Product Liability

May 14, 2008

Vaccines and Autism link

The United States Court of Federal Claims started another hearing to determine if thimerosal, a vaccine additive led several children to become autistic.The hearing is the second in a series of three in which the court is evaluating whether the government should pay damages to the parents of some 4,800 autistic children. In this hearing, parents are alleging that thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury, damaged their children’s brains. Thimerosal was removed from all routinely administered childhood vaccines by 2001.

Every major study and scientific organization to examine the issue has found no link between vaccination and autism, but the vaccine critics have persisted in pursing the claim.

May 11, 2008

Squeaky Ceramic Hips

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Some patients who undergo hip replacemnts have been complaining of sqeaky noises when they move. Their artificial hips are made of ceramic materials were are meant to be being much more durable than older models.

Some 250,000 Americans get total hip implants each year; hip replacements have a success rate of more than 90 percent.

April 28, 2008

Digitek Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On April 25, 2008, a nationwide Digitek Tablet Recall was issued for the heart medication. Manufacturing problems caused some tablets to contain twice as much of the active ingredient as normal. This could result in digitalis toxicity in patients with impaired kidney function, which is a serious and potentially fatal illness.

Individual lawsuits and Digitek class actions are currently pending. All of the federal Digitek litigation has been consolidated in an MDL in the Southern District of West Virginia.

November 29, 2007

Acute Pancreatitis Warning From FDA About Byetta

by Dr. Shezad Malik

FDA has reviewed 30 postmarketing reports of acute pancreatitis in patients taking Byetta, a drug used to treat adults with type 2 diabetes. An association between Byetta and acute pancreatitis is suspected in some of these cases.

Healthcare professionals should instruct patients taking Byetta to seek prompt medical care if they experience unexplained persistent severe abdominal pain which may or may not be accompanied by vomiting. If pancreatitis is suspected, Byetta should be discontinued. If pancreatitis is confirmed, Byetta should not be restarted unless an alternative etiology is identified.

FDA has asked and the maker of Byetta, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has agreed to include information about acute pancreatitis in the PRECAUTIONS section of the product label.

August 11, 2007

Defective Drugs: Fentanyl Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Duragesic and generic fentanyl pain patches have been linked to hundreds of cases of overdose and death. Poor design, manufacturing defects, inadequate warnings and poor quality controls could result in excessive amounts of fentanyl entering the body.

Lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States for users who have died or entered a permanent coma from a fentanyl overdose.

Johnson & Johnson was the main manufacturer as well as a variety of generic fentanyl patch manufacturers.