Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

March 11, 2009

New Questions About Seroquel And Diabetes

Shortly after new antipsychotic drugs came on the market in the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration started to worry that they might trigger diabetes in some patients.

So in 2000, the FDA asked AstraZeneca P.L.C. and other pharmaceutical companies to share data on cases of new-onset diabetes and related illnesses in patients taking the drugs. AstraZeneca, told the FDA that patients and doctors had reported 12 new cases of diabetes and five cases of related illnesses among the 623,000 who had taken its antipsychotic drug Seroquel.

But internally, the company had reported the number as 27 cases of diabetes and two of hyperglycemia, according to court documents recently released.

March 10, 2009

Missouri Jury Orders Electric Company to Pay $2.3 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Missouri jury recommended that AmerenUE electric company pay the families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago for a combined $2.3 million.

On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into Spring Lake. Shortly after hitting the water, the teens became immoblized by an electric current.

Nic Harbison drowned, the others were resucitated.

Harbison’s father, Jerry Harbison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against AmerenUE the electric company.

March 9, 2009

Texas Medical Board March 2009 Board Rules Changes

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The following is a summary of the changes effective on March 9, 2009.

Click here for the complete board rules.

Chapter 162, Supervision of Medical School and Physician Assistant Student, with amendments to §162.1, Supervision of Medical Students, provides for the supervision of a medical student who is not enrolled at a Texas medical school as a full-time student or visiting student.

Chapter 171, Postgraduate Training Permits, repeals §171.7, Inactive Status, repeals a provision that recognizes an inactive status of a physician in training permit.

March 9, 2009

Beaumont Doctor Sentenced For Improperly Touching Two Girls

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Houston judge is sentencing a Beaumont cardiologist on charges he molested two girls, and although Dr. Jeffrey Klem will not receive jail time, the doctor will be placed on probation and must write a letter of apology to the girls.

Dr. Klem is receiving five years deferred adjudication on each charge of Injury to a Child. Under the terms of a plea agreement, he will not have to register as a sex offender.

March 9, 2009

Peanut Processor Has No Money For Injuries

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Sickened consumers who sued the peanut processor blamed for a national salmonella outbreak could have trouble recovering damages from company accounts because assets listed in a bankruptcy filing will likely go to other businesses that bought its products.

Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America filed documents listing nearly $11.4 M in assets and debts of $4.8 M in U.S. Bankruptcy court. However, more than $7 M listed as assets was in insurance that covers the company’s products and will not be used for claims by consumers. Among the uses for that money would be compensating businesses that had bought Peanut Corp. products that were recalled, trustee Roy V. Creasy said.

March 8, 2009

Dog Lease Injures a Denton Texas Girl

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Dereka Williams, 13, living in Denton Texas was partially blinded last year when a retractable dog leash broke and struck her in the eye. “I was in the driveway and my dog was kind of running and I was trying to pull her and the leash broke,” said Dereka.

SlyDog, the inexpensive retractable leash Dereka’s father bought to keep track of Diamond, the family’s 25-pound blue pit bull terrier puppy, had recoiled without warning. It struck Dereka in her left eye and tore the retina.

“She kept saying, ‘Mommy I can’t see, I can’t see,’ ” said her mother, Joy Williams. “I thought she was exaggerating. Her eye was bloodshot. You could see the metal piece sticking out of her eyeball.”

March 7, 2009

NJ Man Awarded $1M in UPS Whistleblower Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A New Jersey jury has awarded an UPS employee $1 million after finding that his bosses at United Parcel Service retaliated against him after he complained that managers were violating company policies.

In his lawsuit, 51-year-old Michael Battaglia said he was demoted and assigned to the night shift after lodging his complaints in October 2005.

Following a month long trial in state Superior Court in New Brunswick, a jury found that UPS violated New Jersey’s anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws.

March 6, 2009

Jury Awards $11M to New Jersey Family in Oral Surgery Malpractice Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A jury in New Jersey ruled that a Perth Amboy oral surgeon committed medical malpractice in the death of patient the morning after having his wisdom teeth removed.

The jury deliberated less than three hours over two days before finding that George Flugrad committed medical malpractice when he failed to get clearance from Woodbridge patient Francis Keller’s medical doctor to remove his wisdom teeth after Keller told him he had an impaired immune system.

Keller’s family and his estate were awarded $11 million in damages. With interest combined with other settlements reached in the case, Keller’s parents will received more than $12 million, according to their attorney.

“The money will never bring my son back no matter how much I get,” Helen Keller said. “I only hope it prevents someone else from going through this heartache.”

March 6, 2009

US Supreme Court Rejects Limits on Drug Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Supreme Court forcefully rejected calls for limiting consumer lawsuits against drug makers, upholding a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm to gangrene following an injection.

The decision is the second this term to reject business groups’ arguments that federal regulation effectively pre-empts consumer complaints under state law.

Diana Levine of Vermont once played the guitar and piano professionally. Her right arm was amputated after she was injected with Phenergan, an anti-nausea medicine made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, using a method that brings rapid relief, but with grievous risks if improperly administered.

In a 6-3 decision, the court turned away Wyeth’s claim that federal approval of Phenergan and its warning label should have shielded the company from lawsuits like Levine’s.

March 5, 2009

Texas Jury Awards $3 M in Houston Death Involving Excessive Force

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago.

After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote that three of the four deputies named in Shirley Nagel’s lawsuit used unreasonable and excessive force as the deputies detained Nagel’s son, Joel Don Casey.

Casey’s death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy found the 52-year-old man died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.

He also suffered fractures to his seventh cervical vertebrae and to his thyroid cartilage.