Injury Law Report

You or a loved one can be seriously injured as a result of pharmacy errors. Prescription medication errors fall into 3 categories:

Most pharmacy errors are harmless, but some can cause serious injury and even death. Don't be a victim. Here are a few tips that you can use immediately to avoid pharmacy errors and injury.

The FDA issued a public health advisory on March 30 to inform patients and others that Norvartis, sponsor of Zelnorm (tegaserod maleate), has agreed to stop selling the drug. As noted in Garrow & Evans’ earlier blog (see Zelnorm (Tegaserod), Causing Injury, Is Pulled From the Market, April 3, 2007), Zelnorm has been removed from the market because a new safety analysis has found a higher chance of heart attack, stroke, and worsening heart chest pain that can become a heart attack in patients treated with Zelnorm compared to those treated with a placebo (sugar pill) they thought was Zelnorm.

A simple mistake by an inattentive pharmacist has costs Alexandria and the Gehrke family a lifetime of harm and injury. As profit and the growth of mega drug stores become a staple of American life, more deadly errors are occurring causing serious and permanent injuries.

Yes. It's called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (also known as EMTALA). EMTALA is a federal statute which governs when and how a patient may be (1) refused treatment or (2) transferred from one hospital to another when he is in an unstable medical condition.

In an act that shocked even seasoned police officers, a local Los Angeles hospital allegedly “dumped” a homeless paraplegic man on a sidewalk on Skid Row. Police said the man, who was dragging a broken colostomy bag behind him, was dumped on the sidewalk Thursday in one of the worst parts of the city by the driver of a hospital van. The area is the same location where city officials say hospitals have dumped the homeless before.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a jury decision to hold Greyhound responsible for a serious injury to one of its passengers that occured shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Johnson & Johnson sells a drug called Remicade. It is prescribed generally for Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis (recently Johnson & Johnson won U.S. approval to market Remicade for ulcerative colitis and psoriasis as well).

The problem is that the drug also can cause liver failure and expose the body to serious infection.

A Texas jury seemed to agree this week that the drug also can cause lupus. It found that the company hid the side effects of its Remicade drug and must pay a woman with lupus symptoms $19.4 million.

Be careful as you shop for any electronic equipment for Christmas. Consumers, for example, have filed claims for injuries sustained because previous versions of the popular Xbox gaming system have caused fires.

For example, a Hollywood, Fla., couple alleges in a lawsuit that a defective Xbox ignited and caused a fire that severely damaged their home.

According to news reports, Richard Steckler and his wife, Lori, claim in their suit, filed July 25 in a Broward County, Florida court, that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft was negligent and also liable under strict liability theory for the damage to their home.

As hard as it is to believe, injuries are occurring to shoppers in large super stores such as Home Depot and Walmart. How are consumers injured while shopping? From falling items stacked high above their heads. These big box retailers place merchandise on shelves way above the heads of unknowing customers --- things such as timber, kitchen sinks and other extremely heavy items. When they fall, these poor customers don't even realize what hit them. In several cases over the past few years, people have died as a result of a corporation's negligence. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration monitors employee safety, but doesn't investigate or record customer injuries and deaths at these stores. So next Saturday morning when you go to the large super hardware store for a few household items, watch out from above.