Defective Drugs | InjuryBoard Richmond

The Food and Drug Administration reported last week that the number of deaths associated with heparin, a brand of blood thinner, has risen. The brand of heparin associated with the problems is made by Baxter International. Baxter produces most of the heparin used in the United States. Heparin is made from pig intestines, which, of course, could be supplied by U.S. farmers. Baxter buys its...

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Mesothelioma is an aggressive lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. A New Jersey jury recently returned a $30 million verdict in favor of a 50 year old advertising executive who died from mesothelioma. The decedant's exposure to asbestos was when he worked summer jobs at GM warehouses handling asbestos-containing automotive parts. The decedant's father also worked full-time at the...

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Manufacturers of sterile medical products are supposed to follow strict sterility standards. Unfortunately, there has been a growing number of reports and recalls of contaminated medical products caused by poor quality controls by manufacturers of products required to be sterile. The latest recall involves heparin IV flush syringes found to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, a...

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From Fen Phen, to Rezulin, to Vioxx, to Avandia, the story follows a predictable pattern. The Food and Drug Administration, which currently sees itself as an arm of the pharmaceutical industry rather than a consumer protection agency, approves a drug with little more than reliance upon data provided by the drug manufacturer and advice from FDA advisory panels which are increasingly comprised of...

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Dr. John B. Buse is the chief of endocrinology at the University of North Carolina and is about to become the president of the American Diabetes Association. In 2000, Dr. Buse sent a letter to the FDA warning of the heart risks of the drug Avandia. The letter cited "a worrisome trend in cardiovascular deaths and severe adverse events" among patients using Avandia.A search of the FDA's database...

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Avandia was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999 to treat type 2 diabetes and is used by an estimated two million people worldwide. An article published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that Avandia significantly increased the risk of heart attacks and heart-related deaths. The article prompted the FDA to issue a public safety alert advising users of...

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Michael Baroody, the senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) nominated by President Bush to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), will receive a $150,000.00 payment from NAM when he takes his new government job; a job that involves enforcing consumer laws against members of the association. Sounds like payola to me. Even Baroody characterized the...

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The day after Oxycontin manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, pleaded guilty to criminal charges that it fraudulently marketed Oxycontin for six years as a drug that was less prone to abuse and has fewer narcotic side effects, the U.S. Senate approved by a vote of 93-1 a landmark drug safety bill that would double the number of scientists at the FDA assigned to monitor drugs already on the market for...

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FDA Advisory Boards recommend drugs and medical devices for approval. Their votes can greatly effect drug company profits. Lawyers, advocacy groups, and certain members of Congress (e.g., Sen. Charles Grassley) have for years worried that the drug and device makers have hijacked the FDA's approval process by improperly influencing advisory board members through payment of exorbitant consulting...

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Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a potentially deadly condition in which there is inflammation throughout the whole body. One cause of SIRS is exposure to high levels of endotoxins. A recent outbreak of SIRS deaths in patients who had undergone cardiopulmonary bypass (CPG) surgery at a hospital in Virginia was linked by the Centers for Disease Control to a compounding...

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned parents on Thursday not to give common over-the counter cold remedies to babies and toddlers under two years of age without first consulting a doctor. The active ingredient in cold remedies such as nasal decongestants and cough suppressants is pseudoephendrine. The active ingredient in these products used to be phenylpropanolamine...

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The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), which represents the world's largest drug makers, updated on January 1 its code of ethics for the first time in a decade. The revised code bars drug manufacturers that are members of the federation from lavishing physicians with cash, extravagant all-expenses paid trips, and expensive gifts. Such...

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Many consumers believe that the FDA actually tests presecription drugs for safety and efficacy before such drugs are approved to go on the market. This is not so. In fact, for the most part, the FDA simply reviews information (e.g., animal studies and clinical trials) submitted by the drug manufacturer in the pre-approval process. History is replete with examples of dangerous drugs that...

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