Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer - Defective Drugs

Prescriptions Killed More Floridians Than Street Drugs In 2007

Eddie Farah — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:24:44 GMT

Prescriptions Killed More Than Street Drugs In 2007

By Eddie Farah on June 14, 2008

A report released this week by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission, concludes that prescription drugs killed more Floridians in 2007 than illegal drugs.

In fact, the death rate is reported to be over three times higher than that of all illegal drugs combined.

Oxycodone, and methadone are at the top of the list. Cocaine, alcohol, and heroin use also increased, according to the report.

Stopping the taking of legally prescribed drugs, whether they were intended for the user or not, should be the focus of educating Florida’s families about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, the report says. Meanwhile, law enforcement must focus on illegal street drugs.

Bill Janes, Director of the Office of Drug Control, says doctors and pharmacists must get involved to help stop doctor shopping.

“Only through a comprehensive, coordinated strategy will we be able to reverse this tragic, unacceptable trend,” he says.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Child Vaccine Recall

Eddie Farah — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:03:13 GMT

Merck has announced a voluntary recall for a drug used to fight bacterial meningitis in children.

The vaccine is known as Hib. It is given in a three-dose shot for children under the age of five.

Merck, the maker, says some bacteria contaminated a processing plant for the vaccine in Pennsylvania, although the company says none of the vaccine lots were contaminated.

The company says they brought this information forward to the FDA and CDC because it "cannot assure sterility of those specific vaccine lots."

See the CDC web site to see which lots are included in the recall. Most have been distributed in the U.S. since April

Doctors are advised NOT to give any vaccination from those vials.

Merck is the same company that recently announced a settlement of $4.85 billion for victims of the pain medication Vioxx which has been linked to heart attacks and stroke. About 50,000 cases are involved.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Did HPV Vaccine Cause 12-Yr-olds Paralysis?

Eddie Farah — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:51:38 GMT

Christina Bell says she had seen ads for a vaccine called Gardasil.

The "One Less.." campaign by drugmaker Merck has been very effective and aggressively placed to reach all adolecent girls and their families encouraging them to be injected against Human Papillomavirus or HPV with Gardasil, the drug approved by the FDA in June 2006.

So after consulting with her doctor, her 12-year-old, Brittany was injected with Gardasil. Two weeks later the girl collapsed.

Her mother says Brittany used to play softball and run cross country.

Now she can't feel her legs.

What Bell didn't know was the Gardasil has been linked to thousands of adverse reports. Just last month a non- profit group, Judicial Watch, sued the FDA saying it has withheld thousands of adverse reports and even 11 deaths.

No one can really say if the drug is effective over time. It is supposed to be given before girls are sexually active. What if that doesn't happen for five or 10 years. Does Gardasil still work? No one knows.

Then there is the moral question- does giving Gardasil send the wrong message to our young girls that they can be promiscuous without consequences? Gardasil doesn't protect against HIV.

Lastly, a study found that using condoms is more effective than Gardasil in preventing HPV. Are parents about to discuss condom use with their 12-year-olds, or is an injection just easier?

Christina Bell didn't hear these arguments. Now she is suing Merck. One more kicker-Merck put Gardasil on the National Vaccine Injury Comnpensation Fund about six months after it hit the market.

That is like a government insurance plan that allows us taxpayers to pay the cost of any adverse events resulting from a vaccine. What did Merck know then that its "One Less" ads don't tell us now?

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Major Drug Settlement To Help Vioxx Victims

Eddie Farah — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:39:51 GMT

Janis Roberts is only 56-years old but already she's had several heart attacks, heart by-pass surgery, a dozen stents inserted in her arteries and a stroke. She's on oxygen and disability living with her sister in St. Nicholas.

For her the news Friday morning that drug maker, Merck had agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement over Vioxx meant, "I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel."

Roberts and thousands of others were given Vioxx to treat pain. She took the drug from 1997 to 1999 after suffering a degenerative disk and scoliosis. She says the Vioxx worked well until she had her first heart attack. A family member told her she saw something on television about the dangers of Vioxx so she stopped taking the drug.

Roberts is just one of thousands of people injured from Vioxx. The settlement will end as many as 50,000 personal injury lawsuits from people who suffered heart attacks or ischemic strokes.It was settled among negotiating teams who met dozens of times in eight states to hammer out the deal.

Vioxx was puilled from the market in September 2004, after it was linked to a doubling of the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Plaintiffs like Roberts now get to wait as law firms such as ours estimate the size of their award depending how how they were hurt, whether they had prior medical conditions and can prove they had a heart attack or stroke following taking at least 30 Vioxx pills. 85 percent of all plaintiffs in key categories must agree to the deal to make it binding. The $4.85 billion amount will not change stresses Merck.

Roberts says she plans to buy a house for her and her sister to live in. It will be nice, she says not to have to struggle on disability month to month, but she'd rather have her health back.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Diabetes Drug Linked to Acute Pancreatitis

Eddie Farah — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:41:03 GMT

Doctors are being warned that a drug to treat Type-2 diabetes may be causing acute pancreatitis.

So far, 30 cases have been reviewed. In six cases, patient's symptoms got worse when they doubled their dose of the drug, Byetta.

Doctors received a letter from the FDA asking them to tell patients on exenatide (Byetta) to seek treatment immediately if that have any unexplained abdominal pains and or vomiting.

Patients should stop taking the drug if the illness is suspected to be the source and patients should not resume taking it unless the pancreatitis is due to some other cause.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Drug Whistleblower Smeared by FDA

Eddie Farah — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:14:26 GMT

Rarely do we get to look inside the tactics that Big Pharma is not afraid to use when threatened.

The case of the drug, Avandia which is prescribed to treat Type II Diabetes, largely a lifestyle disease that affects up to 20 million Americans. Data collected at the Cleveland Clinic shows Avandia users could have up to a 43% risk of heart attack and a sharp (64%) likelihood of an increase in heart- related disease. Blowing the whistle on the downside of this drug is the head of cardiology from the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Steven Nissan, who published his findings in the recent issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The FDA issued a Safety Alert concerning Avandia, sort of a soft way of saying "consumers watch out." Presumably doctors are paying attention too.

However now, Dr. Nissan says he is being publicly disparaged by a spokesman for the FDA, who previously worked in communications for a large pharmaceutical company. Dr. Nissan tells ABC News that e-mails that accuse the doctor of playing favorites with drug companies are being circulated to health and medical reporters.

"Using taxpayer dollars, a federal agency's press office, rather than responding to the scientific questions that I raised, attempting to smear me individually. It's unacceptable."

What's interesting here is the Chief of Cardiology, works with drug companies to develop new medications -- he's not a natural health, or alternative or even integrative medicine guy who routinely criticize anything Big Pharma. Dr. Nissan is not backing down from acting in the public interest. Good for him!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

"Sicko" Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You

Eddie Farah — Tue, 22 May 2007 18:02:40 GMT

More than 2,000 movie goers at the Cannes Film Festival applauded loudly at the first showing of Michal Moore's newest film, "Sicko," all about the perils of our country's modern healthcare system.

Expect it in theatres in June.

So far the reviews are mixed between hilarious and very sad.
The latter is a good summary of our healthcare system which is likely responsible for more deaths than we like to admit through infections, mis-diagnosis, delayed treatment, drug overdoses and incompetent doctors. In fact, a recent study found that among the largest industrialized nations, the U.S. spends the most on healthcare and has the poorest outcomes in terms of access, patient safety, efficiency and equity.

Moore found that our federal regulators were not laughing at his film. On his website, he doesn't understand how they may have seen a preview, since it's been a guarded secret, but the Treasury Department has been investigating Moore for allegedly breaking a trade embargo with Cuba, where he went to shoot a segment on 911 ground zero workers getting medical care. Moore's lawyers told him it was possible he could face a fine, jail time or the film could be seized.

I mean, folks, I have just about had it. Investigating ME because I'm trying to help some 9/11 rescue workers our government has abandoned? Once again, up is down and black is white. There are only two people in need of an investigation and a trial, and the desire for this across America is so widespread you don't even need to see the one's smirk or hear the other's sneer to know who I am talking about

Never shy at self promotion, "Sicko" will pack a punch at the box office.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Blackmarket Botox Cripples Couple

Eddie Farah — Fri, 18 May 2007 08:06:40 GMT

If you've ever considered the cosmetic, Botox, to smooth out wrinkles and give you a "rested" look--check out this story first.

A middle-aged couple wanted to try the procedure together just before the holidays in 2004. Today they've written a book, "Dying To Be Young - From Botox To Botulism" to warn others about their near-death experience in this video on ABC News.

Apparently the problem comes from the home-made variety of the botulism toxin. Eric and Bonnie Kaplan got injections from a friend who ran a clinic. Problem is their 'friend" made his own, black market, form of botox.

Instead of using Botox, their friend was mixing his own batch with raw grade botulinum toxin type A, one of the most deadly toxins in existence. The mix was off, and the physical effects were almost immediate and dangerous.
"When I got to the ER. ... I couldn't swallow," Eric said. "Then, I couldn't speak. Then, my teeth froze like I had lockjaw. Eventually I became totally paralyzed."

The injections stopped their lungs from working and landed the Kaplans in the hospital for three months. Eric was breathing through a tube and Bonnie was communicating on a pad.

All of this from a friend! While this may be an isolated case, one cannot imagine the pain and guilt they felt by indulging in a "cosmetic" procedure that went terribly wrong.

Maybe wrinkles aren't so bad afterall.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

FluMist Warnings May Not Deter FDA

Eddie Farah — Mon, 14 May 2007 23:05:14 GMT

You have to admit that our federal drug regulators appear never to have met a drug manufacturer they didn't like. Such a cozy relationship. Here is the latest that has the potential to affect our most vulnerable citizens, our children.

MedImmune makes a nasal spray that contains a live influenza virus and now the maker wants children under five years of age to be able to take it.

That despite the fact that it recently reported to the FDA that young children showed statistically significant episodes of wheezing and hospitalization.

But the FDA appears to be in agreement with MedImmune, which posts on the FDA's website that the drug can be safety taken by 24-59 month olds who don't wheeze or have asthma.

MedImmune wants Food and Drug Administration approval to market the nasal spray vaccine to young children, which could provide a major revenue boost for the company since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children between 6 months and six years old get an annual influenza virus vaccine.

The drug was supposed to bring a billion a year to MedImmune, but sales have fallen far short of that projection.

Integrative Medicine specialist, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny advises against the nasal inhalants for active live flu inoculations because of the proximity to the brain. And FluMist contains live influenza which can shed the live virus up to 21 days potentially spreading influenza to anyone who is immuno-compromised.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

GI Drug Taken Off the Market, Link to Heart Problems

Eddie Farah — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:00:31 GMT

The FDA is asking Novartis Pharmaceuticals to stop making Zelnorm because of a suspected link to cardiovascular problems.

Zelnorm is prescribed primarily to women for gastro-intestinal problems and constipation. It is marketed in 55 countries.

Earlier this year, Novartis reported to the FDA the result of 29 short term clinical trials involving more than 11,000 patients taking Zelnorm. 7,000 were taking a placebo. The results showed a risk of heart attack, angina and strokes is higher among Zelnorm users than the placlebo group.

Thirteen patients treated with Zelnorm (0.1%) had serious and life-threatening cardiovascular side effects; among these, four patients had a heart attack (one died), six had a type of severe heart chest pain which can quickly turn into a heart attack, and three had a stroke.

The FDA is asking patients to talk to their doctors about an alternative prescription.

If you are experiencing any heart palpatations or shortness of breath and are taking Zelnorm you should contact your health care professional immediately.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah