Pill Mill Monitor : Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Kay Van Wey Law Firm : Prescription Drug Overdoses & Pharmaceutical Abuse

 “...when ya’all sit down to a simple plate of crisp fried chicken; a fluffy, warm, just-buttered biscuit; a mess of greens cooked down with a bit of ham; and a tall, handsome banana cream pie topped with ice-cold whipped cream afterward, well, you’ll have to agree; there is just nothing better.” Paula Deen, Southern Cooking Bible

Don’t get me wrong, I like Paula Deen. Her down home genuineness is familiar to me, although, I have wondered on occasion if that southern drawl is drawn out just a little more for the cameras.

At my roots, I am a southern lady. I am a baby boomer who grew up in a small town in southwestern Oklahoma.  I am a foodie, and I hail from a family that loves to eat.  Even before Paula Deen became a household name, my mother used to say that she’d slip in an extra stick of butter into her cheese grits recipe when Dad wasn’t looking.  Of course, back then we didn’t really completely understand the health dangers of some of the foods we were eating.

Just a few weeks ago, we enjoyed the holidays with some of Paula’s best recipes, including gooey pumpkin bars for Thanksgiving, chocolate pecan pie for Christmas, and brisket and cheese grits for New Year’s Day.

But the recipes that live on in our family traditions precede the advent of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies.  The Gen X and Gen Y kids have grown up being fed a steady diet of pharmaceutical company ads, sending the message that drugs are good and that a little pill will cure us of our ailments.  We are being trained by these pharmaceutical companies and their Madison Avenue advertising agencies to eat whatever we want, including that high fat cheeseburger; after all, we have a pill to lower high cholesterol.  And if you develop diabetes, it isn’t a death sentence. We have pills for that. Want to perform better in bed? We have pills for that. Want longer eyelashes? You guessed it…we’ve got a pharmaceutical solution.

Now, as I have said before, there are many good drugs on the market that actually cure disease. There are many drugs on the market that some people can’t live without.  But, major pharmaceutical companies are also coming up with a whole new generation of drugs that are more like lifestyle drugs. They don’t cure anything, and they allow people to make really poor choices, thinking that a pill will make up for their bad decisions.

I wish a fraction of the money that was spent peddling drugs for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the like was spent on educating people about how to prevent themselves from getting these conditions in the first place.

What many people don’t know is the high risk and sometimes deadly toll some of these drugs can have on people. For example, the diabetes drug Avandia caused an estimated 83,000 heart attacks between 1999 and 2007, some of which resulted in death. The FDA finally pulled the drug from the market after trial lawyers had filed thousands of lawsuits against Avandia’s maker.

Another popular diabetes drug, Actos, has been pulled from the market in France and Germany after studies show it dramatically increases the risk of bladder cancer.  But Actos remains on the market in the United States, putting patients in danger of developing the disease.

I won’t stop buying Paula Deen cookbooks, and I will still make some of her recipes on special occasions. But listen up y’all, I can’t help but wonder why she waited three years to make the announcement that she has type-2 diabetes. Three years Paula? Come on now. Did it take your lawyers and agents that long to strike a 7 figure deal with a pharmaceutical company to endorse its diabetes drug? Was the timing of your announcement pure coincidence when it coincided with the announcement of your endorsement deal with Novo Nordisk?

While I am truly sorry to hear about Paula’s diagnosis, I can’t help but be disappointed in the fact that she has teamed up with a pharmaceutical company to market drugs for people to rely upon, instead of focusing on helping people lead healthier lives.  To learn more about how pharmaceutical companies get you to buy their drugs, download my free e-book Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know today at www.vanweylaw.com.

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Looks like the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) will face pressure to take another vote on the popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin as reports surface that at least four of the experts had ties with manufacturer Bayer.

FDA experts met on December 8, 2011, to determine whether Yaz and Yasmin are safe for women to take.  The panel voted 15 to 11 to keep the pills on the market, citing that the benefits of the pills outweighed the risk of blood clots. 

Experts Received Money from Bayer

Dr. Julia Johnson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, was one of the experts who served on the Yaz panel and had ties with Bayer.  Before 2009, Dr. Johnson was paid by Bayer for work she did for the company. 

Additionally, she conducted clinical trials for Berlex, a pharmaceutical company acquired by Bayer, studying the effects of Drospirenone.  Drospirenone is the synthetic hormone found in Yaz and Yasmin that health experts believe may be contributing to the increased risk of blood clots in women taking the drugs.  That clinical trial involved a hormone replacement therapy, not birth control, and Dr. Johnson has denied any bias for Bayer or its products.

Another expert on the panel who received funding from Bayer was Dr. Anne Burke.  On a Bayer internal document, Dr. Burke is listed as a Bayer contraception expert.  She received research funding from Bayer, but stated that this occurred several years ago.

Two other experts admitted to having either past financial ties or research ties with Bayer.

All four of the experts voted in favor of Yaz and Yasmin, noting that they believe the risk of blood clots associated with the birth control pills is outweighed by the benefits of the drugs.

One expert who was not allowed on the panel because of an “intellectual conflict of interest” was Dr. Sidney Wolfe of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.  Because he has criticized Yaz as being an unsafe drug in the past, the FDA determined that Dr. Wolfe was too biased to serve on the panel.

This recent development raises the question: To whom is the FDA really catering--consumers or big pharmaceutical companies?  Based on the background of the Yaz  panel, it would seem that consumers are taking a backseat to pharmaceutical companies with money to hand out.

To learn more about how big pharma influences the FDA, download my free e-book Prescription Drug Safety at www.vanweylaw.com.

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New York Senator Charles Schumer has seen the effects of prescription drug addiction in his state and has vowed to fight it.  He warns that a new painkiller promising to be 10 times stronger than Vicodin could lead to more violent and deadly drug store robberies.

In June 2011, New York resident David Laffer was charged with robbing a Long Island drug store of more than 10,000 highly addictive prescription painkillers and killing four people in the pharmacy.  He and his wife had been doctor shopping before the robbery in an effort to get prescription pain pills like hydrocodone, which is highly addictive.

Nationwide, more than 1,800 pharmacies have been robbed in the past three years alone.  Long Island alone has experienced a 125 percent increase drug store robberies.

“It’s tremendously concerning that at the same time policymakers and law enforcement professionals are waging a war on the growing prescription drug crisis, new super-drugs could well be on their way, flooding the market.  The FDA needs to grab the reins and slow down the stampede to introduce these powerful narcotics” Senator Schumer said.

The new painkillers, which contain pure hydrocodone, could come onto the market as early as 2013, with big pharmaceutical companies looking to cash in on the $10 billion prescription painkiller market.  At present, hydrocodone is classified as a strictly controlled Schedule II drug under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. 

Products that contain hydrocodone and another painkiller like acetaminophen fall into Schedule III, which is less strictly controlled.  Some experts argue that because of this, highly addictive hydrocodone has been given to more patients, which has increased abuse of the drug and overdose rates in the United States.

A prescription painkiller that contains pure hydrocodone could lead to more accidental overdoses, leading to more emergency room visits.  Experts say that already thin hospital emergency room resources could become even more strained if this new drug is allowed on the market.  In 2008 alone, emergency room visits related to hydrocodone abuse totaled more than 86,000, up more than 400 percent from 2000 when an estimated 19,000 visits were recorded.

To learn more about prescription drug addiction, read my article “America’s Growing Addiction” at www.vanweylaw.com. 

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Far too many families have been devastated by a loved one’s addiction to prescription drugs. Unlike the images we conjure up when we think of a typical drug addict, the faces of prescription drug addiction are the faces of ordinary Americans. One of the casualties of prescription drug addiction was Christopher Scarborough, the 25 year-old son of Ken and Esther Scarborough of Kountze, Texas.

I came to know the Scarboroughs when I represented them in a legal case, which sought to hold the negligent parties accountable for Christopher’s death and to raise awareness about these pill mills, which often masquerade as pain management clinics. In the lawsuit, we alleged that the healthcare providers and clinic owners were nothing more than “drug dealers” who were trying to pass off their “pill mill” as a legitimate pain management clinic.

When Christopher went to this walk-in “pain management clinic,” he was prescribed a cocktail of more than 300 highly addictive narcotic pills, without even receiving an exam or seeing a doctor. Shortly thereafter, Christopher tragically died of an accidental overdose.

Rather than dwell on their son’s heartbreaking death, the Scarboroughs have chosen to help other families who have lost loved ones to prescription drug addiction and accidental overdose.

Since their son’s death, the Scarboroughs have worked every day to fight against the prescription drug epidemic in their son’s name. In 2009, they founded Parents Against Prescription Drug Abuse (PAPDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. They have also testified before the Texas Senate, worked to pass legislation to regulate the so-called pain clinics, given countless talks, and comforted other parents who have also lost their children to prescription drug overdoses.

The Scarboroughs need your help to continue their fight. You can help by making a tax deductible contribution to PAPDA at www.papda.net. Your contribution, no matter how slight, will help Ken and Esther keep fighting every day to prevent the reckless prescribing of narcotics from claiming another innocent life.

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Pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and three other companies have announced a new prescription drug that will contain pure hydrocodone, a highly addictive narcotic painkiller.  The pill is expected to be 10 times stronger than Vicodin, one of the strongest painkillers available on the market.

Hydrocodone is an opiate much like heroin, oxycodone, codeine, and morphine.  The United States is the largest consumer of hydrocodone prescription pills, using 99 percent of what is on the world market.  Much of the hydrocodone available today is combined with other painkillers like acetaminophen.

Over the years, these pain pills have been criticized for being too addictive.  For example, OxyContin, produced by Purdue Pharma, is the most abused pain pill in the United States. When OxyContin was first introduced onto the market in 1995, abusers quickly learned that they could get a stronger high from the time-release caplets by crushing them.

Today, prescriptions that contain hydrocodone are a quick second to oxycodone in terms of abuse.  A stronger painkiller that contains pure hydrocodone could be disastrous for a nation already suffering with substance abuse and addiction.

The market for pain pills is $10 billion, and pharmaceutical companies are coming up with new drugs to get into the lucrative market. But big pharmaceutical companies are marketing the new drugs as safer, arguing that fewer patients will experience liver problems like they do with drugs that contain acetaminophen.

A form of pure hydrocodone could be on the market as early as 2013, but with an even more addictive prescription on the market, more patients may become addicted to the drugs, leading to numerous overdoses that will strain hospitals resources.  Abuse of hydrocodone alone has led to an uptick in the number of emergency room visits related to hydrocodone abuse.  In 2000, more than 19,000 visits to the emergency room were related to hydrocodone abuse, but in 2008 that number grew more than four times to more than 86,000 visits.

Prescription drug addiction is a brain disease that can be fatal if undetected or untreated. To learn more about America’s prescription drug addiction epidemic, visit www.vanweylaw.com.

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Recent studies have shown that women using Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills have a higher risk of experiencing a blood clot while on the pills, but new findings show Bayer knew about the risk as early as 2004.

Former FDA commissioner David Kessler testified in an Illinois federal court that Bayer omitted from its safety analysis of Yaz/Yasmin reports of an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, which can lead to a potentially deadly pulmonary embolism.

By omitting this data, Kessler testified that “Bayer presented a selective view of the data, and that the presentation obscured the potential risks associated with Yasmin.”

Venous Thromboembolisms

One of the most significant risks associated with Yaz/Yasmin is that of a venous thromboembolism, or a blood clot.  Blood clots can be deadly if they lead to deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or a pulmonary embolism.

DVT mainly occurs in the lower extremities, but can occur in the upper extremities as well. Symptoms of DVT include swelling, pain, tenderness, and skin that is warm to the touch.

Pulmonary embolisms occur after a blood clot has been released into the bloodstream.  If the blot gets stuck in the heart, brain, or other major organs, severe damage or even death may occur.

Yaz & Yasmin Lawsuits

More than 10,000 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, alleging women taking the pills suffered injuries.  At least 50 women died from taking Yaz and Yasmin between 2004 and 2008.

Yaz and Yasmin are two of the top oral contraceptives on the U.S. market, generating $1.58 billion in sales last year alone.

If you or a loved one has experienced a blood clot, DVT, or pulmonary embolism while taking Yaz, Yasmin, or another birth control containing the synthetic hormone Drospirenone, experienced dangerous drug attorney Kay Van Wey may be able to help you. Call Van Wey Law today at (800) 498-5082 for more information.

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Pharmaceutical companies are not the only companies accused of paying kickbacks to doctors to sell their products.   More recently, Medtronic, Inc., the world’s largest medical device maker, agreed to pay $23.5 million in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department after the government alleged Medtronic was paying kickbacks to doctors.

In a recent probe into the company’s practices, the government found enough evidence to bring charges against Medtronic, alleging that the company submitted false claims to Medicaid and Medicare using two post-market studies and device registries in which illegal kickbacks were paid to doctors.

As part of the kickbacks, the government alleged that Medtronic paid doctors between $1,000 and $2,000 per patient to get them to use the devices in their patients.

Medtronic has not admitted any wrongdoing despite its settlement with the government.  But government attorneys say improper payments like those made by Medtronic to doctors can impair doctors’ judgment when it comes to helping patients choose a pacemaker or defibrillator that is right for the patients.

Other companies that have settled kickback allegations with the government include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical.  Boston Scientific paid $22 million after the government found it had paid kickbacks to doctors as an incentive for them to use Boston Scientific’s heart devices.  And earlier this year, St. Jude Medical paid $16 million to settle allegations similar to those brought against Medtronic.  Neither of those companies admitted wrongdoing in their settlements.

This is not the first allegation that Medtronic has paid doctors to influence study results.  Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the company's marketing of Infuse, a bone growth product.

For more information on tactics the pharmaceutical industry uses to sell its prescription drugs, download my free book Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know today at www.vanweylaw.com. 

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The popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin are currently being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their propensity to increase a woman's risk of having a heart attack or stroke. But more recently, concerns that the pills may also cause pancreatitis have arisen.

Pancreatitis affects the pancreas, which regulates glucose in the body, and occurs when the pancreas becomes inflamed and can no longer control glucose levels.  If untreated, pancreatitis can cause severe bleeding and permanent damage.  Pancreatitis can cause total organ failure of the heart, lungs, and kidneys, which can lead to death.

The FDA has issued a new warning that Yaz and Yasmin can cause pancreatitis in women who have high cholesterol or who have a family history of developing hypertriglyceridemia, which affects fat cells.

Women taking these birth control pills should watch for symptoms of pancreatitis, which include:

• Pain and swelling of the upper abdomen
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever
• Rapid heart beat
• Sudden weigh loss
• Diarrhea
• Pain when eating or drinking

If you or a loved one has suffered from pancreatitis while taking Yaz or Yasmin, contact Texas dangerous drug attorney Kay L. Van Wey at 800-489-5082 to learn more about your legal rights.

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(Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report detailing that as many as 40 Americans die each day from overdosing on prescription painkillers.  That amounts to nearly 15,000 deaths each year.

Deaths due to prescription overdose are now more common than deaths caused by heroin and cocaine combined.  And the problem does not look like it will be ending anytime soon.  Prescription painkiller overdose deaths have increased three times over within the past decade.

80% of the World’s Painkillers are Taken in the U.S.

Director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden, blames irresponsible doctors for the uptick in prescription painkiller abuse.  He and other CDC experts have estimated that in 2010 enough painkillers were prescribed to supply every American adult with a one-month supply.

More than 600,000 doctors are licensed to prescribe opiate-based painkillers.  Vicodin is one of the most popular prescription painkillers, because it is not as strictly regulated as its counterparts, making it easier for doctors to prescribe.  In fact, 99 percent of the entire world’s supply of Vicodin is used by patients in the United States.

Accidental Overdoses from Prescription Painkillers Now Kill More People than Car Accidents in 17 States

The overprescribing of prescription painkillers is not only causing death, it is also costing an estimated $72.5 billion.  And, three of the hardest hit states are Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Florida.

The federal government has proposed expanding statewide prescription drug monitoring programs to monitor electronically the number of painkillers prescribed in each state.  But critics say these programs will not work alone.  Patients need to be educated about the dangers of abusing and overdosing on prescription painkillers.

National Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske says doctors need to be retrained on writing prescriptions for narcotic pain relievers.  He adds that people with moderate pain, such as back pain, should not be prescribed these highly addictive painkillers.

To learn more about America’s epidemic of prescription drug addiction, read my article “America’s Growing Addiction” at www.vanweylaw.com.

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