Wrongful Death

October 13, 2009

Yasmin and Yaz Side Effects Were Concealed to Boost Sales

Two pension funds for firefighters and city employees in Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit against Bayer, saying that the drug maker hid health risks and misrepresented the effectiveness of its popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin. The complaint joins hundreds of other lawsuits pending against the pharmaceutical company over problems with Yaz and Yasmin.

The Yaz / Yasmin lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by the Philadelphia Firefighters Union Local No. 22 Health and Welfare Fund, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, District Council 47 Health and Welfare Fund. The funds accuse Bayer of unlawfully promoting Yaz to mislead investors about the value of the company, concealing the drug’s increased risks of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, gallbladder disease, pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

October 11, 2009

Dartmouth Student Ski Personal Injury Lawsuit can Proceed

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The College’s request to end a lawsuit filed after the death of Christina Porter ’06 was denied by a federal judge last week. Porter passed away on Jan. 16, 2005, less than a year after sustaining severe head injuries while taking a skiing class at the Dartmouth Skiway.

The court’s ruling came in response to Dartmouth’s request for summary judgment, in which the judge decides the case without a trial.

Porter was enrolled in a beginning ski class to complete her physical education requirement. During a lesson on Feb. 3, 2004, she skied into a tree and was rushed to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She remained in a coma for the next six months, and passed away the following January due to complications from her injuries.

October 10, 2009

City Settles Police Employment Discrimination Suits for $18 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The city of South Gate has paid out $18 million to settle lawsuits filed by a group of officers who said they faced racially-motivated discrimination, harassment and retaliation in the aftermath of the ouster of a Latino police official in 2002, according to the officers’ attorney.

Sixteen police officers filed suits against South Gate, a working-class, predominantly Latino city with an annual budget of about $100 million, alleging that they were subjected to racial slurs and false internal affairs investigations, unfairly disciplined, and passed up for promotions. Many said they were discriminated because of their association with Rick Lopez, a former acting police chief.

October 8, 2009

DWI: Wrongful Death Dram Shop Lawsuit AllegesThat Driver Plied With Liquor

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The parents of a grad student killed by a drunken driver will file suit against the Queens cafe where her killer got liquored up before the horrific accident.

“All those responsible for the wrongful death should be held accountable,” said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, who represents the family of victim Panayiota Demetriou.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from the Cavo Cafe Lounge on 31st Ave. in Astoria for serving Daryush Omar alcohol “up to and past the point of intoxication.”

Omar, 25, got behind the wheel of his car in the early-morning hours of Nov. 16, 2008, and later barreled through a red light.

October 8, 2009

Glaxo Claims to Have Complied With FDA Rules on Paxil

by Dr. Shezad Malik

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, complied with all U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations in testing and monitoring Paxil, according to a former employee for the agency.

Glaxo reported to the FDA on a regular basis and supplied animal toxicology studies that didn’t indicate the drug could cause birth defects, Judith Jones testified as an expert witness for the company. Jones spent eight years in the FDA’s post- marketing surveillance and drug safety group.

“The FDA was provided all of the reports that GlaxoSmithKline had received on a regular basis and they specifically did not identify a signal,” Jones told jurors in state court. “They provided all the necessary information to the FDA.”
Jones testified toward the end of the first trial over claims Paxil causes birth defects. Michelle David blames her Paxil use for her 3-year-old son’s life-threatening heart defects. She accuses the company of withholding information from consumers and regulators about the risk of birth defects and failing to properly test Paxil.

October 7, 2009

Wrongful Death: Water-Drinking Radio Contestant

by Dr. Shezad Malik

After drinking a gallon and a half of water, Jennifer Strange’s thinking would have been so impaired by the time she left a radio station on the day she died that she might as well have been drunk, according to a doctor who testified.

If medical personnel had been on site at the time she left the studios of KDND “The End” 107.9, they could have advised her that she needed a doctor’s care and she likely would have survived, Dr. George Alan Kaysen testified.

Kaysen said hyponatremia, or acute water intoxication, can be easily treated with an intravenous sodium drip.

October 7, 2009

Teen’s Fatal Overdose Blamed on Fentanyl Patch

by Dr. Shezad Malik

For a 15-year-old, or anybody else, Michael Blankenship had already been through a lot when he arrived at Seattle Children’s hospital for some routine dental work.

What left him dead, was the painkiller-laced patch — meant to ameliorate chronic pain in cancer patients and others — that was prescribed to Blankenship.

Discharged to his mother’s home the day of the March 9 tooth extraction, Blankenship was found dead in his bed the following morning. According to a civil suit filed earlier this month in King County Superior Court, a medical examiner found Blankenship had died from a drug overdose caused by the fentanyl patch.

October 6, 2009

$3.7M Awarded in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A WI Brown County jury awarded the survivors of a deceased farm worker $3.7 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Gustavo Espinal-Santos died Jan. 1, 2004, after contracting blastomycosis, a fungal infection often transmitted through water or soil.

Espinal-Santos twice visited the Bellin Family Medical Center in Bonduel in December 2003 complaining of illness. Espinal-Santos was seen by physician assistants who determined he had pneumonia. He said they failed to run basic diagnostic tests, specifically X-rays.

October 6, 2009

Bar And Insurance Company to Pay More Than $1M in Wrongful Death Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The parents of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a drunken driver in December 2006 have settled their lawsuit against the driver and the bar that served her for slightly more than $1 million.

Berky’s agreed to pay Barbara Nordlund and Robert L’Ecuyer $1 million in the death of Paul L’Ecuyer, and Melissa Arrington’s insurance company agreed to pay $25,000 — one day before the case was to go to trial in Pima County Superior Court, said plaintiff’s attorney John Osborne.

October 6, 2009

9/11 Workers Can Now Sue Over Illnesses

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Thousands of sickened 9/11 recovery workers whose legal claims have been barred because of missed deadlines can now join a massive group suing New York City under a law signed by Gov. David A. Paterson, officials said.

The law immediately allows more than 3,000 Ground Zero workers to revive lawsuits that were thrown out by a federal judge in July on the technical ground that they were not filed within 90 days of the workers’ conditions being diagnosed.