A recent and large Palm Beach County med mal verdict brings to mind the case of Bethany Morris in our office – a little girl scheduled for office surgery to remove a port wine stain from her face. A “dental block” was applied as an anesthetic but the surgeon had no oxygen to help deal […]
SCOTUS court watchers were a little shocked that the Court blocked the Purdue Pharma / Sackler settlement – even if temporarily – and there is a lot of buzz about how they will answer this question: whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to approve, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 […]
It isn’t easy to develop evidence that your surgeon was under the influence. I know. I’ve done it. In a 49-page opinion comparing the saga to both a traditional opera and a TV soap opera, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Philip J. Ignelzi said that while rival doctors Jonathan D’Cunha and Lara Schaheen […]
FDA’s black box drug warnings can be powerful evidence in medical malpractice cases. But in Florida, they probably aren’t enough to relieve the requirement to have expert witness testimony. An Arizona appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit alleging a urologist negligently prescribed an antibiotic that caused harmful side effects to a patient, saying medical […]
Shortages of critical medications continue to rise—including drugs used in hospital emergency rooms and to treat cancer, prescription medications, and even common over-the-counter treatments like children’s cold and flu medicine. The number of active drug shortages in the U.S. reached a peak of 295 at the end of 2022. However, drug shortages are not a […]
Link to the DOJ announcement below: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, June 5, 2019 Opioid Manufacturer Insys Therapeutics Agrees to Enter $225 Million Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations
In my line of work, these kinds of cases often show up as patients who suffered adverse events because they “fell through the cracks” (an awful euphemism for getting substandard care). Our latest surveys of pharmacists, patients and providers to inform the upcoming 2023 Medication Access Report, support this. The surveys found that patients and […]
A BMJ study published in 2015 concluded that High LDL-C is inversely associated with mortality in most people over 60 years. This finding is inconsistent with the cholesterol hypothesis. You can find the BMJ study here: Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review While […]
From New Hampshire’s DOJ: In 2018, the state filed a complaint against J&J, alleging the company misrepresented their opioids as safer than other alternatives in their aggressive marketing campaign to prescribers and patients in New Hampshire. The state further alleged that J&J misrepresented their opioids as rarely addictive, negligently promoted the concept of pseudoaddiction, and […]
I keep track of the successes and losses of opioid victims. While many victims have logged successes, courts continue to shield Big Pharma in some cases. Here is one of my favorite (and shortest) posts on my blog about the opioid epidemic and its aftermath. Normal Like You (More Opioid Fallout: Pharmacies Are Next On […]
