Belviq Recall Lawyers

Belviq and Belviq XR : Cancer Concern Prompts the FDA to Warn Patients About Belviq

On January 14, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Drug Safety Communication about Belviq and Belviq XR, also called lorcaserin. The FDA expressed concern that taking Belviq, a popular weight-loss drug, could lead to a possible increased risk of developing cancer. At that time, the FDA could not pinpoint the type of cancer(s) nor confirm that lorcaserin contributed to the cancer risk. The FDA asserted its intention to continue reviewing the drug’s safety but felt compelled to notify medical professionals and patients of the possible danger of taking Belviq.

After Additional Review, the FDA Asks Manufacturer of Belviq to Recall the Drug Because of Cancer Risk

On February 13, 2020, the FDA posted an updated Drug Safety Communication intended for patients and medical professionals. In this notice, the FDA “has requested that the manufacturer of Belviq, Belviq XR (lorcaserin) voluntarily withdraw the weight-loss drug from the U.S. market because a clinical safety trial shows an increased occurrence of cancer.” The FDA stated that Esai, Inc., the drug manufacturer, applied to recall Belviq per its request.

After reviewing the final data from the clinical study, as promised in January, the FDA determined that the risks of taking Belviq outweigh the benefits. The results showed “several different types of cancers occurring more frequently in the lorcaserin group, including pancreatic, colorectal, and lung.”

FDA Tells Patients: Stop Taking Belviq and Speak to Your Doctor

The FDA recommends that patients taking Belviq or Belviq XR stop taking the drug and consult their doctors about alternative weight management or weight-loss plans. The FDA also asks that patients dispose of any unused lorcaserin. The FDA does not recommend automatic cancer screening for patients who have been taking Belviq and suggests instead that patients with concerns speak directly with their health care provider.

FDA Recommends that Doctors Stop Prescribing Belviq to Their Patients

The FDA requests that medical professionals stop prescribing and dispensing Belviq. The FDA recommends that doctors contact their patients who take Belviq to explain the results of the clinical trial- that it showed an increased risk of cancer. Doctors should request that patients stop taking the drug. The FDA also asks that doctors “discuss alternative weight-loss medicines or strategies” with their patients.

Our Lawyers are Investigating Claims for People With Cancer Who Took Belviq and Belviq XR, Containing Lorcaserin

Drug manufacturers have a duty to inform the public and medical professionals about the risks associated with their products. Failing to do so can be negligent. Drug manufacturers also have an obligation to ensure their medications are as safe as possible.

When drug manufacturers do not warn of risks or put defective drugs into the marketplace, and patients are injured, lawsuits often follow. Our lawyers at Alonso Krangle, LLP are currently reviewing Belviq claims.

If you took Belviq and developed cancer, call our lawyers today at 800-403-6191 to find out if you have a claim for damages.

 

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Doctor Sexual Abuse

Seventeen Women Sued Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian For Allowing Doctor to Sexually Abuse Them

In December 2018, seventeen women filed a lawsuit against Columbia University and the New York-Presbyterian hospital system for allowing a sexually abusive doctor to continue practicing for over 20 years. According to CNN.com, the case filed in New York Supreme Court also names the doctor, Robert Hadden, as a defendant. Hadden was indicted in 2014 on criminal charges involving six women. The charges included sexual abuse, criminal sex acts, and forcible touching. The doctor lost his medical license in 2016 as part of a plea deal. He served no jail time and got what some perceive to be a “slap on the wrist,” which was the subject of a New York Times article and several others questioning the District Attorney’s handling of the case.

CNN.com reported that court documents from the lawsuit contain allegations that Columbia University and the New York-Presbyterian hospital system, where he practiced as an obstetrician, “repeatedly and actively concealed, conspired and enabled the sexual exploitation and abuse being committed by defendant Robert Hadden as early as 1993.”

Previous Lawsuit Alleges Haddon Sexually Abused More Women

Hadden, Columbia University, and New York-Presbyterian are also defendants in another civil lawsuit, which was filed in 2017 by four unnamed women. That lawsuit remains ongoing and contains allegations similar to a lawsuit filed this month- that Hadden sexually abused the women and that the institutions which employed him, failed to protect them from the abuse.

Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Lists Allegations of Sexual Assault on Patients

Marissa Hoechstetter is the only named plaintiff in the lawsuit. The other women wish to remain anonymous. Hoechstetter told CNN that she was one of Hadden’s patients from 2009-2012 and that he delivered her twin daughters. Hoechstetter claims that during her time as his patient, Hadden made numerous inappropriate sexual comments to her. After she gave birth, Hadden allegedly came to her hospital bedside, exposed her breasts, and told her, “You look like a porn star.”

This particular act is just one, and perhaps the least offensive, of a long list of egregious acts in which patients claim Hadden engaged. The investigation into his behavior began in 2012 when a patient told the police that the doctor made oral contact with her genitals during an exam. According to the complaint, Hadden subjected patients to “medically unnecessary vaginal and anal penetration, often without gloves; serial, prolonged, and medically inappropriate breast examinations… and telling one patient who was a minor at the time, to get on all fours during her exam and proceeding to rub her body with his bare hands.”

Nurse Claims Hospital Told Her to Keep Quiet After She Saw the Doctor Sexually Abusing a Patient

It is unclear whether the women who filed the lawsuit reported the abuse at the time it occurred.

Victims of sexual abuse often experience shame and severe trauma, making it difficult to come forward. According to the complaint, however, at least one nurse said she walked in on Haddon abusing a patient in the early 1990s. She claimed she reported it to superiors at Columbia University and was instructed to “keep quiet” and not “let him get himself in trouble.”

Employers have a duty to ensure the safety of their employees and the people they treat.
Supervisors, hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, and others must protect the patients that enter their care. The failure to provide adequate protection can result in legal liability for injuries caused by their negligence.

For example, sexual abuse by a priest or teacher can result in liability for the catholic church or school. If the church or school district knew or should have known of the sexual abuse and failed to protect people, those entities might be held responsible. The same can be true of a university, corporation, or hospital.

Contact Sexual Abuse Lawyers at Alonso Krangle, LLP to Find Out if You Have Time to File a Claim

If a doctor sexually abused you, you might be eligible to file a lawsuit. Find out if there is still time by calling our sexual abuse lawyers at Alonso, Krangle, LLP.
Call Alonso Krangle, LLP, lawyers handling sexual abuse claims, at 800-403-6191 for a free evaluation of yours.

 

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Injectafer Complaint

Couple Sues Drug Companies Over the Dangers of Injectafer

Injectafer, an intravenous medication used to treat adult iron deficiency anemia, is making headlines and not because of its efficacy. On January 15, 2020, Plaintiffs Maria and Anthony Munroe of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the makers and sellers of Injectafer. The defendants in the case are Luitpold pharmaceuticals, Inc, American Regent Inc, Vifor Pharmaceuticals Management Inc., and Daiichi Sankyo.

In their complaint, filed in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Plaintiffs allege that Injectafer causes a significant risk that patients will develop a dangerous sometimes fatal condition called Hypophosphatasia (HPP).

HPP is when levels of phosphates in the blood become low, causing symptoms that range from seizures, arrhythmia, muscle wasting, respiratory failure, and even death.

Patient Developed Severe HPP After Injectafer Treatments

The Patient Maria Munroe, at her doctor’s suggestion, was given Injectafer to treat her anemia. According to the complaint, after her second injection, her phosphate levels dropped to a critically low level. She needed hospitalizations, IV infusions of phosphates, and frequent blood draws. She continues to suffer from chronic HPP, including these effects:

  • The insertion of a port for her frequent blood tests
  • The need to walk with a cane
  • Muscle weakness
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle pain
  • Joint pain
  • Loss of teeth
  • Bleeding gums

The Munroes are seeking damages from the defendants for their alleged negligence and failure to warn about the dangers of Injectafer, among other things.

The Complaint Contains Several Allegations of Negligence

Negligence occurs when a person or business violates a duty to another. Duties vary depending on the industry, person, and circumstances.

Generally, the duty is to exercise reasonable care. In their complaint, the Munroes allege that the defendants were negligent. How where they negligent?

The complaint states that the defendant violated the following duties, which, if true, would render them negligent and liable for damages:

  • “The duty to exercise reasonable and ordinary care in the manufacture, design, labeling, instructions, warnings, sale, marketing, monitoring, promotion, and distribution of Injectafer so as to avoid exposing others to foreseeable and unreasonable risks of harm. Defendants knew or reasonably should have known that Injectafer was dangerous or likely to be dangerous when used in its intended or reasonably foreseeable manner.”
  • “Defendants breached their duty to exercise reasonable and prudent care in the development, testing, design, manufacture, inspection, marketing, pharmacovigilance, labeling, promotion, distribution and sale of Injectafer.”
  • Defendants failed to warn about Injectafer in all of its labeling, promotions and marketing materials that Injectafer caused severe HPP.
  • Defendants failed to carefully and properly design, test, study, and manufacture Injectafer.

Our lawyers are currently reviewing additional Injectafer lawsuits. Given the clinical studies on Injectafer and the high rate of HPP it causes, there are likely hundreds and hundreds of people who have suffered because of this dangerous drug.

Call Our Defective Drug Lawyers if You or Someone You Love Was Injured by Injectafer

Our defective drug lawyers at Alonso Krangle, LLP are reviewing Injectafer cases now. If you or someone you love developed low phosphate, HPP, or severe HPP while getting Injectafer, you might be eligible to file a claim. Find out about your rights to file an Injectafer lawsuit by calling our lawyers who handle defective drug cases today at 800-403-6191.

Zantac MDL

Panel Selects Florida to Hear Zantac MDL Lawsuits

On February 6, 2020, law.com reported that federal Zantac cancer litigation would be consolidated in the Southern District of Florida. The popular heartburn medicine is the subject of nearly 150 lawsuits in jurisdictions across the nation. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation selected US District Judge Robin Rosenberg to oversee the cases in Florida. The Zantac cancer litigation will be the first time Judge Rosenberg handles an MDL.

Why Are People Suing the Makers of Zantac?

Zantac is a drug, with the generic name ranitidine, that millions of consumers have relied upon for decades to treat or relieve heartburn, ulcers, and related ailments. It is available in over-the-counter and prescription strengths. There is concern among many that Zantac contains dangerous levels of the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).

The plaintiffs’ court documents state, “every one of the millions of the drug’s consumers have been exposed to dangerous levels of NDMA and many thousands of those consumers have contracted cancer as a result.”

Manufacturers Recall Zantac

Generic ranitidine makers, including Apotex and Sandoz, recalled the drugs. Generic drug maker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories also issued a voluntary recall of ranitidine at the end of October 2019.

Sanofi, the manufacturer of brand name Zantac, recalled some of its products. Several drug store chains across the country decided on their own to stop selling Zantac products.

Zantac Manufacturers Wanted MDL Cases Consolidated in the Northeast

The drug makers hoped the MDL would land in the Northeast. In their response to the petition for consolidation, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim, argued that the cases should be heard in New Jersey.

The defendants wanted to argue the cases before Judge Freda l. Wolfson, who in their words is “an experienced MDL judge currently overseeing all of the Zantac actions already pending in that jurisdiction.” Judge Wolfson is the Chief US District Judge in the District of New Jersey.

Chairwomen of the MDL Panel, Karen Caldwell, wrote, however, “A large number of Zantac actions are pending in the Southern District of Florida, which is supported by the majority of responding plaintiffs. The district is a relatively convenient and accessible forum, with the resources and the capacity to efficiently handle what could be a large litigation.”

Legal Experts Predict More People Will File Zantac Lawsuits

Many expect the number of lawsuits to rise, given the millions of consumers who have used Zantac since the 1980s. Our dangerous drug lawyers at Alonso Krangle, LLP, are reviewing Zantac lawsuits now.

If you or someone you love takes Zantac or ranitidine and developed cancer, call our office right away. We can determine if you have a Zantac claim against the manufacturers of this dangerous drug. Call our experienced dangerous drug lawyers today at 800-403-6191 for a free evaluation of your Zantac claim.

 

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