Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog

A baby boy disabled during birth trauma was awarded $19 million to help pay for the life-long medical care needed due to the boy’s injuries.

The boy was born during a c-section, and had to be resuscitated. The baby had to spend the first four months of his life in intensive care. He is permanently disabled, legally blind, suffers from severe brain damage and he has cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is usually caused by lack of oxygen during pregnancy. It causes hypoxic brain injury which means that the brain has been deprived of oxygen. This is usually proven by a CT scan which is interpreted by a neuro radiologist. The neuro radiologist can also date when the brain was deprived of oxygen. In addition, when a baby is born with cerebral palsy the baby's blood is checked for excess levels of PH. When a person (including a child in utero) is deprived of oxygen their blood will have excess levels of acid which is called acidosis. These tests are routinely performed on a child who is born with cerebral palsy.

The plaintiffs alleged that the obstetrician misdiagnosed the boy’s mother. The boy's mother called her doctor in the 30th week of her pregnancy and complained of abdominal pain. It was alleged that the doctor did not determine that she was hemorrhaging, did not give the her the proper tests, did not recognize that the baby was in distress or heed the warnings of his nursing staff who identified the woman’s problem.

The jury found that the doctor was negligent and awarded the boy $19 million in damages.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping people injured by medical malpractice. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases.

We offer a free initial consultation for victims of medical malpractice. If you cannot make it to our office, we will come to you at the hospital or your home.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

Bookmark:

The Kansas City Missouri driver involved in a deadly crash on Interstate 70 near Columbia Missouri while reportedly being under the influence of marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs at the time of a deadly wreck did not have his bail increased. The driver of the pickup truck was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance in the wreck that killed Charles D. Fulhage, of Rocheport Missouri..

Downs’ bond was set at $11,000 when he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner causing an accident. After Fulhage died Prosecutors upped the charges to include first-degree involuntary manslaughter, punishable by as much as 15 years in prison. The Boone County Assistant Prosecutor requested the increased bond because of the charges had been in increased to first degree involuntary manslaughter.

The driver had a previous drunken driving offense and was to have installed an ignition interlock device in his truck but had failed to do so. He had been order to use the interlock device for30 days. The interlock device, which tests a driver’s breath for alcohol before allowing the vehicle to start, does not detect intoxicants other than alcohol.

Part of Downs conditions to be released on bond was that he no longer drive, that he undergo a review for home detention and that he wear an electronic "sobrieter," which tests a defendant’s blood-alcohol content.

The accident occurred near the 122-mile marker of I-70, just west of Sorrels Overpass on the west side of Columbia. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said a westbound Dodge pickup driven by Downs struck the rear of a Ford Ranger pickup driven by Fulhage. The Ranger ran off the right side of the highway and overturned on an embankment. Fulhage, who was wearing a seat belt, needed to be extricated from the wreckage by Boone County firefighters. Witnesses told authorities that Downs had been speeding and making abrupt lane changes on the highway before the wreck, according to court documents

The Missouri Highway Patrol noted that Downs had appeared intoxicated, and they found a prescription pill identified as a generic form of Valium in Downs’ pickup. Fulhage was an MU Extension waste management specialist and professor in the University of Missouri’s Division of Food Systems and Bioengineering.

An initial free consultation with The Lowe Law Firm attorneys for victims of auto related accidents is available. Appointments can take place at our office, at the hospital, or in the privacy of your home.

Contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois auto accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Visit our Accident Information Center.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Safety

Bookmark:

A lawsuit has been filed in a St. Louis federal court against Bayer AG, the maker of the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol, on behalf of a widow whose husband died of kidney failure after open-heart surgery.

On Dec. 16, 2005, Samuel Nakis, 81, underwent open-heart surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo. During the surgery he was given Trasylol (also known as aprotinin), a clotting drug used to prevent bleeding. Shortly after the surgery, Nakis experienced kidney failure and underwent dialysis. He died a short time later.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Trasylol in 1993. On Jan. 20, 2006, the medical journal Transfusion published an article suggesting a link between Trasylol and renal toxicity. Later that same month, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article, by Dr. Dennis Mangano of the nonprofit Ischemia Research and Education Foundation, linking Trasylol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure.

In the fall of 2006, an FDA advisory board met to decide whether the warning on Trasylol needed to be changed. At the meeting, Bayer failed to disclose the findings of a Trasylol study it had funded. That study, conducted by Dr. Alexander Walker, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, reviewed the hospital records of 67,000 patients and found that those given Trasylol had a risk of death 64 percent higher than that of patients who received a comparison drug. It wasn’t until November 2007 that the drug was finally pulled from the market.

On Feb. 21, the New England Journal of Medicine released the study conducted by Walker and a second study conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers. Both confirmed that patients given Trasylol during heart surgery were more likely to die than patients given a comparable drug.

A lawsuit was filed by Nakis’ widow, Genevieve Nakis, on March 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. She is represented by John J. Carey of Carey & Danis and Jeffrey J. Lowe of The Lowe Law Firm.

The suit alleges that Bayer failed to warn prescribers and consumers of the dangers associated with the drug, defectively designed the drug, fraudulently concealed the dangers of the drug, breached the implied and express warranties and violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. The suit seeks compensatory damages and damages for aggravating circumstances.

###

Media Contact: Geri L. Dreiling
Legal Media Matters LLC
314.743.3851 or 314.520.3897
legalmediamatters@sbcglobal.net

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drug Safety

Bookmark:

A claim that New York Life Insurance Co. improperly transferred pension and 401(k) assets into its mutual fund is almost over.

On March 4, Judge Bruce W. Kauffman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved a $14 million settlement between the company and employees and agents who were in the New York Life defined benefit and 401(k) program.

The employees and agents claimed that the company improperly invested pension and 401(k) assets. Instead of investing in separately managed accounts, the Board of Trustees chose New York Life’s Mainstay Institutional Mutual Funds. The participants alleged that as a result, excessive management and investment fees were paid.

The settlement terms stipulate that $9.8 million plus interest will be distributed to 401(k) participants who had an account between Jan. 1, 1994 and Dec. 31, 2005. The remaining $4.2 million will be allocated between the Employee Pension Plan, the Agent Pension Plans, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

The ruling was issued in Mehling v. New York Life Insurance Co., E.D. Pa., No. 99-5417.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: 401(K) Litigation

Bookmark:

Wyeth and Pfizer must pay more than $27 million in punitive damages to a woman who claimed her breast cancer was linked to the menopause drugs they made, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The award was made last Thursday by a federal jury in Little Rock, Ark. The same jury previously awarded the woman, Donna Scroggins, $2.75 million in compensatory damages for the hormone replacement drugs Premarin, Prempro and Provera.

In making the punitive damages award, the jury concluded that Wyeth and Pfizer’s Pharmacia & Upjohn acted with “reckless disregard” when it came to the health risks posed by the hormone replacement drugs. Wyeth was ordered to pay $19.4 million in punitive damages to Scroggins. Pfizer was ordered to pay more than $7.8 million.

The companies said they would appeal the ruling.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping people injured by a dangerous prescription drug. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases.

We offer a free initial consultation for victims of dangerous medications. If you cannot make it to our office, we will come to you at the hospital or your home.

Contact the lawyers at The Lowe Law Firm today by calling 877-678-3400.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drug Safety

Bookmark:

The Safety of Trasylol was put at issue by Doctors from Duke University Medical Center who played high-profile roles in the debate over the safety of the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol, Pharmalot notes.

Duke’s chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Dr. Peter Smith, is a consultant for Bayer AG, the company that makes Trasylol. Last fall, Smith appeared before an FDA advisory committee and testified that the drug is safe and effective.

However, 11 of Smith’s colleagues who work in the anesthesiology and surgery departments co-authored the recent study that concluded patients given Trasylol were 2.5 times more likely to die than those given a rival drug.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping people injured by a dangerous prescription drug. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases.

We offer a free initial consultation for victims of dangerous medications. If you cannot make it to our office, we will come to you at the hospital or your home.

Contact the lawyers at The Lowe Law Firm today by calling 877-678-3400.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drug Safety

Bookmark:

Trasylol is a drug manufactured by the German Pharmaceutical company Bayer. It was typically used during heart bypass surgey to prevent bleeding. Recently, two studies were released that linked Trasylol to higher risks of death and kidney disease. Bayer AG, the maker of Trasylol, claims those studies are flawed.

The two studies were released on Feb. 21 in the New England Journal of Medicine. As I noted in a previous entry, a study of 10,000 bypass patients at Duke University Medical Center found that 6.4 percent of the patients who were given Trasylol died within 30 days of surgery. That rate was nearly 2.5 times higher than patients who received a different drug or no anti-bleeding treatment.

The second study looked at 78,000 patients nationwide and found that the risk among patients given Trasylol was 64 percent higher than in those taking a different drug.

Bayer funded the second study -- one of the two it now claims is flawed. But Public Citizen’s Health Research Group disagrees. An article in LawyersandSettlements.com notes that the consumer advocacy group believes the studies are convincing. The article also notes that the studies were rigorous enough for the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The two latest studies are convincing. They are also consistent with the findings of Dr. Dennis Mangano of the Ischemia Research and Educational Foundation and a Canadian study that was halted because of deaths among Trasylol patients.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping people injured by a dangerous prescription drug. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases.

We offer a free initial consultation for victims of dangerous medications. If you cannot make it to our office, we will come to you at the hospital or your home.

Contact the lawyers at The Lowe Law Firm today by calling 877-678-3400.

Posted by Jeff Lowe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drug Safety

Bookmark: