Health & Safety Issues in Orlando | Orlando Legal Examiner

Merck Told to Pay $9million in Punitive and Compensatory Damages

Merck, the manufacturer of the pain killer Vioxx, has been ordered to pay $9 million in punitive and compensatory damages by a New Jersey jury. The verdict came after a jury concluded that the drug maker knowingly misled regulators about its troubled painkiller. Merck has stated that it will appeal

By The Legal Examiner

/ 11 Apr 2006

Tampa's VA Hospital Failure to Sterilize

In an investigation made public yesterday, officials at Tampa’s James A. Haley VA Medical Center disclosed that two cranial implants were not properly sterilized prior to surgery. This is a very serious failure on the part of the hospital and calls into question the basic care patients at the facili

By The Legal Examiner

/ 11 Apr 2006

First Guidant Defibrillator Trial Postponed

The first Guidant defective defibrillator trial has been postponed because one of the witnesses is unavailable due to the Passover holiday. The judge has said that the case will most likely resume in July.

By The Legal Examiner

/ 11 Apr 2006

NJ Appeals Court Upholds Vioxx Class Action Status

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 1 Apr 2006

Guidant's Own Commission Critical of Flaws

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 21 Mar 2006

Company Draws Fire for Using Blood Substitute Without Patients' Consent

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 20 Mar 2006

Tampa VA Doc Uses Unsterilized Implant

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 15 Mar 2006

Vioxx Docs Lobbied by Merck Now Its Foes

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 14 Mar 2006

Guidant Issues New Implant Warning

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 14 Mar 2006

Guidant Corp. Cited by Senate Committee

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

By The Legal Examiner

/ 13 Mar 2006

Guidant Consultant Advised Company to Release Defect Data

A Guidant Corporationconsultant told the medical device company that it had an ethical obligation to inform doctors of defects in its defibrillator device. Dr. Richard N. Fogoros, also told company executives that their decision to withhold such data, while statistically defensible, was questionable

By The Legal Examiner

/ 10 Mar 2006

FDA Panel Recommends Tysabri

An FDA panel has recommended that the risky and controversial MS drug Tysabri be returned to the market. The panel argued that the decision to use the drug should be made by the doctor and the patient, in spite of evidence that the drug causes a deadly brain disease. If the FDA accepts the panel’s r

By The Legal Examiner

/ 9 Mar 2006