Wrongful Death

August 6, 2009

Defective Drug: Yaz/Yasmin Side Effects Includes Pulmonary Embolism

Yaz, is manufactured by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and there are at least 32 federal court cases pending against Bayer regarding their contraceptive pill and the side effects.

There are serious side effects that include:

* Blood clots in the legs – Oral contraceptives have warned of the potential for blood clots for years, but it has been alleged that Yaz causes deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which can lead to a pulmonary embolism (PE).

* Pulmonary embolism (PE) – These are caused by the DVT leg blood clots breaking off and lodging in the lungs.

* Heart attack – These are probably caused by blood clots in the coronary arteries.

* Stroke – These are caused by the DVT leg blood clots breaking off and lodging in the brain.

* Liver damage – Liver damage has also been associated with Yaz.

August 6, 2009

Parkinson Disease and Heart Disease linked to Agent Orange

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An expert panel reported that two more diseases may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the American military during the Vietnam War.

People exposed to the chemical appear, at least tentatively, to be more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease, according to the report. The report was written by a 14-member committee charged by the Institute of Medicine with determining whether certain medical conditions were caused by exposure to herbicides used to clear stretches of jungle.

The results, though not conclusive, are an important first step for veterans groups working to get the government to help pay for treatment of illnesses they believe have roots on the battlefield. Some other conditions linked to Agent Orange already qualify.

August 5, 2009

Yasmin / Yaz Defective Drug Lawsuit Consolidation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

It is common in defective drugs claims, when a large group of people file lawsuits against a drug maker to have similar allegations that an injury was caused by a side effect of a particular drug.

The plaintiffs are seeking to consolidate all Yasmin and Yaz birth control lawsuits in an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation, where the individual cases would be assigned to one judge and handled in a manner similar to how a Yasmin / Yaz class action lawsuit would be managed during pretrial litigation.

The Yaz / Yasmin lawyers are reviewing potential lawsuits involving serious and life-threatening injuries caused by these popular birth control pills, and support the formation of an MDL, as it will benefit the women who have experienced Yasmin / Yaz problems.

The motion was filed in July with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation asking that an MDL be formed for the Yasmin / Yaz litigation, and that all of the cases filed in different federal district courts throughout the United States be transferred to the Northern District of Ohio for coordinated handling.

August 5, 2009

CBS News Investigation Finds 59 Deaths, Hundreds Of Injuries Linked To Yamaha’s Off-Road Vehicle

by Dr. Shezad Malik

In the swath of Kentucky called the Land Between The Lakes, the Turkey Bay Off-Highway Vehicle Area is a rugged expanse of hills and woodlands crisscrossed by 100 miles of trails. Test drivers came here in July, 2002, to try out the Yamaha Rhino, a new breed of off-road vehicle then in development, and had a mishap that would resonate years later.

Keisuke “Casey” Yoshida, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., was behind the wheel of a Rhino prototype. Ike Miyachi, a company vice president in charge of Rhino development, rode beside him in the passenger seat. After descending a long hill to flat ground, the Rhino tipped over, giving Miyachi a foot injury.

At a meeting weeks later, Yoshida raised a question that now seems prophetic. “Casey wants update on instability of vehicle for future liability cases,” according to minutes obtained by CBS News.

August 5, 2009

Defective Drugs: Neurontin Lawsuits and Suicide

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Pfizer Inc.’s Warner-Lambert unit created a list of 13 ailments that its epilepsy medicine Neurontin could treat as part of its promotion of the drug for unapproved uses, a former employee testified.

“I was trained from day one” to market the drug illegally, David Franklin testified. Franklin, who worked as a medical liaison at the Parke-Davis division of Warner-Lambert, said he encouraged doctors to prescribe Neurontin for uses beyond those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“My job was to promote Neurontin and motivate doctors to experiment” on patients, he said today in federal court in Boston. After being hired as a medical liaison, “I was selling drugs,” he said. The uses promoted were from the “snake-oil list” of 13 medical conditions, said Franklin, a microbiologist.

August 4, 2009

No Punitive Damages Against Merck in Fosamax Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Merck & Co., facing more than 850 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax may cause irreversible “jaw rot,” won’t face punitive damages in the first trial, a federal judge said.

U.S. District Judge John Keenan said at a hearing today in New York that he’ll release a decision as early as July 31 knocking out the possibility of punitive damages in the case. He’ll deny Merck’s request to rule in its favor on liability, which means the case will go to trial Aug. 11, he said.

Keenan has scheduled three so-called bellwether trials through January to show each side the other’s strategy and possibly point the way to settlements. The judge earlier denied the plaintiffs’ request to treat the litigation as a class, or group, lawsuit allowing them to ask for court-ordered medical monitoring of all Fosamax users.

August 3, 2009

Neurontin Pfizer Product Liability Lawsuit Dropped

by Dr. Shezad Malik

After her family dropped its lawsuit in the midst of trial, Pfizer Inc. won’t face a lawsuit over claims its epilepsy drug Neurontin helped lead a Massachusetts woman to commit suicide,
Susan Bulger’s family agreed to dismiss the suit after an anonymous donor offered to put money in a trust for her 10-year- old daughter, Regina, said Mark Lanier, the family’s lawyer. The trial began July 27 and was scheduled to run three weeks in federal court in Boston.

The suit was the first of about 1,200 involving Neurontin. The family claimed Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, promoted the medication for unapproved uses and didn’t warn it could increase the risk of suicide until forced to do so by the government. Pfizer said Bulger had a history of drug abuse and had made six suicide attempts before taking her life in 2004.

August 1, 2009

Arlington Texas Asbestos Litigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The asbestos lawsuits filed in the United States over the past fifty years constitute the longest running mass tort in the country’s history. A tort is defined as a civil action taken based on a negligent or intentional harm done that is not based on contract law.

A Rand Corporation research says that by the end of 2002, about 730,000 individuals claiming physical harm from asbestos exposure had filed suit against about 8,400 corporations and businesses. At that point, about seventy corporations had filed for bankruptcy protection over their asbestos liability.

Today, in 2009 the number of bankruptcy filings has reached one hundred. The number of lawsuits since 2002 are several hundred thousand in number and they have increased each year. Because the diseases caused by asbestos exposure have latency periods of up to fifty years, many people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago are just now getting sick.

August 1, 2009

Hepatitis C Medical Malpractice Claims Can Proceed

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The central figure of an investigation into the hepatitis C outbreak might have been impaired by a stroke a year ago, but he is competent enough to face medical malpractice charges, according to the state Board of Medical Examiners.

Based on results from an examination performed by Dr. Thomas Kinsora, a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Dipak Desai is “borderline” in regards to his ability to assist defense attorneys in his medical board licensing hearing.

August 1, 2009

Defective Drugs: Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control Lawsuits and Increased Risk of Strokes

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Yasmin and Yaz are birth control pills manufactured by Bayer Healthcare. The generic brand Ocella is marketed and distributed by Barr Laboratories, Inc. Yasmin and Yaz contain the same estrogenic compound, ethinyl estradiol, that has been used in 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 pills contain drospirenone, except for a recently approved generic version of Yasmin and Yaz, called Ocella.