Daily Lawsuit News

Bayer Signals End Of Trasylol With Recall

Embroiled in controversy, Bayer Pharma has decided to remove the remaining stock in hospitals of its anti-bleeding medication Trasylol. The reasons, Bayer AG claims, is because of the response from studies that show it nearly doubled the death rate when compared to lower-cost alternative medications that were already established in the market.

Dual studies in Canada and America have cited that the drug, called also aprotinin, is more dangerous during heart surgeries than other medications. It is estimated that tens of thousands of lives could have been saved had the doctors or hospitals not chosen Trasylol.

Trasylol treatment costs over $1,250 USD compared to other medication alternatives that were $150 per dose, which calls into question whether Bayer was, in addition to producing a defective medication, gouging prices from those who were administered Trasylol.

The drug was known, or at least implicated, to have issues as far back as 2006, where Trasylol caused increased death rates, kidney failure or even stroke. Despite this, Bayer was granted FDA approval for Trasylol.

“These three drugs have been routinely used in heart surgery for more than a decade, but this is the first trial to rigorously compare them in a meaningful setting with meaningful clinical outcomes,” Fergusson said in a statement. “The results demonstrate the great value of and the need for independent academic clinical trials.”

Cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock were common fatalities when people were given Trasylol for open heart surgery. Bayer claims it will continue to work with the FDA to figure out, “what impact, if any, the BART data and any other new data will have on the benefit-risk profile of Trasylol.”

One thing is certain, Trasylol lawsuits from the families of those affected by the drug’s side-effects will be filed soon, and a Trasylol class-action lawsuit can not be far off.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bayer-pulls-trasylol-supp

Source: Scientific American

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits, Trasylol | No Comments »

Fen-Phen Lawsuit Settlement Diverted to Lawyers

Deadly diet medication Fen-phen lawsuits have been ongoing for over 7 years was initially thought to have settled for 60 million USD. However, recent information shows that lawyers for the plantiffs in this legal action may have pocketed in excess of 150 million dollars.

A federal action has been filed against Melbourne Mills Jr., Shirley Allen Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion and the lawyers for those affected by Fen-Phen may be facing 20 years of federal prison time for fraud.

The original $50 million dollar settlement called for the 440 plantiffs to receive the following:

…about $500 in reimbursement for drug costs; a free echocardiogram; and either $6,000 in cash or $10,000 worth of medical follow-up…

However, according to court documents, one plantiff received over $600,000 in a cash settlement for opting out of the class-action case. The testifying of one of the under-attorneys in the case suggested that all plantiffs received considerably more than the original amount, but still far short of the $200 million that was given by the court-ordered class-action settlement.

This is the type of case that, unfortunately, leads to tort reform that hurts people involved in drug lawsuits. However, it will play out in the court system and the eventual findings and sentencing should set the record straight.

http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/407547.html

Source: Lexington Herald

Posted in Class Action Lawsuits, Fraud, Prescription Drug Lawsuits | No Comments »

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 »

History Catches Up With Merck Via FDA Actions

Merck, maker of Vioxx and owner of a $4.5 Billion USD payout for the same medication’s class-action and private lawsuits is now facing greater scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration at every turn. Within the past three weeks, Merck has had to deal with two of its experimental prescription drugs being rejected by the FDA at the hint of trouble, and now they are being ordered to complete significant cleanup at their plants.

Shares of Merck are down over 30% since last January when their cholesterol-fighting drug, set to be the next generation of Zocor, was deemed “unapprovable” by regulators. The medication, named Cordaptive, cleared trials but was rejected on the grounds that it was no better and more expensive than other medications. This has caused a financial ruckus that has caused Merck to cut over 7,000 jobs.

Not since Merck was forced to pull Vioxx has the market turned so sour for them. One can only point at their history and the egg-on-the-face look that the FDA got from passively approving so many other prescription medications from the company that have backfired and caused countless prescription Drug lawsuits.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/news/businessnews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=7121644

Source: MSN Canada

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits | No Comments »

Ritalin Users Urged to get Heart Checked

Ritalin has been used for ADHD treatment for many years and, in that time, has been linked to all types of medical disorders from suicide to heart concerns in adults and teens.

Now, it appears that Ritalin and other medications in its family are being linked to heart problems in younger children. The American Heart Association says that Ritalin type medications raise blood pressure and that kids taking it can be subject to sudden cardiac arrest.

Studies have shown cardiac arrest in 19 children, and on top of that over 25 kids have had strokes and other heart ailments.

Estimates place school-aged children that have ADHD between 4 and 12 percent in the United States alone, and the industry is a $5 billion cash cow for pharmaceutical manufacturers every year. Using a stimulant can help focus ADHD sufferers and keep their emotions in check, but it appears there can be a high price to pay when using Ritalin.

http://technews.iit.edu/index.php?id=1044

Source: IIT.edu

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits, Ritalin | No Comments »

Bayer Defends 78 Trasylol Lawsuits After Recall

Now defending itself in 78 lawsuits since pulling Trasylol blood thinner from the shelves in November, Bayer is in a world of trouble.

After Canadian research found links between Trasylol and unnecessary deaths when using it for blood thinning, the FDA relented and agreed in September 2007 that the medication was in need of a recall. What makes this case worse is that Traysol was known, for years prior to its recall, to be a possibly deadly medication. According to a cited statistic, 22,000 lives may have been lost as a direct link to Trasylol use in open-heart surgeries.

In typical fashion of Big Drug manufacturers, Bayer responded by saying:

“the available data continue to support a favorable risk-benefit profile for Trasylol when used according to labeling.”

Bayer, it appears, will need an aspirin for this legal headache.

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/2986

Source: NewsInferno

Posted in Prescription Drug Lawsuits, Trasylol | No Comments »