New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The controversial drug propoxyphene, sold under the brand names Darvocet and Darvon, will be withdrawn from the market after 53 years due to serious heart risks, according to an announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 19, 2010. The studies reviewed by the FDA determined that the drug caused dangerous heart electrical changes in otherwise healthy people. The removal of propoxyphene ends a 32 year crusade by the Health Research Group of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group out of Washington, to stop manufacture of the drug.

An FDA advisory committee voted 14-12 to remove the dangerous drug from the market in January of 2009, and it unclear why it took almost 2 additional years before the removal was finally effectuated. Great Britain banned the drug in 2005 and the European Union followed in 2009 after reports of an unusual number of deaths in Florida, where medical examiners do more toxicology studies.

There was some opinion that patients with severe pain might be switched to other medications which could cause more sedation, dizziness and falling. Medications that will most likely be used instead of Darvocet include Extra Strength Tylenol, Tramadol and low doses of hydrocodone or oxycodone. Propoxyphene was the 38th most prescribed drug in 2009 according to SDI/Verispan, a medicine information company, with 17.5 million prescriptions in the United States.

According to John J. Jenkins, director of the Office of New Drugs at the Food & Drug Administration, "the benefits of [propoxyphene] no longer outweigh its serious heart risks." The drug had been on the market since 1957, when it was manufactured by Eli Lilly, which profited in the billions from the drug until it sold the rights to Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals in 2005. Xanodyne voluntarily agreed to withdraw the drug after hearing last week from the FDA.

Continue reading "Darvocet To Be Removed From Market After FDA Findings" »

Many of our clients have suffered injuries in elevators, either by a free falling elevator, an elevator that mis-leveled, or being struck by an elevator door that closed too fast. In older apartment buildings in Manhattan and the Bronx, for example, the elevator doors are frequently manual, and have not been properly maintained. Especially for older clients, they can be struck by a door which comes back at them too fast, often with disastrous results.

If you are injured in an elevator accident, here are six critical things you need to do immediately:

1. Write down the number of the elevator and the any information about the manufacturer contained inside;

2. If there is inspection information posted inside the elevator, record this as well;

3. Obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses to your accident;

4. Take photographs from inside and outside the elevator, of the inspection certificate, elevator doors, numbers or other identifying information outside the elevator;

5. Report the accident to building management, and obtain a copy of the report before you leave the building if you are physically able to do so;

6. Try to obtain the name and address of the elevator maintenance company.

When you report the accident, you can expect that you will be contacted almost immediately by either a claims administrator or insurance representative seeking information about your accident and injuries. These representatives are trained in asking questions designed to place the fault of the accident on you--i.e. you were on a cell phone, late for a meeting, distracted by children, or simply not paying attention to your surroundings. Simply put, it is imperative that you retain an attorney immediately who will provide you will skilled and experienced legal representation and procure the maximum compensation for your injuries, medical bills and lost earnings.

Continue reading "New York Elevator Accidents--Six Things You Should Do Immediately" »

According to a study in the Archives of Surgery, as reported in the the New York Times October 19, 2010 edition, from 2002 through mid-2008 in Colorado, surgeons reported an astounding 25 operations on the wrong patient, and 107 surgical procedures on the wrong body part. The data was drawn from an insurance database in Colorado that involved 6,000 physicians.

Examples of the medical malpractice committed include the most egregious case, in which a chest tube was inserted into the wrong lung, which was healthy, causing the lung to collapse and the patient to die. Surgeons also operated on the wrong side of the brain, removed a healthy ovary and performed surgery on the wrong hand, elbow, knee and eye.

Dr. Philip F. Stahel, chief of orthopedics at the Denver Health Medical Center, noted that: "These data are shocking...These are catastrophic events that are unacceptable. They have been termed a never event--because they should never happen."

In our practice, we have represented clients who had surgical instruments left in their chests, and more recently, a client who suffered unnecessary surgery when his doctor was "out sick" the day of the procedure, and the doctor's partner operated on the wrong side. He was then forced to undergo reconstructive surgery, as well as surgery on the correct body part. Needless to say, in that case, the insurance company and doctor decided that the sensible decision was to settle the case before a jury was given the opportunity to decide the amount of damages.

Continue reading "Study Finds Surgical Mistakes Despite Safety Protocols" »