Yourlawyer Blog

By: Stephanie Herschaft, Esq.

According to an article in Reuters, on Tuesday February 22, 2012, Medtronic Inc. (MDT.N) reported poor quarterly financial results. These results reflect continued weak demand for Medtronic’s implantable heart defibrillators and spine products, two of its largest moneymakers. Sales in the implantable heart defibrillator unit and the spine products unit each fell 9% in the fiscal third quarter. Medtronic has been performing poorly for the last several years, and this quarter was no different.

Medtronic produces a variety of products used in spine surgery, including Infuse, a genetically engineered bone graft. Infuse is a biologic product that works by stimulating the body to re-grow bone. Infuse sales dipped in 2011 after U.S. lawmakers began to investigate whether Medtronic bribed doctors to silence reports of serious side effects of off-label use of Infuse such as uncontrolled bone growth, neck swelling, difficulty breathing, inflamed tissue, and radiating leg pain. Recently, independent researchers found an increased cancer risk in patients who were treated with Infuse.

By: Michael Werner, Esq.

As reported in The New York Times on February 21, 2012, an August, 2009 internal email authored by a vice president of a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary has surfaced, the substance of which calls into doubt the accuracy of previous Johnson & Johnson statements as to the safety of its all-metal hip.

Prior to the 2010 recall of the device, Johnson & Johnson maintained that it was safe and dismissed complaints to the contrary. However, the 2009 email from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopedics tells a different tale. In response to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision just days prior to withhold approval of a version of the all-metal hip for domestic sales, vice president Pamela Plouhar, on behalf of DePuy Orthopedics, informed other high-level DePuy executives that the FDA refused to approve the device in part because it had “failed prematurely in ‘significant’ numbers, requiring repeat surgeries for patients.”

While sales of the artificial hip were confined to over-sea markets, a companion model—which was used in approximately 30,000 patients—was ultimately recalled in the United States during the same 2010 period. It is believed that a total of approximately 93,000 people received the all-metal DePuy hip, many through a resurfacing hip replacement procedure. However, since these surgeries many devices have failed years before their 15 year intended lifespan. Moreover, it is believed that metal filings and sediment are stripped from the device over time and with use, thereby causing considerable injury and necessitating follow-up surgery.

Notwithstanding the content of the 2009 email, and the presumptive notice it provided to top-level executives at DePuy in 2009, the current President of DePuy, Andrew Ekdahl, stated last week that allegations as to the FDA’s safety and inferiority concerns were “simply untrue.” Although the FDA does not release the findings and decisions contained in a “nonapprovable letter” as a matter of policy, it is notable that DePuy has similarly refused to release the findings at issue.

Source: The New York Times

by: Justin Varughese, Esq.

Nursing homes are required by state and federal law to create a care plan for each resident – and to share this plan with family members in a care plan meeting.

Other participants in this meeting include the resident’s doctors, therapists, nurses and dieticians. Healthcare providers will share elements of the care plan and ask for your input. This is one of the best venues for family members to bring up their concerns about the care their loved one is receiving.

All family members should be invited to attend care plan meetings. If you are not, ask to be included. If you are still left out, consider asking an experienced nursing home lawyer to explore your legal options.

Each resident’s care plan is based upon a thorough intake assessment of the resident’s physical, medical and cognitive needs, including risk of falling or developing bedsores. The plan itself carefully states how these needs will be met while the resident is in the nursing home. It should include very specific details and responsibilities.

To learn more about nursing home care plans, I encourage you to watch the video above and to explore our educational website at www.yourlawyer.com. If you have legal questions, please pick up the phone and give me a call. Since this is what I do every day, I can answer your legal questions. You can reach me at (800) 800-9797. I welcome your call.

by: Julie Trinidad, Case Manager

You are still entitled to receive compensation and benefits if you’re hit while cycling or you’re in a vehicle. You are going to need help paying your medical bills and other expenses.

Through no-fault insurance, your own insurance company will pay these medical costs. They will provide you with $50,000 in coverage to settle costs such as hospital stays, lost wages, and other medical expenses like doctor visits and out-of-pocket costs.

Your first step is filing a claim application with your insurance company. This will need to happen quickly – you only have 30 days since the date of the accident! You will very likely be denied any type of coverage if you miss this deadline.

To learn more about car accidents and insurance coverage, I encourage you to watch the video above and to explore our educational website. I want you to call me at (800) 800-9797. I welcome your call.

by: Gary Falkowitz, Esq.

Imagine working for the Food and Drug Administration, learning that a drug may have been approved even though it didn’t meet the safety requirements, reporting it to the appropriate people and being fired for doing so.

Stop imagining.

Reportedly, because former employees of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sought to inform Congress of the FDA’s supposed irresponsible process for approving certain devices, the FDA attempted to have these employees punished for disclosing certain information to Congress. Luckily, the FDA failed to have criminal charges brought against several employees.

Two teen-age girls in Saratoga County, N.Y., have recently exhibited unexplained physical tics similar to those suffered by a group of more than a dozen young girls near Buffalo are not related, according to state regulators.

According to a report from The (Genesee, Wyoming, and Orleans counties) Daily News, two cases in which high school-age girls have developed uncontrolled tics similar to symptoms of Tourettes’ syndrome are unrelated to similar cases at LeRoy Junior/Senior High School near Buffalo. This was the determination of the state’s Dept. of Health recently after investigating the most recent cases.

In the fall of 2011, the first young girls in LeRoy began developing uncontrolled physical tics. More and more have begun suffering similar symptoms and local, state and federal investigations have been unable to determine what is the cause. Continue Reading »

by: Julie Trinidad, Case Manager

With your no-fault insurance you will see a multitude of benefits that will be available to you if you are injured. However, to ensure you receive those benefits and additional ones you may need, the insurance company may demand certain things of you.

First of all, they will want to confirm your medical condition with one of their own doctors. This is called an “independent medical exam” is and very common. This doctor will report back to the insurance company whether or not your condition is as bad as your claim and what to do next in treatment. You may be scheduled to see this doctor regularly and may receive specific treatments.

Your benefits are very important when you’re injured, so you will need to report and do things as needed by the insurance company. No-fault insurance can cover your costs up to $50,000. This can include such costs as hospital stays, medical expenses, lost wages, prescriptions, and other qualified out-of-pocket expenses. If you’re injured, these benefits will be very necessary for you to sustain your lifestyle and pay your bills. We can help walk you through this process and answer any questions you may have with your no-fault insurance.

by: Brett Leitner, Esq.

Wandering refers to a cognitively-impaired nursing home resident’s ability to move about inside the nursing home freely and without an appreciation of personal safety needs. Elopement occurs when a resident leaves the nursing home without authorization or appropriate supervision. When elopement incidents do occur, this places the missing resident at risk for injury, exposure or death. A nursing home resident’s risk of wandering or elopement must be assessed within the plan of care, and if the resident is found to be at risk, appropriate interventions must be ordered to reduce the risk of such activities.

Factors that may increase the likelihood of a nursing home resident becoming injured as a result of wandering or elopement include:

• Failure to hire adequate staff to properly supervise the resident
• Failure to properly train staff on how to supervise residents
• Failure to install alarms or other safety devices to prevent wandering

Nursing homes should have a plan in place that includes policies and procedures to adequately address the prevention of and response to a resident elopement. They should implement appropriate interventions for residents who have been identified as being high risk. Once a resident has been identified as being at risk for elopement and preventive interventions have been implemented, this should be communicated to everyone involved in the resident’s care.

by: Jay Breakstone, Esq.

With the giant BP oil spill case beginning trial on February 27th, United States District Court Judge Carl Barbier has taken control of the litigation in a determined fashion. Sitting in New Orleans, the site of the trial, Judge Barbier has split the trial into three phases. The first will answer the question as to who is liable for the spill. This first phase will last probably through May and, as you might expect, there will be thousands of exhibits at lots of witnesses.

Each of the defendants, including BP, is blaming the other for the death of the 11 workers, the spill which topped 4.4 million barrels of oil, and the over 200,000 metric tons of methane gas that was released into the Gulf of Mexico. After this phase is over, the next two will begin. They will address the spill of oil itself, the control of the spill and the failure to contain the spill. Judge Barbier, in an effort to prevent things from getting out of hand, has even gone so far as to give each lawyer a specific time limit on the opening day of trial for an opening statement and added more trial tables and chairs to accommodate the attorneys. Even the press has been provided for, with two added press rooms.

One party that won’t be there for opening day will be Weatherford International, the company which supplied the collar on the well. The judge has already ruled that the collar was not defective and did not cause the well to explode, dismissing the case against Weatherford ten days ago.

by: Descire Mori, Paralegal

In the case of an auto accident, your immigration status is irrelevant. You have the right to medical treatment. You have the right to an attorney. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

If you are involved in an auto accident, notify the police at once by calling 9-1-1. Always use your real name and identification, and give the police officers an accurate account of how the accident happened.

You should also go to the hospital, even if you feel fine. Many injuries do not show up right away. In case something shows up later, you want to document that you sought medical care as soon as possible after the accident.

To learn more about the actions illegal immigrants should take when they are involved in a car accident, I encourage you to watch the video above and to explore our educational website at http://yourlawyer.com. If you have legal questions, please pick up the phone and give me a call. I can answer your legal questions since this is what I do every day. You can reach me at (800) 800-9797. I welcome your call.