Product Liability Lawyer Blog

March 7, 2014

Long Recovery Makes Replacement-Hip Failure Especially Tragic

Patients who opt for replacement hip or knee joints have a long road to recovery after the procedure. While many factors go into the decision of whether to get elective joint replacement, those who have the operation do so because they want to increase mobility and be able to do more with their lives. However, doctors recommend other types of treatments like losing weight or exercising to strengthen the muscles around the joints because the recovery process for surgical joint replacement can be intensive.

When a patient does decide to undergo a joint replacement procedure, the full process of healing the soft tissue and bone could take longer than a year. After the time, expense and recovery process, patients deserve to enjoy the benefits that they hoped for when undergoing the surgery. Unfortunately, far too often, this does not happen because patients instead find themselves coping with serious complications and with the potential need for revision surgery.
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March 4, 2014

Safety of Testosterone Replacement Products Called Into Question

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Middle aged men and older men in the U.S. are being prescribed testosterone replacement therapy in ever increasing numbers. Low testosterone can lead to impaired sexual function, fat distribution problems, weakening bone density; and perhaps even a higher risk of heart disease.

Products like GlaxoSmithKline’s Testim; Eli Lily’s Axiron, and AbbVie’s AndroGel are three of the testosterone replacement products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Unfortunately, manufacturers of some of these products have found themselves accused of hiding risks. AbbVie, for example, has been sued because men who used AndroGel claim they experienced unexpected side effects due to the low-T treatment. Several of the plaintiffs experienced heart attacks, while others had strokes.
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March 3, 2014

Lipitor Lawsuits Consolidated in U.S. District Court

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has recently approved a motion to consolidate federal lawsuits filed against Pfizer Inc. due to Lipitor side effects. Lipitor is a widely-prescribed drug that was marketed to patients as a means of lowering cholesterol. Unfortunately, the drug has been linked to the development of Type 2 diabetes and patients who developed diabetes have sued the drug manufacturer.

The Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has approved the consolidation of the cases before the Honorable Judge Richard M. Gergel, who is already presiding over 27 Lipitor cases. The Judge’s experience in hearing Lipitor cases over the course of the past year has prepared him to manage the mass tort litigation that the approved motion creates.
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February 26, 2014

Abbot Labs Accused of Hiding Testosterone Replacement Therapy Dangers

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

AndroGel is a topical hormone marketed to men experiencing complications from low levels of natural testosterone. AndroGel was heavily promoted by Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc., with the companies selling the product through testimony from retired professional athletes. Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc. also provided statistics and fed positive reports to the press, showing that Low-T was a widespread problem that AndroGel could solve.

Unfortunately, the positives of this topical treatment may have been exaggerated and the risks downplayed. Men who used AndroGel now claim to have suffered serious injuries as a result of complications they were unaware of when they used the testosterone replacement drug. Lawsuits have been filed to pursue a claim for damages, and other victims who were harmed by AndroGel should contact a products liability lawyer for help pursuing their own claims.
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February 24, 2014

Major Chicken Provider Shut Down for Unsanitary Conditions

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Foster Farms, a chicken processing plant in California, didn’t open re-open its doors last week after it was shut down by officials because of an alleged cockroach infestation, report NBC. Officials with the company state that they needed more time to address the problem before opening in good faith.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down the plant last week after allegedly finding live cockroaches for the fifth time in the last five months. These same officials lifted the suspension, but officials with the company said that they would need to remain closed longer. There is no schedule for re-opening at this point.

Our food poisoning attorneys understand Foster Farms was already closed because of two salmonella food poisoning outbreaks last year. The outbreaks were related to the company’s chicken, including a current outbreak that has already sickened more than 200 people in 23 states, as well as Puerto Rico. Even with this outbreak and the illnesses, as well as a federal shutdown threat, Foster Farms kept its doors open and has neglected to issue any recalls.
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February 22, 2014

Actos Bladder Cancer Bellwether Trial Begins

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A federal jury is preparing to hear a bellwether case regarding the alleged cancer-causing diabetes drug Actos, manufactured by Asia’s largest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

The plaintiff in Terrence Allen et ux. v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. et al alleges damages in excess of $75,000 after he says he developed bladder cancer because of his use of the drug for treatment of Type II diabetes. The drug was approved by the FDA for U.S. sales in 1999, but the plaintiff alleges the drugmaker knew then that the drug, with a brand name of Pioglitazone, caused bladder cancer. This risks, it is alleged, were downplayed to federal regulators and actively concealed from doctors and patients.

The trial, one of the first of some 3,000 cases pending across the country, is taking place in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana (Lafayette). Other plaintiffs are watching closely, as the outcome here could affect those in thousands of other cases. As our Boston Actos bladder cancer attorneys understand it, the trial, expected to span about six weeks, has gotten off to a rough start for the defense.
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February 20, 2014

Maine’s Relaxed Import Drug Law & Risk of Dangerous Drugs

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Concerns regarding defective drugs in New England are heightened, following Maine’s recent passage of a law that allows residents there to import prescription drugs from overseas.

The policy’s staunch critics include the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer’s of America, the Maine Pharmacy Association and big-name drug manufacturers such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The problem, they say, is that when drugs are imported from overseas, quality control standards may not apply.

Part of it, of course, is that, undoubtedly, cheaper prescription drugs from other countries cut into profits. But our defective drug lawyers in Boston believe these firms do have a point.
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February 16, 2014

CT Scans: Benefits Outweigh the Risks?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

As researchers continue to search for the cure for cancer, it continues to impact families across the nation. Officials believe that it may soon surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. According to The New York Times, one of the most alarming culprits of this disease is our own medical practices.

The truth of the matter is that the use of medical imaging with high amounts of radiation, CT scans in particular, has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. The radiation doses of CT scans (a series of X-ray images from multiple angles) are 100 to 1,000 times higher than conventional X-rays.

Our product liability attorneys in Boston understand that more than 60 million CT scans — also known as “cat” scans — are performed each year in the United States. Compare this to the just 3 million in 1980. A CT scan can deliver doses of ionizing radiation at least 50 to 250 times greater than a traditional X-ray. Doctors have always assumed, however, that the benefits outweigh the risks. Still, researchers at the National Cancer Institute estimate that 29,000 future cancer cases could be attributed to the 72 million CT scans performed in the country in 2007.
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February 16, 2014

Biomet Looks Ahead as Defective Hip Cases Move Forward

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Biomet recently announced its financial results for the second quarter, indicating an increase in consolidated net sales and announcing the commercial launch of the company’s G7™ Acetabular System in 2014.

The financial release indicated that the report contained forward looking statements and that the company’s actual results could be affected by “the results of the ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Justice” and “the impact of product liability litigation losses.”

Product liability litigation is a concern for Biomet as it is expected that bellwether Biomet hip lawsuits will take place in 2015. Our defective hip implant lawyers in Massachusetts know that the judge assigned to the cases pending against Biomet recently established the schedule for moving these bellwether trials forward. Bellwether cases are an integral part of multidistrict litigations and can make it easier for plaintiffs and Biomet to negotiate reasonable settlements.
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February 10, 2014

Leukemia Drug Iclusig Expected to Resume Marketing Amid Safety Concerns

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A new leukemia drug hit the market last year – and approval was promptly suspended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amid concerns that it caused the potential for life-threatening blood clots and a severe restriction of the blood vessels.

The drug, known as Iclusig and ponatinib, has reportedly been linked to a number of fatal strokes and heart attacks, as well as incidents of blindness and a loss of blood to the extremities severe enough to warrant amputation. Our Boston product liability attorneys have learned that in some instances, death resulted less than two weeks after patients started their prescriptions.

Those who died were in their 20s and were not at any heightened risk for heart disease.
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