Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

As I have been posting about here on our blog, I am handling a number of Mirapex gambling and compulsive behavior lawsuits:

Mirapex Cases Handled By Louisville, Kentucky Attorney Will Nefzger

Mirapex Gambling Case Attorney: Complaints of Compulsive Behavior Caused By Mirapex Continue

Mirapex Gambling Case Attorney: A Good Information Source To Pass Along

Mirapex Gambling Lawsuit Lawyer: Mirapex Continues To Take A Toll

Mirapex Lawyer: Multidistrict Litigation Vs. Class Action

Mirapex Lawyer: Requip Users Experience The Same Side Effects As With Mirapex

Mirapex Lawyer: More Suits For Victims of Mirapex Recently Filed

Now, the judge in these cases has scheduled one that I am handling for trial in December after a recent settlement conference failed. As far as I can tell, it will be the first Mirapex case tried since July 2008 and only the third overall. Jury trials are always unpredictable, but my client has a strong case.

Dangerous and defective drugs are responsible for many injuries and death nationwide. Our profession calls this area of law products liability. Consulting a lawyer experienced in handling these matters is usually easy. Most lawyers will provide a complimentary initial consultation to evaluate a claim or case and let the person know if they can help.

Please feel free to contact me directly for more information or to ask questions. Just click here, and it will take you to a page containing contact information.

ABC News ran several stories this past week about its investigation of the bisphosphonate drug Fosamax's (alendronate) connection to femur fractures in women. Fosamax is used by women to fight osteoporosis.

Richard Besser, M.D. explained that Fosamax may "limit...bone's natural ability to protect itself from stress." Fosamax's maker, Merck, added information on the drug package insert in 2008 warning of the possibility of "low energy femoral shaft and subtrochanteric fractures." However, Dr. Besser noted that no efforts have been made to inform the public or prescribing doctors of the potential side effect.

Dangerous and defective drugs are responsible for many injuries and death nationwide. Our profession calls this area of law products liability. Consulting a lawyer experienced in handling these matters is usually easy. Most lawyers will provide a complimentary initial consultation to evaluate a claim or case and let the person know if they can help.

Please feel free to contact me directly for more information or to ask questions. Just click here, and it will take you to a page containing contact information. We will continue to keep you updated as developments occur.

I recently came across a great resource for attorneys working to keep the public safe from dangerous drugs that might cause harm to the public and to those who are already suffering with disease and other ailments: the FDA's MedWatch. The United States’ Food and Drug Administration’s website provides access to an e-mail based warning system to alert attorneys working on dangerous drug cases and those in the public who are concerned about safety reports issued by the agency. You can easily sign up for the alerts by e-mail to stay up to date on the latest information coming out of the FDA about dangerous drugs on the market. The alerts can be delivered in a number of different formats for your convenience. In addition, the site provides access to a whole range of other federal agencies and e-mail alert systems for information coming out of their offices. For those of you computer-savvy enough, you can even set up your account to receive Tweets from Twitter, an RSS Feed, or put a Widget on a web page. This is a great resource that I urge you to sign up for if you are a lawyer working in the field of dangerous drugs and drug recalls or a concerned citizen.

We have previously written several posts about the drug Mirapex, the compulsive gambling it can lead to and the lawsuits Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC attorneys have filed to help victims of this drug recover their lives.

When bringing these claims, as in any personal injury lawsuit, it is important to document the actual damages that the drug has caused a person. Those damages can take many forms: actual money spent on compulsive behaviors like gambling and excessive spending, bankruptcy, money spent on medical costs to seek out alternative forms of treatment for the underlying cause (restless leg syndrome – RLS, Parkinson’s Disease, or other conditions), among others.

However, the damage can go beyond the money that has been lost in the past. Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC Mirapex attorney Brian D. Cook has also seen situations where the compulsive behavior has gone beyond the excessive spending and even lead to allegations of theft on the part of the individual because of an inability to control the urge to gamble or because of the need to cover up lost money due to compulsive gambling. This alleged theft can even lead to being fired from one’s job. The damage isn’t just what has happened to someone in the past, but now the inability to continue working at their job in the future or to find a new one. On top of the future harm, the shame and humiliation of losing one’s job due to behavior they would never dreamed of prior to being on Mirapex is something that these people should be compensated for as well.

Continue reading "Mirapex Lawsuits: Attorneys see damage from the drug affecting victims into the future" »

FDA reports conclude that Avandia, taken for diabetes, causes users to suffer needless heart attacks and failure. The reports recommend that Avandia be withdrawn from the market.

The reports state that literally hundreds of diabetic patients endure heart attacks and heart failure each month from using Avandia, and it was linked to 304 deaths in the third quarter of 2009 alone. For that quarter, Avandia came in first out of all prescribed drugs for the number of serious, disabling and fatal outcomes. About two-thirds of diabetics die of heart problems anyway, making the new information even more alarming.

Avandia's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, disputes the reports and maintains that scientific evidence does not establish that Avandia increases the risk of heart attacks or heart failures. However, a U.S. Senate report accuses GlaxoSmithKline executives of intimidating independent doctors who publicly suggested Avandia may have risks and sought to downplay, minimize or misrepresent findings of Avandia's problems.

Dangerous and defective drugs are responsible for many injuries and death nationwide. Our profession calls this area of law products liability. Consulting a lawyer experienced in handling these matters is usually easy. Most lawyers will provide a complimentary initial consultation to evaluate a claim or case and let the person know if they can help.

Please feel free to contact me directly for more information or to ask questions. Just click here, and it will take you to a page containing contact information. We will continue to keep you updated as developments occur.

The Food and Drug Administration asked the manufacturer of Meridia, Abbott Laboratories, to place a stronger warning on its label due to the results of a study indicating that people prescribed the drug experienced higher rates of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems than those on a placebo. The FDA advised that people with a history of heart attacks, strokes or high blood pressure should be warned against taking Meridia.

The European equivalent of the FDA went one step further and advised doctors and pharmacists to stop prescribing and dispensing Reductil and Ectiva, the European equivalents of Meridia. Abbott reacted by suspending sales in Europe.

Meridia is a diet drug that contains an ingredient called sibutramine. Sibutramine causes a person to feel full after eating, which in turn, should lead to reduced food intake. The data came from the Scout trial, which was comprised of a six-year study of about 10,000 people. The patients were overweight or obese and had a history of heart disease, diabetes, or both.

This is very serious. Anyone who is taking these drugs or knows someone who is needs to make sure whether they can remain on them or should stop taking them. Please feel free to contact me directly for more information or to ask questions.

The American Diabetes Association has accepted for publication in its prestigious medical journal, Diabetes Care, a study by Harvard researchers that shows users of the diabetes drug Avandia© have more than double the risk of a heart attack compared to other diabetes drugs. Further, a jointly sponsored study by both GlaxoSmithKline and i3 Drug Safety, an independent drug-safety firm, will appear in the journal Clinical Therapeutics showing that Avandia users have a 35-41% increased risk of a heart attack over users of Actos©, Avandia’s main competitor.

Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones recall lawyer Larry Jones says, "These results show that Avandia's manufacturer have placed Avandia users to an unconscionable increased risk of heart attacks." But this isn't the first indication of the increased risk. In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration required a “Black Box” warning be added to Avandia’s label about the heart risks associated with drug. Yet, the maker failed to remove Avandia from the market.

For more information about the rights of those who have suffered heart attacjs while using Avandia, contact Larry Jones toll free at 1-866-587-0002 or click here to email Larry.

Mirapex lawyer Will Nefzger filed lawsuits last week on behalf of 20 more victims of the side effects of the drug. The clients represented come from all over the country and share in the unfortunate circumstances that the side effects have caused many people who have taken it. The drug continues to be on the market and has never been recalled. Please search our blog to find out more, or feel free to contact Will directly for more information or to ask questions.

Bahe Cook Cantley and Jones Yaz lawyer Larry Jones currently represents numerous individuals injured by their usage of the birth control drug Yaz. Recent warnings have linked the following birth control drugs to serious injuries and even death: Yaz, Yasmin
and Ocella.

Yaz attorney Larry Jones says that "In addition to gallbladder injuries, usually requiring gallbladder removal surgery, these drugs have been known to cause: Blood clots, Deep Vein Thrombosis, Pulmonary Embolism, Heart Attacks, Stroke, Death, and Kidney Failure."

Yaz lawyer Larry Jones says that the makers of Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella "should be held accountable for putting these dangerous drugs on the market."

For more information about the rights of those who suffered injuries because of their usage of Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella, contact Yaz attorney Larry Jones directly and toll free at 1-866-587-0002 or by email: click here to email Larry.

Requip is a drug that is very similar to Mirapex. They are both dopamine agonists and are both prescribed to people suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's Disease. This family of drugs has been linked to side effects including compulsive behavior, such as uncontrollable pathological gambling. Requip is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

Similar to Mirapex, several people from around the country have instituted lawsuits against Requip's manufacturer to recover their losses. I am representing several clients from around the country in these types of cases. A search of this blog using the word "Mirapex" will guide you to several posts on this subject matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.