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I have dedicated my law practice for the last 25 years to the wrongfully injured and their families. The purpose of this blog is not to provide legal advice. If you need legal help you can contact me at cplacitella@cprlaw.com or visit our website at www.cprlaw.com. Thank You

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Disparity Emerges in Lilly Data on Schizophrenia Drug - New York Times: "Disparity Emerges in Lilly Data on Schizophrenia Drug
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By ALEX BERENSON
Published: December 21, 2006
For at least a year, Eli Lilly provided information to doctors about the blood-sugar risks of its drug Zyprexa that did not match data that the company circulated internally when it first reviewed its clinical trial results, according to company documents.
The original results showed that patients on Zyprexa, Lilly’s pill for schizophrenia, were 3.5 times as likely to experience high blood sugar levels as those taking a placebo, according to a February 2000 memo sent to top Lilly scientists. The memo is one of hundreds of internal Lilly documents provided to The New York Times by a lawyer in Alaska who represents mentally ill patients."

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Lawsuits pile up against B&L over lens solution: "
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Published: December 14. 2006 3:00AM
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Lawsuits pile up against B&L over lens solution
Rare fungal infection leads to eye surgeries
December 14, 2006
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Janice McConnell of Frazer, Pa., underwent an eye-saving cornea transplant operation this year after contracting a rare fugal infection in her left eye while using a contact lens solution made by Bausch & Lomb Inc. (RUSTY KENNEDY/Associated Press)The brown iris of Janice McConnell's ravaged left eye has turned pale blue. The vision in Gina Macchia's right eye, with its grossly enlarged pupil, is limited to light and shadows.
Both women underwent eye-saving, cornea-transplant surgery this year. They lost months away from their jobs, wear sunglasses to avoid stares and battle a toxic mix of anger, fatigue and frustration.
'Some days I get a little down, but I cope with it. I hang on to some hope that I'm going to see again out of that eye,' said McConnell, a job-program coordinator in Frazer, Pa.
The culprit, a fungal infection so rare that most eye doctors had never seen a case, sent a cold shiver through contact lens wearers around the world. Hundreds of people said they contracted the dangerous microbe while using a new multipurpose lens solution made by Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb Inc.
Consumer lawsuits against Bausch & Lomb have been piling up in U.S. courts, and the debacle could drag down the optical products company's finances for years. Lawyers now expect 500 to 700 people will seek damages for Fusarium keratitis infections in trials beginning as early as next summer."

Monday, December 18, 2006

Eli Lilly Said to Play Down Risk of Top Pill - New York Times: "Eli Lilly Said to Play Down Risk of Top Pill
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By ALEX BERENSON
Published: December 17, 2006
The drug maker Eli Lilly has engaged in a decade-long effort to play down the health risks of Zyprexa, its best-selling medication for schizophrenia, according to hundreds of internal Lilly documents and e-mail messages among top company managers.
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Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Zyprexa is Lilly’s top-selling drug, with sales of $4.2 billion last year.

Joshua Borough for The New York Times
James B. Gottstein, a lawyer who represents the mentally ill, said the documents about Zyprexa’s side effects raised public health issues. The documents, given to The Times by a lawyer representing mentally ill patients, show that Lilly executives kept important information from doctors about Zyprexa’s links to obesity and its tendency to raise blood sugar — both known risk factors for diabetes.
Lilly’s own published data, which it told its sales representatives to play down in conversations with doctors, has shown that 30 percent of patients taking Zyprexa gain 22 pounds or more after a year on the drug, and some patients have reported gaining 100 pounds or more. But Lilly was concerned that Zyprexa’s sales would be hurt if the company was more forthright about the fact that the drug might cause unmanageable weight gain or diabetes, according to the documents, which cover the period 1995 to 2004. "

Law.com - Another Quick Vioxx Verdict for Merck in Ala. Trial: "Another Quick Vioxx Verdict for Merck in Ala. Trial
Jay Reeves
The Associated Press
December 18, 2006
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State court jurors sided with drug manufacturer Merck & Co. last week and rejected the claims of an Alabama man who blamed the painkiller Vioxx for a heart attack in 2001.
Attorneys for Gary Albright, 57, had told jurors he should receive as much as $5.75 million in his lawsuit, filed last year.
But a jury of eight women and four men rejected Albright's claims that Vioxx caused his heart attack and that the company failed to reveal potential dangers of the drug before pulling it from the market in 2004.
Deliberations took only 1 1/2 hours; it was the second time in three days that a jury came back with a quick verdict for Merck in a trial over Vioxx. "

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

STLtoday - Business: "ENVIRONMENT: Honeywell agrees to pay $50 million to Georgians


11/29/2006

Honeywell International Inc., the world's largest maker of airplane controls, will pay $50 million to settle lawsuit claims that a predecessor company polluted land and water outside a chemical plant in Brunswick, Ga.

Honeywell will pay $25 million to a group of more than 200 property owners along the Turtle River in Brunswick and $25 million to the board of commissioners of Glynn County. Honeywell also agreed to accelerate its cleanup of the plant site, plaintiffs' attorney John Bell said."

Law.com - Supreme Court Rejects Reinstatement of $10.1 Billion Cigarette Verdict: "Supreme Court Rejects Reinstatement of $10.1 Billion Cigarette Verdict
The Associated Press
November 28, 2006
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The U.S. Supreme Court sided with one of the largest U.S. tobacco companies on Monday and refused to disturb a court ruling that threw out a $10.1 billion verdict over Philip Morris USA's 'light' cigarettes.
The Court issued its order without comment.
Last year, the Illinois Supreme Court threw out the massive fraud judgment against Philip Morris, a unit of the Altria Group Inc., in a class action lawsuit that involved 'light' cigarettes.
Because the Federal Trade Commission allowed companies to characterize their cigarettes as 'light' and 'low tar,' Philip Morris could not be held liable under state law even if the terms it used could be found false or misleading, the state court said. "

Jurors award $15 million in lawsuit against automaker - iht,business,US Ford Verdict - Business - International Herald Tribune: "Jurors award $15 million in lawsuit against automaker
The Associated PressPublished: November 21, 2006

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TULSA, Oklahoma: The parents of a teenager who died in the crash of a 1995 Ford Explorer Sport have won a $15 million (€11.7 million) verdict in their federal lawsuit against the automaker.
A federal jury returned the verdict against Ford Motor Co. Monday in a product-liability lawsuit that claimed the vehicle's roof was not strong enough.
Tyler Moody, 18, was killed Jan. 7, 2003, when he lost control of the sport utility vehicle while he was passing another vehicle in a no- passing zone on a curve, according to a Nov. 14 order by U.S. Chief District Judge Claire Eagan. The SUV left the road and rolled at least 1 1/2 times, coming to rest on its roof."

Law.com - DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay Brake Repairman $20M in Asbestos Verdict: "DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay Brake Repairman $20M in Asbestos Verdict
The Associated Press
November 29, 2006
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DaimlerChrysler Corp. must pay $20 million to a retired police officer and brake repairman whose right lung was removed because of cancer caused by asbestos, a jury ruled.
A jury in Manhattan's state Supreme Court ruled that Alfred D'Ulisse, 73, of North Massapequa, N.Y., and his wife were owed a total of $25 million, D'Ulisse's lawyer Jerry Kristal said Monday.
DaimlerChrysler was found to be 10 percent liable for D'Ulisse's cancer, but will be responsible for a total of 80 percent of the damages because two other companies found to be liable no longer exist, Kristal said.
DaimlerChrysler, which makes cars under the Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler brands, issued a statement saying the case was built on 'junk science' and accused Justice Louis B. York of 'improper rulings.' The company said it was confident last week's verdict would be reversed on appeal.
DaimlerChrysler was responsible for the amount owed by the now-defunct companies because the jury found that the automaker acted with reckless disregard for the safety of others, Kristal said. "

Cancer chemotherapy is shown to impair the brain - Los Angeles Times: "Cancer chemotherapy is shown to impair the brain
Findings that it can kill cells and cause areas to shrink lend support to patients' reports of feeling mental effects.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
December 1, 2006


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Cancer chemotherapy can impair the brain, killing crucial neural cells and causing key parts of the organ to shrink, according to two studies released this week.

The new findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that 'chemo brain' — the mental fuzziness, memory loss and cognitive impairment often reported by cancer patients but often dismissed by oncologists — is a serious problem.

'Those of us on the front lines have known this for a long time, but now we have some neuropathological evidence that what we are seeing involves an anatomic change,' said Dr. Stewart Fleishman, director of cancer supportive services at Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. "

Man Sues J&J, Subsidiary Over Stent: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Man Sues Johnson & Johnson, Subsidiary Over Drug-Coated Stent
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A man has sued Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary for allegedly failing to warn him of complications that could be caused by drug-coated stents placed in his arteries.
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The allegations come as the Food and Drug Administration cited studies this week showing drug-coated stent recipients face a small but significant blood clot risk. The lattice-shaped tubes prop open clogged arteries. Unlike older, bare-metal stents, newer ones use drugs that dissolve into the bloodstream to prevent tissue re-growth.
Sean O'Shea, 46, alleges Johnson & Johnson was aware of potential complications from the product before it gained FDA approval in 2003, and that the company failed to warn patients and doctors. His lawsuit seeks unspecified damages."