Drugs/Medical Legal News Articles & Interviews

Philadelphia, PA: The FDA has finally ordered the last two medical device companies selling transvaginal mesh products to pull them from the market. The agency said it is “committed to patient safety” but hundreds of thousands of women –victims of surgical mesh--would disagree. And the lawsuits are still pouring in.

Boulder, CO: Nicole had over two dozen MRI’s with gadolinium contrast dye before she discovered the risks and side effects associated with this heavy metal – side effects the FDA has known of since at least 2007, when it slapped a black-box warning on all gadolinium-based contrast agents for MRI, detailing an increased risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis with kidney-disease patients.

Tallahassee, FL: Shirley had abdominal mesh implanted following the resection of colon cancer. That was in 2008 and she has been in debilitating pain ever since. And taking Oxycodone to numb the crippling abdominal pain not only resulted in an addiction to opioids; she had to give up her job as a federal prison officer. Wait, it gets worse: her surgeon said all the mesh cannot be removed because it has eroded into her bowel.

New Orleans: Thousands of patients who took Xarelto have settled, through multi-district litigation, with Johnson & Johnson and Bayer for three quarters of a billion dollars. Plaintiffs allege that the manufacturers marketed the drug to physicians to prevent blood clots, but failed to inform them of Xarelto side effects, which could cause life-threatening complications such as internal bleeding, stroke and death.

Charleston, WV As the nation’s largest mass tort product liability lawsuit winds to a close, those who have suffered from surgical mesh complications and their attorneys are pausing to take stock. Not everyone is happy.

Tampa, FL: Studies have shown that a host of conditions are characterized by retention of gadolinium, and the proven retention of this heavy metal in brain tissue has been named “gadolinium storage condition”. Armed with these facts, Virginia says she refused to have a second MRI with contrast dye and her radiologist was okay with that.

Washington, DC Dr. Joaquin Lopez ‘s surprise emergency room bill came after he and his insurer had already paid $11,000 toward the cost of emergency gallbladder surgery. For dentist Brad Buckingham, who fell off his bicycle, the shock was a $70,000 bill to repair a broken hip. For Stacey Shapiro, it was a $6,720 emergency room fee to treat sudden spell of low blood sugar.

Washington, DC Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) has agreed to pay $120 million to the attorneys general of 46 states and Washington, D.C. to settle claims that the company made unfair and deceptive statements in the promotion of its ASR XL and Pinnacle Ultamet hip implant systems. A separate agreement is expected to resolve most of the thousands of consumer-driven defective hip implant lawsuits against J&J and its DePuy unit.

Scottsdale, AZ: Emergency room care in the US is the highest-priced care a patient can receive. Even a minor condition can set you back thousands of dollars, which in itself can cause health issues—financial problems are stressful. It can get worse: one patient dinged with outrageous emergency room overcharges later discovered that another patient with similar treatment paid a lot less.

Los Angeles, CA: When a nine-year old accidentally had gasoline splashed in her eyes, her mother immediately drove her to the closest hospital emergency room. They were directed to the eyewash station but it was so dirty they couldn’t use it, so Brianna’s mom rinsed her daughter’s eyes at a regular sink. Turns out, they would have been better off using the gas station’s eyewash, which was free. The ER sink cost $1,400: the hospital charged $600 and the ER doctor fee was $800 (for walking into the room, saying Brianna needed an eyewash station and walking out). Upcoding has become common practice, resulting in emergency room overcharges and increased health costs for everyone.