Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

July 26, 2010

Ex-Workers’ Lawsuit Blames Motorola for Birth Defects

A group of former Motorola workers and their children filed a lawsuit Friday against the Schaumburg-based company, claiming toxic substances used to make Motorola products caused serious birth defects in at least 30 children born to workers employed by the company since the 1960s.

The 71 plaintiffs filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit claims Motorola knew the chemicals used to make semiconductors and computer chips in sterile “clean rooms” were toxic and had the potential to cause birth defects in children born to people exposed to the compounds.

Thirty children of former employees allegedly suffer from physical and developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida, sterility and brain malformations, the suit claims. LEEANN MATON, Chicago Sun-Times 07/26/2010

Read Article: Chicago Sun-Times

July 26, 2010

24 Hour Fitness Faces California Class Action Alleging Discrimination.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The AP (7/13) reported, “A Latino civil rights organization sued an international gym chain, accusing 24 Hour Fitness of racial and gender discrimination against its workers in California.

The lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and a law firm claimed that black, Latino, Asian and female staffers systematically hit glass ceilings when they applied for management jobs at some of the company’s approximately 200 California clubs.”

The suit claims “the fitness club violated state anti-discrimination laws and seeks class-action status, which would allow it to represent an estimated 10,000 California employees of the fitness chain.”

Read the full story here.

July 25, 2010

Regulations May Allow Convicted Nurses to Cross State Lines for Work.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Under the headline “Bad Nurses Able To Keep Working In Other States,” USA Today (7/15, Weber, Ornstein) carries an article and interactive map by the independent reporting organization ProPublica that explain how nurses can slip from one state to another for work even if they have felony drug convictions.

The report opens with the case of a nurse who “was fired from a hospital in Wausau, Wis., in 2007 after stealing the powerful painkiller Dilaudid,” was convicted of felony drug charges, and later managed to “get a job as a traveling nurse at a hospital 1,200 miles away in New Bern, N.C.” According to ProPublica, this case “illustrates significant gaps in regulatory efforts nationwide” to keep track of nurses’ misconduct. The report examines applicable licensing issues and agreements that it says perpetuate the problem.

Read the USA Today Article here.

July 24, 2010

Troubled Nurses Skip from State to State Under Compact

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Gaps in regulatory efforts nationwide allow nurses from avoiding the consequences of misconduct by hopping across state lines. Compacts created to help get good nurses to areas where they are needed most recognize a license obtained in a nurse’s home state in the other compact states.

But an investigation by ProPublica found that the pact also has allowed nurses with records of misconduct to put patients in jeopardy. In some cases, nurses have retained clean multistate licenses after at least one compact state had banned them. They have ignored their patients’ needs, stolen their pain medication, forgotten crucial tests or missed changes in their condition, records show. Tracy Weber Charles Ornstein by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica 07/15/2010
Read Article: ProPublica

July 23, 2010

Novartis Settles Employment Discrimination Suit for $152M.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The AP (7/14) reported, “Novartis will pay up to $152.5 million to potentially thousands of women after a jury found it discriminated against them by paying them less than men, the pharmaceutical company and plaintiffs’ lawyers announced Wednesday after a deal was struck. The agreement, which still must be approved by a federal judge in Manhattan, also calls for an additional $22.5 million to be paid for company programs to eliminate discrimination. The settlement covers claims by 5,600 women at the drug company who were part of the class-action lawsuit that resulted in a six-week trial earlier this year.”

Bloomberg News (7/14, Van Voris) reported, “The suit was filed in 2004 by Amy Velez and four other women who claimed they faced discrimination over pay and promotion and for pregnancy.”

The Wall Street Journal (7/15, Bray) reports that lead plaintiffs’ attorney David Sanford said, “Novartis has agreed to a momentous settlement,” adding, “the terms of this agreement allow for full compensation of both former and current female field force employees, ensuring that every woman who worked at Novartis over the past eight years has been compensated fairly.”

July 22, 2010

Lawsuit: Campus Police Didn’t Investigate Rape Claim

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A lawsuit has been filed against the Arizona Board of Regents by a former Arizona State student who claims that the university police department and disciplinary office failed to properly investigate her accusations that she was raped.

According to the police report, the woman reported the alleged incident the day after it occurred, and officers determined that she had not withdrawn consent during the sexual activity. The lawsuit, however, claims that the police department “refused to give the woman a forensic sexual assault examination,” and performed an inadequate investigation. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Derek Quizon, Arizona Republic 07/13/2010
Read Article: Arizona Republic

July 22, 2010

Rhabdomyolysis After Taking Zocor 80mg

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently investigating claims on behalf of patients suffering from rhabdomyolysis, a serious Zocor side effect that has been linked to the 80mg dose of this cholesterol-lowering drug.

In March 2010, the Food & Drug Administration released a warning that highlighted the risk of rhabdomyolysis in patients taking Zocor 80mg.

Rhabdomyolysis is a medical condition that affects the muscles, in serious cases, this can lead to kidney damage, kidney failure requiring dialysis, and even death.

Read Mayo Clinic article on statin induced Rhabdomyolysis.

July 21, 2010

Glaxo Said to Have Paid $1 Billion Over Paxil Suits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve more than 800 cases alleging its Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects in some users’ children, according to people familiar with the settlements.

The settlements, which provide an average payout of more than $1.2 million to families of affected children, leave more than 100 birth-defect cases pending, the people said. Officials of Glaxo, the U.K.’s biggest drugmaker, said July 15 they set aside $2.4 billion to resolve litigation over Paxil and its Avandia diabetes drug.

Read full Bloomberg story here.

July 20, 2010

Court Files Indicate Settlement in Paxil Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against a pharmaceutical company by a Watertown woman who linked her prescribed use of Paxil to the death of her infant son, according to court files.

Jennifer Berg of Watertown sued SmithKline Beecham, doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, in October 2007. The complaint said Nathan Berg died in 2004 because of a heart disorder caused by her use of the antidepressant Paxil while she was pregnant. WAYNE ORTMAN, AP , The Washington Post 07/20/2010
Read Article: The Washington Post

July 20, 2010

Paxil Birth Defect Dallas Attorney Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned doctors about a study showing that babies born to women who took Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy had a higher rate of major birth defects. The study, which involved 3,500 pregnant women, showed that those on Paxil were twice as likely to have a child with defects than women on other antidepressants.

The FDA put out a statement warning that “[h]ealthcare professionals are advised to carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits of using [Paxil] in women during pregnancy and to discuss these findings as well as treatment alternatives with their patients.”

At least 600 cases have been filed alleging that Paxil is responsible for congenital birth defects. GSK has also paid approximately $1 billion in settlements of Paxil-related cases not involving birth defects.

Read full story here.