In June of last year, millions of Philips CPAP and BiPAP sleeping machines were recalled after the company acknowledged that sound abatement foam in the devices was breaking down and causing users to inhale toxic chemicals.
The sweeping recall immediately prompted a wave of CPAP lawsuits. The early plaintiffs in these cases claimed that the recalled devices caused a variety of different health problems including asthma, throat tumors, and general respiratory irritation.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has been conducting a study on polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350), the active ingredient in MiraLAX, and its effect on a child’s brain. The study came about after reports that children have been experiencing behavioral problems after taking MiraLAX.
Yesterday, I wrote an article noting a Danish study that concluded that there were no long-term cancer risks associated with NDMA-contaminated valsartan tablets. While NDMA might not have long-term cancer risk effects, it is not the only impurity found in valsartan.
A Louisville, Kentucky jury awarded an eleven-year-old girl and her family $7.25 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages as the result of a defective cochlear ear device.
Born deaf, the little girl had a cochlear ear device implanted in her head when she was four years old. Four years later, an electrical short from the device shocked her horrifically; she was thrown to the ground, vomiting and convulsing.
Before the device was removed and replaced 13 months later, she was shocked two more times. The open-head surgery to remove the device from her skull took more than seven hours.
CPSC Suit Against the Manufacturer of Buckyballs
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has asked Buckyball manufacturer, Maxfield and Oberton, to stop sales of the Buckyball product, and to alert consumers that it is defective. Not only have they asked Maxfield and Oberton to stop sales, they have gone so far as to file an administrative complaint against the company.
The CPSC is claiming that there is a defect in the design, packaging, warnings, and instructions, posing a substantial risk of injury to the public. The complaint was filed after discussions with the company and its representatives failed to result in a voluntary recall plan that CPSC staff considered to be adequate. What is important here to note, is that this type of legal action against a company is rare, as this is only the second administrative complaint filed by CPSC in the past 11 years.
Smith & Nephew knee replacements are failing at an unacceptable rate
Our lawyers are investigating knee replacement lawsuits against Smith & Nephew.
These knee replacements have been on the market for some time. The reason for the lawsuits is simply: the Smith & Nephew knee replacements are simply failing at an unacceptable rate. These were supposed to be knee replacements that would last for 10 to 20 years. Patients who have these devices implanted may be entitled to revision surgery, medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering damages.
We recently reported on a study that revealed that the metal-on-metal hip replacements failed three times more often than other artificial hips. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered twenty-one (21) artificial hip manufacturers to conduct studies of the Metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacement devices, and how they can adversely affect patients, after having received close to 11,000 reports of defective hip failures from January through September 2011.
All of this concern may be for nothing, as findings of a new study reveal that the all-metal artificial hip replacements provide no advantage when compared to older types of hip implants – they just appear to carry a greater risk of problems.
FDA researchers just published a report in the British Medical Journal in which the effectiveness of a number of types of hip implants was examined. Metal-on-metal hip implants were examined, as were ceramic-on-ceramic implants, and they were compared to the older metal on polyethylene implants and ceramic on polyethylene implants. The comparative study looked at 3,139 patients in 18 comparative studies. Data from 83,000 operations worldwide was reviewed.
There have been many lawsuits involving hip replacements: Zimmer, Stryker, and DePuy have all been in the scopes of plaintiffs’ lawyers. But a bigger problem might be looming: metal-on-metal hip implants. In the last few years, metal-on-metal hip implants have been used in approximately one-third of the replacements performed annually in this country. What is the problem with metal-on-metal hip implants?
Doctors clearly don’t fully understand the problem yet. But studies are leading some doctors to conclude that the problem manufacturers may have underestimated is the degree to which metal on metal causes the release of microscopic ions of chromium and cobalt.
The body fights back against these metals, causing a reaction called metallosis that compromises the immune system. Inflammatory reactions to the metal can cause groin pain, fatigue, death of tissue in the hip joint, loss of surrounding bone and muscle, and…. who knows what else? There is also speculation it may cause heart and kidney problems as well. Metal-on-metal hip implants are still relatively new, so we don’t really know what the long-term consequences may be.
Topamax, also known by its generic name topiramate, is an antiepileptic medication developed by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. It was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996. Initially, Topamax was primarily used for the treatment of epilepsy and seizures, as it demonstrated efficacy in reducing the frequency and severity of seizures in patients.
Topamax works by affecting neurotransmitters in the brain, particularly gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces brain activity, while glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that increases brain activity. By modulating the balance between these neurotransmitters, Topamax helps to prevent excessive electrical activity in the brain, reducing the likelihood of seizures.
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