Product Liability

October 14, 2011

Medtronic Infuse Side Effects and Lawsuits

As a Dallas Medtronic Infuse Lawsuit and side effect attorney and medical doctor I am providing this update regarding the problems associated withe Medtronic Infuse medical product.

Medtronic, a medical device company is in the news regarding reports about its synthetic bone growth product Infuse. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating whether Medtronic had been illegally promoting “off-label” use of Infuse.

The Spine Journal reported in its June 2011 edition concerns about Infuse and Medtronic’s research. In 2004, a small group of doctors wrote some research papers stating that Infuse did not cause any harm to patients. The doctors who wrote the article would eventually receive millions of dollars from Medtronic.

October 7, 2011

DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement MDL Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As a DePuy ASR and DePuy Pinnacle litigation attorney, I am providing this timely update.

More than 500 lawsuits have been filed in Northern District of Texas federal court over DePuy Pinnacle hip replacements problems. The plaintiffs have alleged that DePuy hips, caused individuals to experience severe pain and early failure of their artificial hip implant.

October 6, 2011

DePuy ASR MOM Hips in the News

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a DePuy ASR Hip Recall attorney I am providing this update. There is a problem with metal on metal artificial hip implant devices, as highlighted on the NBC Nightly News on October 4th 2011.

According to medical experts and bio-engineers, the DePuy ASR, and DePuy Pinnacle hip implants are failing, or have failed at an unacceptably high rate. In August of 2010, there was a recall on DePuy ASR hip implant device. The ASR DePuy hip implants were surgically implanted on tens of thousands of US citizens between 2005 and early 2010.

Symptoms of a recalled ASR DePuy hip implant failure include pain in the hip region, problems walking, swelling of the hip, or lack of flexibility in the area of the hip. NBC Nightly News with anchor Brian Williams, called attention to the DePuy hip implant recall, and the issues with metal on metal hip implants on Tuesday October 4th 2011 news segment.

October 3, 2011

Merck Wins Another Federal Bellwether Trial Regarding FOSAMAX

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Merck said today that a federal court jury in New York found in its favor in the Secrest v. Merck case, rejecting the claim of a Florida woman who blamed her dental and jaw-related problems on her FOSAMAX use.

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Chilton Varner of King & Spalding LLP, outside counsel for Merck said, “Unfortunately, the plaintiff had medical problems that cause people to develop the jaw and dental problems that the plaintiff has, regardless of whether they were taking FOSAMAX. She has a long history of invasive dental procedures and suffers from medical conditions that inhibit the body’s ability to heal.”

Today’s verdict marks the fourth time a jury has found in Merck’s favor on a plaintiff’s product liability claim in the litigation regarding FOSAMAX. The plaintiff in this case alleged she used FOSAMAX and suffered various jaw problems and complications following multiple tooth extractions and failed dental implants.

October 3, 2011

Actos Bladder Cancer Litigation to be Consolidated

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As an Actos Bladder Cancer Product Liability attorney and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this update regarding the status of a MDL consolidation request.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals the manufacturer of Actos and their defense attorneys have indicated that the drug maker supports a request to have all federal Actos bladder cancer lawsuits consolidated for pretrial litigation. But Takeda disagrees about where the defective product liability claims should be centralized.

On September 29, Takeda Actos lawyers filed a response with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, indicating that they agree with plaintiffs that an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, should be formed, but requested that the cases be transferred to either Northern District of Illinois or Western District of Louisiana.

October 1, 2011

DePuy Metal on Metal Hip and Metallosis

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a DePuy ASR and Pinnacle Replacement and Recall attorney I am providing this blog update.

As readers to my blog will note, I am a licensed Texas medical doctor as well as a product liability attorney. We are currently fielding many phone calls from concerned hip replacement patients and the biggest concern for them is residual hip pain post procedure.”Is that normal?” they ask. “How do we know if we are suffering from metallosis?” “My doctor is not concerned but I still feel that something is wrong?”

The answers to these questions remain elusive for several reasons. Firstly and foremost is the lack of research, disclosure and transparency from the hip manufacturers who knew or should have known about these problems and concerns.

September 28, 2011

Bone Fracture Side Effects of Nexium, Prilosec and Protonix Heartburn Drugs

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A lawsuit has been filed against AstraZeneca by two Texans who allege that Nexium caused them to suffer bone fracture side effects. The complaint was filed by Mary Mai Nguyen and Tuoc Duong on September 15 in Harris County, Texas against AstraZeneca.

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According to the Nexium lawsuit, the defendants failed to adequately research the heart burn medication or warn about the potential risk of Nexium bone problems. Nexium (esomeprazole) is a member of a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).

A number of similar bone fracture lawsuits involving Nexium and other proton pump inhibitors have been filed in recent months. Other drugs in the class include Prilosec, Aciphex, Prevacid, Protonix, Vimovo and Zegerid.

September 27, 2011

FDA Advisory Panel for YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella

by Dr. Shezad Malik

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning Monday about an increased risk of blood clots in women taking newer forms of birth control pills, such as Yaz or Yasmin.

The FDA did say it “remains concerned” about a potentially higher risk of blood clots in women taking the “fourth generation” pills containing drospirenone, a new type of synthetic progestin. These new pills, marketed as Yaz, Ocella or Yasmin, among other brand names, are very popular.

Venous thrombosis embolism (VTE) are clots that originate in the legs and can travel to the lungs, causing a medical condition known as pulmonary embolism. Symptoms include leg pain, chest pain or sudden shortness of breath.

September 22, 2011

DePuy Metal on Metal Hip Failure Rate

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Texas Medical Doctor and DePuy ASR Failure Attorney, I am providing this update and commentary on a recent British database study.

According to a British database, the National Joint Registry for England and Wales, which tracks hip replacement problems, a number of recalled DePuy ASR metal hip implants are failing within six years. Data from the National Joint Registry for England and Wales indicates that 29% of patients who received the DePuy metal-on-metal hip replacement have reported that they failed after only six years of use.

DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a DePuy ASR hip recall last year, indicating that about 12% to 13% of these hips mail fail within five years. More than 90,000 DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Systems and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems were sold worldwide before the metal-on-metal hip implants were recalled in August 2010. About 40,000 of those were sold in the United States.

September 21, 2011

Bard Avaulta Mesh and Bard Avaulta Sling Transvaginal Mesh Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

30 plaintiffs who have filed a vaginal mesh lawsuit against C.R. Bard, are asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), to include these cases as part of the consolidated federal Bard Avaulta litigation.

In October 2010, the JPML ordered that all federal Bard Avaulta pelvic mesh lawsuits be consolidated before U.S. District Judge Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

This MDL included cases filed by women who received three different types of Bard surgical mesh used for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or female stress urinary incontinence (SUI): the Bard Avaulta Biosynthetic, Bard Avaulta Plus and Bard Avaulta Solo mesh. These products were sold by C.R. Bard and manufactured by either Bard or subsidiaries of Covidien plc.