Lawsuits you should know about

When going through menopause, women often suffer many side effects such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal itching and dryness. Prempro is a hormone therapy made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals that will help lessen those symptoms. Women who are going through a natural menopause can benefit from Prempro’s hormone replacement therapy, which is a combination of estrogens and a progestin.

Since 1995, millions of women have taken Prempro, making it one of the leading hormone replacement therapy drugs on the market. In 2001 alone, Prempro resulted in $890 million dollars in sales for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

However, there have been studies that have shown that while Prempro does relieve the symptoms of menopause, it can also increase the risk of stroke, blood clots, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and breast cancer. A study of the drug’s usage began in 1991 and it was conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). It started as a 15-year study to find a way to prevent heart disease, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis. Over 161,000 postmenopausal women were involved in the study. One part of the study involved almost 17.000 women taking an estrogen plus progestin therapy (Prempro) or a placebo. The idea was to determine if Prempro would help prevent heart disease but also determine if the benefits of using Prempro outweighed the risks.

After only 5 years, the study was stopped. So risky was this study that the National Institute of Health (NIH) decided to cancel it to protect the participants. A result showed that not only was Prempro not helpful in preventing heart disease, but it increased the chances of breast cancer. It is believed that women who have taken Prempro have a 29% higher chance of having a heart attack, are 41% more likely to suffer a stroke, and have a 26% higher chance of getting breast cancer.

As a result of this study, there are now lawsuits being filed against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. The lawsuits claim that Wyeth knew that Prempro had hazardous side effects and failed to describe them in their packaging. In addition, Wyeth failed to remove the drug from the market after the study results became known.

In July 2002, a class action suit was filed against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals by women who were prescribed Prempro. The lawsuit seeks not only compensation for women who suffered side effects such as heart attacks or breast cancer due to Prempro use, but also to get medical monitoring to screen for breast cancer and dementia for all patients who have taken the drug. The lawsuit also hopes to make the risks of taking Prempro known to the public as it has yet to be taken off the market. In May 2005, a woman from Baltimore filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Wyeth, claiming that her breast cancer resulted from having taken Prempro. She is asking for $30 million in damages.

If you, a family member, or a friend has taken Prempro, you may be eligible to get in on the class action suit. Even if you have not suffered any side effects from the drug, you will still want to get future medical monitoring for potential side effects. Contact a lawyer for more information about the Prempro class action lawsuit.

Trasylol is the brand name used by Bayer to sell the drug Aprotinin. Also known as bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor or BPTI, Trasylol is a protein that is used in medication to reduce bleeding during a complicated surgery. It works by slowing down the process fibrinolysis, which leads to the breakdown of blood clots. Trasylol is used to keep down the number of blood transfusions need while also decrease end-organ damage due to low blood pressure that can result due to major blood loss. Initial studies showed that in the case of cardiac surgery that might cause a great loss of blood, Trasylol significantly reduced the bleeding.

However, during the fourteen years it was on the market, there was controversy surrounding the use of Trasylol. In September 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the Bayer did not reveal during testimony that one of their studies showed the use of Trasylol carried great risks. The study showed that the use of Trasylol could increase the risk of death due to heart attack, strokes, kidney or renal failure and encephalopathy. The FDA was tipped off to these findings by one of the study researchers. On October 3, 2006, the FDA issued a statement of concern and asked physicians consider limiting use of Trasylol, especially in cases where the associated risks would outweigh any benefits.

On October 25, 2006, the FDA said that the use of Trasylol may increase the risk of death and on October 29, 2006, the FDA issued a warning that Trasylol may have serious kidney or cardiovascular toxicity. Bayer reported to the FDA that additional studies showed that using Trasylol might increase the chances of death, serious kidney damage, congestive heart failure, and strokes. On November 5, 2007, Bayer decided to withdraw Trasylol from the market after a Canadian study showed that the use increased the risk of death during heart surgery. Studies published in early 2008 showed that the increased risk of death could be between 32% and 64% higher.

On February 17, 2008, “60 Minutes” aired an episode that showed that as far back as the early 1980s, there were concerns about the use of Trasylol. Dr. Nicholas Kouchoukos, a top heart surgeon, conducted his own study of 20 patients given Trasylol and found that of those, 13 patients experienced problems with their kidney function after being give the medication. It is believed that as many as 22,000 deaths may have occurred due to the use of Trasylol.

Approximately 4.5 million people worldwide were given Trasylol during the fourteen years the drug was on the market, with a third of those patients residing in the United States. The widow of open-heart surgery patient Joseph Randone filed suit against Bayer after her husband died from the effects of Trasylol only eight months after his surgery. It was after this first lawsuit that Bayer finally decided to pull Trasylol off the market. Since then, there have been many more lawsuits filed by people who have lost loved ones due to the use of Trasylol and also by people who survived being given Trasylol, but have suffered kidney or renal failure or had a heart attack or stroke.

If you have undergone heart surgery and were given Trasylol then later developed kidney or renal failure and now require dialysis treatment or suffered from a heart attack or stroke, you should contact a lawyer to see if you have a suit against Bayer. If a loved one passed away after being given Trasylol before heart surgery, you may want to talk to a lawyer about the specifics to see if you have a case against Bayer.

The company that created Airborne, a dietary/herbal supplement once touted to prevent or ward off the common cold, settled a class action lawsuit for 23.3 million dollars. The suit was brought against them in March 2006, with the non profit group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) joining the suit in late 2006 as co-counsel.

Airborne has sales of more than $300 million a year. The product was created by a teacher, Victoria Knight-McDowell. Many people purchased the product based on claims made by the company that were described in the class action lawsuit as false. In the words of the CSPI it just doesn’t work.

The ABC morning program Good Morning America launched an investigation into the product and its claims and into a supposed scientific study that was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of Airborne. It turns out that the study was done by two people who formed a venture to perform this study. In fact the one individual who claimed to be a graduate of Indiana University never graduated. This detail was revealed in today’s report on Good Morning America.

Airborne said they settled the class action lawsuit to avoid further distractions. Claims that the product can prevent or cure the common cold have been removed from packages. The company will pay for advertising in major media outlets to describe how consumers can get a refund for purchase of the product.

If you have receipts for your purchase of Airborne, the company will refund all of your purchases no matter how many made. If you don’t have receipts, the company will refund you for the purchase of six packages, estimated to be about $63 by the reporter on Good Morning America. Instructions and details of how to obtain your refunds will be included in the advertising done by Airborne.

The Federal Trade Commission and several states have initiated their own investigations into the company that produces Airborne based on the lawsuit.

If you purchased diamonds between 1994 and March 2006, you may be eligible for a refund. De Beers, the diamond mining and trading company that is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world, has settled a class action lawsuit for $295 million dollars. The lawsuit started when plaintiffs from several states filed lawsuits at both the state and federal court level. The lawsuit stated that De Beers unlawfully monopolized the supply of diamonds and thus so, tried to raise and control the price of diamonds. While the De Beers did settle the lawsuit, they still deny violating any law or misleading the public in any way. However, they did agree to refrain from certain conduct that could violate state and federal antitrust laws.

The lawsuit is open to people or businesses that bought loose gem diamonds or jewelry in the United States. It has two classes: Direct Purchaser Class and Indirect Purchaser Class. The direct purchasers include those who purchased diamonds directly from De Beers, while the indirect purchaser’s class is those who bought diamonds from someone other than De Beers. The indirect purchaser’s class is also broken down into two types – consumers and resellers.

Under the agreement, $22.5 million of the lawsuit monies is to be distributed to the direct purchaser class. The remaining amount, approximately $272.5 million dollars, is to be distributed to the indirect purchaser class. The lawsuit states you must have purchased a diamond product between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006. It classifies a diamond product in one of three ways:

Gem Diamonds – This diamond meets certain standards for color, clarity, and quality so it can be used in a piece of jewelry. It can be a rough diamond (uncut or partially cut) or a polished diamond (cut and polished), but cannot include man-made or industrial use diamonds.

Diamond Jewelry – This includes any piece of jewelry such as a ring, a necklace, earrings, cufflinks, watch, or pen that contains gem diamonds.

Other Diamond Products – This includes any other product that contains gem diamonds.

You can either submit the appropriate form online or mail it in. If you are in the indirect purchaser consumer subclass, you can complete the consumer claim form by clicking on this link. You will not need to provide any purchase documentation when submitting the form unless you are claiming to have purchased a diamond or piece of jewelry that cost more than $10,000. However, once your claim form is received and reviewed, you may be asked to show documentation.

If you are a member of the indirect purchaser reseller subclass, click here for that form. People who are a part of the direct purchaser class can complete that form by clicking here. You may also request all forms by calling the Diamonds Claim administrator at 1-800-760-5431.

All online forms must be submitted by May 19, 2008 and all mail-in forms must be postmarked no later than May 19, 2008.

Dannon Activia is a yogurt that claims to help regulate your digestive system. The difference between Dannon and most other yogurts is Dannon contains probiotic bacteria. Probiotic bacteria are live bacteria that are supposed to not only help regulate your digestion, but also help improve your immune system. Probiotic bacteria can be found naturally in your intestinal tract, but scientists say that as you age, good bacteria such as probiotic will decrease. Dannon has claimed their yogurt will help replenish the good bacterium to your system, thus improving your health.

These yogurts with probiotic bacteria have helped boost Dannon’s sales. It is expected that in 2008, Activia and DanActive (another yogurt by Dannon with a different bacteria that claims to “help strengthen your body’s defense”) will produce about 40% of the company’s yogurt business. In its first year of release, Dannon grossed approximately $100 million from this yogurt line.

However, a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles federal court is saying Dannon fooled consumers into paying more for Activia based on the false advertising campaign. The lawsuit seeks to reimburse consumers as well as have Dannon correct their advertising campaign. While the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization says probiotics have a beneficial health effect, it must be backed up by research. The Food and Drug Administration does not get involved in such claims, but rather looks for labels in which a product claims to equate the probiotic products with disease-curing drugs.

The lawsuit against Dannon says that even their own studies failed to prove that Activia has health benefits superior to other brands of yogurt. Yet, Dannon has stated these yogurts were proven “clinically” and “scientifically” to have health benefits. In the lawsuit, it is mentioned that Dannon charges about 30% more for the Activia and DanActive yogurt lines than other yogurts. The lawsuit also contains scientific reports showing that there is no conclusive evidence proving that probiotic bacteria can benefit adults. One such report was released by the American Academy of Microbiology, which states, “At present, the quality of probiotics available to consumers in food products around the world is unreliable.”

Trish Weiner filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles on January 23, saying that the “only effect that it had on me was that it tasted poorly.” Weiner’s lawyer, Tim Blood, with the San Diego firm Coughlin Stoia, said, “Companies are getting more and more aggressive in their advertising claims. They end up playing off people’s general fears and concerns.” He claims Weiner suffered an “economic injury” and believes if settled, the lawsuit could amount to as much as $300 million dollars.

You can read dannon’s response to the lawsuit here.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to treat menopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women. It is used to help prevent discomfort (such as hot flashes or night sweats) and health problems that occur due to diminished circulating estrogen and progesterone hormones. When a woman receives HRT, she usually gets a series of drugs that help artificially boost her estrogen, progesterone (or progestins), and perhaps even testosterone hormone levels.

Three of the drugs often used in HRT are Premarin, Provera, and Prempro. Permarin is the commercial name for a drug that consists of conjugated estrogens. Provera is a medication used to replace progesterone or progestins in the body. Prempro is a hormone therapy drug that combines both estrogen and progestin.

Almost two-thirds of all breast cancers are either estrogen-receptor positive (ER positive) or progesterone-receptor positive (PR positive). Several studies have linked the use of HRT with an increased chance of breast cancer. Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) released their findings of an HRT study in 2002. It said that women who used the combined HRT – that has both estrogen and progestin – carried not only an increased chance of breast cancer, but also heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and urinary incontinence.

One study done by Public Health Sciences (PHS) said that women who take HRT for five years or more have doubled their risk of developing breast cancer. The study found that these women are not only twice as likely to develop breast cancer, but as they continue their combined estrogen and progestin HRT, the risk of breast cancer increases.

In 2003, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center published a report that said women over the age of 65 who have taken the combined HRT for five to fifteen years or fifteen or more years face a 100 percent increase in breast cancer risk. One thing that prompted the researchers to study women over the age of 65, specifically age 65 to 79, was that this group of women were accounting for more than a third of all newly diagnosed breast cancer malignancies in the U.S.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2002 that the findings of many of these studies were known to the public. At that time, it is believed that about 13 million women were on HRT and as soon as the studies began to show the link to breast cancer, many quit their therapies cold turkey. By 2003, the rate of breast cancer in women ages 50-69 began to decline, and many researchers believed it was due to the reduced use of HRT.

However, there were millions of women that were on HRT for a long time before the studies. These women are now filing lawsuits against the makers of the HRT drugs. In 2007, Scharlotte Fitzgerald filed a federal lawsuit against Pfizer and Wyeth. She began taking their HRT drugs in 1994. In 2001, before the studies were made public, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is seeking $75,000 in damages claiming negligence and saying the companies failed to warn her of the risks of taking HRT. Betty Wynn began HRT in 1998 and only stopped taking the therapy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. She too is suing Pfizer and Wyeth. In Betty’s home state of Arkansas, there are about 4,400 cases against the makers of the HRT drugs.

This year, a Nevada jury found Wyeth liable of negligence, product defect, and causation. They awarded three plaintiffs $35 million in compensatory damages and $99 million in punitive damages.

If you or someone you know was taking Premarin, Provera, and/or Prempro as part of hormone replacement therapy before 2002 and now suffers from breast cancer, they may have a case against the drug manufacturers. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible to see if they have a case.

Ortho Evra is a contraception patch manufactured by Ortho-McNeil, a New Jersey subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. When placed on your skin, this patch releases synthetic estrogen and progestin hormones to help prevent pregnancy. It can be applied to a woman’s upper outer arm, buttocks, abdomen or thigh. After seven days, the patch is removed and another is applied. This pattern is repeated three times then the patch is removed for seven days. It is believed that the patch is just as effective at preventing pregnancy as the oral contraceptive pills.

There are side effects with the Ortho Evra patch. In a clinical trial, 12% of the women suffered side effects from the patch including nausea and vomiting, a reaction on the skin the patch was placed one, breast discomfort, menstrual cramps, abdominal pain, and headache. However, some people believe that the patch is not safe and can cause a stroke, thrombosis (a blood clot), or pulmonary embolism.

All contraceptive methods that release estrogen list blood clots as a risk because estrogen promotes blood coagulation. However, users of the Ortho Evra patch may be more susceptible to a blood clot than users of other hormonal birth control methods. Some research suggests that users of the patch may be up to two or three times more likely to suffer from a serious or even fatal blood clot as those who take oral contraceptives.

In 2004, the Associated Press (AP) printed an article in which it said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received reports that patch users might be three times more susceptible to fatal events such as a blood clot as compared to oral contraceptive users. Out of the 800,000 women using the Ortho Evra patch in 2004, about a dozen, most of who were in their late teens or early 20s, died of blood clots that were believed to be related to the use of the Ortho Evra patch. Other users suffered strokes and other blood clot related problems that were not fatal.

Some doctors were shocked by the reports, but others said that some deaths are expected and that over four million women had safely used the patch. Those shocked by the report believe that the use of the patch should be further investigated and that the FDA knew there was a high chance of blood clots before the patch was approved.

After these reports, the warning label included with the Ortho Evra patch was revised to read “Most side effects of the Patch are not serious and those that are, occur infrequently. Serious risks, which can be life threatening, include blood clots, stroke and heart attacks and are increased if you smoke cigarettes.”

However, several lawsuits have been filed by the families of women using the patch who died from blood clots or other injuries. On September 2, 2005, a Georgia woman who suffered a pulmonary embolism filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in New Jersey. Another woman, a young mother who is paralyzed after suffering a stroke, also filed a lawsuit. In Wisconsin, the parents of a 14-year-old girl who died from a blood clot have filed a lawsuit, claiming the blood clot was due to the use of the patch. At least 23 lawsuits have been filed claiming that the use of the Ortho Evra patch resulted in death.

If you or someone you know has used the Ortho Evra patch and has suffered from blood clots, a heart attack, or a stroke, you should contact a lawyer about a possible lawsuit against the makers.

Chantix is a drug used to help people kick their smoking addiction. It differs from other cessation drugs such as zyban or the nicotine patches and gum in that it is a nicotine receptor partial agonist, the first approved by the FDA. It’s purpose is two-fold: it not only reduces the craving for nicotine, but it also decreases the pleasurable effects derived from cigarettes and other tobacco products. It was approved for sale in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2006. However, there have recently been lawsuits filed by those that used Chantix and suffered severe side effects.

The most common side effects of Chantix are nausea, vomiting, headache, insomnia, abnormal dreams, flatulence, and dysgeusia (an altercation in taste). However, some patients who used Chantix had more severe side effects such as thoughts of suicide and suicidal or otherwise erratic behavior. Because the drug is so new, it is unknown whether these side effects are the result of withdrawal from nicotine or due to the drug itself. The FDA has since released a notice advising health care professionals to observe patients for change in behavior when taking Chantrix.

One of the most high profile cases of the severe effects that may be caused by Chantix is that of Carter Albrecht. Albrecht was a guitarist and keyboardist with the band Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians. He died September 3, 2007 after being shot in the head by a neighbor as he tried to kick in his door.

Earlier that day, Albrecht had been having drinks with his girlfriend Ryann Rathbone at a local Dallas bar. After he become intoxicated, Rathbone drove Albrecht to their home where they both took their dose of Chantix. After that, Albrecht became incoherent and violent, breaking a glass and hitting Rathbone. When Rathbone left the house, Albrecht followed and she locked him out. He pounded on the door then went next door and began pounding on the neighbor’s door. The neighbor warned Albrecht to stop and fired a warning shot through the door, which hit Albrecht. Family and friends say that this type of violent behavior was atypical of Albrecht and believe that the use of Chantix caused the events.

Albrecht’s case is not the only one of normally calm people reacting violently and erratically after taking Chantix. If you or someone you know has had behavioral changes since taking Chantix, you may want to contact a lawyer about a lawsuit against Pfizer.

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, also known as (TEN), is a rare disease which can be life threatening. It is a condition which effects the skin and is seen more in women than in men. Elderly people are much more likely to suffer from this disease due to the increased amounts of medication they take.

TEN is a much more severe form of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which is known as (SJS). While SJS only effects 10% of the skin on the body, TEN effects 90%. The patient will begin to receive blisters on the body which will soon begin fuse together, spreading across the body. The skin may also begin to peel or slightly hang off the surface.

The layers under the skin may appear to be a bright red, which indicates that it is being inflamed. The eyes, mouth, or throat will also severely be effected, and even though the condition is often found in the elderly, individuals of any age can suffer from this condition. The most common cause of this disease is due to taking certain types of medications. (more…)

Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a severe disease which effects the skin and the mucous membrane of the victim. The disease can be life threatening, and is closely related to other dangerous blistering disorders. The disease is quite rare, and there has been contention among doctors about how SJS relates to similar disorders.

SJS has now been placed into its own category as a separate blistering disease. SJS is a less serious form of toxic epidermal necrolysis. There are many clinical symptoms for SJS that one must be aware of. The patient will typically get a fever, and they may also suffer from a sore throat or painful headaches. After this the patient will begin to have annular blisters which may cover a portion or the entire skin on their bodies.

The blisters usually start out small and on one area of the skin, but will soon spread and become much larger. It is also possible that this disorder may endanger the eyesight of the patient. In situations where the eyes of the patient are threatened, an ophthalmologist may need to be called to offer assistance.

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