Articles Posted in Bad Drug

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Blackwell Law Firm: Huntsville Personal Injury AttorneysI remember listening as the doctor testified about his trips to Las Vegas. That’s where the medical device company took him to “discuss” its product. After these trips to Las Vegas, the doctor returned home and began implanting the product into countless Alabama patients.

At the time, I was surprised. Shocked. But, that was also the first time I had deposed an implanting doctor in one of these cases. In the years since, I have seen far too many instances of drug and device companies trying to tempt physicians into prescribing or implanting certain products.

In some cases, the physician may not even be fully trained in the potential issues of the drug or product at issue. I think this is an issue with transvaginal mesh implants. These products were heavily marketed to local physicians and regularly implanted in women. Yet, the potential problems from mesh implants can be tremendous. When problems occur, the same implanting physicians are often unable to help. I recently deposed a surgeon at a major research hospital who has tried to help one of my clients suffering from implanted mesh. Here is what that specialist said:

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diabetes-2058045_1920-300x173A new research article asks if physicians are starting to move patients away from Invokana use? It’s a good question. On this blog, I’ve written about Invokana numerous times. For a detailed history of the drug, you can read some of my past articles which are cited at the end of this post.

What is Invokana? The drug is in a class of medications known as sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Other drugs in this class include Farxiga, Jardiance, Glyxambi, and Xigduo XR. SGLT2 inhibitors work by altering kidney function to stop reabsorption of glucose into the blood stream.

Diabetes is a huge health problem in the United States. Here, in Alabama, we suffer one of the highest rates of diabetes. Diabetic patients need good medical care. What they do not need are pills that carry more risk than benefit. While we need medications, we need those medications to be tested and safe for use. That’s why the growing list of serious injuries associated with Invokana is an important issue to Alabama patients (and a frequent topic of this blog).

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Personal Injury -- Blackwell Law FirmA recent study estimated a significant percentage of medical studies are ghostwritten. The really troubling detail — Up to half of all medical studies may be ghostwritten by companies with a financial interest in the research.

Next time you see or read a medical article listing a researcher or physician as the author, take a step back. Did the listed author really write the article? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe a drug company or medical device company funded and really authored the article.

Consider the revealing article published by former ghostwriter Linda Logdberg. The article is titled Being the Ghost in the Machine:  A Medical Ghostwriter’s Personal View. How does Ms. Logdberg now feel about her former career?

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Recent research shows a dangerous problem with many newly approved drugs. Life-threatening side effects are common in the years following FDA approval. An article titled “Study: Side effects emerge after approval for many US drugs” details the new research. The article’s opening paragraph sums it up:

Almost one-third of new drugs approved by U.S. regulators over a decade ended up years later with warnings about unexpected, sometimes life-threatening side effects or complications . . .

This new study followed all prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2001 through 2010. The drugs flagged because of serious post-approval problems included medications for common medical problems such as arthritis, infections, blood clots and depression. The study’s lead author (an associate professor at Yale University) said “the large percentage of problems was a surprise.” As for me — I’m not surprised.

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Our office has closely followed developments related to the diabetes drug Invokana. For more details on the medication and how it works, you can read a report under the Hot Topics section of our firm website. As we discuss on our website, Invokana is a relatively new diabetes drug manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. Yet, in just a few years on the market, the FDA has issued numerous safety communications about the drug.

  • Diabetic ketoacidosis.
  • Kidney damage.
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We are currently investigating claims of permanent hair loss following the use of Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug. Taxotere is one of the most widely used drugs for breast cancer in the United States. For more information on the drug, you can read a detailed report on the Blackwell Law Firm website.

While cancer patients may expect temporary hair loss during chemotherapy treatment, they also expect their hair to regrow once treatment ends. For many patients, hair regrowth is a visible sign of victory over the disease. And, if hair regrowth does not occur, the physical and emotional impacts can be devastating.

Although expected to be temporary, many patients treated by Taxotere suffer permanent hair loss. These women had alternatives to Taxotere treatment. Other drugs provide similar success results. Yet, those other drugs do not leave many patients with permanent alopecia or baldness. For years, Taxotere’s manufacturer failed to warn doctors or patients in the United States of this harm. Patients had no knowledge of the risk and could not make an informed choice between available drugs. Although the manufacturer failed to warn patients, it knew the significant risk of injury. And, it continued to profit from sales to unsuspecting patients.

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Our office has closely followed developments with the diabetes drug Invokana. Invokana is in a class of drugs known as sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. This is a relatively new class of drugs also including Farxiga, Jardiance, Glyxambi, and Xigduo XR. These drugs treat diabetes by altering kidney function to stop reabsorption of glucose into the patient’s blood stream. We have a page on our firm website discussing these drugs, how they work and their link to diabetic ketoacidosis. Despite being a new drug at the time we published our initial page, Invokana had already been linked to numerous adverse health reports. Since then, even more potential injury risks have emerged. You can read about these developments in several posts on this blog.

In its recent QuarterWatch report, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) calls Invokana a “dangerous gamble.” The ISMP report opens with the following paragraph:

The nation’s gamble in embracing new drugs for long-term use with only short-term clinical testing was most apparent in the rapid acceptance into clinical practice of a new class of oral diabetes drugs called sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. There are now three such agents, canagliflozin (INVOKANA), dapagliflozin (FARXIGA), and empagliflozin (JARDIANCE). Since approval, evidence of multiple safety problems has emerged.
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At some point, you just have to ask — What’s next? That’s a good question for the diabetes drug Invokana. At the Blackwell Law Firm we began investigating Invokana when the drug was initially linked to ketoacidosis. If you want to learn the basics about Invokana and its development as a diabetes drug, we have a section devoted to the topic on our firm website. As discussed in that section, ketoacidosis is a serious and potentially fatal build-up of acid in the blood. Symptoms of ketoacidosis can include:

  • Confusion
  • Abdominal Pain
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Invokana continues to be linked to serious health problems. Our office has closely followed developments with the diabetes medication Invokana since it was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although relatively new to the market, many health injuries are already associated with this drug.

Invokana (canagliflozin) is marketed to treat Type 2 diabetes. The drug is one of a relatively new class of diabetes medications. This class of medications is known as sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Other SGLT2 drugs include Jardiance, Farxiga, Glyxambi, and Xigduo XR. These drugs alter kidney function to prevent reabsorption of glucose into the patient’s blood stream. For more detailed information, please read the report on our firm website.

We have watched Invokana closely because of its association with the health problem diabetic ketoacidosis. This is a dangerous adverse health issue suffered by some patients taking Invokana. What is diabetic ketoacidosis? It is a build-up of acid in the blood. Symptoms can include abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue, difficulty breathing and confusion. In May 2015, the FDA issued a safety communication warning patients about the risk of ketoacidosis from Invokana.

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