Articles Posted in Defective Products

The Federal Drug Administration wants people to know that the anti-wrinkle drug Botox has been linked to several botulism related-deaths. A number of these victims were children. The warning comes three weeks after
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, cited 180 reported incidents-including 16 deaths-where people who had used Botox experienced pneumonia, difficulty swallowing, or fluid in the lungs. Botox Cosmetics and its competitor Myobloc were named in last week’s FDA warning.

Botox causes nerves to relax because the botulinum toxin injected into a specific area of the body blocks nerve impulses. Sometimes, however, the toxin can spread to other areas of the body, which can weaken or paralyze the muscles needed to breathe or swallow. This can be fatal.

The children who died after using Botox were given the drug to treat spasticity problems in their legs. The FDA is also looking at other reported incidents involving adults that used Botox. One woman who used Botox to hide her forehead wrinkles reportedly had to be hospitalized.

Many adults use Botox injections on their faces to minimize the presence of wrinkles. Botox is also used to treat a number of spasm conditions, such as severe neck spasms or cervical dystonia.

Although Botox labels include a warning about possible botulism toxin and how this can lead to death, the labels only link these potential side effects to people with neuromuscular illnesses.

The FDA is warning Botox users to seek medical attention immediately if they experience any botulism symptoms, including:

• Slurred speech • Problems swallowing • Problems breathing • Problems holding up one’s head • Muscle weakness
FDA: Botox linked to kids’ deaths, MSNBC/AP, February 8, 2008

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Group seeks Botox warning following 16 deaths, MSNBC/Reuters, January 24, 2008
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Kenneth McClain, a Denver, Colorado resident, has filed a personal injury lawsuit because he says that the artificial butter flavoring on microwave popcorn gave him bronchiolitis obliterans, also called “popcorn lung.” He filed his lawsuit against Kroger Company, Inter-American Products Inc., and Dillon Companies Inc, which owns the King Soopers grocery store.

McClain would eat two bags a day. He is the only consumer who has been diagnosed with “popcorn lung,” which can sometimes develop in factory workers involved in the testing of microwave popcorn.

Ingesting flavoring chemicals is believed to be one cause of bronchiolitis obliterans. People with this type of lung damage have problems breathing because their lung’s airways have been destroyed.

An 87-year-old man from Norfolk County is the third elderly person to die in connection with drinking contaminated milk. Health officials are citing Whittier Farms, a dairy located in Massachusetts, as the source of the tainted milk. The other two people who died were also elderly men, ages 78 and 75. They were both Worcester County residents.

The three men had listeriosis, which is a bacterial infection that can be contracted from drinking tainted milk and raw foods and certain processed foods that are not properly cleaned or prepared. Two other listeria cases also being linked to the contaminated milk from the dairy involve pregnant women. One woman, 34, miscarried. The other woman, a 31-year-old Middlesex County resident, had the infection but delivered a healthy baby.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes listeriosis as a “serious infection that can be caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.” Symptoms of listeriosis can include muscle pains, fever, diarrhea, nausea, balance problems, neck problems, confusion, and convulsions.

Newborn babies, pregnant mothers, the elderly, and other adults with weakened immune symptoms are the ones most susceptible to contracting listeriosis. A pregnant woman with listeriosis can end up miscarrying, delivering prematurely, or delivering a stillborn baby.

The contaminated milk from Whittier Farms is believed to have come from the dairy’s Shrewsbury plant, just 35 miles from Boston. Health inspectors are examining the dairy’s cooling and bottling machinery to try and determine the source of the contamination. Whittier Farms is family owned and operated and is known for delivering people’s milk in glass bottles to their doorsteps.

Some 2,500 people are afflicted with listeriosis every year, with 500 of these people dying from the infection.

Manufacturers and producers of food products must ensure that their food products are properly processed or prepared. If failure to do leads to injury or death, the injured party or surviving family members can have grounds for a products liability claim or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Bacteria-Contaminated Milk from Massachusetts Dairy is Blamed for 3 Deaths, Miscarriage, FoxNews.com, January 8, 2008
Listeriosis, CDC.gov
Infection tied to tainted milk kills a 3d man, Boston.com, January 8, 2008

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Whittier Farms
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Medtronic Inc. will settle 2682 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who claim that the implantable biomedical device maker knew that its Marquis line of implanted cardiac defibrillators was defective but didn’t do enough to pull the devices off the market or let patients know there were safer alternatives.

As part of the agreement, Medtronic will settle the cases for $95.6 million and pay $18.5 million in lawyers’ fees. Medtronic, however, says it is not admitting liability or affirming to the plaintiffs’ claims by settling the products liability lawsuits.

In a statement made by Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management Unit President Pat Mackin affirmed that Implantable defibrillators made by Medtronic are “the most reliable ICD’s ever manufactured.”

Massachusetts middle school student Kevin Lou, 13, was awarded $2.85 million in Worcester Superior Court for the escalator accident that mangled his right hand nine years ago. Kevin and his family filed the personal injury lawsuit against Otis Elevator Co, the U.S. company whose name was on the escalator that caused his injury. The escalator was manufactured in China.

Kevin doesn’t remember the accident that occurred while he was in China visiting his grandmother. Since then, however, he has had to endure five surgeries to save his hand. He will need more surgeries to hopefully regain full use of his hands.

In 1998, Kevin and his grandmother were at a department store in China. While riding the elevator down to the second floor, he fell. His hand slipped into the opening between the stationary side panels and the moving escalator. The next escalator step that hit his stuck hand caused the injury.

New research shows that the popular diabetes drug Avandia may cause bone thinning, which could lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures. Although GlaxoSmith-Kline has admitted that women who take Avandia have a higher risk of bone fractures, this most recent study is the first one to explain the connection between bone fractures and the drug.

A report published in Nature Medicine says that researchers gave the drug to mice. The drug increased activity among the cells that degrade bones. The National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded the research.

Avandia, also called Rosiglitazone, is used for long-term care of patients with Type II diabetes (adult-onset diabetes). Type II diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. Some 21 million people in America are afflicted with diabetes.

If you or someone you love has sustained an injury or become sick because of a prescription drug, you should speak with a dangerous drug attorney right away to determine whether you have grounds to file a products liability claim or lawsuit against the manufacturer.

Drug manufacturers are supposed to including a warning of all the health risks that come with taking a prescription drug. If you were not warned of the health risks or side effects beforehand, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for personal injury.

Although the FDA is there to regulate the safety of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, it is not uncommon for a drug to be found “dangerous” only after a number of people have already sustained serious injuries or died as a result of taking the medication.

GlaxoSmithKline is already facing numerous dangerous drug lawsuits because it had not previously warned users that the drug could place them at risk of heart disease. One lawsuit is seeking more than $100 million in damages for hiding the risks associated with Avandia. One wrongful death lawsuit in involves a Texas widow who says the drug killed her husband. Warnings of heart failure risks was recently added to the Avandia drug label.

Diabetes drug tied to bone fractures, Baltimore Sun, December 3, 2007
Diabetes Drug to Warn of Risk to Heart, AP, November 15, 2007

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Avandia
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World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), a Boston, Massachusetts based toy safety group has released its yearly “!0 Worst Toys” list. The list points out the hidden dangers in certain toys. This toy list is updated every year. This year, however, it is especially significant in light of all the toy recalls that have taken place-particularly involving toys with lead in them that were made in China.

Toy injuries that are caused by a defective or dangerous toy because a manufacturer of a toy was negligent can be grounds for a products liability claim or lawsuit. A personal injury lawyer can help you file your personal injury claim or lawsuit.

The list includes:

1. Go Diego Go Animal Rescue Boat, made by Fisher-Price: This toy was recalled because they were painted with what could be excessive quantities of lead.

2. Sticky Stones, made by GeoCentral: A pontential choking hazard and cause of internal injuries.

3. Jack Sparrow’s Spinning Dagger, made by Zizzle: May cause eye injuries and does not come with a manufacturer warning.

4. L’il Giddy Up’ Horse – Sassy Pet Saks, made by Douglas Co.: The Beads on the this toy can be removed and swallowed easily and can also lead to aspiration injuries.

5. Dora the Explorer Lamp, made by Funhouse: A potential cause of burns and electric shock.

6. Spider Man 3 New Goblin Sword, made by Hasbro: May cause impact injuries, including facial injuries.

7. Hip Hoppa, Made by Spin Master Ltd. and Vivid Imaginations Ltd.: Could lead to head injuries and fall injuries.

8. B’Loonies Party Pack, made by Ja-Ru Inc.: Flammable chemicals could lead to ingestion and burn injuries.

9. My Little Baby Born, made by Entertainment Inc.: Zapf Creations AG: The plastic pacifier attached to ribbon that comes with the doll is a choking hazard.

10. Rubber Band Shooter, made by Simple Toys LLC: May cause serious eye injuries.

Toy Injury Statistics:

• About 155,400 children under 15 years of age received medical care at hospitals in 2003 because of toy-related injuries.

• 64% of toy-related fatalities that year were caused by choking.

• Nearly 50% of toy-related injuries are sustained by children injured on the head or face.

• Drowning, falling off a toy, and suffocation are other common causes of toy related injuries.

Toys to avoid this holiday season, Boston.com, November 14, 2007
Toy Safety – Injury Statistics and Incidence Rates, Children’s Hospital, Central California

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World Against Toys Causing Harm

Hey, you’ll poke your eye out with that thing!, MSNBC, November 14, 2007 Continue reading