Valsartan Recall and Potential Lawsuits – October 2018

Earlier this month the FDA announced a major recall of prescription blood pressure and heart drugs which contain the active ingredient valsartan.  You can expect a large number of valsartan lawsuits to follow. Valsartan is an active ingredient that is widely used in a number of brand name and generic drugs used to treat hypertension […]

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Your 14 Questions About Invokana Lawsuits

In August 2018, the FDA warned that sodium-glucosecotransporter-2 (SLGT2) inhibitors such as Invokana can cause a rare but serious infection that could result in an amputation of the genital area. This is a big deal because Invokana is a commonly used diabetes medication. The list of diabetes drugs that have let patients down is long.  […]

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Roundup Cancer Lawsuits | 5 Things You Should Know

The Roundup weed killer cancer lawsuits have gathered a lot of recent attention.  A $289 million verdict will do that. These cases are now pushing along with great steam. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California is pushing to have MDL cases go before a federal jury by February 2019. Judge […]

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Ovarian Cancer Talcum Powder Lawsuits

Juries have not been impressed with Johnson & Johnson’s Arguments Out of nowhere, talcum powder ovarian cancer cases became the hottest mass tort case.  What happened and where are we now in these lawsuits? The Product and the Big Question For many decades, talcum powder has enjoyed great success as a consumer product. While young […]

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Will Nexium Cause You Kidney Problems?

Patients who experience acid indigestion, heartburn or other stomach ailments often seek relief from their symptoms by taking one or more drugs like Nexium.  Many patients have gotten great relief from heartburn and related symptoms which experience little if any side effects. Those are the happy ending stories. But new research studies indicate that serious […]

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Xarelto Lawsuit Update | From the Horse’s Mouth

I have written pretty extensively on this blog about the various lawsuits pertaining to the anticoagulant, Xarelto. This drug from Bayer is a controversial one, which has produced a history of bleeding injuries. Despite the risks, Xarelto is a best-selling drug, accounting for a huge amount of money flowing into Bayer’s coffers. I love quarterly updates […]

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Bair Hugger Infections/Joint Replacement Lawsuits

3M and one of its subsidiaries, Arizant Healthcare, are facing some heat over their Bair Hugger warming blanket. Lawsuits are starting to be filed, suggesting that the company knew that use of the Bair Hugger could expose surgical patients to the risk of infection. Patients who underwent surgery for hip or knee replacements are at […]

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testosterone

FDA Adds Testosterone Drug Warnings

For months now, we have been writing about the onslaught of information pouring in regarding testosterone therapy and the negative side-effects associated with its use. Testosterone products, prescribed to treat low testosterone (“Low T”) in men, have become popular among young men seeking physical enhancement, as well as older men who want to counter signs […]

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pregnant woman

Zofran Birth Defect Lawsuit Information

The data that links Zofran and birth defects keeps piling up. Lawsuits have been filed against the drug’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, because they failed to warn pregnant women that the drug can cause injuries to their unborn children when taken during pregnancy. Learn more about how to bring a Zofran lawsuit and how settlements of these […]

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The gadolinium contrast class action lawsuits took a hit last week when the MDL Panel denied class certification which would have consolidated all of the federal court cases under one roof.  But I’m convinced there will be an MDL class action in the gadolinium contrast cases in the next year.  These deposition disease cases are still heating up in spite of this setback.

If you are a victim or a lawyer getting calls from clients, here are 7 things you need to know about the gadolinium contrast litigation.

  1. What are GBCAs?

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  1. What is Zostavax?

Zostavax is a single shot vaccine that helps prevent herpes zoster, also known as the shingles. It is a weakened live form of the virus, meant to train the immune system to fight it off. Zostavax is primarily meant for individuals 50 years and older. Developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck & Company, the FDA approved it in 2006. It is a stronger version of Varivax, another shingles’ vaccine also developed by Merck.

  1. What are the shingles?

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The Washington Post wrote an article Monday underscoring fact that is well-known to lawyers handling malpractice cases in Maryland: doctors struggle to accurately read tests that determine medical conditions. Unfortunately for patients, this can have serious long-term consequences.

Most of these errors do not lead to malpractice cases because they show false positives.  Sometimes these are malpractice cases because the unnecessary test is the harm — we tried that very case in Baltimore County last year and our client received a $1.45 million verdict.

Below are a few examples that I think really highlight the consequences of this problem.  Each of these following examples and studies highlights the need for us to find a path to help doctors to improve their ability to assess tests more accurately.

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Earlier this month the FDA announced a major recall of prescription blood pressure and heart drugs which contain the active ingredient valsartan.  You can expect a large number of valsartan lawsuits to follow.

Valsartan is an active ingredient that is widely used in a number of brand name and generic drugs used to treat hypertension and heart failure.  It was recently discovered that when valsartan is manufactured in a certain way it can contain a dangerous impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NMDA).

NMDA is a known human carcinogen.  The valsartan medications containing the dangerous NMDA impurity have been linked to a specific pharmaceutical ingredient distributed by a Chinese company — Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals.  Zhejiang Huahai was manufacturing the contaminated valsartan component and selling it to several U.S. pharmaceutical companies including Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Solco Healthcare.  Zhejiang Huahai discovered NMDA impurities in its product which eventually led to the FDA recall.

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A recently published California-based survey on mothers found that health care providers do not usually listen to mothers about their birth preferences. Even worse, these providers seem to listen to black women the least. This suggests that black women in America do not receive the same quality of care as their white counterparts. A University of Virginia study seems to cement this case. It concluded that racial biases among white health care professionals are directly related to the standard of care provided to black patients.

I’m writing about this because this problem flows into medical malpractice cases where the victims are disporportionately black.

Results of the California Survey

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In Oakland County, Michigan, a jury awarded a $130 million settlement on behalf of a boy suffering from cerebral palsy. The jury found two medical technicians liable for causing the child’s severe and permanent brain damage that resulted in cerebral palsy. The $130 million incident was one of the largest jury settlements in Michigan history.

The Facts of the Case

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the boy and his mother in 2016. The child was 2 months old when the injury occurred in 2006. According to the plaintiff’s attorney, the child requires help getting in and out of the bathtub. The boy’s mother is a full-time caregiver for her son.  These are tough cases.  You can hear about 1,000 of them but every time it is like you are hearing the facts for the first time.  It is heartbreaking.

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In August 2018, the FDA warned that sodium-glucosecotransporter-2 (SLGT2) inhibitors such as Invokana can cause a rare but serious infection that could result in an amputation of the genital area.

This is a big deal because Invokana is a commonly used diabetes medication. The list of diabetes drugs that have let patients down is long.  The money in these drugs is unreal.  To make the most money, you need to rush your product on the market without fully testing the drug.  That is the biggest problem.

Long before the FDA got involved, I have been looking at potential Invokana lawsuits.  These are the 11 questions victims have about Invokana and the Invokana litigation.

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This post is about a large verdict in Georgia after an awful circumcision mishap caused a boy serious and permanent injuries.  In this post, I talk about this tragic case and I also take a deep dive into the statute of limitations in Georgia in birth injury cases.

The Big Verdict

A jury in Clayton County, Georgia awarded a mother and her four-year-old son $31 million for a circumcision gone wrong. This incidence of malpractice took place at an OB/GYN and pediatric clinic.This is a big verdict for the most common surgical procedure in the country and one that is rarely the subject of a malpractice lawsuit.

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A study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences concludes that glucocorticoids can treat hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) by reducing the amount of brain damage. This can prevent cerebral palsy (CP) and other brain injuries from becoming more severe.

 What is hypoxic-ischemic-encephalopathy (HIE)?

HIEHIE is a brain injury resulting from a lack of oxygen. This can happen prior to birth, during birth, or even well into childhood.

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The Roundup weed killer cancer lawsuits have gathered a lot of recent attention.  A $289 million verdict will do that.

These cases are now pushing along with great steam. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California is pushing to have MDL cases go before a federal jury by February 2019. Judge Chhabria has been presiding over all federal Roundup lawsuits. Many of these lawsuits allege that Monsanto failed to warn consumers that their Roundup weed killer brand might cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers.

  1. Roundup

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