Lawyers and Attorneys are currently seeking victims of a diabetes drug called Actos. If you or someone you love has had any bladder problems or has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, you may be able to take part in the Actos Class Action Lawsuit that may be forming. Click here for more information on the Actos Lawsuit

Many women have chosen to use the new wave of oral contraceptives known as drospirenone-containing medications such as the popular Yasmin and Yaz brands but are now concerned over reports that the medications can cause blood clots and endanger their health.

The Food and Drug Administration recently announced it is calling a special meeting of two of its key advisory committee to review medical studies that have conflicting data about the safety of the drugs. In the meantime, here is what the FDA is recommending:

“Women who are already taking birth control pills containing drospirenone should continue taking their pills as directed unless told otherwise by their health care professional. Women who are not currently taking a drospirenone-containing birth control pill should talk to their health care professional before deciding if a birth control pill that contains drospirenone is right for them. The risks and benefits of drospirenone-containing birth control pill for a specific patient should be considered in light of her risk for developing blood clots. Women should know how to recognize the symptoms of VTE and should contact their health care professional immediately if they experience persistent leg pain, severe chest pain or sudden shortness of breath. Women should also discuss any questions or concerns about their use of birth control pills with their health care professionals and report any side effects to the FDA MedWatch program.” More on the Yaz Lawsuit

Some women who have suffered from VTE, which is a venous thromboembolism event, or the formation of a blood clot that can break loose and travel through the body with serious consequences, have contacted Yasmin and Yaz lawyers and filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of the drugs and are seeking millions of dollars in damages.

Critics of the Food and Drug Administration have long claimed that the agency is too cozy with drug manufacturers and might be more concerned about corporate profits than consumer safety. The non-profit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has for decades knocked heads with the FDA for being slow to issue warnings and recalls over defective drugs. These critics often point to the fact that researchers and government agencies in foreign countries raise alarms and bans over drugs much earlier than the FDA does and they question why.

Apparently this situation has arisen once more with the FDA’s safety warning that was recently issued about the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone). To sum up, the FDA warned patients using Actos that “use of the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.” Learn more about Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuits

What will probably draw the ire of these FDA critics is that similar concerns have generated government action over Actos in foreign countries. The FDA even acknowledged this in their press release: “FDA is also aware of a recent epidemiological study conducted in France which suggests an increased risk of bladder cancer with pioglitazone. Based on the results of this study, France has suspended the use of pioglitazone and Germany has recommended not to start pioglitazone in new patients.”

Actos, with the generic name: pioglitazone is a prescription medication used to help improve blood sugar, called glucose, control in adults with type 2 diabetes. It is not used to treat type 1 diabetes.

Because of the risk for developing bladder cancer from taking Actos, our lawyers and attorneys are now accepting victims who may have been injured from this drug. There may be a class action lawsuit on Actos with a possible cash settlement for people hurt from Actos.

Talk to your doctor before stopping Actos, and if you have been diagnosed with any form of bladder cancer, contact our Actos law firm for a free consultation and evaluation of the situation. There may be a class action lawsuit taking place, but a statute of limitations may apply. Read more about Actos Bladder Cancer

A couple of recent developments should put women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant on notice about possible dangerous side effects from a class of anti-depressant drugs such as Zoloft that are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

While tens of millions of prescriptions have been written for Zoloft and the other medications to women who have benefited from the medications the portion of the female population that suffers from depression and is child-bearing is being sent some clear signals from the Food and Drug Administration and several medical research studies.

The FDA recently issued a public health advisory warning that women who use Zoloft or other SSRIs are at a significantly higher risk of giving birth to infants suffering from birth defects. This link also has been alleged in numerous lawsuits in which families say that Zoloft use caused their infants to be born with such defects as autism, persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn, club foot and abnormalities of the cranium, heart, lungs and abdominal organs. Many are now looking for a Zoloft Lawyer to help.

Zoloft was first introduced to the marketplace in 1991 and, according to medication financial analysts, eventually grew in sales to become the most popular anti-depressant in the world. Pfizer, the pharmaceutical firm that manufactures and markets Zoloft, has denied these allegations and is currently defending itself against numerous Zoloft side effects lawsuits.

The controversy over the safety of Fosamax and other osteoporosis drugs containing bisphosphonates is continuing with the news that an advisory panel of medical experts is recommending that the labeling of the medications be changed to upgrade concerns about their usage. The drugs have been widely prescribed for the treatment of bone deterioration, primarily among post-menopausal women and the elderly but the manufacturers have come under fire from medical researchers, consumer advocates and Fosamax lawsuits over dangerous side effects that they claim can cause spontaneous femur fractures and debilitating jaw diseases.

“The FDA convened the meeting because of emerging safety concerns related to long-term use — generally considered more than three to five years — of bisphosphonates,” CBS News reported. “In particular, the agency has received reports of osteonecrosis, or bone death, of the jaw and unusual fractures of the femur, or thigh bone, in women who had taken the drugs for several years or more.”

The article also said that “Most of the bisphosphonate patients who testified before the panel about their unusual thigh fractures said they had started taking the drugs in their 50s or 60s. Some of the women said they’d been prescribed the drugs for osteopenia, which means their bone mineral density was lower than normal but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis.” The FDA in most cases follows the recommendations of its advisory panels and already has advised doctors to consider whether patients on therapy for more than five years still need the drugs.

A pregnancy can be a difficult period of time for any woman but for those who suffer from depression and take medications there are even more pitfalls. In addition to observing the generally accepted rules of avoiding alcohol, eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle to protect the burgeoning child inside them they also have to consider the effect of the medications they might be taking for their mental problems. There seems to be a consensus from the information available that there are some problems with certain medications and possible negative side effects that may be generated but there seems to be agreement that medication for depression should NOT be discontinued. Consultation with health care professionals is recommended during which there may be a switch to another, less dangerous anti-depressant.

This is because some of the newer and most popular types of anti-depressants have been linked to birth defects in infants born to women who use them during pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration, acting upon the findings of some recent medical research studies, recently directed the manufacturers of Prozac and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, to change their labeling warnings to advise patients about these danger. Prozac birth defects have been alleged in numerous lawsuits filed against the manufacturer of the drug. These lawsuits claim that women who used the drug before or during their pregnancies gave birth to children suffering from such defects as cleft palates, cleft lips, club feet, limb reductions and asthma, neural tube defects/spina bifida and breathing issues. A number of these children also were born with the life-threatening condition known as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, according to these allegations.

There seems to be conflicts between the data presented about possible dangerous sexual side effects from the use of the hair-loss drug Propecia in the United States and abroad. At the center of these conflicts is the question of whether Propecia, which was once also sold as Proscar, can cause permanent sexual problems. Merck, which manufacturers the drug, insists — in the United States, at least — that simply discontinuing the use of the drug will reverse any of the sexual problems that have been cited by a percentage of men who use Propecia. This advice is also included in the Propecia section of the Physician’s Desk Reference, an annual publication to advise doctors about the benefits and side effects of drugs.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed by Propecia lawyers on behalf of men who vigorously contest Merck’s position and are asking to be damages for what they say are permanent sexual problems, including impotence. In some of these Propecia lawsuits are found references to European medical research studies in which there have been findings that discontinuing the drug does not reverse the negative side effects.
These lawsuits also cite Merck’s actions in updating warning labels on Propecia in those European countries to reflect more serious possible side effects than those included on warning labels in the United States. In addition, some of those foreign warning labels cite the possibility of persistent erectile dysfunction even after the discontinuation of the use of Propecia.

There have been many lawsuits filed by Darvon and Darvocet lawyers against the manufacturers of the painkillers on behalf of patients who have suffered from serious side effects, including life-threatening heart conditions. Legal experts say the number of plaintiffs that have filed a Darvocet lawsuit are likely to increase in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration’s recent ban on the medications out of concerns about side effects that have been causing serious heart problems in patients.

“The drug puts patients at risk of abnormal or even fatal heart rhythm abnormalities, combined with prior safety data, this altered our risk assessment,” said John Jenkins, MD, the director of the FDA’s office of new drugs at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Interestingly enough, many of the same concerns about heart risks where posted on champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG Web site:
“The most common adverse side effect known to occur with Darvon therapy is respiratory depression. Any person whose respiratory rate falls below 12 breaths per minute, who has difficulty breathing or whose breathing becomes extremely labored is experiencing respiratory depression. This is an emergency situation, and the person should be taken immediately to the hospital and the primary physician should be notified. Alcohol may increase the risk of respiratory depression; patients should not take Darvon and consume alcohol at the same time. Those who smoke may have to take a higher dosage of Darvon, as the drug has been shown to increase liver enzymes used in metabolizing the drug.

Arrhythmias, bradycardia, tachycardia, new onset congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction are adverse side effects possible with Darvon therapy. Any person experiencing a fast or slow heartbeat, a series of palpitations or a feeling of pain or tightness in his chest should go immediately to the nearest hospital, and the primary healthcare provider should be notified.”

Bloomberg News is reporting that a recent study by medical researchers in the United Kingdom has found that firefighters who responded to the 9/11 terrorist attack sites are at nearly 20 percent more risk of developing cancer than personnel who were not at the sites. The Bloomberg story focused on the plight of a widow of a New York firefighter who is among dozens who have developed cancer after being involved in rescue work following the terrorist attacks and details the findings reported in The Lancet medical journal.

“The report found that firefighters who responded to the disaster were 19 percent more likely to have cancer in the 7 years that followed the attacks than those who weren’t there. The research is the first to tie a higher cancer risk to first responders. It spurred calls for a review of a law that fails to include cancer in providing health coverage for Sept. 11 victims. The decision not to include the disease in the law, effective July 1, followed a review by the National Institute of for Occupational Safety and Health this year that found there was too little evidence to provide a definitive link.” Bloomberg reported. Mesothelioma lawyers are waiting to help you with your case.

A major concern is that uncounted thousands of people who were either involved in rescue, demolition or construction work or others fleeing the wreckage may have been exposed to asbestos. Asbestos exposure is the overwhelming cause of malignant mesothelioma, one of the deadliest cancers and one virtually untreatable by the time it is diagnosed. In cases where strict government safety guidelines were not followed victims of this cancer have contacted mesothelioma attorneys who have won hundreds of millions of damages against those who were negligent in the handling of asbestos.