FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Paint Chips in your ReNu lens cleaner?

  Robert Blanchard | May 30, 2006 4:16 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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Inc. failed to promptly tell U.S. regulators about 35 serious eye infections reported in Singapore in users of its now-withdrawn contact lens solution, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report released on Tuesday.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...

• Heart Device Recalls - More Concerns Reported

  Robert Blanchard | May 16, 2006 9:24 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• More Reports of ReNu Related Infections

  Robert Blanchard | May 16, 2006 9:15 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• Alexidine Implicated in ReNu Recall

  Robert Blanchard | May 15, 2006 11:43 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• Tequin Removed From Market

  Robert Blanchard | May 02, 2006 12:48 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  We have been advertising for these cases and now the manufacturer has withdrawn this drug from the market.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.

• Pregnant Women on Anti-Depressants

  Robert Blanchard | April 24, 2006 4:41 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• FDA ASKED MERCK TO WARN OF FOSAMAX RISK IN 2004

  Robert Blanchard | April 18, 2006 10:19 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• Ortho Evra Settlements

  Robert Blanchard | April 18, 2006 9:39 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...

• Fosamax - Woe for Merck

  Robert Blanchard | April 12, 2006 4:25 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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....

• Fosamax - Don't be Afraid

  Robert Blanchard | April 06, 2006 11:28 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  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...