Personal Injury

August 18, 2009

Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit From Food Poisoning

January 2008, Courtney Rohn dashed in for a takeout order at a Homestead restaurant.

A day later the 32-year-old mom died at Homestead Hospital. An autopsy showed that she died of a bacterial infection in the blood.

Now her family has filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against El Toro Taco, in connection with Rohn’s takeout order. The lawsuit alleges the bacterial infection was caused from food poisoning and was exacerbated from Rohn having her spleen removed.

Rohn’s mother and stepfather, Margaret and Walter Armstrong, are alleging two counts of negligence, two counts of strict liability and violations of The Florida Food Safety Act.

August 18, 2009

Yaz and Yasmin Blood Clot Risk

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yasmin was first approved by The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001 for women to use as birth control.

In 2008, the FDA issued Bayer Corp. a warning letter regarding false claims made in two Yaz television commercials. These false claims involved the ability of Yaz to treat premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and all types of acne. As a result, the company stopped running the ads, and later embarked on an advertising campaign that corrected the deceptive claims made in those commercials.

Yasmin has been associated with:

– Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
– Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
– Heart Attack
– Stroke
– Death

August 17, 2009

Paxil Side Effects and Birth Defects

by Dr. Shezad Malik

New studies point to an increased risk of Paxil birth defects in babies whose mothers use the antidepressant during pregnancy. According to the findings of two studies, women who were taking Paxil during their first trimester were one and a half to two times more likely to have a baby with a heart defect than women who were taking other antidepressants or women of the general population.

A study published in the February 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that maternal use of the antidepressant Paxil increased the risk—by as much as six times—of a birth defect known as persistent pulmonary hypertension, or PPHN.

Babies born with PPHN have difficulty circulating oxygen through their bodies because of constricted blood vessels in the heart and lungs.

August 16, 2009

Yasmin, Yaz, Ocella Side Effects and Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yasmin and Yaz are two types of birth control oral contraceptive pills manufactured by Bayer Healthcare, and the generic, Ocella, is marketed and distributed by Barr Laboratories, Inc. Yasmin and Yaz contain the same estrogenic compound, ethinyl estradiol, that has been used in oral contraceptive “The Pill” since the 1970s, but the progestin in Yasmin and Yaz is new. Yasmin and Yaz both contain drospirenone, a “fourth generation” progestin – no other birth control oral contraceptive pills contain drospirenone, except for a recently approved generic version, Ocella.

If you have side effects from using these medications you can report them to the FDA.

August 16, 2009

Researchers Say Women Should Take Safest Birth-Control Pill

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Doctors should prescribe the birth- control pills that are the least likely to cause blood clots, according to a study of more than 3,000 women published today in the British Medical Journal.

Oral contraceptives containing levonorgestrel and a low dose of estrogen, such as Bayer AG’s Microgynon 30, were associated with the lowest risk of blood clots in the leg or lungs, researchers at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands found. Birth-control pills containing desogestrel, cyproterone acetate or drospirenone carried about 1.5 to 2 times the risk of clots, they found.

August 15, 2009

Yaz Information and Side Effects

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yaz prevents ovulation and causes changes in the cervical and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus.

Yaz is used as contraception to prevent pregnancy.

Yaz is contraindicated if you are pregnant or if you have any of the following conditions: a history of stroke or blood clot, breast or uterine cancer, abnormal vaginal bleeding, kidney or liver disease, an adrenal gland disorder, severe high blood pressure, migraine headaches, or a history of jaundice caused by birth control pills.

August 15, 2009

Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits to be Consolidated in Federal MDL

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A motion/petition has been filed with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation by plaintiff attorneys to consolidate and centralize all federal Yasmin and Yaz suits in one court for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

There are currently at least 40 federal court cases pending against Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation involving their Yaz and Yasmin birth control. The lawsuits all contain similar allegations that inadequate warnings were provided that Yaz and Yasmin side effects may increase the risk of potentially life-threatening injuries like heart attacks, strokes, gallbladder disease, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE) and sudden death.

August 15, 2009

FDA Warns of E-Cigarette Risks

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about potential health risks associated with electronic cigarettes.

Also known as “e-cigarettes,” electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices designed to look like and be used in the same manner as conventional cigarettes.

Sold online and in many shopping malls, the devices generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. They turn nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user.

August 14, 2009

Hydroxycut Law Suit Filed in WV Against Iovate

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A WV Kanawha County woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of popular weight-loss product Hydroxycut, alleging that they falsely marketed their products as safe and effective dietary supplements.

In a suit filed last week in Kanawha Circuit Court, Rhonda M. Hawkins maintains that Ontario-based Iovate Health Sciences, Inc., and its subsidiaries and related companies defrauded the public by advertising that Hydroxycut products worked and had no adverse health effects.

August 14, 2009

Defective Product Chinese Drywall Cases on ‘Rocket Docket’

by Dr. Shezad Malik

With thousands of homeowners claiming their houses and health are deteriorating from sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall, a federal judge in New Orleans is intent on fast-tracking a handful of cases for trial, attorneys say.

The first of these bellwether lawsuits could be tried by the end of the year, a timetable that encourages homeowners to think settlement. In contrast, drywall maker and defendant Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin welcomes home inspections and is investigating “practical solutions” but denies any health effects from its drywall.

About 600 tainted Chinese drywall lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation under U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon for pretrial issues. With the help of plaintiff and defense steering committees, Fallon will select five cases to test the waters.

“He is moving extremely fast, which is the right thing because people are living in homes that are toxic to them,” said Victor Diaz, a partner at Podhurst Orseck in Miami and a member of the MDL plaintiff steering committee.