Austin Dangerous Drug & Medical Device Attorneys

Instances of Dangerous Pharmaceutical Drugs

Read on to learn about some of the dangerous pharmaceutical drugs and devices that have been found to harm patients.

IVC Filter

An inferior vena cava (IVC) filter is a device inserted into the venous system with a catheter. Its purpose is to stop blood clots from getting into the inferior vena cava, lungs, or heart. The inferior vena cava is the body’s largest blood vessel. The device is often used with patients who have had knee or hip replacements or cancer surgery and are at risk for clots, especially those with deep vein thrombosis, which elevates the possibility of traveling blood clots. It is particularly used on patients who cannot be given large doses on anticoagulants to prevent clots or who don’t respond to anticoagulants. But because it very frequently produces serious complications, the IVC filter is a dangerous tool, which can kill—and does in nearly 4 percent of those patients who use it. Some filters are permanent, while others are designed to be removable. Unfortunately, removing a filter—even one designed to be retrievable—is not always possible. Sometimes they move from their proper location or break, causing damage to the heart or other organs. They may also perforate the wall of the vena cava that they are meant to protect, cause a pulmonary embolism, or damage the veins leading to other vital organs.

Common problems with the IVC filter include:

• Migration from the spot where it was inserted
• Filter cannot be retrieved for removal
• Fracture of the filter
• Perforation by the device of the vena cava or another vein
• Pulmonary embolism
• Respiratory problems
• Severe and unrelenting chest pain
• Stroke
• Death

If you or a close family member suffered any of these serious problems, the product liability attorneys of Briggle & Polan, PLLC can help.

Zofran

The FDA approved the drug Zofran to help alleviate the nausea and vomiting that chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery often cause cancer patients. The problem with Zofran occurred when pharmaceutical company representatives from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline began to encourage doctors to prescribe it off-label to pregnant women suffering from morning sickness, a common occurrence in early pregnancy. A disproportionate number of the babies of the approximately one million women who used the drug were born with birth defects, including cleft palate and heart defects. The federal government brought charges against Glaxo for fraud and illegal promotion of this drug and others in 2012, to which the company plead guilty and paid a fine of three billion dollars. Glaxo sold the right to Zofran to Novartis in 2015. Women whose babies suffered from these birth defects may demand compensation for their children.

Taxotere

Taxotere is a chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of several types of cancer, including breast cancer. Other types include lung cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, and more. Close to one in ten women given Taxotere suffered permanent hair loss. Although hair loss is a common side effect of most types of chemo, it is usually temporary. Most of these women were not told that there was a possibility of permanent baldness and that other chemotherapy drugs are just as effective in treating cancer but without this emotionally devastating side effect. Women facing breast cancer have enough to deal with without having to suffer this permanently disfiguring side effect, and they deserve the right to choose a different chemotherapy drug that will not render them bald forever after.

Getting Help for Your Medical Drug or Device Injury

Patients have a right to medicines and treatments that are safe. Medical treatment is meant to help, not to harm. When a drug or medical device is placed on t the market, it needs to have been tested thoroughly, adhering to appropriate scientific standards. Once approved, except in unusual circumstances, it should be prescribed for the condition it has been approved for. The greed of already wealthy corporations in the medical manufacturing field needs to stop. These companies need to be held accountable for the harm they cause, and those who have been hurt should be compensated with enough money to reflect their financial damages and other types of loss and suffering.