Yourlawyer Blog

by: Stephanie Herschaft, Esq.

Last month, Health Canada became the latest national drug regulator to issue a warning regarding the connection Actos and bladder cancer. The agency told consumers about interim results from a 10-year-study that indicated that patients taking Actos for a year or more had a significant increase in bladder cancer risk. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Actos, agreed to update the Actos label in Canada to reflect these new risk findings.

In June 2011 the FDA issued a safety alert based on new information on the increased risk of bladder cancer in patients who take Actos. A warning about the increased bladder cancer risk was soon added to the Actos label in the United States. France and Germany suspended Actos sales last summer. Actos was recalled from the French market in July 2011.

Takeda could face as many as 10,000 Actos bladder cancer lawsuits in the U.S.

Source: newsinferno.com

Health officials in North Carolina have confirmed a case of hepatitis A acquired at a Dixie Donuts location in Wilkesboro.

Officials in Wilkes County, N.C., believe anyone who visited the Dixie Donuts shop on Highway 268-West may have been exposed to the harmful bacteria that could lead to serious health complications. The county is offering hepatitis A vaccines to the public who may hve visited that location recently. Continue Reading »

Skechers USA has agreed to pay $50 million as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission on charges it made false claims about its line of Shape-Ups toning sneakers.

According to an LA Times report, the U.S. shoe and sneaker company faced charges it illegally touted the benefits of its line of uneven-bottomed toning shoes from the FTC and 44 state attorneys general. Skechers led consumers to believe they could improve their health and fitness through use of the sneakers but failed to warn about the possibility they could result in serious and disabling injuries.

People who’ve worn Shape-Ups have reported suffering severe injuries to muscles in their legs, especially tears of calf and hamstring muscles in the leg and the especially painful Achilles heel tendon tear. The shoes have also been blamed for fractured ankles and hips, also. Continue Reading »

An Illinois man has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago for sexual abuse he suffered by a Catholic priest in the 1980s.

According to The Chicago Tribune, a 40-year-old man is claiming he was the victim of sexual abuse by his priest several times between 1983 and 1984. This is just the latest case in a seemingly never-ending run of victims of alleged sexual abuse by priests and clergy in the Catholic church across the country. Continue Reading »

by: William Dubanevich, Esq.

A new study has been proposed by Geisinger Health Systems – in conjunction with Brian Schwartz of John Hopkins University – which could potentially outline the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the production of natural gas. The focus of the study would take place in Pennsylvania, a state that has had more than 5,000 natural gas wells drilled into its gas rich Marcellus Shale rock formation over the last few years. The study would also make use of Geisinger Health Systems’ expansive database of electronic health records for more than 2 million citizens of the State of Pennsylvania, and attempt to discover the health effects associated with gas production.

The proposed study comes as a response to the factual deficiencies surrounding the fracking industry. In the past few years, many people have claimed to have been harmed by the chemicals associated with the fracking of gas wells, but have not been able to provide the hard data necessary to link their symptoms to gas production. The usage of the Geisinger database would be especially important in providing the raw data necessary to draw definitive answers about the relationship between fracking and ill health effects. The long term goal of the study would be to establish whether the fracking industry increases the occurrence of diseases such as diabetes and cancer in local populations.

In the short term, researchers are interested in studying the relationship between asthma and fracking. Affecting about 6% of the United States population, asthma sufferers often develop increased health problems when exposed to ground level ozone, a pollutant that often appears near gas wells in Pennsylvania. The Geisinger database contains information on a large number of Pennsylvanians who suffer with asthma, and could establish those patients’ distances to active gas wells. Furthermore, air quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), could provide data on the days when ozone levels are high, allowing researchers to use the Geisinger database to answer questions about asthma patients. Drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania has mainly occurred in the last five years in Pennsylvania, while existing health information goes back at least ten. Thus, control information exists which could allow researchers to compare data for asthma sufferers from before and after drilling operations began.

The only problem with moving forward with the study is funding. The asthma study alone has been projected to cost nearly a million dollars, with no donors in sight. The study does have the full support of Geisinger though, with Associate Chief Researcher of Geisinger, David Carey, stating that the study has the support of the CEO of Geisinger on down. The study has generally received positive responses, which Carey explains as being caused by the common viewpoint that Geisinger is a neutral party in the national fracking debate. Carey has stated that Geisinger’s purpose is not to disrupt the fracking industry, but to instead let the facts gathered through the proposed study lead to their own conclusions.

by: Brett Leitner, Esq.

Nothing is more disturbing than a loved one getting hurt and you don’t know why. Maybe you have a parent or another loved one who has been hurt at a nursing home and the staff can’t explain why.

The number of unexplained fractures in nursing homes is alarming. Facilities say that they do not know why the patient was harmed and how anything happened.

Whether they slip and fall or retain the injury in some other way, the nursing home seems to not be able to provide you with the information you need about your loved one’s care. Nursing homes will typically say it’s due to an already existing condition such as brittle bones, osteoporosis, or just old age. They cannot tell you any information except they were not present when it occurred. But is that the truth about your loved one? Could they have really fallen, when last someone checked they were in bed? Watch this video now to learn more.

To learn more about nursing home abuse, I encourage you to watch the video above and to explore our educational website. If you have legal questions, I want you to call me at (800) 800-9797. I welcome your call.

by: Jonathan Macri, Esq.

Men looking to get a boost in the bedroom need to be careful what to take for help. A new report by the FDA has warned consumers not to take the drug “VMaxx RX,” as it may have severely negative health consequences.

VMaxx Rx, a male enhancement product sold on various websites, contains component known as sulfoaildenafil, which is an undeclared version of a drug that has been approved by the FDA known as sidenafil.

While sidenifil is safe for use, sulfoaildenafil can be very dangerous when it mixes with the nitrates found in many prescription drugs, causing blood pressure to drop to levels that are highly unsafe.

Many men with heart problems, high cholesterol or high blood pressure often take drugs containing these nitrates. However, even men without these issues, according to the FDA, should steer clear of VMaxx Rx.

by: Michael Werner, Esq.

Acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in Tylenol, is present in a host of common medications used to treat colds, fever, headaches, arthritis and muscular strains.  However, acetaminophen users should not impute unqualified safety to the drug solely because of its over-the-counter market prevalence.

Indeed, as Keith Meredith, the Director of Pharmacy at Salem Community Hospital, recently warned, “[p]eople often think that acetaminophen is extremely safe because it is a familiar medication that is frequently used to treat pain.  However, acetaminophen overdose is one of the most common drug poisonings in the world.”

Because acetaminophen is primarily metabolized by the liver, acetaminophen abuse can overpower the liver’s ability to process the drug and cause liver damage.  “This is especially true if the liver has been damaged because of infection, alcohol abuse, or other illness, which may make the person more susceptible to damage . . . .”   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently recommends against taking acetaminophen if you regularly consume more than three alcoholic beverages per day.

Symptoms of acetaminophen toxicity include:

•           Abdominal pain;

•           Appetite loss;

•           Coma;

•           Convulsions;

•           Diarrhea;

•           Nausea;

•           Irritability;

•           Sweating;

•           Upset Stomach; and/or

•           Vomiting

Unfortunately, the symptoms of acetaminophen overdose may take up to 12 hours to become apparent.   Moreover, because of the fairly general and common nature of several of the overdose symptoms, users may mistake their symptoms as signs of other illnesses or conditions.

If acetaminophen overdose is suspected, timely treatment is paramount; a drug called N-acetylcysteine can prevent liver damage if taken within 8 hours of acetaminophen.  Conversely, without rapid treatment, extreme acetaminophen toxicity can lead to liver damage and even death within a few days.

The newly released maximum recommended dose of acetaminophen is 3,000 mg per day.

Some examples of medications containing acetaminophen include: Actifed, Alka-Seltzer Plus, Co-Gesic, Contac, Excedrin, Fioricet, Lortab, Midrin, Norco, Percocet, Sedapap, Sinutab, Sudafed, TheraFlu, Unisom With Pain, Vick’s Nyquil and DayQuil, Vicodin, Wygesic, and Zydone.

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration has recommended the agency approve a new weight-loss drug despite considerable worries about its safety and the safety of any diet drug approved in the past.

According to a report at The Atlantic’s Web site, a panel reviewing the efficacy of the proposed drug lorcaserin has recommended its approval but not by unanimous vote. The panel voted 18-4, with a single abstention, to recommend the FDA approve it for use. Continue Reading »

by: Jonathan Macri, Esq.

Weight-loss fanatics beware: one of the more popular weight loss products on the market, SlimQuick, has recently been linked to a liver injury by the World Journal of Hepatology. Slim Quick, which is specifically designed for women and sells its 60- day supply of the drug for under $100, has not yet recalled the product from shelves.

The liver injury caused by SlimQuick has been traced back to a green tea extract that the product contains. Specifically, the green tea extract has pro-oxidant effects, and is found to cause hepatotoxicity, which in turn has been found to cause severe problems of the liver.

The case of liver damage associated with SlimQuick was found in a 24 year old women who had been using the weight loss product for approximately 3 months. She went to her doctor complaining of dark urine, acholic stool, right upper quadrant pain and progressive fatigue, and quickly stopped using SlimQuick after the onset of her symptoms. Nonetheless, there was no improvement in the woman’s condition three weeks after she stopped taking the supplement, and it was later discovered that she had contracted inflammation and necrosis of the liver.

Individuals who have purchased this product should keep an eye out for more reports on other injuries associated with SlimQuick.