Drug Injury Lawyers Blog

January 9, 2015

Lipitor Injury Lawsuits Against Pfizer Blame the Drug for Diabetes

More women are continuing to come forward, accusing pharmaceutical company Pfizer of not giving them proper warning that taking cholesterol drug Lipitor might cause them to develop type 2 diabetes. In their Lipitor diabetes lawsuits, the plaintiffs claims that the drug manufacturer was aware of these side effects but did not act to make sure that the public knew about them, too

It wasn’t until 2012-six years after Lipitor entered the market-that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration demanded that manufacturers of drugs that lower cholesterol, also known as statins, modify their labeling to include some of the more dangerous risks involved, including memory loss and diabetes. Statins are prescription meds that are supposed to be used, along with diet and exercise, to lower bad cholesterol. Pfizer, however, denies that Lipitor was the cause of the women’s diabetes. Instead, the company has suggested that they developed the disease because of other risk factors, such as obesity or high blood pressure.

Still, as of August 2014, Reuters reports, nearly 1,000 women had filed drug injury lawsuits against Pfizer naming Lipitor as the cause of their diabetes. A federal judicial panel has consolidated all Lipitor Diabetes lawsuits in the US into one courtroom in South Carolina.

December 5, 2014

Consolidation of Xarelto Injury Lawsuits Gets Opposition from Bayer, Johnson & Johnson

by Altman & Altman

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Bayer AG (BAYN) are combatting efforts to consolidate Xarelto injury lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who claim that the blood thinner caused patients to suffer fatal bleeds. Bayer makes the medication, and J & J owns the rights to the drug in the United States.

Some 65 fatalities are being blamed on the drug, which does not have an antidote. Some patients say that they began to bleed internally and so profusely that they ended up going to the hospital.

The plaintiffs contend that the defendants played down the risks involved with taking Xarelto. They are accusing the companies of neglecting to tell the public about these health risks while continuing to sell the drug. J & J, however, maintains that all anticoagulants place patients at risk of bleeding and patients are made aware that this could be a potential side effect.

November 19, 2014

Hundreds of Risperdal Lawsuits Blame Drug For Causing Gynecomastia in Males

by Altman & Altman

The number of Risperdal lawsuits continues to grow, with many of the plaintiffs blaming the drug for causing gynecomastia, which is male breast growth. Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson are accused of hiding the serious health risks involved with taking Risperdal and improperly marketing the drug for uses that are considered “off-label” for kids. Janssen is a J & J unit.

In Massachusetts, please contact our Boston Risperdal injury lawyers if you think that you or your child suffered serious side effects from taking this medication. The drug, launched in the United States in the 1990’s, was approved for use by children in 2006. It is indicated for use to treat schizophrenia in adults and kids, irritability in children between the ages of 5 and 16, autism, and bipolar disorder in adults and children, ages 10 to 17. Off-label purposes include treatment of kids with ADHD.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology in 2006 reported that risperidone, which is Risperdal’s generic form, can strongly up the prolactin levels in adolescents, with gynecomastia as a possible side effect. In 2009, researchers in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology cautioned that prolactin levels could be elevated for up to two years in users of Risperdal.

November 7, 2014

Stryker Settles Hip Implant Lawsuits for $1.43 Billion

by Altman & Altman

Stryker, a company that makes artificial hip implants, has reached a settlement to resolve thousands of products liability lawsuits over the now-recalled medical devices. The deal is expected to cost the manufacturer approximately $1.43 billion.

The agreement covers patients who were implanted with the ABG II Modular-Neck or the Rejuvenate Modular-Neck and had to undergo another procedure to have the hip implant replaced. Both models were recalled in 2012 in the wake of growing patient complaints of corrosion and other problems.

According to the plaintiffs, Stryker sold the faulty implants, which deteriorated in their bodies and caused them illness, swelling, and pain. Their defective medical device lawsuits accused Stryker of negligence for failing to properly test the ABG II and Rejuvenate models before releasing them and not warning doctors and patients about the possible side effects and risks. Some of the devices loosened while in patients, while others released toxic metal into the bloodstream.

October 13, 2014

Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuit Is Sent Back to State Court

by Altman & Altman

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ordered that a drug defect lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline LLC over its Paxil antidepressant medication be sent back to a state court. The three-judge panel ruled that the second removal to federal court was not timely. They said that Pennsylvania’s Eastern District Court made a mistake when it denied the plaintiffs motion to remand.

The Paxil birth defect lawsuit was brought by Sallee Miller and her child. They claim that the boy was born with congenital defects because Miller took the SSRI antidepressant while she was expecting. Because of this, she contends, her son was born with a ventricular septal defect and coarctation of the aorta.

Their dangerous drug complaint contends that GSK should have known these risks were involved with its drug but failed to warn about the birth defects. Miller said that she did not know such serious side effects could happen to her child from taking the medication.

September 15, 2014

Xarelto Injury Lawsuits Sue Bayer and Johnson & Johnson

by Altman & Altman

Plaintiffs are starting to file claims seeking dangerous drug damages for injuries they sustained from using Xarelto, a blood thinner. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which jointly market the drug, are the defendants. According to the Xarelto injury lawsuits, users are experiencing internal bleeding so severe that they have been hospitalized. They believe that the companies are continuing to sell the drugs despite the health risks, of which they are neglecting to notify the public.

Xarelto, unlike blood thinner warfarin (brand names Coumadin, Marevan, Jantoven, and Uniwarfin), does not have an antidote to stop uncontrollable bleeding. This means that excessive bleeding may lead to serious, life-threatening complications.

Xarelto is used as an alternative to warfarin. It is prescribed to prevent deep vein thrombosis after surgeries-joint replacement procedures, in particular-as well as pulmonary embolism and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.

September 10, 2014

Boston Scientific Must Pay $73M Vaginal Mesh Injury Verdict

by Altman & Altman

Jurors have ordered Boston Scientific Corp. to pay Martha Salazar $73 million for injuries she sustained from the Obtryx sling, which is a vaginal mesh implant. This is the first defective medical device award against the company over its incontinence slings. (The Massachusetts-based device maker won the first two cases to go to trial over the Obtryx sling.) It is facing over 23,000 more transvaginal mesh implant lawsuits.

Salazar, 42, was implanted with the Obtryx sling in 2010 after she began to experience urinary leakage. She claims the medical device eroded in her body and that this has left her with constant pelvic pain and permanent nerve damage. Salazar also says that she cannot exercise, walk, or sit normally.

In her Obtryx sling lawsuit, Salazar accused Boston Scientific of designing and promoting a product that it was aware was flawed. The company has denied the allegations.

August 26, 2014

C.R. Bard, Boston Scientific Pelvic Mesh Cases Get Court Rulings

by Altman & Altman

A federal judge has issued a ruling in a pelvic mesh injury case against manufacturer C.R. Bard from a plaintiff whose injuries occurred nearly two decades ago. Judge Joel H. Slomsky upheld the woman’s negligent manufacturing and failure to warn claims while dismissing other allegations, including those contending that the medical device had a manufacturing defect. Slomsky said that even if certain products cannot be made safe, this does not automatically mean they were made defective. C.R. Bard had sought to have the entire products liability case dismissed.

The plaintiff underwent surgery in 1996 for bilateral ventral hernias. C.R. Bard’s Marlex mesh was used in the procedure. During the surgery, she contends, she experienced abdominal pain. The following year, the woman went to an E.R. because she was experiencing severe diarrhea, vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain, and dizziness. She says that doctor there was unable to diagnose her symptoms and that she continued to experience symptoms because of the mesh product for years.

Abdominal abscesses were found in her body in 2011. During exploratory surgery, the surgeon discovered that the mesh product had perforated internal structures in the woman’s body. Some of the mesh was removed but not everything. Instead, the plaintiffs’ appendix had to be taken out and she also underwent bowel resection surgery.

August 12, 2014

More Zoloft Drug Injury Lawsuits

by Altman & Altman

Plaintiffs recently filed at least 13 Zoloft injury lawsuits against Pfizer Inc. The women claim that their babies were born with birth defects caused from taking Zoloft. They say that doctors prescribed the antidepressant, which they took while they were pregnant.

The plaintiffs believe that the drug maker either knew that Zoloft cause the birth defects or if not then they should have been aware that it did. They contend that the drug maker should have notified them about the serious risks to their children.

The women are claiming that Zoloft is defective, dangerous, doesn’t come with the proper warnings, and should not be sold or marketed. They want compensatory and punitive damages for past, ongoing, and future pain and suffering, injuries sustained, and losses.

July 24, 2014

New Studies Reveal Serious Side Effects of Cholesterol Drug

by Altman & Altman

High cholesterol is one of the most common medical conditions for patients in the United States, and the market for medication to treat the condition is a multibillion dollar industry. Many doctors attribute at least part of the uptick in high cholesterol, or hypercholesterolemia, to poor diet and nutrition, alcohol consumption, and family genetics. The supersized diet popular in the United States has led to a marked increase in high cholesterol cases which, left untreated could result in cholesterol deposits in major arteries, ultimately leading to heart attack and stroke. The Center for Disease Control claims that one in every six Americans is diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia, making the quest to find a viable cure an urgent one at the very least.

There are a variety of treatments on the market for hypercholesterolemia, including statins like Lipitor and Crestor. Statins, according to the Mayo Clinic, block a substance in the body that is necessary to make cholesterol. In addition, the hospital notes that the medication may also help your body “reabsorb cholesterol that has built up in plaques on your artery walls, preventing further blockage in your blood vessels and heart attacks.” According to the latest study, the problems arise when niacin is added to a patient’s usual statin.
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