A New Jersey appellate court upheld the national class action status of the Vioxx lawsuits. This is significant for plaintiffs who’ve brought suit against Merck, the manufacturer of the once popular arthritis drug. The lawsuit, which seeks reimbursement for as much as $9.6 billion of Vioxx purchases
A consultant for Wichita Kansas public schools is urging school officials to use prudence when deploying taser stun guns on students. It’s just as important to inform the parents of tased students as well as the local community of such use. In Hillsborough County Florida, letters are sent home to sc
The Florida Legislature seems bent on acquiescing to Governor Bush’s agenda to protect large corporations at the expense of the family and the average consumer. An unfortunate example of this is the current legislation seeking to ban Joint and Several Liabilty. Joint & Several Liability provides a C
As the death toll from Taser use continues to mount across the country, Amnesty International has renewed its call to halt the use of the controversial stun gun. According to the watchdog group, 61 people died after being tasered in the last year. In spite of this, Taser use has increased since 2001
An expert panel commissioned by Guidant Corporation to assess its handling of problems with cardiac medical devices cited the company for failure to properly assess patient safety. The commission noted that Guidant’s decisions were guided by statistical projections provided by engineers rather than
Northfield Laboratories has come under heavy criticism for the unorthodox manner in which it is testing its new blood substitute PolyHeme. However, it’s not the substitute itself that has caused the uproar. It’s the fact that the 31 hospitals around the country participating in the study have failed
Florida police officers would be required to take four hours of training before using the Taser stun gun under HB 303 which was unanimously approved by the Florida House Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee. Presently, no training is required. The training requirement bill surfaced after many p
In a hastily called briefing for Congressional staffers, authorities at the James A. Haley VA Center in Tampa announced that an unsterilized cranial implant was placed into a patient last month. The mistake was nearly duplicated a few weeks later at the same hospital. The hosptial officials waited n
Doctors who had been heavily courted by Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, are now some of the drug’s most outspoken foes. In the ongoing Vioxx trial, doctors have come forward and testified that if they had been told of the potential risks the drug posed, they would never have prescribed the drug to
According to a report published in the NY Times, Guidant Corporation has issued a warning to doctors about possible battery defects in two of its implantable defibrillator devices. The devices in question, the Contak Renewal 3 RF and Renewal 4 RF cardiac defibrillators, have not been implanted in an
Armed with a $650,000 grant from the Department of Justice, two University of South Carolina research professors will undertake a study of the controversial Taser stun gun. The study will focus on the weapon’s safety as well as its ability to reduce injuries to police officers and suspects. The stud
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) has introduced legislation that would toughen penalties for companies and their executives who sold products that cause injury or death. Presently, there are only civil penalties for such behavior. In announcing the legislation, Specter single
