THE INJURY LAWYER DIRECTORY BLOG

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an investigation into the serious side effects associated with the non-prescription drugs recalled by McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson. Currently, the FDA has received more than 775 reports of adverse side effects associated with these products, which include various forms of Tylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl.

There were 30 deaths included in these reports; however, the FDA found that they were not caused by the recalled defective drugs. There were also several hundred reports of adverse events, including seven deaths, associated with McNeil’s latest recall of 50 children’s non-prescription medications on May 1.

Adverse events include the following serious side effects:

• Hospitalization
• Disability
• Death
• Other serious health complications

The children’s product recall has led Johnson & Johnson to halt production at the McNeil plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania where these drugs were manufactured. Earlier this month, the FDA released a 17 page inspection report documenting 20 violations at this plant.

The May 1 children’s product recall was McNeil’s fourth in seven months. The previous three involved:

• Five lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain 100 count with the EZ-open cap, which caused nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea (November 2009)
• All lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain 100 count with the EZ-open cap (December 2009)
• An undisclosed number of Tylenol and Motrin over-the-counter products causing consumers to feel sick from an unusual odor (January 2010)

This Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing to investigate the recall. Members of the FDA and Johnson & Johnson will be present to testify at the hearing.

It is important to consult an experienced defective drug attorney if you have suffered a serious side effect from taking one of the recalled McNeil over-the-counter products. You may be entitled to receive compensation for your damages.

If you have a defective drug claim in Indiana, please contact the defective drug lawyers at Truitt Law Offices today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Written by Andrew Martin: professional blogger and guru of misfortune.

As defective drug lawsuits against the popular birth control medications Yaz and Yasmin continue to increase rapidly, many women in the state of Colorado have begun to seek legal recourse for injuries suffered as a result of taking these dangerous contraceptives. Many women both in Colorado and across the country have experienced serious blood clots including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis as a result of taking Yaz and Yasmin.

The Food and Drug Administration has recently ordered Bayer, the pharmaceutical manufacturer that produces Yas and Yasmin, to update their warning labels and correct inaccuracies in their commercials for the drugs so that they adequately warn consumers of the health risks associated with these contraceptives.

As of late 2009, the FDA had received more than 1,700 reports of women who have developed blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, and deep vein thrombosis from taking Yaz and Yasmin. However, Bayer continues to insist that the drugs are safe, and they plan to aggressively defend these defective drug lawsuits in court.

Michael Burg, one of three lead attorneys nationwide in class action defective drug lawsuits against Bayer, was interviewed by Channel 7 in Denver regarding the Yaz/Yasmin litigation. “This product is one of Bayer’s largest profit centers and they are going to fight to the very end. I have done this long enough to know when a company is going to protect its product regardless of what kind of damage it is doing to the public,” said Mr. Burg.

Currently, more than 1,500 women nationwide have filed defective drug claims against Bayer for injuries suffered from taking Yaz and Yasmin. If you have developed a serious health condition from taking Yaz or Yasmin, it is important to seek representation with an experienced defective drug attorney at once to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

If you have a Yaz or Yasmin claim in the Denver, Colorado area, please contact the defective drug attorneys at Burg, Simpson, Eldredge, Hersh & Jardine, P.C. today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Written by Andrew Martin: professional blogger and guru of misfortune.

While rockers are generally more known for overdosing on illegal drugs, on occasion they have a tendency to overdo it on prescription drugs as well. Recently, 20-year-old German guitarist Tom Kaulitz of the band Tokio Hotel experienced the consequences of such a prescription drug overdose, and he did not find it to be very pleasant.

Kaulitz became sick after taking too many Viagra tablets. As a result, he experienced vision problems for several days.

While Tokio Hotel was on a recent tour of Asia, Kaulitz was approached by a man offering to sell him Viagra. While the man recognized that Kaulitz did not fall into the demographic of your typical Viagra customer, he assured the young rocker it would be an unforgettable night. Kaulitz agreed to try it, and he ate one tablet on the spot.

When he got back to his hotel room, Kaulitz ate several more Viagra pills. Shortly thereafter, he began feeling sick. When he woke up the next morning, he had a nasty headache and blurry vision. Needless to say, he wasn’t enjoying his Viagra adventure anymore.

According to Kaulitz, his Viagra overdose created one other problem for him. His erection lasted for two days, creating several embarrassing moments while he waited for the drug’s effects to wear off.

While Pfizer most likely will not face a defective drug lawsuit as a result of Kaulitz’s overdose, his vision problems mirror a common complaint from Viagra patients. Since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 40 reports of blindness associated with the consumption of Viagra as well as many reports of other serious vision issues, such as sensitivity to light and the inability to perceive changes in blue/green colors.

If you have experienced a serious vision condition caused by the consumption of Viagra, an experienced defective drug attorney can help you receive compensation for your damages. It is important to act quickly, since there may be a statute of limitations related to the filing of your claim.

If you have a defective drug claim, please contact the attorneys at Schlichter, Bogard & Denton today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Written by Andrew Martin: professional blogger and guru of misfortune.

After two young boys died of asphyxiation as a result of a toy dart gun set, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decided to recall the defective product. The recall was announced Monday, covering approximately 1.8 million toy dart gun sets.

The deaths involved a 9-year-old boy from Chicago and a 10-year-old boy from Milwaukee. In both instances, the boys were chewing on the one inch plastic darts at the time of the accident. The dart slipped into their throats and they choked on the suction cup at the end of the dart. At a half inch in diameter, the suction cup prevented the children from breathing.

The “Auto Fire” toy dart gun set was manufactured by Henry Gordy International and sold at Family Dollar stores nationwide for $1.50. While Family Dollar store hasn’t sold the toy dart gun set since January 2009, they have agreed to participate in the recall and will offer a refund for the dart gun set.

Henry Gordy International refused to participate in the recall, but they will most certainly face two wrongful death lawsuits in the near future.

If your children play with the Auto Fire toy dart gun set, you should take it away from them immediately to prevent a potential choking injury. You can contact Family Dollar store for more information on the recall. If your child has suffered an injury from choking on the Auto Fire toy dart gun set, an experienced defective product lawyer can help you receive the compensation you deserve.

If you have a defective product claim in the Norfolk, Newport News, or Roanoke, Virginia areas, please contact the law offices of Kalfus & Nachman today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Written by Andrew Martin: professional blogger and guru of misfortune.

British Petroleum has acknowledged that the company will have to spend significantly more than the $75 million liability cap to pay out damages to individuals as diverse as Louisiana fishermen to owners of Florida condominiums for its responsibility in the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill, the result of the explosion and subsequent sinking of the massive oil rig Deepwater Horizon, is currently estimated to be spilling between 5000 and 25,000 barrels of oil a day.

Even if the spill is on the conservative side, thousands of Gulf coast citizens fear for their jobs, livelihood, and the life of the Gulf itself. Due to state governments closing areas to fishing and the loss of tourism, many Gulf residents are seeking compensation for the loss of income. Because the spill is feared to go on throughout the summer, the entire Gulf region, and perhaps the Florida Keys may lose all economic benefits they have had.

BP states that the spill has already cost the company upwards of $350 million, and they claim they have already paid out $3.5 million in damages beyond cleanup costs. While this may seem like a lot to some, it should be mentioned that BP is estimated to pull in $93 million a day from their oil operations around the world. The $75 million cap, which they may contest, doesn’t even amount to a full day.

There are concerns that the hundreds or thousands of damage claims that will pour in may take decades to sort out. This is based on the complex nature of the oil spill damage claims, and using the Exxon Valdez damage claims as precedence. It took over 20 years for some of those claims to be sorted out, and in the end, the Supreme Court, in all their wisdom, decided to limit how much oil companies had to pay. In 2008, the Supremes cut payouts to the plaintiffs.

Still, lawyers are setting up shop in the Gulf states and are preparing both individual and class-action suits against BP and perhaps Transocean and Halliburton. It is reported that over 70 lawsuits have already been consolidated in Houston, Texas, but some of the plaintiffs want their cases heard in New Orleans. One law firm is representing 500 fishermen in individual claims. Also, at least one BP shareholder has filed suit against the company.

BP backed off an earlier attempt to pay fishermen who agreed to help with the cleanup effort $5000 in exchange for a release from liability. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward called this “a misstep.”

This is an ongoing situation, sure to change weekly, if not daily. Congress is currently grilling leaders of the companies involved, and is also discussing raising the liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion. This is still a drop in the bucket for the profit margins of BP.

If you believe you may be eligible to file a damages claim against those responsible for the Gulf oil spill, please contact the Mobile, Alabama area maritime accident attorneys at Long & Waite, P.C. today.

Roche Holding AG, a Swiss drug manufacturer with U.S. operations in Nutley, New Jersey, has been ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages to a 36-year-old man who developed severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) after taking the acne medication Accutane. Product liability law is complex and often results in multi-million awards and settlements.

IBD refers to chronic diseases that cause inflammation in the form of painful swelling and diarrhea. Other common symptoms of IBD are abdominal cramps, blocked bowels, bloody stool, fever, dehydration, and extreme weight loss. IBD is also considered to be a major risk factor for developing colon and/or rectal cancer. Once you have IBD, symptoms can flare up without warning leaving sufferers constantly worried about when the next episode of pain and diarrhea will strike.

Accutane is a very powerful acne medication that Andrew McCarrell took in 1995. After taking the drug, he developed chronic diarrhea and incontinence, and, after multiple surgeries, finally had to have his colon removed. McCarrell was awarded $2.5 million and an additional $119,000 to cover his medical expenses. To date, there have been approximately 400 lawsuits in the United States involving Accutane, which has been on the market since 1982.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a defective product or dangerous drug, please contact an experienced product liability attorney in your area to schedule a confidential, no-cost consultation.

Not every error results in damages or losses, so the first question you would have to answer is whether or not you suffered any loss, injury or damage as a result of your doctor’s error. If not, there would be no basis for a lawsuit. If so, the next question, of course, would be the type and extent of those losses, damages or injuries.

The doctor’s error, also, would have to qualify as medical malpractice or medical negligence, defined, basically, as not meeting the accepted or governing “standard of practice.” Your doctor’s negligence, or failure to meet those standards, would have to be the cause of the patient’s injury or death.

Standards of practice are established by many different sources. Some are made by regulatory agencies, others drawn from scientific research providing evidence that a specific diagnostic treatment or test is the most appropriate to treat a specific disease or set of symptoms, or to make a specific diagnosis. Others are established by professional associations that base their guidelines on accepted practices, regulations, research or other documentation supporting the appropriateness of such standards.

Other evidence of standards is usually found in a facility’s policies and procedures. These common organizational guidelines usually reflect how the governing standards are to be performed, adapting to the specific conditions provided by that facility. They often describe how to perform a procedure using the specific equipment or supplies that are used in the facility.

There are other considerations in determining whether you have a case. Some states’ laws may reduce an award to a plaintiff by the degree to which the plaintiff was at fault. If, for example, the plaintiff contributed to the error 10%, his award will be reduced by 10%. Also, the two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims may disqualify your claim if you act too late.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to medical malpractice or negligence, please contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney in your area today.

Two Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit against BP and several other defendants in association with the massive oil rig accident that is currently ravaging the Gulf Coast. The lawsuit claims the fire, explosion, and ensuing oil spill at the rig in the Gulf of Mexico were the result of negligence.

The shrimpers are currently attempting to receive class action status for their lawsuit. The plaintiff class is to be made up of Louisiana residents who have suffered financial losses as a result of the oil spill, including shrimpers, fishers, oystermen, and others working on the Gulf Coast. The amount of damages will be determined at trial, but the plaintiffs have indicated it will be at least $5 million.

Experts have estimated that approximately 5,000 barrels of oil are spilling into the Gulf of Mexico each day. It is already on its way to becoming one of the largest oil spills in our country’s history.

There are two other defendants listed on the lawsuit alongside BP:

• Transocean, the owner of the sunken rig
• Cameron International, the company that manufactured a safety valve which failed to shut off the oil

The lawsuit claims the oil rig was not operated properly, charging the defendants with acting negligently regarding the safety of others. The plaintiffs’ attorney has announced that they have a whistleblower from an adjoining rig who claims 85% of the drilling pipe was not properly inspected by the U.S. Minerals Management Service.

BP stands to face many more environmental litigation claims in association with the oil spill. If you have suffered personal or financial damages as a result of the oil rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico, an experienced environmental litigation attorney can help you receive the compensation you deserve.