Washington Injury Attorney Blog

I've always been a fan of science fiction and spy stories but I ran across an article on the BBC News web-site that was a bit too chilling even for me. Could someone actually be murdered by a person with a medical implant device by using a radio signal? I can almost see the plot line of spy thriller: a foreign dignitary is murdered when his defibrillator is switched off via a cell phone.

In "Warning over medical implant attacks", technology correspondent Mark Ward writing for the BBC says studies reveal that medical implants are vulnerable to attacks and lives could be threatened.

Today, many patients have medical devices implanted in their bodies: Diabetics have insulin pumps which deliver insulin as needed, people with heart conditions have pacemakers to regulate their heart beat and others have defibrillators that can get a heart back into rhythm.

Some of these medical devices have wireless connections which allow physicians to monitor, update or adjust the devices remotely.

A researcher at the Internet security firm, McAfee, has discovered that these medical devices may be vulnerable to attack through their wireless connections. Researcher Barnaby Jack said:

We can influence any [insulin] pump within a 300ft [91m] range. We can do that without requiring its ID number.

Research Professor Kevin Fu at the University of Massachusetts is doing research work that is similar to McAfee's and he has found that it is possible to turn off a defibrillator by capturing the radio signal.

While up to now, there have been no reports of a person or entity hacking a medical device, it is comforting to know that scientists are out there working on technology to safeguard patients.

Continue reading "Science fiction or reality? Medical implant attacks: murder by radio signal" »

The Federal Drug Administration has issued a warning to health care professionals after a pharmacist mixed up two medications with similar sounding names causing serious injury to a patient's eye.

The FDA says that a pharmacist accidentally dispensed Durasal, a wart remover, instead of the steroidal eye drop Durezol to a patient, resulting in serious injury. Durezol was being prescribed to the unnamed patient to help with inflammation and pain after eye surgery. Durasal contains salicylic acid and one can only image the pain that the mistake caused to the patient.

The FDA says that this is not the first time the two similarly named products have been confused. According to the FDA, in the other cases, the prescription error was discovered before the patient actually used the eye drops.

The FDA says Durasal has not been approved by the FDA for wart removal and has asked Elorac, Inc., the drug's distributor, to remove the product from the marketplace.

As part of the FDA approval process, drugs are supposed to be screened for similar names but in the case of Durasol,the drug had not been screened by the FDA.

Preventable medication errors can result in serious physical injury to patients and sometimes even death. Medication errors can occur to one of 25 hospital patients and it is estimated that medication errors result in more than 48,000 patients every year.

The following are some common reasons for medication errors:

• Medication prescribed without knowledge of a patient's allergies, lab results, diagnosis.
  
• Insufficient drug information -- not understanding drug interactions or having information about a drug recall.
  
• Misreading of a prescription due to poor handwriting
  
• Confusion between drugs with similar names.
  
• Confusion regarding dosage units.
  
• Lack of proper labeling.
  
• Improper storage of medications which can affect their potency.
  
• Distraction to the pharmacist which can cause lead in a medication mistake.
  
• Overworked pharmacists.
  
• Relying too heavily on technicians.

Medication errors can cause serious injury and even be deadly. If you or a loved one has been injured by a medication error, you should seek medical attention immediately and you should bring all your medications with you if you are not in a hospital setting.

If your injuries are serious, you might want to consider contact an experienced personal injury attorney who can help you make a claim against the professional’s medical malpractice insurance to cover your damages.

The Farber Law Group, a personal injury and medical malpractice law firm has more than 30 years experience representing people seriously injured by medical malpractice and pharmacy errors. We represent our clients on a contingency basis which means that our clients pay a percentage of the recovery from the settlement or verdict in the case.

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Prescription Errors – an all too common form of Medical Malpractice

Continue reading "Medication error results in FDA action" »

A personal injury is any kind of accident where you are injured. If you have an accident and feel another party is at fault, you may decide to file what is called a personal injury claim in order to be compensated for damages that may occur from medical or emotional costs associated with the accident.

There are many types of personal injury claims, and while you can file a personal injury claim for just about anything, the most common types of claims are those that involve car accidents, work related injuries, slip and fall accidents, accidents in your home and holiday accidents. Others include product liability claims such as when you are injured from a defective product that you have purchased.

When you file a personal injury claim, you are asked to describe the accident, and provide a dollar amount that you think is suitable compensation. This can include medical and dental bills, money lost due to time missed from not being able to work, or even emotional damage if you can prove your accident caused you emotional or psychological stress.

While filing a personal injury claim seems like a straightforward process, it’s actually very complex and often a controversial topic, with many politicians and attorneys calling for caps on the amount that someone can receive due to a personal injury claim.

If you think you have been in an accident that is clearly the fault of some other party whether it is a business, company or another person, you have the right to file such a claim. The best thing to do first is to note all of your injuries and keep good records of every step of your process. If you have seen a medical doctor, keep good records of the diagnosis.

You will probably find navigating the system on your own challenging and frustrating, and in this case, you may need to hire a personal injury lawyer to give you advice on what to do next, how much your case is worth in damages, and any providing you with any other necessary information to make the process of filing a personal injury claim run smoothly.

If you are hurt in any type of accident, you should not just sit idly by if someone else is clearly at fault. A personal injury claim can make sure that you receive the proper compensation for your accident.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have serious personal injuries due to the negligence of another.

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Attorneys across the U.S. are starting to advertise for and are being contacted by people who took the diabetes drug Actos® and now have bladder cancer.

While France has pulled Actos® off of the market and Germany has recommended to physicians that no new patients begin the drug, in the U.S., Actos® is still being sold with only added warnings to the patient information labels. Physicians have also been give the warning that they should not prescribe Actos® to patients who have bladder cancer or who have had bladder cancer.

Actos® came to the market 10 years ago and it seemed like a perfect Type II diabetes drug because it helped control blood sugar and only had to be taken once a day. For many patients, it meant they would not have to inject insulin.

The problem with Actos® is no one really understood the effects it would have on the body when taken for 5 or 10 years.

The FDA has just released their analysis of five years of data of a 10-year Actos® safety study that began in 2002. The conclusion is that, while the overall number of bladder cancer cases are small, it appears that there are an extra 28 cases a year for every 100,000 people who have taken Actos®. The conclusion is that the risk of risk of bladder cancer was 40% higher for those patients who have taken Actos® for a year or more.

In recent months, personal injury attorneys across the U.S. have been contacted by patients with bladder cancer. Many bladder cancer patients have had to undergo several surgeries and chemotherapy.

The personal injury lawyers at The Farber Law Group feels that Takeda Pharmaceuticals either knew or should have known about the serious risk of bladder cancer. We will work hard to investigate Takeda's actions and we will do all that we can to help bladder cancer patients who took Actos®.

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French news announces suspension of diabetes drug, Actos Competact

Continue reading "Lawsuits starting to pile up against maker of Actos® because of bladder cancer link" »

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a notice to the public that they have approved updating drug labels of medications including pioglitazone, including Actos®. The added information states that, in patients using pioglitazone for more than one year, there can be an increased risk of bladder cancer.

The new wording for the label can be found in the Warnings and Precautions section of medicines containing pioglitazone. The patient Medication Guide will also be revised to indicate the bladder cancer association.

The FDA made this action after review a five-year interim analysis of a ten-year epidemiological study which found an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients who had taken Actos® the longest and those who had taken it at higher dosages.

It is interesting to note that the FDA did not suspend the sale of Actos® in this country though France has suspended the use of pioglitazone and Germany has recommended that physicians do not prescribe any new patients with the medication.

The FDA recommends:

• Patients with bladder cancer should not take Actos®
  
• Patients with a history of bladder cancer previously should decide whether the benefits of the drug outweigh the risk.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been injured due to faulty medical devices and dangerous drugs, including Actos.

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French news announces suspension of diabetes drug, Actos Competact

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Continue reading "FDA announces changes to Actos® diabetes medication labeling" »

The Director General of the Agency of Medicines in France (Afssaps) announced that the diabetes drug Actos Competact, sold as Actos (pioglitazone) in the United States, has been suspended for sale in France because it is responsible for a significant increase in bladder cancer in men according to the French newspaper Le Monde.

Afssaps held a vote and members of the commission voted 25 aye and one abstaining to suspend the sale of the drug after a study by the National Health Insurance (CNAM) found

"a statistically significant association" between exposure to pioglitazone, an antidiabetic medication currently on the hot seat, and the incidence of bladder cancer."

According to LeMonde, the study shows that the risk of bladder cancer increased by 22% when using Actos. The study showed that the risk increases up to 75% when patients were treated with a high dose. The study followed 1.5 million diabetics, 155,000 who had taken pioglitazone.

Actos was first sold in Europe in 200 and approximately 230,000 patients were treated with the drug in France. The Afssaps warns, "Doctors should no longer prescribe the medicines containing pioglitazone."

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm and we represent people who are injured due to dangerous drugs, including Actos.

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FDA warns that Actos® increases the chance of bladder cancer in patients who have taken the medication for more than one year

Continue reading "French news announces suspension of diabetes drug, Actos Competact" »

Takeda Phamaceutical Co., along with its French subsidiary, Laboratories Takeda, has agreed to withdraw Actos® (pioglitazone) and Competact (pioglitazone and metformin) because of concerns about an increased risk of bladder cancer with the drug.

The two medications are used to treat type II mellitus diabetes which is a form of non-insulin-dependent diabetes. In the U.S., the drug is sold under the name Actos®. Beginning in June of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added extra warning labels to products containing pioglitazone.

It appears that France is jumping ahead of the United States by making changes to their drug regulations including ensuring that medications sold in France are safe and also improving patient education and information regarding the risks of medication.

The decision to remove Actos® from the French market came after a study in May by Italian researchers who found a connection between Actos® and bladder cancer.

Some bladder cancer patients in the United States may file lawsuits against Takeda Pharmaceutical for failing to adequately test the drug or warn patients about a bladder cancer risk.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm with more than 30 years experience representing people who have become ill due to dangerous drugs, including Actos® and drugs containing Pioglitazone.

Continue reading "Diabetes drug, Actos, recalled in the French market" »

A federal court jury awarded Douglas Ray, 67, $212 million in damages against Allergan Inc. after Ray suffered permanent brain damage after he was injected with Botox to treat hand tremors in 2007. This case sets a record for an award in a Botox injury case.

The jury awarded Ray $12M in compensatory damages and $200M in punitive damages. Compensatory damages are damages which compensates a person for their actual losses including pain and suffering, expenses and economic losses. Punitive damages combine both punishment and the setting of public example. These damages are awarded when a defendant's action was malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent or grossly reckless.

Ray's lawsuit claimed that Allergan failed to warn his doctor about risks involved of using Botox for "off-label" use. Off-label use is when a physician prescribes an otherwise approved medication for other than their approved indications.

The jury in this case felt that Allergan had heavily marketed Botox to physicians for other than reducing wrinkles.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a Seattle personal injury law firm and we represent clients with their product liability cases.

Source:
Jury orders Allergan to pay $212 mln in Botox case
Reuters News Service

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Continue reading "Jury awards man $212M in Botox brain injury lawsuit" »

The Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) has issued a health warning saying that
bisphosphonate drugs such as Fosamax© and Boniva are linked to rare fractures of the femur. The fractures occurred right below the hip joint and are extremely rare.

The FDA has issued a brochure Possible Fracture Risk With Osteoporosis Drugs to patients and physicians which warns of the femoral fracture. The FDA says that the fractures may be related to prolonged use of the medication, five years or more.

Biophoshonates have been prescribed since 1995 to prevent and treat osteoporosis. The FDA says it is not clear if the drugs are the cause of the bone fractures. For now, they are advising patients and physicians to pay attention to symptoms that might occur prior to a fracture including a dull or aching pain in the thigh or hip.

A patient who suffers this type of fracture might have a valid medical malpractice claim if their physician failed to warn them of the side effects and left them on the medication without warning them of potential risks.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have suffered serious injury due to dangerous products and also victims of medical malpractice. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages including pain and suffering.

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Continue reading "Osteoporosis Drugs may increase thigh fracture risk says FDA" »

Merck & Co. the manufacturer of Fosamax, an osteoporosis drug, has been ordered to pay Shirley Boles, 72, $8 million dollars finding that her jaw disease, osteonecrosis, was caused by taking Fosamax.

The crux of Boles' suit is that Merck failed to warn doctors and patients that the drug might effect the flow of blood to the jaw, causing jawbone-tissue death. In finding against Merck, jurors found that Fosamax is defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous according to Bole's attorney.

Merck faces hundreds of product liability lawsuits because of allegations that the drug caused the jaw-destroying condition.

This case is considered a "bellwether" case and its determination may lead to out-of-court settlements.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by dangerous and defective products and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Source:
Business Week
Merck Loses $8 Million Verdict in Trial over Fosamax
June 25, 2010

Both The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post Intelligencer report today that Fosamax©, a medication to treat osteoporosis, appears to double a woman's chance of having atrial fibrillation, a sometimes serious heart condition.

Fosamax© is manufactured by Merck & Co. A generic version, alendronate, was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2008. Fosamax© has also been linked to another serious condition, osteoncrosis of the jaw, also known as jaw necrosis or jaw death. Osteonecrosis can cause parts of the jawbone to deteriorate, causing an extremely painful condition that can lead to jaw removal.

The Seattle, Washington study which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine was done by Group Health in Seattle and the University of Washington. The study, which followed 719 women with atrial fibrillation, compared them with 966 women who did not have the condition. The study found that the women who had taken Fosamax©, had an 86% higher incidence of the condition.

Atrial fibrillation can result in irregular heartbeats (heart palpitations), shortness of breath, fatigue, blood clots which can cause strokes, and congestive heart failure.

Dr. Philip Mease, an osteoporosis expert at Swedish Medical Center who was not involved in the study, cautions women not to suddenly discontinue the medication. The Group Health study said, "it is important to carefully weigh the benefits against the possible risk of atrial fibrillation in women who have only modestly increased fracture risk and in women who have risk factors for atrial fibrillation, such as diabetes, mellitus, coronary disease or heart failure."

Osteoporosis is a condition that strikes women far more often than men, affecting 25 million Americans a year. It causes bone loss and when the bones become weak and thin they can easily break.

If you or a loved one has experienced any serious side effects after using Fosamax© such as atrial fibrillation or osteonocrosis, you need to contact a personal injury attorney to ensure that your rights are protected. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience of representing people with serious personal injury and malpractice. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.