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

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link