FDA Tag Archives — Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: June 27, 2022

Injured By A Defective Drug Or Device? Beware Of Lawyers Who Advertise For Cases To Refer Them!

A couple weeks ago, another Huntsville lawyer bragged on social media about the number of 3M earplug cases he signed. He posted on multiple social media platforms about his large number of clients and then solicited for more clients. While that lawyer is marketing for these cases, he’s really not handling them. He’s simply signing cases to refer. He’s signing and referring them to a law firm far away from Huntsville – A firm that likely never knows the client and likely never works the local evidence. If you are going to promote yourself as handling a specific type of case, make sure you really do handle those cases. At a minimum, you should probably be admitted to the court where those cases are actually pending!

When it comes to large-scale claims involving defective products or medications, you need an attorney who is actively involved in the court and litigation process. The products can be complicated. Your attorney needs to know more than the talking points to sign clients. He or she needs to know the science and experts behind the products. The legal process can be complicated. Your attorney needs to understand the courts where the claims are pending. Your attorney should be admitted to practice in those courts. He or she needs to understand the legal doctrines that can easily ruin a good case. The medical evidence can be complicated. Your attorney needs to be experienced in developing medical evidence and familiar with the local medical specialists.

Over the years, I’ve received literally hundreds of phone calls from people upset because their case went to some out-of-state law firm where they were simply a number. After a period of time, they realized something was wrong and they were not getting personal service. Nobody personally argued for them in court. Nobody personally prepared their evidence and claims. They started looking locally and then called to ask questions. By the time they called, it was usually too late to fix the damage caused by the huge settlement mill firm that had their case.

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Published on: July 5, 2021

Zantac Personal Injury Claims — A Case Update

By Jeff Blackwell

In the last week, our office has filed a number of new zantac personal injury cases. We are also continuing to investigate other potential zantac claims for our Alabama clients. So, I thought it was a good time to provide an update on the zantac injury litigation.

The Judge Continues To Move Zantac Injury Lawsuits Forward

In a recent Pre-Trial Order, the Federal Judge overseeing zantac injury claims addressed the selection of bellwether cases for trial. If you have already filed a claim, this is a good signal the court is pushing the litigation forward.

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Published on: September 10, 2020

Four Ways Zantac (Ranitidine) Leads To Cancer

By Jeff Blackwell

I’ve written several articles discussing Ranitidine (brand name Zantac) and cancer injuries. For a longer discussion on the background and history of Zantac, you can click the link and read our report at Zantac Cancer Lawsuits. I’ve also written several other Zantac articles which you can read on the Blackwell Law Firm Blog. We will continue to follow the growing Zantac research linking the drug to cancer injuries.

In my prior articles, I provided an overview of NDMA — the cancer causing substance associated with Zantac. No safe level of NDMA exists. NDMA is highly toxic. Ranitidine (Zantac) breaks down to create toxic, cancer-causing NDMA. In recent years, our firm has handled Alabama injury cases involving several different cancer-causing medications. But, Zantac is especially dangerous. Why? What makes Zantac so dangerous is that it breaks down in more than one way to put consumers at risk of injury. In other words, Ranitidine reacts in multiple ways to produce cancer causing NDMA. Here, are four ways Ranitidine leads to cancer-causing NDMA that can harm you:

RANITIDINE LEADS TO CANCER-CAUSING NDMA FORMATION IN THE HUMAN STOMACH

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Published on: August 17, 2020

When Prescription Medications Cause Cancer

By Jeff Blackwell

We trust our medications are safe. They should be. After all, the medications we use are approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Yet, some prescription medications cause tremendous personal injuries or deaths to patients. In some cases, drug companies withhold research or even mislead the FDA into approving their products. When that happens, doctors and patients only learn the truth after years of needless suffering.

In recent years, we’ve learned that some common medications may actually cause cancer. I’ll give three recent examples of popular medications linked to cancer — two from current investigations by our firm and one from a prior case. With some medications, we must ask: Does the harm of some medications far outweigh their benefit?

Belviq (Current Cases)

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Published on: May 11, 2020

Does The Weight Loss Drug Belviq Cause Cancer?

By Jeff Blackwell

Weight Loss Drug Health Risks

Does the drug Belviq cause cancer? Are patients being injured by this medication? Recent research casts a big shadow over this drug. We are closely watching current developments.

What Is Belviq? Why Was It Marketed?

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Published on: April 18, 2020

Zantac Pulled From Shelves Due To Cancer Risks

By Jeff Blackwell

On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requested that manufacturers withdraw ALL prescription and over-the-counter ranitidine drugs immediately. Here is how the FDA began its announcement:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is requesting manufacturers withdraw all prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) ranitidine drugs from the market immediately.

What is ranitidine? You may know this medication as Zantac, its brand name.

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Published on: November 11, 2019

JUUL — More Dangerous Than Cigarettes!

By Jeff Blackwell

JUUL Made False Marketing Claims (To Young Adults)

In September 2019, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to JUUL Labs. The FDA warning letter ordered JUUL to stop marketing its product as safer than cigarettes. The FDA cited testimony that JUUL had been marketing its vaping products as “modified risk tobacco products.” That means, the company claimed its product presented a lower risk of tobacco-related disease or was less harmful than traditional tobacco products. Here’s the real catch — JUUL actually presented at school programs. The Congressional testimony contained evidence of a JUUL representative actually speaking at a school and telling students their product “was much safer than cigarettes.” You can read more about the FDA letter in a Washington Post article titled FDA Blasts JUUL For Illegally Marketing E-Cigarettes As Less Harmful Than Regular Cigarettes.

JUUL Pods Have High Levels Of Nicotine

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Published on: August 13, 2018

Do Kickbacks Drive The Sale Of Dangerous Drugs And Medical Devices?

By Jeff Blackwell

I 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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Published on: February 26, 2018

New Blood Test Approved To Detect Traumatic Brain Injury

By Jeff Blackwell

In a prior post, I asked “Can A Simple Blood Test Reveal Traumatic Brain Injury?” At the time, the research looked promising. After writing that prior post, we continued to follow developments. Now, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a blood test for this purpose.

Why is a blood test for traumatic brain injury (TBI) significant? In a short answer — Many TBI victims suffer without a diagnosis, without treatment and without understanding. Following a traumatic incident, emergency rooms frequently fail to diagnose TBI cases.

Think about it. After a serious accident, you rush to the hospital. Suddenly, you are in a crowded emergency room. It can be a chaotic scene. While emergency rooms are designed to handle “emergencies” like yours, they are also overflowing with patients who lack the resources or finances to seek basic care elsewhere. Emergency room physicians and nurses work hard. They have hard jobs. They work to treat all patients. But, life and death issues take priority. They must. With so many patients and so many problems, many significant TBI cases go undiagnosed and untreated. After all, many TBI patients look normal.

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Published on: October 23, 2017

Are Medical And Legal Articles Trustworthy?

By Jeff Blackwell

A 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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