FDA & Prescription Drugs | InjuryBoard Pensacola

According to a new study, for suicidal patients who had taken antidepressants, fluoxetine (Prosac) was associated with the lowest risk for causing suicidal tendencies, as opposed to venlafaxine (Effexor) which had the highest risk, as published in the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. The aim of this study was to investigate, in a nationwide series of suicidal subjects, how...

The Associated Press reported a new relevation in the ongoing pharmaceutical safety scandal which Johnson and Johnson has been facing in the past year or two. Former vice president and medical doctor Joel Lippman says he tried many times to bring problems with popular drugs such as the ortho evra patch to light, and claims he was fired for bringing attention to the safety of these drug products

I doubt any serious injury cases will come out of the recent incident where metal fragment were found in generic Tylenol tablets. However it may be a good tiime to review the overall safety and effectiveness of the medication.Tylenol (acetaminophen) is the most frequently consumed medication. Acetaminophen is an analgesic (pain reliever) and anti-pyretic (controls fever) medication which is sold...

A judge in (somewhere) ruled today.....

When a company proposes to market a drug, the FDA will often let them go forward on the promise that they will conduct further studies on the safety of the drug. Unfortunately, it appears that the FDA never follows up to see if these promises are kept. As a result, too many people are injured before a drug gets pulled from the market.As reported,US Report Faults FDA Post-Approval Study...

Bausch & Lomb Inc. failed to promptly tell U.S. regulators about 35 serious eye infections reported in Singapore in users of its now-withdrawn contact lens solution, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report released on Tuesday. The company also did not notify the agency in writing that it had pulled the solution from Singapore and Hong Kong in February, the FDA said in a report of an...

Boston Scientific Corp. reports that it has alerted doctors that another 996 Guidant defibrillators may quit unexpectedly, leaving heart patients at risk of sudden cardiac death.No deaths or injuries have been reported as related to the battery failures, the company said Monday. The defect, a faulty low-voltage capacitor, was fouund in 30 defibrillators removed from patients as of May 8, and is...

Additional cases of Fusarium Keratitis, a fungal eye infection, are coming to light around the world and Bausch & Lomb reported today that it would discontinue marketing of the Moisture Loc Renu product worldwide and admitted that a "large number of factors" have resulted in putting users of Bausch & Lomb's ReNu Moisture Loc at a greater risk of developing the rare but dangerous fungal infection...

I just read the following AP report regarding the recall of the ReNu Contact Lens solution thatSome eye specialists theorized last week that MoistureLoc's new disinfectant, Alexidine, in combination with novel moisturizing agents, could have played a role in the outbreak. "The general thinking now is we're seeing a loss of disinfecting capability as this solution absorbs into the lens," said...

We have been advertising for these cases and now the manufacturer has withdrawn this drug from the market. I suspect that there may be more people injured by this medication than we first suspected. Several hundred injuries and 33 deaths have been reported. Usually the unreported cases are 10 times or more prevalent.

JAMA had an abstract this week of a study about the neonatal abstinence syndrome after in utero exposure to SSRIs. They found that this syndrome occurs in 30% of neonates exposed to these drugs in utero. They suggest that neonates be monitored for 48 hours after birth (at least), and they say that long term effects are not known.The babies can have a number of symptoms from this abrupt...

A lot of doctors were surprised to learn that the FDA had asked Merck of the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw and Fosamax back in August 2004 - - right at the same time Merck was forced by circumstances to pull Vioxx from the shelves. Merck has yet to put any information in its WARNINGS about the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw and Fosamax.After my partner Tim O'Brien's article appeared in the...

Despite recent reports of settlements in the Ortho Evra litigation, most lawyers a simply moving forward with getting their cases to trial. No blanket offers have been made and no expects the litigation to be resolved soon, except for isolated cases that Ortho McNeil iis afraid to take to trial. I am hoping that something can be done for the women who have suffered and the families that are...

My law partner Tim O'Brien made major news today by breaking the Fosamax(R) story to the Wall Street Journal. Of course, they were only interested in how it would affect Merck's stock value. We thought the Wall Street Journal might be more concerned with average citizens when so many moms and pops lost their retirement saving in the scandals involving the major Wall Street brokerage firms....

A big problem with lawyer adversitising for injury cases caused by medications is the that the ads can scare people out of taking their medications. As lawyers, we can't take this lightly. A drug like Fosamax is a life saving drug that is a real boon to patients in need. On the other hand, since 2001, more than 2,400 patients taking Fosamax and other bone-building medications like it have...