Articles Posted in Uncategorized

New data suggests an association between melanoma skin cancer and Viagra. This has led many patients suffering from erectile dysfunction to question whether the benefits of this drug justify the risk of death that may accompany it.

If you or someone you love has developed melanoma while taking Viagra, you may have an injury or wrongful death lawsuit against Pfizer, who has never adequately warned patients and their doctors of this risk. If you believe you have a claim, call our lawyers for free at 800-553-8082 or get a free Internet consultation. We can discuss your options with you.

The Association Between Viagra and Melanoma

The understanding of the potential risks of melanoma with Viagra took flight in 2014 for the general public when Harvard Medical School released a new study showing that Viagra users were 84% more likely to develop melanoma skin cancer.

Continue Reading

Testosterone supplements have found themselves in the news quite a bit lately. Unfortunately, for manufacturers, this is not good news. Because these lawsuits are on the fast track to being a very big deal.

There is a lot of research coming out with a sudden fury that suggests that testosterone treatments for men can cause an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes that can lead to serious injury and death.  A study published this week in the medical journal Plos One indicated that researchers found a two-fold increase in the risk of a heart attack in the three months after an initial prescription among men aged 65 years and older and a two to three-fold increase among younger men with a history of heart disease.  This is huge, especially considering millions of men are taking these hormonal treatments, and many are learning for the first time of the extent of the risk.

Products in this category are:

It took a New Jersey federal jury one hour and twenty minutes to determine that Fosamax did not cause a Plaintiff’s femur fracture.  In the first verdict in a Fosamax case where the Plaintiff claims that the osteoporosis drug weakened her thigh bone, the jury said that Plaintiff did not prove her case.

After having taken Fosamax for eight years, Plaintiff, now fifty-eight, fractured her right femur requiring surgical repair.  She sued, alleging that Fosamax caused her atypical femur fracture and that its manufacturer, Merck, failed to warn her doctor about the risk.  Merck, pleased with the verdict, stated that the company provided appropriate and timely information about Fosamax to consumers.

Plaintiff’s suit had been transferred into the Fosamax femur fracture MDL, sometimes referred to as “Fosamax II” as an earlier Fosamax MDL was formed to deal with claims of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ).  Merck has said that there are about 3,300 Fosamax femur fracture cases, and about 1,230 ONJ cases.

The FDA has shut down 1,677 sites for selling counterfeit or substandard medication, or for selling drugs without appropriate safeguards.  Other sites received regulatory warnings.

While the prices look good, you never really know what you’re getting.  These products can have too much or too little of the active ingredient that people need for the treatment of their disease, and some could have toxic ingredients.  Several of the sites had sleek interfaces and names that could easily be confused with legitimate pharmacies.  Walgreens-Store.com, for example – the drugstore chain is actually Walgreens.com.

Though many of the sites present themselves as Canadian, most of them are based overseas – China, India, Pakistan, all around the world.  The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy recently performed an analysis of over 10,000 websites and found that 97% did not fully comply with state and federal regulations. 88% didn’t require a valid prescription, and almost half of them sold medicines lacking FDA approval.

A Georgia federal jury ruled for the Defendant this week, determining that Mentor Worldwide LLC was not negligent in its design, manufacture, and sale of the ObTape pelvic mesh.

Also known as a vaginal sling, the Plaintiff was implanted with the ObTape in December 2004 to treat bladder prolapse and urinary incontinence.  Six months later, she was diagnosed with vaginitis and a doctor found that the mesh had extruded into her vagina.

She filed suit, claiming that the ObTape caused vaginal erosion and required surgical removal.  She further claimed that the pore size of the ObTape was insufficient to allow for the tissue to become integrated into the device.  She said the mesh created a propensity for infection and/or abscess, resulting in an unreasonably high rate of infection, abscesses, tissue erosion, and mesh extrusion.

May brought changes to forty (40) medical product labels (down from 48 changes in April), with changes to the prescribing information to include any of the following areas: boxed warnings, contraindications, warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, patient package insert, and medication guide.

For a complete detailed accounting of the label changes, refer to the summary of meds. By clicking onto the drug name, you will view the detailed summary, which will identify the safety labeling section and revised subsection, and a brief summary of the new or modified safety information.

The following medications have been affected:

A recall of one lot of Advance Pharmaceutical’s 81mg Enteric Coated Aspirin tables is being recalled as it may contain Acetaminophen 500mg tablets.

Affected by this recall is the over-the-counter drug product, Rugby label Enteric Coated Aspirin Tablets, 81 mg, Lot 13A026.  Packaged in bottles of 120 tables, the NDC code is 0536-3086-41, UPC code is 3 0536-3086-41 9, and the expiration date of 01-2015.

The recall was announced after a complaint of the error was reported.  Consumers may be inadvertently taking Acetaminophen instead of Aspirin, which may cause severe liver damage to those who take other drugs containing acetaminophen.

Last month brought changes to fifty-three (53) medical product labels (way up from 35 changes in February), with changes to the prescribing information to include any of the following areas: boxed warnings, contraindications, warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, patient package insert, and medication guide.

For a complete detailed accounting of the label changes, refer to the summary of meds. By clicking onto the drug name, you can view the detailed summary, which will identify the safety labeling section and revised subsection, and a brief summary of the new or modified safety information.

The following medications have been affected:

Much to the objection of Bayer Healthcare, Mirena IUD lawsuits at the federal level have been centralized into multidistrict litigation or MDL. The cases will be transferred to a U.S. District Court Judge in the Southern District of New York.  This makes the claim a mini-class action.  What does this mean?  The Mirena lawsuits are consolidated for discovery purposes.  They become one class case for a while.  If a global settlement of these Mirena lawsuits cannot be achieved, they will be sent back to their individual states for trial.

Last week, we told you that similar consolidation was being reconsidered at the state level, where more than 60 Mirena IUD lawsuits are currently pending.  Currently, there are only about 40 lawsuits in federal court, however, it is anticipated by some plaintiffs’ attorneys that several thousand cases will be filed by women who have experienced complications from Mirena IUD.

If you used Mirena and experienced complications, including surgical removal, infection, or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) and want to inquire as to whether you have a lawsuit, contact our Mirena defect lawyers at 1.800.553.8082, or online here.