Defective Drugs and Medical Devices

The newest trend from women taking Ozempic: surprise pregnancies. Women across the country are reporting unexpected pregnancies despite birth control or history fertility problems. These babies are dubbed the “Ozempic babies.” While many women happily welcome their unexpected pregnancies, many also experience alarming side effects, leading many health experts to ask: is Ozempic a dangerous…

The world has always focused on appearances. The beauty of the human body and what it should look like in order for it to be admired has shifted over the centuries. Most recently, reaching popularity in the 90s, there has been a growing desire to be thin. With that desire came the production of weight…

On July 7, 2021, Baxter Healthcare had to recall one of its software programs due to a defect that can cause fatal injury or death. The product in question is the Dose IQ Safety Software, which is a standalone, computer-based software program that healthcare providers use to store dosing information for their patients. Some healthcare…

As the coronavirus pandemic continues into 2021, experts predict the spread of the virus will only slow once a vaccine is readily available and administered to the general population. As the vaccine rollout goes into effect throughout the United States, millions of citizens are in line for vaccination against the COVID-19 virus. The great majority…

What used to be routine but complicated medical tasks undertaken by human beings may soon be performed by moving, talking computerized devices. The future has been arriving in the medical field for some time but it seems that the machines are truly getting ready to take over, and that will create medical liability for a…

No matter how much or how little television you watch, it’s impossible to avoid viewing a commercial about a drug that has caused some type of serious disease. The latest news out of the pharmaceutical industry is the recall of ranitidine drugs, the best known of which is Zantac. The recall is just another in…

CNN reported on July 25, 2019, that Allergan “issued a worldwide recall of Biocell textured breast implants and tissue expanders that have been linked to a rare cancer. The move came after the US Food and Drug Administration requested the manufacturer voluntarily recall the products.” Allergan claimed the recall was in response to global information…

According to a new observational study published in the BMJ in the November 2018 issue, a class of type 2 diabetes medications called sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors has been associated with twice the risk of lower limb amputations compared with other type 2 diabetes medications. The BMJ study reports that SGLT2 inhibitors are associated with…

According to a recent study conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, women who undergo Cesarean sections have been routinely overprescribed opioid (narcotic) pain medications. The study looked at 179 patients who had undergone cesareans at VUMC over an eight-week period to examine opioid prescribing practices and consumption…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suggested that use of the product known as Limbrel may inflict a life-threatening injury to the liver in addition to promoting the development of pancreatitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. In November 2017, the FDA issued a warning concerning Limbrel, which Primus Pharmaceuticals, the company that markets the product, designates…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking on medication errors by changing drug packaging and labeling. Medication errors are a massive problem in the healthcare systems of the United States. The Institute of Medicine reports that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year because of medical errors, and up to 7,000 of…

You have likely heard of, and may well have been a victim of, a cyber security breach where sensitive, personal information was hacked from the servers of a bank, a credit bureau or even a major health care insurer. Medical devices such as pacemakers and insulin pumps are now connected to wireless networks so that…

Medication errors are a significant problem in modern health care. Also called adverse drug events (ADE), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that ADE’s account for nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. The AHRQ also reports that approximately 5% of hospitalized patients will experience an ADE making them…

A pacemaker is a medical device, first used in Sweden in the 1950s, for patients with heart problems. The device sends electrical impulses that help stabilize patients who have irregular heartbeats. Implanting a pacemaker is usually performed by a cardiologist or a surgeon. Unfortunately, some pacemakers have flaws which can cause death, heart attacks, or…

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 to treat cancer breakthrough pain, but with additional safety measures. The dangerous drug was prescribed and dispensed in the form of transdermal patches and lozenges. Today, however, many of the cases of fentanyl-related injuries may be attributed to counterfeit fentanyl, which is sold on the black market…

On November 1, 2016, a California woman named Chrystal Austin filed a lawsuit against Bristol Meyers-Squibb after having suffered excessive financial losses linked to a compulsive gambling problem caused by the drug Abilify. Ms. Austin claims that the drug maker failed to warn consumers about the impulse control side-effects before it caused her significant financial…

An estimated 15 million Americans use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are sold by prescription and over-the-counter under a variety of brand names, including Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid. The PPIs lower the acid in your body and help fight off heartburn or acid reflux disease. A study was published on Jan 11 2016 in JAMA…

The Zika virus has been all over the news lately as concerns about the spread of the mosquito-borne virus move towards full-blown panic, as the virus has been linked anecdotally to microcephaly, a frightening birth defect. Symptoms of the Zika virus are mild and last for a few days to week and include fever, rash,…

Last September, we discussed how defective IVC filters were linked with as many as 27 deaths and thousands of problems that required surgery. The manufacturer knew that the IVC filter could cause potentially fatal problems soon after it was released for sale, but they kept it on the market for five more years. In December…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken action to warn consumers about the risks involved with surgical mesh devices that are implanted to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP). On January 4, 2016, the FDA issued two final order to manufacturers of these devices. The first was to re-classify transvaginal mesh devices from class…

When you visit your doctor for an illness or a disease, and they prescribe a drug that is supposed to ease your symptoms or cure your illness, you more than likely take the prescription to your local pharmacy, and take the pills as directed. Many Americans blithely assume that the FDA is making sure that…

The most common New Year’s resolutions always involve health: this will be the year we eat better, exercise more, and quit our bad habits. For many people, the overall goal is to lose weight – thus explaining the increase in gym memberships each January – and some people choose to take weight loss supplements to…

Sometimes when a child is born with a birth defect or a cognitive impairment, there seems to be no reason why. Other times, that child might have been the victim of medical negligence, or exposed to a substance which permanently altered their body chemistry or their brain. Discovering the “whys” is often one of the…

Opioids, or narcotic pain medication, is the strongest pain killer available. Doctors typically prescribe opioids for the most severe pain that cannot be helped by other pain relief medications. The problem with these powerful medications is that they are dangerous because of the risk of death by overdose, or addiction and other side-effects. Opioids work…