Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

John Bratt's Baltimore Injury Lawyer Blog has a good post today offering his thoughts on what they don't teach you in law school.

Christopher T. Hurley of the Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog has a post about calls in Chicago for a ban on text messaging.

I believe 18 states have a texting ban while driving at least to some degree. Who would vote against such a ban? Is there any doubt that eventually text messaging while driving will be banned in every jurisdiction? So why don't we just cut to the chase and ban it now and maybe save a few lives in the process?

The Maryland Lawyer Blog has a post on a tragic case involving Minnesota child seat belt law.

Oregon Health and Science University is looking to move past claims of medical malpractice that have been brought against the hospital, settling 6 malpractice case on Friday for $38.6. Oregon Health and Science University has insurance through Washington Casualty, which will cover $21.35 million of the settlement costs of these six medical malpractice lawsuits.

Not everyone is happy. Scott Gallant, of the Oregon Medical Association, says that now that these lawsuits have been resolved, it means that “schools, special districts and others, are going to pay substantially higher premiums to try to cover essentially unlimited liability where there’s an unfortunate injury that might occur in their official duties.”

Gee, Scott, what is the alternative? One of the cases involved a $9.3 million settlement to a boy who suffered prolonged oxygen deprivation causing permanent and profound brain damage because of a medical malpractice at OHSU. How much do you think that boy should have received?

Moreover, he presents a false choice. A modern society can pay for its schools and take care of the children that are harmed by the negligence of doctors and hosptials.

Medical malpractice lawyers filed an informed consent lawsuit last week accusing a doctor of amputating a man’s penis without his consent. In the lawsuit, a Kentucky man alleges that the doctor was only authorized to perform a circumcision. What happened – right or wrong - was the doctor did what he thought he should to save the patient’s life when he found cancer during the operation.

I won't prejudge this lawsuit without hearing the evidence. I can certainly imagine a scenario where a doctor finds cancer during a routine operation and does what the doctor believes he must do to save the patient. The Plaintiff affirmed the doctor’s prerogative in this regard by signing a consent form acknowledging that unforeseen conditions discovered during the circumcision "may necessitate additional or different procedures." But I would reserve judgment on the merits of the case because it really depends on whether reasonable minds could differ as to what was the appropriate course.

But I find disturbing that the lawsuit seeks punitive damages. Unless facts in the case exist that were not included in the Courier-Journal article I read, there is no malice or even recklessness in a doctor - right or wrong - making a decision to try to save a patient's life.

One thing John McCain does that drives me nuts is to vilify everyone who does not agree with him as "corrupt" or as "violators of the public's trust." I think this lawsuit is a cousin of that mentality. We can have an honest conversation about whether the doctor was negligent in this case. But for an award of punitive damages, Kentucky law requires that the plaintiff show “clear and convincing” evidence that a defendant acted with oppression, fraud or malice. Is there even a scintilla of evidence that that is what occurred here?

The Washington Supreme Court this week overruled a trial court’s summary judgment against the family of a man whose brain was harvested for mental-health research when he died can pursue a lawsuit against the county medical examiner, and the Stanley Medical Research Institute of Maryland.

The case involves a man who tragically died heart problems in 2003 shortly after his 21st birthday. Obviously a young man who cared about other people, he was an organ donor. His parents consented to provide brain tissue to the nonprofit. Instead of taking a small tissue sample, however, the King County Medical Examiner's office – presumably by accident - provided the young man’s entire brain.

The injury to the family is the emotional distress the taking of the brain caused them. I could not possibly feel more for this family. There is nothing worse than burying your child. But I do not support this lawsuit.

Today I stumbled on Pfizer's second quarter Earnings Conference Call. Here is a nugget of interest to Chantix lawyers and those who believe they have been injured by Chantix: "Strong international growth was largely offset by a 35% decline in US revenues, which was due mainly to labeling changes and to external reports about adverse events. Let me be clear -- we believe the Chantix labeling appropriately reflects the medication's risks and benefits, and we will continue to encourage doctors and patients to have a robust dialogue about the dangers of smoking and appropriate treatment options." Missing from the statements is Pfizer's answer to the question of whether it believes Chantix always had the appropriate labeling.

In other words, adverse reports are slowing sales but Pfizer is going to keep pushing Chantix. So without any further label changes, Pfizer is going to continue to try to milk it Chantix franchise.

Accordingly, our Chantix lawyers are now investigating cases involving suicides, cardiac disturbances, acute myocardial infarction, diabetes, seizures, and psychosis. If you or a loved one experienced an injury you attribute to Chantix, or if you are a lawyer looking to refer your Chantix lawsuit to a pharmaceutical injury lawyer, call our Chantix lawyers at 1-800-553-8082 or click here for a free, no obligation Internet consultation.

In other words,

Last month, the Digitek lawsuits pending around the country were consolidated in West Virginia under Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, a judge noted by the MDL Panel to be an experienced MDL transferee judge (the Serzone MDL for one) that had "a docket that will allow him to devote the needed attention to these cases." In the order consolidating the Digitek lawsuits, the MDL Panel said that with the increasing number of MDLs, it makes sense to spread the burden among districts, noting that the Southern District of West Virginia has no current MDLs.

The New York Times reports pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly will join Merck in posting all payments to outside doctors online. Eli Lilly decision comes on the heels of congressinal pressure for monitoring and reporting of these payments.

My favorite quote from the article comes from Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, a Columbia University doctor, who said any doctor who believes "that disclosure is likely to be embarrassing should not be accepting the money in the first place.” Well said.

Related Post:

Drug Companies and Doctors: Why the Marriage Is a Public Health Problem (January 12, 1006)

Last week in Baddou v. Hall, the South Dakota Supreme Court either enunciated new law or affirmed existing law (depending upon your perspective) on whether South Dakota has a presumption of negligence in Rapid City rear-end car accident case. The court’s answer: it does not.

This is bad law, in my opinion, because it makes South Dakota car accident lawyer prove a negative. Rear-end car accidents rarely happen in the absence of negligence and the defendant is the one in the best position to know the nuance of the negligence. It is basically a technicality generating law.

I disagree with the Plaintiff that a rear end accident should be negligence per se. Instead, the better law, applied in many states such as Florida, Maryland, and Colorado, is that there is a rebuttable presumption of negligence in rear end accident cases.

The South Dakota court also affirmed in dicta the notion that the “mere fact an accident happened creates no inference that it was caused by someone’s negligence” in South Dakota. This instruction has fallen out of favor in many jurisdictions but, apparently, not in Bismarck.

Another aspect of South Dakota law that I don’t like is that they are more liberal in allowing police reports in evidence than most other states. Jurors are confused when they do not see the police report but they are even more confused when they do and tend to delegate their decision making power to the police officer instead of using their own judgment. I actually think this rule generally helps plaintiffs’ car accident lawyers. But not always and I don’t think the admission of the police report is fair.

Right now, most of the over 13,000 Seroquel cases are consolidated in an MDL in Orlando, Florida. Mass tort cases - like the Seroquel lawsuits - are gathered in an MDL for, among other reasons, identification of discovery issues that are common to all of the cases, and to give a lens to the lawyers on both sides as to the settlement value of cases by taking some to trial.

The Florida judge handling these cases has called for the first Seroquel trial to start in February 2009. A group of 12 Serqouel cases has been selected to be tried first. These are called “bellwether” trials (defined as “leader or as a leading indicator of future trends”) that help guide the parties into an accurate understanding of the settlement value of the Seroquel lawsuits. Obviously, particularly in cases of diabetes and pancreatitis, two conditions of wildly varying severity, lawyers on both sides want to try the cases that are best for them on damage and on liability.

Moreover, there is also the question of causation. Seroquel lawyers obviously want the “bellwether” trials to be cases where specific causation is harder for the plaintiffs’ lawyers to prove. In a diabetes case, plaintiffs’ lawyers would prefer someone young and seemingly not likely at risk for diabetes while the Seroquel lawyers would prefer someone who was overweight and at high risk for diabetes. For pancreatitis cases, Seroquel lawyers would prefer someone with a history of alcohol abuse or otherwise at risk for pancreatitis while plaintiff’s lawyers would prefer someone with a clean living history and otherwise at little risk for pancreatitis. In the Seroquel cases, the plaintiffs’ lawyers will chose the first case and the Seroquel lawyers will chose the second and then back and forth until the 12 cases are tried (or the cases settle).

If you think you may have a Seroquel case and have a question about the Seroquel class action lawsuit, you can call one of our Seroquel lawyers for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free online consultation.

A jury in Minnesota awarded yesterday nearly $1 million to a shoulder dystocia case involving a child's delivery in 2003.

I blogged about the details of the Minnesota shoulder dystocia case yesterday.

The jury is still out in a shoulder dystocia case against the Mankato Clinic and one of its obstetricians.

Plaintiffs medical malpractice claim is premised the argument that pre-birth measurements of the fetus were suggested a exceptionally large baby and that a C-section would have been the appropriate course given the risks to large children in childbirth.

The “should have had a c-section” argument is still difficult to make based on the current medical literature. But Plaintiffs also argue that infant plaintiff’s shoulder dystocia injury could have been avoided if the OB/GYN had not pulled the baby’s head during delivery.

Related Posts:

Shoulder Dystocia Cases (background of claims and what plaintiffs’ and defendants’ lawyers often argue in shoulder dystocia cases)

Mankato Free Press Article (report on this Minnesota shoulder dystocia case)

Medical Malpractice Birth Injuries (discussion of birth injuries that are sometimes cause by medical malpractice)

The Illinois Supreme Court will look again at the constitutionality of limits this fall on medical malpractice awards. Illinois law limits noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering to $500,000 for doctors and $1 million for hospitals.

The case the Illinois Supreme Court will hear is certainly one that underscores the injustice of medical malpractice damage caps. The plaintiff has cerebral palsy, one of the worst possible birth injuries, and will need extensive care for the rest of her life (unless technology can come to the rescue).

Last year, Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Larsen declared Illinois' medical malpractice cap unconstitutional under Illinois law because juries' should have the authority to medical malpractice cases to appropriate what they believe to be appropriate compensation for the plaintiffs' injuries.

Related Posts:

Blog Post on Trial Judge's Ruling Declaring Malpractice Cap Unconstitutional (Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog post from November 14, 2008)

St. Louis Post Dispatch (recent article on case)

If you have talked to a personal injury lawyer who handles a lot of car accident cases in the last six months, you will hear complaints that car accident cases are drying up. Yet, unfortunately, there is no indication we have less automobile accidents in this country. So why?

I think the main reason is that car insurance companies are getting better at reaching out to clients before they find a lawyer. Insurance companies are absolutely entitled to do this. Moreover, I think this works mostly with smaller auto accident cases. The reality – and this is something a lot of car accident lawyers don’t want prospective clients to know – is that you can often handle small auto accident cases without a lawyer.

Our car accident lawyers handling your case will increase the value of your case. In fact, the mere involvement of our law firm, given our reputation, is going to increase the value of your case. But how much? If you have a big case, it will increase the value a great deal. Our car accident lawyers have been referred cases by other lawyers that already have an offer and we have gotten more than 35 times the offer given to the original lawyer. But our accident lawyers’ ability to add value to your case is directly proportional to the size of the case. If you have a case with an ER visit and a few physical therapy sessions, our car accident lawyers will increase the value of your case. And it certainly will make your life easier because you have someone to process everything for you. But is it enough to make it worth hiring us? The answer to that varies from case to case. Our car accident lawyers used to take these kinds of cases because we thought it was a bad idea to deny anyone the right to a lawyer if they had a valid claim. Now, I’m telling at least a third of the people that call us with legitimate cases that they certainly can hire a lawyer, but they also have the option to proceed without a lawyer, and we tell them what they should do to continue bringing their car accident claim without a lawyer.

Don’t get me wrong: there are real risks in proceeding on your own without a car accident lawyer. Among other risks, you can miss deadlines to file a claim and you don’t have the experience that a car accident lawyer does to know the value of your auto accident claim. But the reality is some people are willing to assume those risks. If you are one of those people, you can click on the article titled “Handling My Own Auto Accident Claim.”

If you are going to proceed without a lawyer for your car accident, call a lawyer just to discuss your case with them.

Related Posts:

Handling Your Own Auto Accident Claim (a “how to” for those proceeding on their own)

Why Hiring a Lawyer is the Best Way to Maximize Your Recovery in Most Auto Accident Cases (explanation of the pitfalls of proceeding without a lawyer).

What is the Value of My Car Accident Case? (explanation of how value is determined in auto accident cases)

Sample Demand Letter (sample letter to the insurance company to settle an accident claim)

The Severna Park Fitness Blog, published by Club One Fitness has a blog entry today on a involving a negligence claim stemming from a theft at a Baltimore area health club.

According to the Maryland Daily Record, the Plaintiff brought a lawsuit against the Maryland Athletic Club ("MAC") over a theft that occurred at the club. Just before trial earlier this month, the case settled. The case was settled by the Maryland Athletic Club just before it went to trial in Baltimore City earlier this month.

The Plaintiff's complaint sought $30,000 so it is reasonable to assume that she wanted more than $10,000 to settle the case. When someone has no injury and no significant damages but demands a meaningful recovery, that is not exactly a good thing for Maryland personal injury lawyers trying cases before juries that hear about such cases.

The Maryland Lawyer Blog also has additional comment on this Maryland Athletic Club theft lawsuit regarding adhesion contracts.

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of nursing home abuse neglect claim because the plaintiff failed to provide 60 days' notice of the intention to file a medical malpractice action against a health care provider as required under Mississippi Code Section 15-1-36(15). This statute requires Mississippi nursing home and medical malpractice plaintiffs to health care provider's sixty (60) days' prior written notice notifying the defendant of the legal basis of the claim and the type of loss sustained, including with specificity the nature of the injuries suffered.

This statute comes from Mississippi’s disastrous tort reform act passed in 2002 that, among other things, establishes a cap on noneconomic damages of $ 500,000 for lawsuits filed before July 1, 2011, $ 750,000 for those filed after July 1, 2011 but before July 1, 2017, and $ 1,000,000 for those filed thereafter.

I do not have a problem with the ruling because it is a correct interpretation of the Mississippi law. But the law accomplishes nothing in this case but to deny a Plaintiff the right to justice.

Metro Verdicts provides this month information on facial scarring settlements and verdict in Maryland and Virginia. The median facial scarring verdicts in Maryland and Virginia are $20,000 and $32,500, respectively.

These numbers seem bizarrely low. Of course, I’m not really sure about the inclusion criteria for this study. How do they define facial injuries? Are they permanent? Must they be visible? Because for what I consider facial scarring, these number seem shockingly low.

Related Posts:

What is the Value of My Personal Injury Case? (analysis of how value is determined in personal injury cases)

Value of Personal Injury Cases in Your State (state-by-state comparision)

Our lawyers are continuing to accept Medtronic defective lead recall cases. Our law firm has been reviewing Medtronic lead cases for almost a year and I’m amazed by the continued flow of cases although they are slowing down. If you have a Medtronic case you would like our lawyers to review the Medtronic class action, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Medtronic Internet consultation.

There are NuvaRing lawsuits pending in an MDL (cases consolidated around the country in Missouri) and in New Jersey. Even though Organon is a New Jersey defendant, it sought to remove the NuvaRing cases because Organon was not "properly joined and served" under §1441(b) because Organon was not served with a tracking assignment number as required by New Jersey law.

No tracking assignment number? Who thinks of these things? Sure, strictly construed void of any sense of fairness or context, the statute the rule would preclude removal by an in-state defendant who has not been "properly joined and served" at the time of removal. But would a judge be such a foolish hypertechnical slave to the language beyond logic, reason and the legislative intent of the statute?

Thankfully, no.

The New Jersey District court found that strict adherence to the plain language of the statute would defeat the legislative intent and, accordingly, the law should not be interpreted to produce an absurd result.

If you are interested in learning more about the lawsuits involving NuvaRing, click on the "lawsuits involving NuvaRing" link above.

Florida lawyers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of children who are supposed to be compensated pursuant to a well intentioned by awful program Florida has for children with birth injuries. The purpose of Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA) is to compensate children with birth injuries. This statutory scheme, was created 20 years ago in Florida, also insulates doctors from medical malpractice in many most significant medical malpractice case in Florida. This means if you have a cerebral palsy case in Florida, you have little chance of getting compensation for the child. Virginia has a similar scheme that is just as awful.

According to the recently certified class-action lawsuit, parents have been misinformed about their rights and NICA has refused to make payments. So not only are children who are suffering the most egregious injuries not being fairly compensated, they are also - at least according to this lawsuit - being victimized by the very law that takes their rights away.

The family of 75-year-old Wilmington native has alleged evidence of abuse and neglect at a state-run facility. What is interesting about his case is that the nursing home resident's family cared enough to get evidence by way of a "nanny cam." Earlier this summer, the nieces of this woman who is suffering from dementia, diabetes and a bad back, delivered a DVD of several incidents to the Delaware's Division of Long Term Care Residents Protection -- the agency that monitors the welfare of nursing-home residents and investigates allegations of patient abuse.

Unfortunately, not every has a caring family with the time and resources to set up a nanny cam when a nursing home is abusing or neglecting a patient. But maybe we have stumbled onto something here. Would nanny cams set up appropriately by the state help reduce nursing home neglect and abuse?

Good news for Medtronic defective lead patients: the FDA last week approved of a software update from Medtronic that will help detect fractures of Medtronic's Sprint Fidelis cardiac defibrillator lead. The new software package will allow Medtronic patients to rest a little easier knowing that the software will alert patients of a potential Medtronic lead fracture.

Our lawyers are handling claims for defective Medtronic Sprint Fidelis leads that were the subject of a October 2007 Medtronic "recall" because the leads were found to be prone to fracture in a small number of patients. I put recall in quotes because by necessity, most of the patients with the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead still have the device implanted in their chests because of the surgical risk associated with removal.

This cynic in me wonders if Medtronic's purpose in developing this new software was to decrease the potential damages to patients without fractures to improve their chances in the Medtronic medical monitoring lawsuits that are being filed around the country (currently consolidated in a MDL). Why didn't they develop this product sooner? But forget about that for now. Good job Medtronic in finding a product to help you patients deal with the concerns that they are having.

Below is a list of names of drugs that the FDA has provided in an effort to better inform medical doctors and their patients of concerns that have been raised with these drugs. For all of these drugs, the FDA has identified a potential safety issue. This does not mean that the FDA has established that the drug causes any harm or injury or that the potential risk of harm outweighs the drug’s potential benefits. Instead, it just means the FDA has identified that a drug may cause injury. The decision to take or stop taking a drug should be made in consultation with your doctor, not because the drug is on any list.

I’m a pretty big critic of the FDA but I think they are doing a good thing by offering information of concern with certain drugs but it a fair context. (Note: the release of the list comes after Congress last year ordered the FDA to produce a quarterly report of drugs being investigated by regulators. So maybe we should not spend too much time patting the FDA on the back.) Consumers have the right to know that which drugs are on the FDA’s watch list so that they can know to contact their doctor if they have a concern about a drug they are taking or a drug that a doctor has suggested that they initiate.

Some of these drugs are being explored for lawsuits by our products liability lawyers. For many others, our lawyers do not believe there is enough evidence to bring a claim. If would like to speak to a products liability lawyer about one of these drugs, either by phone or the Internet, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation or answer to your question.

Arginine Hydrochloride Injection (R-Gene 10): Pediatric overdose due to labeling / packaging confusion

Desflurane (Suprane): Cardiac arrest

Duloxetine (Cymbalta): Urinary retention

Etravirine (Intelence): Hemarthrosis

Fluorouracil Cream (Carac) and Ketoconazole Cream (Kuric):Adverse events due to name confusion

Heparin: Anaphylactic-type reactions

Icodextrin (Extraneal): Hypoglycemia

Insulin U-500 (Humulin R): Dosing confusion

Ivermectin (Stromectol) and Warfarin: Drug interaction

Lapatinib (Tykerb): Hepatotoxicity (chemical-driven liver damage)

Lenalidomide (Revlimid): Stevens Johnson Syndrome

Natalizumab (Tysabri): Skin melanomas

Nitroglycerin (Nitrostat): Overdose due to labeling confusion

Octreotide Acetate Depot (Sandostatin LAR): Ileus (partial or complete non-mechanical blockage of the small and/or large intestine)

Oxycodone Hydrochloride Controlled-Release (Oxycontin): Drug misuse, abuse and overdose

Perflutren Lipid Microsphere (Definity): Cardiopulmonary reactions

Phenytoin Injection (Dilantin) Purple Glove Syndrome (swollen extremities)

Quetiapine (Seroquel): Overdose due to sample pack labeling confusion (our lawyers believe problems with Seroquel may go well beyond the overdose problem)

Telbivudine (Tyzeka): Peripheral neuropathy

Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blockers: Cancers in children and young adults

In medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice lawyers talk about "frequent flyer doctors." There are also frequent flyer companies that are accused of misconduct. Medtronic is increasingly showing up on this list for products liability lawyers.

A number of spinal procedures involving the Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft that resulted in severe complications have been linked to spinal surgeons with financial ties to Medtronic.

Medtrnoic has already paid $40 million to settle whistleblower lawsuits filed by former Medtronic employees who allege that the company paid inducements to doctors to use Infuse and other Medtronic spine products.

The FDA has not approved the Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft approved for spinal surgery in the patient's neck. But this has not stopped some spinal surgeons with financial ties to Medtronic from pushing Medtronic's Infuse Bone Graft for use in cervical spine surgeries. In July, the FDA sent out a letter to doctors warning that using the device in the cervical spine can cause “life threatening complications."

The Wall Street Journal blogs about it here.

The New York Times reports on cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin, two fo the best setting drugs in the United States. Vytorin is a single pill that combines Zetia with another cholesterol-lowering medication. These drugs have been on the market for six years. Now, more than six years since receiving FDA approval, there is still little evidence that either Zetia or Vytorin actually help reduce cholesterol.

This would be a problem in and of itself. But now there is evidence that heart attacks, cancer and other health problems may be attributable to Vytorin and Zetia. In August, a study found that patients in three clinical trials had a 40% great chance of dying from cancer if they took Vytorin instead of a placebo.

Dr. Allen J. Taylor of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center makes a stinging indictment of Zetia. “The only place people should be taking it is in a clinical trial," he told the Times. What an incredible commentary on a drugs that has been available for six years and had more that $5.2 billion in sales last year.

Our lawyers are not looking at Vytorin and Zetia lawsuits at this time because there is more research that needs to be done. But if you would like to be kept abreast of information for potential future lawsuits involving Zetia or Vytorin, click here and send us your email address with a request for information as it becomes available.

The Court of Appeals of Washington in Shoemake v. Ferrer, 182 P.3rd 992 (2008) considered an interested argument by a defendant in a legal malpractice case. The Defendant lawyers blew a statute of limitations by two days in a serious head on car accident collusion case with a drug driver. This was a guy that really needed a car accident lawyer in Washington that was competent to handle his case.

The problem was that he apparently did not find a competent car accident attorney. Instead, he found a lawyer that ignored State’s Farm’s $ 100,000 offer to pay on Plaintiff’s uninsured motorist claim because he was “was unsure of the legal ramifications of accepting that payment.” The lesson, as always: if you are not qualified to handle a serious car accident case, don’t to it. So many lawyers who don’t handle car accident claims regularly think that they can. It sounds so easy, they think. It is not.

But that is not what is interesting about the case. What is interesting is the Defendant contended successfully to the trial judge that the negligent car accident lawyers were entitled to have the damages awarded reduced by the amount stated in the lawyer’s contingency fee agreement with the client.

That’s pretty outrageous when you think about it. What these lawyers are arguing is that the client, who got creamed by a drunk driver, should have to pay the 40% contingency fee twice, once to him and once to the lawyer he had to sure for legal malpractice. This would knock the victim’s recovery back to 36%. Insane.

The Washington Court of Appeals in Shoemake agreed, citing supporting case law in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota that the client should not be required to pay attorneys’ fees twice for the same recovery.

Seroquel is an antipsychotic medication manufactured by AstraZenica. Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotics medication. Approved in 1997 in the United States, Seroquel is for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. But, as AstraZenica knew and promoted, Seroquel was also prescribed off label to treat patients for dementia, autism, and even anxiety and depression. This accounted for much of the $3.4 billion in sales of Seroquel in 2006 alone.

Seroquel may be efficacious in treating these symptoms. But there are increasing reports about the increased risk of diabetes pancreatitis in patients taking Seroquel. The FDA has warned of diabetes risks from Seroquel and the labeling has changed in Seroquel. Still, Seroquel remains on the market. Seroquel is also associated with hyperglycemia, pancreatitis, ketoacidosis, certain cardiac events, and death.

At a hearing before Congress, FDA drug safety expert Dr. David Graham was asked about concerns he may have about drugs still on the market. Dr. Graham testified that “I would pay careful attention to antipsychotic medications. ... The problem with these drugs are that we know that they are being used extensively off-label in nursing homes to sedate elderly patients with dementia and other types of disorders... But the fact is, is that it increases mortality perhaps by 100 percent. It doubles mortality. So I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation on this and you have probably got 15,000 elderly people in nursing homes dying each year from the off-label use of antipsychotic medications.... With every pill that gets dispensed in a nursing home, the drug company is laughing all the way to the bank."

Doubles mortality. That is absolutely incredible.

Seroquel is not the only cause of diabetes, nursing home deaths, and the other problems associated with Seroquel. But our lawyers believe that this drug company knew these risks were associated with Seroquel and did not do enough to warn doctors and patients of the risks of Seroquel.

Accordingly, our lawyers are investigating Seroquel lawsuits on behalf of victims. But if you have diabetes or you or a loved one has suffered injury or death that you think may be attributable to Seroquel, call one of our Seroquel lawyers for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free online consultation.

Piedmont Medical Center, the hosptial of choice for many South Carolina residents living in York County, Chester County and Lancaster County settled a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit that was set to go to trial next month. According to Rock Hill Herald, a woman had ear surgery and went to the emergency room at Piedmont Medical Center two days laster complaining of numbness in her left leg. The lawsuit contends that a doctor failed to order a blood test that would have properly diagnosed her condition (I'm not sure exactly what the condition was). Unfortunately, the woman slipped into a coma and died. Her family broght a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor, the emergency room group at the hosptial, and Piedmont. The bulk settlement, which was in excess of $1.2 million, was paid by the hosptial.