Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

October 15, 2009

Deaths Linked To Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control Pill

It was August, 2008, when 24-year-old Tanya Hayes began to experience breathlessness and what her family described as a “nasty, hard cough.” Tanya ignored the symptoms until one afternoon when she collapsed in a car park in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Five hours later, she was pronounced dead of a pulmonary embolism.

According to the head of the emergency room that treated Ms. Hayes, her death was the result of “blood clotting caused by factors related to taking the oral contraceptive pill.”
What her family did not discover until later is that the fine print on the package of pills she was taking, known as Yasmin, lists “breathlessness” as a “very rare . . . very serious side effect.”

October 15, 2009

Settlement For Philadelphia Apartment-Fire Litigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Less than 14 months after a devastating apartment blaze along the Conshohocken riverfront set back one of the nation’s most successful revivals of an aging town, a $36.3 million settlement has been reached to end all fire-related litigation.

Of that, $27 million will go toward rebuilding the two destroyed Riverwalk apartment buildings, which housed 189 units. The remainder will be shared among the displaced tenants, with amounts depending on individual losses.

October 14, 2009

Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Case Costs Hospital $43.5 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

In what is believed to be the largest personal injury lawsuit verdict in the history of the Capital Region, a state Supreme Court jury in Saratoga County awarded $43.5 million to a woman who sued the Bellevue Maternity Hospital in Niskayuna for severe brain damage she suffered during her birth in 1984.

Tiffany Busone, 24, of Schoharie County, sued the hospital for malpractice, arguing she suffered cerebral palsy as a result of a lack of oxygen and a failure to properly resuscitate her during her birth on July 15, 1984.

While Busone has above-average intelligence and earned a degree from Arizona State University, she uses a wheelchair and lacks motor skills due to the brain damage, the sources said.

The lawsuit, initially filed by the woman’s mother, J. Tracy Busone, dates to 1984 when the family lived in Saratoga County.

October 13, 2009

Glaxo Ordered to Pay $2.5 M for Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

GlaxoSmithKline Plc must pay $2.5 M over claims that its Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects, a Pennsylvania jury concluded in the first of 600 such cases to come to trial.

Jurors in state court in Philadelphia deliberated about seven hours over two days before finding Glaxo failed to properly warn doctors and pregnant users of Paxil’s risk. The panel awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages to the family of Lyam Kilker. The 3-year-old was born with heart defects his mother blamed on the drug.

October 13, 2009

Glaxo Ignored Paxil’s Birth-Defect Risks, According to Lawyer

by Dr. Shezad Malik

GlaxoSmithKline Plc officials intentionally ignored the possibility that the Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects, a lawyer said in closing arguments of a trial over the drug. Glaxo researchers never followed up on studies showing Paxil posed a birth-defect risk for fear of harming sales,
The London-based drugmaker “made a concerted effort” not to study Paxil’s links to birth defects, Tracey said. Glaxo executives sought to “avoid doing studies that would have revealed the truth about their drugs,” he said.

The trial is the first of more than 600 cases alleging that Glaxo, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, knew Paxil caused birth defects and hid those risks to increase profits.

The family of Lyam Kilker claims Glaxo withheld information from consumers and regulators about Paxil’s risks and failed to properly test the drug. Lyam’s mother, Michelle David, blames Paxil for causing her son’s life-threatening heart defects.

October 13, 2009

Woman Settles for $7 M in Target Brain Injury Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An 80-year-old woman has been awarded a $7 million settlement from Target Corp. and a mechanical door company after she was knocked to the ground by a faulty automatic door at a Target store in Rosemont in 2007, the woman’s lawyers said in a statement.

The incident on June 21, 2007, caused Claire Putman brain injuries and resulted in “cognitive deficits,” according to the statement from the law firm. Putman, whom records list as a Des Plaines resident, had to move into a nursing home because of her injuries.

According to the statement, Putman was walking into the Target at 7000 Mannheim Rd. when the door malfunctioned and knocked her to the floor, causing her to hit her head. She was then struck by the door again as it continued to open and close.

October 13, 2009

Yasmin and Yaz Side Effects Were Concealed to Boost Sales

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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 12, 2009

Chinese Drywall Personal Injury Cases Continue to Increase

by Dr. Shezad Malik

When Bill Morgan, moved into his newly built dream home in Williamsburg, Va., three years ago, his hopes were quickly dashed. As reported in the New Times. Read the complete story here

His wife and daughter suffered constant nosebleeds and headaches. A persistent foul odor filled the house. Every piece of metal indoors corroded or turned black.

Mr. Morgan moved out. The headaches and nosebleeds stopped, but the ensuing financial problems pushed him into personal bankruptcy.

Mr. Morgan, like many other American homebuyers who tell similar tales of woe, is blaming the drywall in his new home — specifically, drywall from China, imported during the housing boom to meet heavy demand — that he says is contaminated with various sulfur compounds.

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.