Personal Injury

September 1, 2009

Florida Teen Sustained Brain Injury in Crash With School Bus

On Sept. 22, 2006, plaintiff Marcus Button, 16, a student, was a front-seat passenger in his friend’s sedan that was heading east on State Road 54. At the intersection at Meadow Pointe Boulevard where there was no traffic signal, a Pasco County School bus made a left turn and struck the sedan. Marcus sustained a brain injury. Investigators found that the bus driver was at fault.

Individually and as Marcus’ parents, Mark and Robin Button sued Pasco County School Board for the bus driver’s negligence.

Plaintiff’s counsel stated that the bus driver violated state law in not yielding the right of way. Investigators determined that the bus driver was at fault. Plaintiff’s counsel also pointed to the bus driver’s deposition testimony in which he stated that he never saw the plaintiff’s vehicle.

Defense counsel presented an accident reconstructionist who stated that the driver of Button’s vehicle had ample time to observe and avoid the bus.

September 1, 2009

Summary Judgment For Manufacturer in Pain Pump Litigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A federal court has granted summary judgment to the defendant. Kilpatrick v. Breg, Inc., No. 4:08-cv-10052 (S.D. Fla. 6/26/09), in what appears to be the first substantive decision to come out of the multiple suits alleging that a pain pump medical device damages patients.

Judge Michael Moore ruled in favor of medical device manufacturer Breg, finding that the plaintiff, who alleged damage to his shoulder cartilage, did not provide enough reliable expert evidence to link the condition to the defendant’s shoulder pain pump.

Plaintiff Kilpatrick underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in 2004 after an orthopedic specialist discovered a tear in his shoulder socket. To help with post-operative pain, the surgeon inserted a pain pump into plaintiff’s shoulder, which would allow the doctor to administer an anesthetic via a catheter in the patient’s arm.

The surgeon injected bupivacaine into the pump’s attached catheter and further filled it with 100 ccs of anesthetic, which was to be delivered into Kilpatrick’s shoulder over the next 48 hours.

Plaintiff alleges that he began experiencing severe pain in his shoulder in 2006. An orthopedic surgeon diagnosed the pain as glenohumeral chondrolysis, a deterioration of the cartilage, and Kilpatrick underwent shoulder replacement surgery.

He then brought suit, alleging negligence, strict products liability, and violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Kilpatrick claimed that using the Breg pain pump to administer local anesthetic directly into his shoulder joint caused him to develop post-arthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis.

September 1, 2009

Medical Malpractice Victims Awarded $11M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Two teenage sisters have been awarded $11 million in a malpractice lawsuit against a prominent New York pediatrician who failed to take steps to prevent the girls from being repeatedly sexually assaulted by their half-brother when they were children in Lake Placid.

An eight-member jury in U.S. District Court ruled against Dr. Patricia Monroe and her workplace, Adirondack Internal Medicine and Pediatric, ending a federal case rooted in horrific abuse dating back more than nine years.

The older sister, now 18, will receive $6 million, the 16-year-old younger sister $5 million, according to a news release issued by Albany attorneys Pamela Nichols and Stephen Coffey, who represented the victims. He noted they were “never offered a dime” to the settle the case, which dates to 2002.

September 1, 2009

New Study Shows Yaz Birth Control Pill Carries Greater Risk of Blood Clots

by Dr. Shezad Malik

One of the more recent contraceptive pills to come out on the market and which became quite popular very quickly was the Yaz pill which is manufactured by Bayer. Yaz claimed that it could treat moderate acne and that it would treat the symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

However, Yaz may not be as safe or as beneficial as it claims. A new British report has outlined the risks and problems associated with Yaz. While all oral contraceptives carry a risk of causing blood clots in those who take them, Yaz seems to have an increased risk of these clots. While the dosage of hormones in a birth control pill has been known to affect the occurrence of blood clots, it also appears to be that the type of hormone may increase risk as well. Nearly all oral contraceptive pills contain estrogen and progestin and the lowest doses of estrogen correspond with the lowest risk for blood clots.

August 31, 2009

Mechanisms for Yaz, Yasmin And Ocella Blood Clots In Women

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a general rule, all hormonal birth control medications are associated with side effects and health risks, and the oral contraceptive pills YAZ, Yasmin, and Ocella are no exception.

Blood clots can cause serious side effects; stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

A blood clot, or thrombosis, which begins in one part of the body can become an embolus, a blood clot that travels in the bloodstream. This embolus can migrate into any organ but usually migrates into the lungs, heart, or brain.

A deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a thrombosis which most commonly forms in the lower legs’ calf veins. A pulmonary embolism, or PE is a thrombosis which forms in or has moved into the lungs. Thrombosis which develops in the heart can break off and migrate to the brain leading to strokes.

Read new British Medical Journal article on Oral Contraceptives and Thromboembolism

August 31, 2009

Nursing Home Medical Malpractice: Staff Dispensed 10 times Correct Dosage

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On Oct. 18, 2005, plaintiff Alvin Greenberg, 58, disabled, suffered from an overdose of Zyprexa. He had been administered the drug by the staff at the Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Wyndmoor, where he was a resident; the order for the anti-psychotic medication had been called into the facility by his treating physician three days earlier.

Greenberg’s daughter and power-of-attorney, Alicia Greenberg, sued Green Acres, Melanio Aguirre, Greenberg’s attending physician, and Aguirre’s practice, claiming negligence, in order to recover personal injury damages. Prior to trial Greenberg settled with Green Acres for an undisclosed amount but Green Acres still remained in the action as a defendant.

Plaintiff’s counsel alleged that Greenberg was given 10 times the proper amount of Zyprexa, causing Greenberg to require an emergency room admission for Zyprexa toxicity. According to counsel, when Aguirre spoke to the nurse by telephone on Oct. 15, it wasn’t clear whether Aguirre directed the nurse to give Greenberg 25 mg or 2.5 mg of the medication. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that both Aguirre and the nursing home were liable for the overdose because they didn’t ensure that Greenberg receive the proper dosage of the medication he required.

August 30, 2009

Texas Jury Decides Yamaha Not Liable for Teen’s Rhino Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yamaha Motor Co., the world’s second-largest motorcycle maker, is not liable for damages to the family of a Texas teenager who died while driving the company’s Rhino all-terrain vehicle.

Jurors in state court in Orange, Texas, deliberated about two hours before ruling the vehicle wasn’t to blame for the death of 13-year-old Forest “Eddie” Ray in 2007. The Rhino, a cross between a golf cart and an ATV, has been linked to 59 deaths in the U.S. The case is the first of about 500 to go to trial.

August 29, 2009

Family Awarded $4.4M in Suit Over Fatal Accident

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A District Court jury has awarded nearly $4.4 million to the widow and children of a UT Payson man who suffered fatal injuries in 2006 when he tried to swerve around backed-up traffic on Interstate 15 and hit other vehicles.

That amount will be reduced by almost $2 million because of a state law that caps damages against the state and because of the victim’s share of responsibility for the accident.

The family of Richard Kunzler claimed in a lawsuit that the state Department of Transportation and a subcontractor working on a bridge reconstruction project near Spanish Fork failed to post appropriate signs warning motorists about traffic delays. Vehicles were backing up to Benjamin and drivers were given insufficient warning about the construction, the suit claimed.

August 28, 2009

Chantix Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Side Effects

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Since the Chantix black box warning was announced earlier in July 2009, the focus has been on the increased risk of suicides. Pfizer also quietly added new information to the warning label about reports of serious skin reactions, such as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, referred to as SJS, is a rare skin reaction that can occur as a side effect of several medications. It results in severe rashes and blistering of the skin and mouth.

It often requires treatment in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU) or burn care unit, and it can result in death. If the top layer of the skin detaches from the lower layers and lesions cover more than 30% of the body, SJS is often diagnosed as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

August 28, 2009

J&J Unit Warns of Deadly Skin Reaction With HIV Drug Intelence

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Johnson & Johnson warned doctors of reports of a deadly skin reaction and liver failure tied to its HIV medicine Intelence.

The skin condition called toxic epidermal necrolysis has killed one patient and injured another since Intelence was approved in January 2008. Another patient taking the tablets reported a hypersensitivity reaction accompanied by liver failure.

The prescribing information for Intelence was revised to include these reports and a caution that doctors stop treatment immediately if patients develop severe skin reactions or hypersensitivity symptoms, according to a letter e-mailed today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Similar side effects were seen in some study participants and have also been linked to other drugs for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.