Little Rock Personal Injury Lawyer - Defective & Dangerous Products

Does Prempro Cause Breast Cancer

Frank Bailey — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:53:58 GMT

A Reno, Nevada jury fixed damages for three women who took Prempro and Premarin at $35 million in compensatory damages. The jury also assessed $99 million in punitive damages against the manufacturer of the drugs.

The Plaintiffs asserted that they contracted breast cancer from taking the artificial hormones and the jury agreed.
Company documents indicated that the company knew there was a risk of breast cancer associated with the artificial hormones, but failed to complete studies to evaluate the link.
Prempro, contains the hormones estrogen and progestin. It was first sold in 1995. A study in 2002 found an increased risk of breast cancer after taking Prempro. The study began in 1997, and was supposed to continue for eight years. Early data showed the drug's adverse effects and the study was terminated three years early. The study found that Prempro increased the risk of breast cancer by 26%, heart attacks by 29% , strokes by 41% and blood clots by 113%.
Wyeth has won two verdicts in Little Rock, Arkansas, while in other parts of the country plaintiffs have been successful only to have verdicts overturned by judges.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Frank Bailey

Fresh Spinach Recalled For Salmonella

Shannon Weidemann — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:27:58 GMT

The latest spinach recall is raising questions about how the leafy green industry is regulated and people wanting more inspections by the FDA. Metz Fresh discovered some of their spinach was tainted with Salmonella during testing. They were able to stop about 90 percent of the contaminated spinach from reaching consumers.

California's leafy greens industry adopted the voluntary regulations last year after a fatal E. coli outbreak, but advocates said a national, mandatory inspection and testing program overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is needed.
"Eight thousand cartons left the plant for distribution in the U.S. That's 8,000 too many," said Jean Halloran, a food safety expert with Consumers Union. "At this point, we are relying on the leafy green industry to police itself."

Salmonella causes food poisoning when ingested. It can be fatal in some cases.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Wal-Mart Pulls Pet Treats From Shelves

Jenny Albano — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:28:46 GMT

Wal-Mart recently pulled certain dog treats from their shelves with out publicly announcing their decision. The treats were removed because some customers complained that there dogs became ill after eating the product.

The company removed Chicken Jerky Strips from Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co. and Chicken Jerky from Shanghai Bestro Trading on July 26, but so far there has not been a recall of these products. Also, to ensure customers do not purchase the dog treats, blocks have been placed on all cash registers.

"When we took it off shelves at the end of July, we pulled it based on the customer feedback so we could do testing prior to announcing anything publicly," Galberth said. "That's why did not make a public announcement -- it was still going through the testing process."

Galberth stated she did not know if the treats were sold at every Wal-Mart store, but that the treats were being tested to ensure animals' safety.

Last week a news station reported that a women claimed that her dog died after eating the Bestro Chicken Jerky Strips, and when an autopsy was completed it showed that the died from an infection from toxic bacteria.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano