Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Fosamax Triples Risk of Osteonecrosis According to New Study - Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A study published in the Journal of Rheumatology today is the largest ever conducted on the connection between bone necrosis and bisphosphonates, a class of drugs designed to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, including the trademarked Fosamax. The results indicate that the use of the drugs nearly triples the risk of bone necrosis, which can lead to disfigurement and incapacitating pain.

The study looks at the medical records of 88,000 Quebec residents over seven years, from 1996 to 2003. The study began after researchers in earlier studies linked the class of drugs with necrosis of the jaw. The study follows a recent FDA warning that the use of bisphosphonates can lead to musculoskeletal pain.

Osteonecrosis is a relatively rare condition, generally seen in only 1 out of 20,000 people, so even a tripling of the risk means that the drug still poses relatively small threat to the health of people taking it. In contrast, there are about 1.5 million fractures in the United States that are linked to osteoporosis annually, making the treatment of osteoporosis very important. However, all patients should be informed of the risks posed by their medications, and Merck continues to resist putting a warning label on Fosamax describing the risk of osteonecrosis, probably as a result of profit concerns.

If you believe you are experiencing an adverse side effect of this or any other prescription medication for which you were not prepared by your doctor or pharmacist, contact the experienced pharmaceutical injury lawyers at PersonalInjury.com today to get help addressing your concerns about the drugs you have been given.

Labels: defective pharmaceutical

Allstate Banned from Writing New Policies in Florida - Monday, January 21, 2008

In yet another showdown with state governments, Allstate Insurance Company has been banned from issuing new policies of any type of insurance by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). This showdown follows court cases in Kentucky and Missouri, and, like those cases, it hinges on a set of documents known as the McKinsey report. Unlike those cases, it is the first time a state government has launched something of a pre-emptive strike against the insurer, rather than waiting for bad-faith insurance claims to come forward. The OIR has stated it believes Allstate is cheating its policyholders in direct violation of the Florida's Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act.

The McKinsey report is a set of documents prepared by the New York consulting firm McKinsey & Co, and it details a method for reducing payments to policyholders, regardless of the merit of the claim. The goal, according to leaked portions of the document, was to delay payment, especially for auto accident claims, in the hope that frustrated policyholders would simply give up their claim, then, if the policyholder was tenacious enough, make an offer based on its database of projected costs for injuries, rather than actual reported costs. If anyone doesn't take the payment, seeking perhaps the full level of coverage spelled out in the policy, Allstate was to fight the claim with everything it had.

Allstate has always claimed that these portions of the report were taken out of context, and that they do not reflect the essence of Allstate's claims handling process, and are not responsible for the company posting record profits since the principles were used as part of the "claims core process redesign." The problem is, Allstate doesn't want to share the whole document.

In fact, the company is so resistant to sharing the document, it is paying $25,000 a day rather than reveal it. And now it is resisting a subpoena from the OIR, despite its suspension of new policies.

The OIR is asking for the documents because Allstate is requesting a rate increase of as much as 42%, despite prior indications that rates were supposed to be going down this year.

If you feel you have been mistreated by your insurance company, contact PersonalInjury.com today to get in touch with a local bad-faith insurance lawyer.

Labels: bad faith insurance, Florida, state government