Daily Lawsuit News

Medical Liability Lawsuits Gets Star Power in Hearing

Medical liability lawsuits are something that now hits closer to home for actor Dennis Quaid. Last year, Quaid almost lost his twin newborns when they were given a dose of blood thinner mistakenly since the bottles were stored close to the correct drugs. This was a problem previously noted by several others in civil lawsuits, but ignored by Baxter Labs and the labels remained unchanged.

Quaid testified in a congressional hearing to discuss product liability lawsuits against drug manufacturers and possible reforms in the area that could allow courts to step in and limit drug lawsuits. In his testimony, Quaid said:

“I believe if preemption of lawsuits is allowed to prevail, it will basically make all of us, the public, uninformed and uncompensated lab rats…”

Baxter maintained that what happened to the children, a dosage of Heparin that was 1000 times the normal recommended dose, was caused by human error. However, with previous complaints filed that the medication was packaged too closely to other drugs going unheard, the onus falls squarely on the manufacturer.

The drug manufacturer claims it did not recall older bottles because it would have caused a shortage of its blood thinning medication, which is a lame excuse at best. The fact that the FDA wants to step in and limit the potential liability of drug makers is preposterous. As Henry Waxman said in this hearing:

“One of the most powerful incentives for safety — the threat of liability — would vanish.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1453209520080514

Source: Reuters

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits, Product Liability | No Comments »

Trasylol Anti-Bleeding Drug Proves High Surgery Death Risk

In November, Bayer pulled it’s anti-bleeding drug off the market due to reports from studies that it caused up to 22,000 deaths from people who were taking it. Now, a recent study’s results released on Wednesday confirms that Trasylol indeed is a definite risk to those who took it for its clotting properties when undergoing open heart surgery.

The New England Journal of Medicine released studies that an incredible 6% of those who took Traysol died within 30 days of their surgeries, and the drug itself increases a mortality rate of up to 50%. Compared to other medications that were used previously to Trasylol’s release, this is a death rate increase of 2%. This study proves that this next-generation medication actually does more harm than good for those undergoing surgical procedures.

Incredibly, this prescription medication for bleeding costs $1,400 per dose, or $1,390 more than the older, safer drug; bringing into question the company’s motives for releasing the drug so quickly into market and its reluctance to admit it’s fault.

While it is noncommittal to whether its medication will return to the market, Bayer is now fighting off 83 lawsuits related to Trasylol prescription drug usage with more likely to follow.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121080806023693335.html

Source: Wall Street Journal

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits, Trasylol | No Comments »