary heart disease and lung cancer — than women who keep their ovaries, according to new research.

The finding from a study published in the May issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology challenges conventional wisdom that removing ovaries along with the uterus offers the best chance for long-time survival.