The Injury Lawyer Directory Blog

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung, fatal in 100% of known cases. The one and only thing that can cause mesothelioma is asbestos poisoning. This not only affects workers who come in close contact with asbestos, but also can be passed to their families with ease. Asbestos residue in clothing can be passed to an individual doing the laundry, or perhaps through the furniture.

A bill currently pending in congress (S. 852) aims to force asbestos victims into an untested national trust fund bureaucracy, under funded by about $40 billion. It has been concluded that the asbestos bill is not only incredibly unfair to workers and their families, but also to veterans of war. Thousands of veterans throughout the nation do not support the bill.

The big problems with the bill are that the trust fund could cause up to a nine year wait, which would be too late for many asbestos victims. It also takes away the victims right to present their case in front of a jury, something which many groups find to be unconstitutional. The bill is especially unconstitutional to veterans because many with asbestos related diseases will not qualify for compensation at all, and very few are likely to meet the five and ten year cumulative exposure requirements because they have not been in the service long enough to qualify. Basically, there are people who could be sitting around with a fatal lung cancer and nothing they can do about it to take care of fees.

In danger of mesothelioma or asbestos poisoning? Contact a mesothelioma lawyer or an asbestos attorney!

Pfizer's Bextra, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) works by reducing substances from the body that cause inflammation, pain, and fever. This drug is taken to alleviate these irritations from conditions such as osteoarthritis, adult rheumatoid arthritis, and painful menstruation. It sounds like a pretty typical painkiller, but there's a problem... or two.

Bextra has been known to be a risk factor for the diseases Stevens - Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN). SJS is a very painful, life-threatening disease which causes skin peeling rashes and blistering of the mucous membranes, such as the mouth, eyes, and vagina. TEN is a variation of this disease; the variation being that the skin can peel off in much larger scores. These conditions are very painful, and can prove fatal. Only recently has Pfizer been ordered to add a black box warning, the strongest warning possible, to Bextra packaging that details risks carried by the drug in relation to SJS and TEN.

On top of all this, Bextra is being investigated for a possible link to heart attacks.

Problems with Bextra? Contact an SJS Lawyer today!

Alycia Brown, a 14 year old eighth grader in La Crosse, Wisconsin died of blood clots in her lower pelvis on May 7 of this year. The girl had been using the Ortho Evra patch on request of her parents, who feared the girl's signs of being sexually active. Their other preferred option was a birth control shot, but the girl was afraid of needles. Ortho-McNeil acknowledged, only last week, that the patch increased chances of blood clotting, strokes, and death in women using the patch over other contraceptive forms. They admit that women taking the patch will be exposed to up to 60% more estrogen than those who use other birth control methods. Let this be a warning and a sad reminder to those potentially in danger of such risks, and their families. Alycia Brown's parents will not forget Ortho Evra.

The only approved birth control patch, Ortho Evra, has been giving patients a few problems with blood clots. However, blood clotting is a normal risk for most contraception methods that include estrogen. Most patients aren't switching their birth control patch for a less convenient pill, and Ortho Evra has re-issued a new label instead of anything as dramatic as a recall. Remain warned, however: just because it may be a common risk does not alleviate blood clotting as a potential problem of Ortho Evra.

In a study performed in Copenhagen, Vioxx and Celebrex were found to increase the chances of death to a patient who had survived a heart attack. The findings were released at an American Heart Association on Sunday.

Dr. Gunnar Gislason of the Bispebjerg University Hospital stated that patients taking 25 milligrams of rofecoxib, the content of Vioxx, is five times more likely to fall to heart disease than those who do not take the drug.

Similar findings were observed with another known painkiller: Celebrex.

Interesting to note that Judge Higbee - the New Jersey judge who presided over the most recent Vioxx trial - is now asking the lawyers on both sides to try ten new Vioxx cases involving victims who took the drug for at least 18 months. Merck has admitted that 18 months of usage is dangerous - so this will eliminate one of their defenses.

Plaintiff attorneys say that at least 40% of the cases filed to date involve situations where the victim took Vioxx for at least 18 months. Notably the plaintiffs in both of the two cases that have already been tried had not taken it that long

Maybe the courts are going to try to bring the Vioxx litigation to a head...

Voters turned down Initiatives 330 and 336, ending what has been the biggest campaign in Washington state history. In the past two years, $8 million was spent on the I-330 campaign alone-perhaps to the chagrin of the campaigners, the voters appeared to be nearly apathetic. Results were fairly close, with only 52.31% of candidates voting against I-330, and a somewhat larger scale of 57.91% against I-336. However, these results are still clear and valid, and will prove beneficial to potential patients, malpractice victims, and their lawyers throughout the state of Washington.

I-330 would have proven detrimental to the community as its cap of $350,000 and malpractice doctor protection policy would have allowed the continuation of malpractice incidents in incompetent doctors, as well as making it difficult for victims to obtain a good lawyer.

The loss of I-336 is not so much of a blow, with I-330 out of the way. It was initially only a counterstrike to Initiative 330: it proffered that physicians with three malpractice verdicts have their licenses revoked. Yes, it would have been good for the community to have passed the initiative, but because the fear of malpractice secrecy has now been abated by the denial of I-330, there is less of a need for it.

Yesterday there was a verdict in the second Vioxx case against Merck, tried in New Jersey where Merck is located. Merck won. In this case, the victim in question had only been taking Vioxx for two months; although he had a heart attack, he did not die (In contrast to the first case in Texas, where the patient died and the plaintiff won a verdict of over $250 million). The jury found that in this case, Merck properly warned consumers about Vioxx risks, and therefore meaning Merck will not be held liable for the 2001 heart attack.

While these trials seem settled in the dust, it is important to keep in mind that many thousands of Vioxx trials still lie in wait: many of the cases far more compelling than the two previously tried. While the verdict of this case leans in favor or Merck, the evidence remains from the first trial that the drug maker tried to hide the risks of Vioxx. If time allows, many more interesting Vioxx cases should be occuring in the near future.

Vioxx Lawyer - Philadelphia, PA

O'Reilly Auto Parts and Wilmar Corp., an air compressor manufacturer, were sued in Madison County on October 19th by Robert Earon. Earon claimed to suffer excruciatingly painful, permanent injuries as well as mental anguish, disfigurity and disablement from the product he used and is seeking an excess of $75,000 from the companies. He said the threads on a spring compressor were stripped and could contain pressure, therefore defectively designed.