and Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney Information Center
The pharmaceutical industry is $100-billion a year enterprise, dominated by multinational companies who have an enormous financial stake in every new drug they bring to market. Many drugs’ dangers first come to light when consumers suffer painful, and sometimes fatal consequences of companies’ failure to conduct adequate trials.
Lawyers who work in pharmaceutical litigation, filing lawsuits on behalf of people who have been harmed, protect the most vulnerable citizens from drugs rushed into use before their interactions and side effects were adequately understood. Pharmaceutical litigation is designed for the purpose of providing compensation for those who suffer personal injury as the result of a drug or medical device causing harm without adequate safeguards or adequate testing.
Since 2002 more than a dozen widely used prescription drugs have been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons. Nine of those recalled drugs were approved since 1993, when the Food and Drug Administration, under strong bipartisan pressure in Washington, agreed to "fast-track" review and approval of more drugs. Many of these drugs were approved without adequate testing, and have resulted in patients’ injuries and deaths.
Other medications and medical devices that are the subject of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers include:
Recent recalls of dangerous drugs include:
· The prescription diet drug Fen-Phen
· The cholesterol lowering drug Baycol
· The diabetes medicine Rezulin
· The heartburn medication Propulsid
· Childhood vaccines which contain Thimerosal (methyl mercury)
· Phenylpropanolamine, or PPA, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medications which can cause hemorrhagic strokes
Other potentially dangerous drugs or medical devices include Vioxx, Celebrex, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Metabolife 356 (ephedra), and Guidant pacemakers and defibrillators. All of these are now the subject of pharmaceutical litigation.
Many pharmaceutical litigation lawyers also handle cases involving medical device litigation, such as the defective Sulzer hip implants, and silicone breast implants.
Although many medications have been designed to help the elderly live longer, drugs and medical devices can put them at risk of crippling side effects and dangerous drug reactions. Because of seniors' high utilization, their greater frequency of multiple illnesses, and the reduced capacity to metabolize drugs that comes with aging, the elderly are at much greater risk of disabling side effects and possibly fatal drug reactions. Plaintiffs law firms often have seniors as their clients for pharmaceutical litigation as well as personal injuries suffered as a result of medical malpractice.
Avandia
Bextra
Chantix
Duragesic Pain Patch
Gadolinium MRI
Fosamax
Ketek
Kugel Hernia Patch
Medtronic
Ortho Evra
Paxil
Singulair
Tamiflu
Trasylol
Baycol
Celebrex
Clinipad Products
Desatrim Dietary Supplements
doxcycline
Duract
Ephedra
Enbrel
Remicade
Flouroquino Supplements
Lamictal (lamotriqine)
Lamisil
Lotronex
Parlodel
PPA
Propulsid
Rezulin
Sporanox
Stadox
Vioxx
Lawsuits over Drugs and Pharmaceuticals
More than 6,000 lawsuits have been filed in recent years against four drugs: the hormone-replacement Prempro, the birth-control patch Ortho Evra, the anti-psychotic Seroquel and the anti-seizure drug Neurontin.More than 6,000 lawsuits have been filed in recent years against four drugs: the hormone-replacement Prempro, the birth-control patch Ortho Evra, the anti-psychotic Seroquel and the anti-seizure drug Neurontin.
Plaintiffs claim that the manufacturers either failed to disclose the drugs' risks or failed to properly test them in the first place.
Cancer, Diabetes, Suicide
Prempro may cause a higher risk of breast cancer, stroke and heart disease. Neurontin could increase suicide risk. Ortho Evra birth-control patch may cause blood clots due to inadequate safety testing, and Seroquel might result in diabetes or high blood glucose.
65,000 Lawsuits
The adverse effects of many other drugs are also causing lawsuits. Over the past six years, more than 65,000 product liability lawsuits have been filed against drugmakers, more than any other industry. And the lawsuits are likely to continue increasing, given the number of drugs on the market and the number of consumers taking them.
Likely to Continue
The lawsuits, however, will do little to stop companies from releasing similar drugs with large market value. Seroquel had 2005 sales of $2.8 billion, and both Neurontin and Prempro had sales of greater than $2 billion.
USA Today August 23, 2006
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