Yourlawyer.com (Bayer Aspirin Supplement Products News) http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/Bayer_Aspirin_Supplement_Products Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:17:18 -0800 pixel-app en Aspirin Benefit for Diabetics Questioned http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/15488 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/15488 low-dose aspirin may not prevent diabetes patients from experiencing heart "events."  The new study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association; another study pointing to similar evidence was published last month in the British publication BMJ.  Those two studies don't question the heart benefits of low-dose aspirin in people who already have heart disease, but do discuss aspirin's effects on those with diabetes and with no history of heart disease.

The researchers say, in an editorial published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that, "the decision to prescribe aspirin should be made on an individual patient basis.”  The two new studies tested whether taking low-dose aspirin helped prevent heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, such as strokes and death from heart disease, in those diabetes patients who had no history of heart disease.

One of the studies, discussed in The Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted in Japan with 2,539 adults with type 2 diabetes.  Those patients typically remained in the study for about four years; that study did not use a placbo.  The other study, published last month in BMJ's "Online First" edition, occurred in Scotland and involved 1,276 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  In that study, patients were followed for about six years and half of the patients received antioxidant supplements.  Both studies revealed that there was no indication that taking low-dose aspirin lessened one’s odds of experiencing his/her first cardiovascular event.

In BMJ, editorialist William Hiatt, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, wrote that "although aspirin is cheap and universally available," it should only be prescribed for those "with established symptomatic cardiovascular disease."  The Journal of the American Medical Association, editorialist Antonio Nicolucci, MD, of Italy's Consorzio Mario Negri Sud encourages doctors and diabetes patients to consider the pros and cons of low-dose aspirin on a case-by-case basis.

Diabetes affects the body's ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose, or blood sugar, to be used by the body as energy.   Studies indicate that two out of every three people diagnosed with diabetes die from heart disease and stroke, the most life-threatening consequences of diabetes, sriking diabetes patients more than twice as often as those without diabetes.  Most of the cardiovascular complications related to diabetes concern how the heart pumps blood through the body; diabetes can change the chemical makeup of some of the substances found in the blood and this can cause atherosclerosis, or hardening, narrowing, or clogging of arteries and blood vessels.  A diabetes diagnosis as an adult presents the same risk as if one already had one heart attack; over 65 percent of deaths in diabetes patients are attributed to heart and vascular disease.

People with diabetes experience heart disease twice as often as people without diabetes; experience cardiovascular complications at an earlier age, often resulting in premature death; and are two to four times likelier to suffer strokes and once having suffered a stroke, are two to four times likelier to suffer another stroke.

]]> Bayer Aspirin Lawyer Heart Advantage Womens Calcium Low Dose Lawsuit http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/Bayer_Aspirin_Supplement_Products Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/Bayer_Aspirin_Supplement_Products

Bayer Aspirin Supplement Products Refund Lawyers

Keywords: Bayer Aspirin Lawyer Heart Advantage Womens Calcium Low Dose Lawsuit

The lawyers and attorneys at our firm are offering free case evaluations to consumers who have purchased Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium or Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage.  Hundreds of people from across the country have joined lawsuits claiming Bayer marketed Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium and Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage products without Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval and deceived consumers with respect to the safety and efficacy of the products. These lawsuits were recently consolidated in a Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) in the Eastern District of New York.

 

If you or someone you know used either Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium or Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage,  you may be entitled to a refund.  Please contact one of our Bayer aspirin supplement refund  lawyers right away to protect your legal rights.
 

Bayer Aspirin Supplements FDA Warning Letter

Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium and Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage are both sold over the counter.  Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage contains plant sterols and claims on its packaging to help control cholesterol, while Bayer Women's Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium claims to help strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis.  However, Bayer never conducted clinical trials to prove these claims. Because of the questionable claims made about the products, the Bayer aspirin supplement refund lawyers at our firm believe consumers who purchased them are entitled to compensation.
 

Supplements such as plant sterols, vitamins and herbs do not have to be proven safe and effective before they can be sold in the United States. But according to the FDA warning letters sent to Bayer in October 2008, adding them to already-approved drugs - such as aspirin - makes them entirely new products that must be subject to FDA review before being sold.  Bayer never submitted either aspirin supplement product to the agency for review.
 

``The marketing of these unapproved drugs is troubling,''  Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said  in a statement. ``The overuse or misuse of these aspirin-containing products can put consumers at risk for internal bleeding and other adverse events.''
 

The FDA said that no adverse events have been reported in relation to Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium and Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage.  However, many drug side effects are never reported to the FDA, and our Bayer aspirin supplement refund lawyers believe that these illegal medications have the potential to injure thousands of people.

 

The FDA warning letter also said that claims that the drugs control cholesterol and help prevent osteoporosis were misleading.  "These statements on the labeling send consumers a mixed message about the purpose of the product and the duration for which it can be safely used," the warning letter said.
 

Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage Congressional Investigation

Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage is also the subject of a congressional investigation. The probe is part of a House Committee on Energy and Commerce investigation into  misleading and deceptive direct-to-consumer  advertising that began in January 2008.
 

On October 14, 2008, Representatives John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both  Michigan Democrats, wrote  to the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the FDA, questioning whether the Heart Advantage product violated agency rules. The lawmakers also wrote to Gary S. Balkema, President of Bayer HealthCare LLC, questioning the safety and effectiveness of Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage.  Dingell and Stupak asked Balkema why Bayer ignored FDA recommendations to refrain from marketing such combination products.
 

On October 28, the lawmakers said they supported the FDA's action in regards to the Bayer supplements.  “The FDA appears to have responded to our investigation with appropriate action against Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage,” Stupak said in a statement. “While we appreciate the warning letter being sent, the FDA should not rely solely on Congressional oversight to notify them of such concerns. We need an FDA that is proactive rather than reactive when it comes to protecting public health.”

 

Bayer Corp. Combination Aspirin Products MDL

By April 2009, scores of consumers had filed lawsuits against Bayer for the false marketing of Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium and Bayer Aspirin With Heart Advantage. At least four such actions had been filed in federal court in the District of New Jersey, two actions in the Southern District of Illinois and one action each in the Southern District of California and the Eastern District of New York.

 

Parties in the lawsuits had petitioned the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate these lawsuits in a single MDL. The panel agreed, and ruled that the Eastern District of New York was the appropriate forum for the Bayer lawsuits. The panel chose the Eastern District of New York because Bayer Healthcare LLC has its corporate headquarters in New York, thus relevant documents and witnesses will likely be found nearby. Also, the action pending in the Eastern District of New York was before a judge who has experience presiding over multidistrict litigation, but was not currently assigned to another such docket. The panel felt that this judge had the time and commitment necessary to steer these cases on a fair and expeditious course.

 

 The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation of the United States Courts was created in 1968. Since then, it has consolidated hundreds of thousands of lawsuits that involved high numbers of plaintiffs, including litigation over asbestos, breast implants and other matters. When lawsuits are consolidated as an MDL each retains its own identity. If the MDL process does not resolve the cases, they are transferred back to the court where they originated for trial.

 

Class Action Lawsuit Seeking Refunds for Purchasers of Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage and Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium

Our firm is representing plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit pending before the Bayer Corp. Combination Aspirin Products MDL. We are offering free case evaluations to anyone who purchased either of these Bayer aspirin supplement products. 

 

We believe that anyone who purchased these drugs because of Bayer's misleading claims is entitled to a refund.  If you or someone you know would like to join this class action lawsuit, please fill out our online form or call 1-800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) to discuss your case with one of our Bayer aspirin supplement refund lawyers.

 
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