In a unanimous decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled on Monday that cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris, may have to pay for screening/diagnostic scans for smokers. The ruling paves the way for the possibility that Philip Morris could be required to pay for low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans, which can detect […]
Category: Product Defect
The FDA has emergently taken possession of medication formerly known under the trade name Wydase (hyaluronidase) due to sight threatening reactions in a number of patients. The medication is used to augment the effects of common anesthetics such as bupivicaine and is suspected to be contaminated. Commonly used by ophthalmologists […]
The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued its order on October 1, 2009, establishing MDL No. 2100 for individual lawsuits filed by women who have been injured or died as a result of their ingestion of Yasmin and Yaz oral contraceptive products. All of the cases pending in […]
On September 24, 2009, a hearing was held in Richmond, Virginia before the National Panel on Multi-District Litigation with regard the lawsuits that have been filed against the manufacturers of YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella. This Panel of federal judges who oversee the establishment and coordination of mass torts litigation within […]
Phillip Morris was found to be 38% at fault in the death of a smoker. This is the verdict delivered by a jury of good citizens on August 14, 2009, in Broward County, Florida. Philip Morris and their lawyers, presumably, blame the judge and bad rulings made by him. Altria’s […]
Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers sell their wares for a profit. Nothing wrong with that. If I sold widgets, I would certainly want to generate a profit. If my widgets carried with them the potential to cause severe injury and death though, I would have the absolute responsibility to not […]
There are certain drug compounds that I, as a consumer, can not purchase without the permission (think prescription here) of a licensed physician. There is very good reason for this. There are drugs for which the use must be weighed and evaluated by trained medical people. In some cases the […]
A recent study published by scientists in Victoria, Australia provides even more compelling evidence that post-operative use of pain pumps in patients undergoing shoulder surgeries is a bad idea. A number of researchers have noted that patients who utilized post-operative pain pumps which bathed their shoulder joints with anesthetic drugs […]
I saw recently that a U.S. Senator had sponsored a bill to have the FDA regulate the Tobacco companies. According to an article in June 12, 2009 Washington Post newspaper, the bill was sponsored by Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. It seems the FDA has had poor success in regulating […]
On 6/17/09 the FDA issued a “warning” to the Zicam manufacturer Matrixx after receiving a number of reports through MedWatch of serious injury or illness. MedWatch is the FDA’s “new and improved” reporting mechanism, cited in the three-page letter to Matrixx they have received in excess of 130 reports of […]