Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
OxyContin Makers and Exec Fined $634 million - Friday, March 28, 2008
The maker of the powerful and highly addictive painkiller, OxyContin, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, and three of its executives, were ordered to pay a $634.5 million fine for misleading the public about the drug's risk of addiction. U.S. District Judge James Jones fined Purdue, its top lawyer, former president and former chief medical officer after a hearing on July 20, 2007. At that hearing, several people testified that their lives were changed forever by addiction to the narcotic.OxyContin is the trade name for a long-acting form of the drug oxycodone and is designed to be swallowed whole and digested over the course of 12 hours. However, when the pills are crushed, they can produce a heroin-like high when the pill is swallowed, snorted or injected. From 1996-2001, the number of OxyContin-related deaths increased fivefold while the number of OxyContin prescriptions increased 20-fold. In 2002, the drug has contributed to almost 500 deaths.
All parties pleaded guilty in May to telling doctors that OxyContin was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications. Judge Jones has placed the drug company on probation for five years and each of the executives on probation for three years. The three were also ordered to perform 400 hours of substance abuse-related community service.
Survivors of victims who have died from OxyContin use want the Food and Drug Administration to reclassify OxyContin for use only for severe pain as now, the drug can be prescribed for moderate pain.
Bikers Upset with Increase in Registration Fee - Thursday, March 27, 2008
In Indiana, some motorcycle owners are angry they have been singled out to pay an extra $10 registration fee to help fund new efforts to research spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. This fee is estimated to generate approximately $1.6 million annually for the research efforts, but many motorcyclists are not happy.Jay Jackson, executive director of ABATE of Indiana, a group that advocates motorcycling safety, says motorcyclists have nothing against medical research but don't want to be the ones solely responsible for funding it. He said if it were a fair tax assessed to everyone, then there'd be no problem.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a motorcyclist himself, is against the fee and says it was "slipped" into the budget in the late stages of the budgetary process. The fee and the fund had been in the budget in the early stages but had both been removed. Daniels asserts the fee was put back in during the last days of the budgetary approval process. Daniels states that he and other cyclists are not against spinal cord research but contends motorcycle accidents cause less than 1 percent of spinal cord injuries. Daniels stated, "It seems a little unfair to hit that particular segment of society to pay for that particular purpose."
ATV Owner Sued for Boy's Death - Wednesday, March 26, 2008
In Arkansas, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed recently against a man and his concrete company in the death of an 11-year-old boy killed in a four-wheeler accident. Ashton Potter, died in May 2006 after he rode a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle (ATV) up a hill and it tumbled back on him.The boy was riding a Polaris 330 model all-terrain vehicle owned by defendant Donald Main and his company, A-1 Cement Finishers of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The ATV was used by Main and his company for cement and construction-related activities. At the time of the accident, Potter was staying at the defendant's home.
The suit alleges Main and his company failed to properly secure and supervise the four-wheeler, giving the young boy access to it. Potter started the vehicle and rode it traveling up an embankment when it flipped over, landed on top of him and killed him. The boy died at the scene from a severe head injury.
The suit was filed on behalf of Mandi Lopez, the boy's mother. Damages are sought for wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering and loss of life. The suit alleges the defendants knew, or should have known, that minors would be attracted to a four-wheeler and the expense of remedying the dangerous condition would be slight compared to the risk of harm.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's 2004 statistics on ATV-related injuries and deaths reveal that there were almost 150,000 serious injuries requiring emergency room treatment and close to 800 ATV deaths. Of those deaths, at least 130 deaths were children younger than 16.
The CPSC and other consumer advocate groups have been pushing for stricter ATV laws for years, and one group, the American Academy of Pediatrics has even recommended that no child under age 16 ride an ATV of any size under any conditions.
Accutane-related IBD Victim Awarded Over $2.6 Million - Monday, March 24, 2008
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Accutane users have been known to develop many serious side effects including but not limited to:
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- Stroke
- Depression
- Aggression
- Pancreatitis
- Hepatitis
- Hearing impairment
- Birth defects (if mothers took the drug while pregnant)
IBD, the most frequently reported of Accutane's side effects, refers to chronic diseases that cause inflammation in the form of painful swelling and diarrhea. Other common symptoms of IBD are abdominal cramps, blocked bowels, bloody stool, fever, dehydration, and extreme weight loss. IBD is also considered to be a major risk factor for developing colorectal cancer. Once you have IBD, symptoms can flare up without warning leaving sufferers constantly worried about when the next episode of pain and diarrhea will strike.
Accutane, which went on the market in 1982, has been prescribed to over 13 million people worldwide for the treatment of acne. Accutane has been a controversial drug for years not only due to the risk of IBD involved with taking the drug but because depression and suicide have also been attributed to the powerful drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned physicians prescribing the drug to be aware of any signs of depression in their patients, but Hoffman-LaRoche did not warn consumers or healthcare professionals of the potential serious adverse effects associated with the drug until after the FDA made its announcement.
The potential devastating side effects of Accutane became widely known when the son of a prominent United States Congressman committed suicide at the age of seventeen in May 2000. Representative Bart Stupak has attributed his son's suicide Accutane. The boy was a star football player, very popular in school, and shot himself in the head after a prom-night party.
After Stupak's suicide, newspapers and other media quickly spread the word about the possible deadly effects of Accutane. The revelation of these side effects spawned a large number of lawsuits, and there were wrongful death lawsuits filed by the loved ones of people who suffered Accutane-related deaths. Hoffman-LaRoche was accused of touting Accutane as a miracle pill and failing to mention the possible deadly adverse effects of the drug. The drug manufacturer was accused of continuing to make and distribute the drug knowing full well the dangerous and possibly deadly effects associated with it.
If you or a loved one has taken Accutane and suffered any of the dangerous side effects attributed to the drug such as IBD, depression, or suicidal behavior, we urge you to contact an experienced Accutane lawyer in your area today to find out if you may be entitled to monetary compensation.
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