1,000+ Australians Join DePuy ASR Hip Implant Class Action Lawsuit
A class action lawsuit filed in Australia over DePuy Orthopaedics’ recalled metal-on-metal ASR Hip Implants has signed up more than 1,000 plaintiffs. The attorneys representing the Australian ASR Hip Implant lawsuit plaintiffs recently told The Courier-Mail that damages in the lawsuit are expected to be worth more than $200 million. One ...
Another Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Lawsuit Filed in DePuy ASR Hip Implant Litigation
A vital food safety program was saved from budget cuts this week, enabling the country’s largest—although considered by experts to be far too small—produce-safety testing program to continue.
Hip Replacement, Knee Implant Patients with Diabetes, Other Health Problems May Face Difficult Recoveries
Patients receiving hip replacement devices or knee implants may face a more complicated recovery if they are obese, or suffer from diabetes or other health woes. According to a new study published online in the journal Anesthesiology, at least 3% of all total hip or knee replacement patients will ...
Actos Whistleblower Lawsuit Questions Avandia Researcher's Financial Ties to Takeda
A prominent researcher has been implicated in an alleged cover-up of Actos side effects, according to a report from TheHeart.org. An Actos whistleblower lawsuit unsealed earlier this year has alleged financial connections between the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr Steven Nissen and the maker of Actos “should be considered when analyzing Actos’s ...
Fracking Should be Kept 600m From Aquifers, Study Says
New research on the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) suggests new wells should not be dug within 600 meters of a water aquifer because underground fractures can extend about that far from a dug well. According to a report from UK’s The Guardian newspaper, researchers and geologists at Durham University have ...
FDA Advisors Set to Examine Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Safety Concerns
Thousands of people with metal-on-metal hip implant devices could soon get some answers from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) about the dangers they face. Tomorrow, the agency will convene a panel of outside medical experts to examine the safety record of metal-on-metal hip replacements, and recommend the ...
Newly-Filed Plavix Lawsuits Claim Drug Caused Gastrointestinal Bleeds, Cerebral Hemorrhage, and TTP
The manufacturer of Plavix continues to be named in lawsuits alleging the blood thinner caused some patients to suffer from serious bleeding side effects. Most recently, the national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP filed nine Plavix bleeding lawsuits in state court in New York.
Study Linking Z-Pak to Increased Death Risk Being Reviewed by FDA
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing a new study that reported an increased risk of sudden, heart-related deaths among people using the antibiotic Zithromax (azithromycin), known popularly as Z-Pak. In a statement issued late yesterday, the FDA said patients being treated with Zithromax should not stop taking ...
Smokers More Vulnerable to Joint Replacement Failures
People who smoke cigarettes before and after receiving a total joint replacement, such as a hip replacement device or knee implant, are far more likely to endure revision surgeries on those implants than people who don’t smoke.
Actos Side Effects Lawyers Says Whistleblower Revelations Could Boost Bladder Cancer, Heart Failure Lawsuits
An attorney with a prominent personal injury law firm says an Actos whistleblower lawsuit filed earlier this year could strengthen legal claims alleging the type 2 diabetes medication caused some users to develop bladder cancer and heart failure.Study: Statins May Reduce Exercise Benefits in Overweight, Obese Adults
A new study has found that statins, used to lower blood cholesterol levels, may reduce exercise benefits for overweight adults.
Statins rank among the best selling drugs in the world and are typically prescribed to people with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome (a combination of excess body fat and/or high blood pressure, blood sugar, and/or cholesterol), explained Medical News Today. Statins are prescribed to reduce cholesterol as a means of preventing blood clots, heart attack, and stroke that could lead to death.
Drugs in the statin class are known to carry a risk of causing myopathy (severe muscle damage) and should be taken with caution and at the lowest possible effective dose to reduce the risks of these side effects. Now, research conducted at the University of Missouri (MU) revealed that simvastatin—sold under the brand Zocor—stalled any positive effects from exercise in obese and overweight adults, according to Medical News Today. Continue reading
Infuse® Maker, Medtronic, Cutting Staff
Device maker, Medtronic Inc., just announced another scheduled staff cut. We recently wrote that Medtronic was laying off about 4 percent of its spinal business workforce worldwide, which amounted to about 230 of it spinal division’s 5,600 employees,
This is the third year in a row, according to Pioneer Press, that Medtronic has announced cuts. The announcement was made during a conference call and confirmed that the device maker plans on eliminating 2,000 jobs worldwide. About half will impact Medtronic’s workforce in the United States, according to the firm’s chief financial officer, Gary Ellis. Continue reading
da Vinci Robotic Surgery Case With Jury
Jury deliberations are scheduled in the first of some 26 lawsuits brought over Intuitive’s da Vinci robotic surgical system and involve allegations of injuries associated with the controversial robotic system.
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jay Roof (Port Orchard, Washington), just handed the case to the 12-member jury after a five-week trial, according to Bloomberg News. Deliberations being this week.
Personal injury lawsuits have alleged that the da Vinci system has caused patients to suffer from a variety of adverse events, including internal injuries. Many of these injuries are the result of burns, tears, and other complications. In some cases, patients have died or suffer from chronic pain, even disability. da Vinci lawsuits fault aggressive Intuitive marketing positioned to induce hospitals to buy the costly system. Lawsuits also allege that a collaboration of design flaws and poor physician training on the da Vinci led to the injuries alleged in the litigation. At last count, some 70 deaths have been tied to the system since 2009. Continue reading
Jurors Told Intuitive Surgical Ran Like a Car Dealership
In a case involving the safety of Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci robotic system, the jury was told that the company acted “just like a car dealership” in training doctors to use the equipment.
In addition, jurors heard that the plaintiff, Fred Taylor, had died because of the company’s practices, and that Intuitive should pay more than $8 million in damages to his estate. These remarks were part of the plaintiff’s attorney’s closing arguments in a Port Orchard, Washington state court, Bloomberg News reports. Continue reading
End in Sight for Water-Contamination Cleanup at Camp Lejeune
At Camp Lejeune, the North Carolina Marine Corps base, cleanup continues of the decades-long drinking-water contamination problem that began in the 1950s.
More than 600 polluted sites are scattered around the 170-square-mile Marine base, located at the mouth of the New River. About five-dozen sites remain to be cleaned up, according to The Associated Press (AP). The contamination comes from a variety of pollutants – leaking gasoline from the base’s fuel storage farm, and chemicals including carcinogenic pesticides, benzene, and dry-cleaning solvents, some of which were intentionally dumped at Lejeune. Continue reading
Pharmacists Distributed Cheap Drug Substitutes to Kidney Dialysis Patients, Faces Four Years in Prison
A Tennessee pharmacist just pleaded guilty to swapping a cheaper drug substitute for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved iron sucrose drug for kidney dialysis patients.
The pharmacist, Robert Harshbarger, 53, substituted a cheaper version of the drug from China, which was administered to kidney dialysis patients in Kansas, according to Kansas First News. Harshbarger was conducting business as American Inhalation Medication Specialists, Inc. and pleaded guilty to one count of distributing a misbranded drug and one count of health care fraud. Continue reading
Experimental Sleep Drug, Suvorexant, Raises FDA Concerns
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that experimental insomnia drug, suvorexant, manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc., may be associated with dangerous side effects.
The experimental insomnia medication was found to be effective at helping patients sleep; however, suvorexant was found to have some significant side effects, such as daytime drowsiness and suicidal ideation, the agency’s advisory committee warned, according to CBS/The Associated Press (CBS/AP). The FDA released a review of suvorexant this week, in advance of today’s public meeting. Continue reading
Hidden Camera Reveals Horrifying Abuse of Canadian Nursing Home Patient
Shocking video footage taken by hidden camera at an Ontario, Canada, nursing home shows an elderly woman being subjected to horrific abuse at the hands of nursing home employees.
Four employees at St Joseph’s at Fleming long-term care home have been suspended pending investigation, the (U.K.) Daily Mail reports, after a patient’s son documented repeated abuse with a hidden camera he placed in his mother’s room. The Ontario Ministry of Health is investigating the case. While Alan Cavell, CEO of St Joseph’s at Fleming, stopped short of calling the treatment seen on camera abuse, “I would think that most people would say that it was,” he told CTV News. Continue reading
Metal-on-Metal Hip Device Tissue Damage Appears Before Symptoms
Metal-on-metal hip implant devices can cause synovitis—inflammation of the joint lining—and this significant adverse side effect can appear long before patients experience symptoms, according to a new study.
The study also found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to identify synovitis, said researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery, wrote Health Canal. The research appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. Continue reading
Man Alleges Taking Actos for Two Years Caused Bladder Cancer
A South Dakota man is the latest to bring a lawsuit against Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Type 2 diabetes drug, Actos (pioglitazone). The plaintiff alleges that taking Actos for two years caused him to develop bladder cancer.
Actos was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999.
According to the complaint, the man began taking Actos in January 2009; he developed bladder cancer in May 2011, allegedly due to his having taken Actos. At the time of his diagnosis, he stopped taking the medication. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants were aware that taking Actos could lead to an increased risk of bladder cancer, but failed to disclose this information to the man, his doctor, and consumers. The plaintiff is suing for extensive pain and suffering and severe emotional distress. Continue reading
