Product Liability Lawyer Blog

February 3, 2014

Report: FDA-Approval Doesn’t Guarantee Drug Safety

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers its stamp of approval on a wide range of medications and treatments each year, that green light is no guarantee that a drug won’t be harmful.

A recent annual report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices revealed that there was a 16 percent increase from 2011 to 2012 in the number of domestic reports to the FDA of serious, disabling and fatal adverse events associated with the use of therapeutic drugs.

Startlingly, the research firm also reports there was a nearly 48 percent increase in the number of patient fatalities arising from adverse reactions to approved drugs – from about 31,000 in 2011 up to nearly 45,500 in 2012.
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January 31, 2014

FDA Requests Reports on Defective Tobacco Products

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Officials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently unveiled a new online tool to let consumers report problems with any tobacco products. The Safety Reporting Portal (SRP) has been updated and now contains a new category for tobacco products. Under the update, health care professionals and consumers are provided with a standardized way to inform the FDA of suspected health or safety issues regarding tobacco products, according to Convenience Store News. Before this tool, people could only report these kinds of products to the FDA by using MedWatch, which does not ask questions specific to tobacco products.

There is no known safe tobacco product, but FDA can play a role in helping prevent certain unexpected health consequences from tobacco products, such as those that occur from defective tobacco products, or health or safety problems beyond those normally associated with tobacco product use, according to the FDA’s Ii-Lun Chen, M.D.

Our defective products lawyers understand that consumers should always report products that have been contaminated, defective or damaged. You can report products that don’t seem to smell or taste right. You could wind up uncovering something much more dangerous.
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January 31, 2014

Boston Attorney Jeffrey S. Glassman Joins Transvaginal Mesh MDL

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Transvaginal mesh products were marketed to women seeking treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Many women who had these products implanted have experienced serious complications, resulting in significant pain and necessitating revision surgeries. Thousands of women filed lawsuits resulting from the complications, and the cases have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Southern District of West Virginia.

Our Boston transvaginal mesh lawyers have been admitted to the TVM litigation pending in West Virginia. This means our attorneys can represent clients nationwide who experienced complications with products manufactured by Ethicon; American Medical Systems; Boston Scientific and other manufacturers of TVM products.
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January 30, 2014

Boston Injury Lawyers Join Wright MDL

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Wright Medical is the manufacturer of metal-on-metal hip implant products. Patients have experienced serious complications after having the Wright medical products implanted and a multidistrict litigation (MDL) has been created to expedite the handling of pending cases.

Our Boston defective hip implant lawyers have been admitted to the MDL against Wright Medical in the Northern District of Georgia. This means our attorneys can represent injured patients nationwide experiencing complications due to problems with their Wright Medical hip implant systems.
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January 28, 2014

Glassman Law Firm Admitted to MDLs for Wright, Stryker, DePuy Hip Implants

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Metal-on-metal hip implants have prompted numerous manufacturer recalls in recent years, including a recall of the Stryker Rejuvenate; the Stryker ABG II; the DePuy XL Acetabular; and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing system. Before these devices were recalled, the metal-on-metal hip implant systems were implanted in thousands of patients, many of whom were young patients interested in the added flexibility that the products promised to provide. The DePuy products alone were used in more than 93,000 patients worldwide.

With the high failure rate for metal-on-metal hip implant products, many of the patients who had these implants have now filed lawsuits. The lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigations, and our Boston defective hip implant lawyers have been admitted to MDLs against Wright, Stryker and DePuy.
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January 27, 2014

Massachusetts Medical Device Litigation: MDL Litigation Aims at Justice for Patients

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Defective drugs and medical devices harm thousands of patients throughout the United States. Each individual plaintiff has a cause of action against the pharmaceutical company or medical device manufacturer when a product defect causes injury or illness. However, many of the cases against the manufacturers have common questions of fact. To expedite claims processing, reduce court costs and time, and aid plaintiffs and defendants in a timely resolution of claims, multidistrict litigation (MDL) is frequently used.

The Boston injury attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers have extensive experience representing clients involved in multidistrict litigation. Our firm has been admitted to MDLs throughout the United States that will allow plaintiffs compensation for injuries caused by metal-on-metal hip implants and transvaginal mesh, among other dangerous medical products.

Understanding Multidistrict Litigation

January 23, 2014

Massachusetts Children Die In Lane Hope Chest

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Two Massachusetts siblings were killed after being trapped in an old hope chest and officials are using this incident as a sad reminder of the risks associated with dangerous and defective products in Massachusetts and elsewhere. Oftentimes, recall information never makes it into our homes and these products are never addresses and removed, still posing serious risks to our families.

“The majority of children’s products that are recalled remain in use,” said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger.

As a matter of fact, officials believe that only 30 percent of defective products are ever properly repaired or returned to the manufacturer. Unfortunately, defects are not familiar to the consumer eye until it’s too late. In the recent incident, 8- and 7-year-old siblings were trapped in an old chest, manufactured by Lane Furniture Company back in 1939, and it could not be opened from the inside. Back in 1996, more than 10 million of these chests were recalled by the company. This recall came after the company received nearly 10 incident reports in which children were stuck inside and suffocated. Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and officials with the company sent out another recall in 2000, after receiving reports of two additional fatalities and two near-deaths, according to NBC.
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January 22, 2014

Schedin v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals – Court Rejects Drugmaker’s Levaquin Appeal

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The antibiotic Levaquin was marketed by drug manufacturer Ortho-McNeil Janssen (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) as a safe way to treat many common bacterial infections, such as those of the sinuses, ears, lungs, airways, ears, skin, bones and joints.

However, what a trial court ruled – and the Eighth Circuit appellate court recently affirmed – was that the company must pay $630,000 to patient who claims the firm deliberately failed to warn consumers of the risks associated with the drug. Specifically, the company never told consumers that there was an increased risk of rupturing their Achilles tendon if they took the drug (also known as levoflaxacin).

That $630,000 figure was down slightly from the $1.1 million the jury originally awarded in the case of Schedin v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals,. Still, the appellate court rejected the claim that the misconduct uncovered failed to justify overturning the award altogether.
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January 19, 2014

Topamax Survivors: Cleft Palate Treatment Approved

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Cleft palate is a common birth defect in women who took Topomax during their pregnancy. According to research, the incidence of birth defects among women taking topiramate is higher than the birth defect rate in the rest of the population. Since half of pregnancies are unplanned, many women of childbearing age are on Topomax and not aware that they are pregnant. This could result in facial deformities, including cleft lip and cleft palate. While any birth defect is devastating and life altering a new cleft palate treatment has been approved that could help mothers and infants who have been injured by Topomax.

According to reports, there are more than 4,000 cleft palate babies born every year in the United States. A new, non-invasive treatment may be available to treat these infants. Researchers indicate that the treatment is just as effective as the established method, but it is less invasive and expensive. Our birth defect attorneys in Boston are dedicated to advocating for victims whose lives have been altered by hazardous drugs. We are also abreast of developments in the medical community to help survivors of Topomax and other dangerous products.
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January 17, 2014

Best and Worst Hospitals for Knee and Hip Replacements

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Knee and hip replacement surgeries continue to cause future complications for patients. Many of these complications related to defective medical devices and result in a necessary replacement. Whether you have already had a knee or hip implant or you need a replacement, you want to get the best medical treatment possible. The federal government has published a report calling attention to the best and worst hospitals for knee and hip replacement surgery.

The government has identified 95 hospitals where patients were most likely to suffer setbacks and another 97 hospitals where patients had the most successful recoveries. The analysis is part of the government’s effort to strengthen the quality of care throughout the nation’s hospitals. Our medical malpractice attorneys in Massachusetts are dedicated to helping victims recover compensation for injuries caused by defective medical devices. We are also committed to enhancing medical safety for patients in Massachusetts and nationwide to prevent future injuries.
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