By Frank Lyle “Actos” is the brand name for a drug (pioglitazone) used to treat adult onset, Type-II diabetes. In June of 2011, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the public that this drug may increase the risk of bladder cancer. The FDA required new warnings to be placed on the medication’s label sold under the names Actos, Actoplus Met and Duetact. The drug has already been pulled off the market in France and Germany. It has been estimated that more than 2 million patients filled prescriptions for the drug between January 2010 and October 2010. Our attorneys at SpringerLyle … [Read more...]
No Better Care, Thanks to Tort Reform
Published in The Texas Tribune by guest columnist, Charles M. Silver In 2006, Dr. Howard Marcus wrote that Texas’ 2003 tort reform statute sparked an “amazing turnaround” in which doctors came to Texas in droves, instead of leaving the state as they had before. He was doubly wrong. Texas neither lost doctors before 2003 nor gained them especially quickly in subsequent years. In fact, according to statistics published by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), the supply of active, direct patient care (DPC) doctors per capita grew faster from 1996 to 2002 than at any time … [Read more...]
Tragedy Brought on by Tainted Fruit
By Moni Basu, CNN William Beach was one of those people who fixated on certain foods. He would eat the same thing voraciously for a few days, and then, when he tired of the same tastes, he moved onto something else. In August, when summer’s heat seemed unending in Mustang, Okla., Beach took to savoring fried chicken -- and soft, sweet cantaloupe. Beach was elderly -- 87 -- but after eating the fruit, his health declined rather suddenly and before anyone in his family knew what was wrong, he was dead. He is among 15 people who died from Listeria monocytogenes in what the Centers for Disease … [Read more...]
Hip Implant Complaints Increase, While Dangers Are Reviewed
By BARRY MEIER and JANET ROBERTS of the New York Times Published: August 22, 2011 The federal government has received a surge in complaints in recent months about failed hip replacements, suggesting that serious problems persist with some types of artificial hips even as researchers scramble to evaluate the health dangers. An analysis of federal data by The New York Times indicates that the Food and Drug Administration has received more than 5,000 reports since January about several widely used devices known as metal-on-metal hips, more than the agency had received about those devices in the … [Read more...]
Hair Removal Service Not Protected Under Health Care Liability Act
from Texas Lawyer Bioderm Skin Care LLC v. Sok Tx. App. Dist. 5 Kerry P. Fitzgerald Justice 05-10-00044-CV 06-28-2011 OPINION Before Justices Morris, O'Neill, and FitzGerald Opinion By Justice FitzGerald Appellee Veasna "Sandee" Sok sued Bioderm Skin Care, LLC ("Bioderm") and Quan Nguyen, MD, seeking to recover damages for burns she suffered during a laser hair removal procedure at Bioderm. Bioderm and Nguyen contend Sok’s claims are health care liability claims and are subject to Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Accordingly, they moved to … [Read more...]
Four more women contact local police about doctor
from the Denton Record-Chronicle 12:36 AM CDT on Friday, March 18, 2010 By Donna Fielder / Staff Writer Four additional women contacted police Wednesday saying they also were victims of a Denton doctor who touched them sexually and made inappropriate remarks, police reports state. Since news reports Tuesday that Dr. Ramon Cruz’s license was suspended by the Texas Medical Board after the panel made a finding that he engaged in inappropriate behavior with four of his Denton patients, several other women have come forward with similar stories. Cruz has not been charged with any crime, … [Read more...]
Carreras v. Marroquin, et al.
Parents brought claims against a physician who allegedly caused their adult daughter’s death. The parents attempted to delay the expiration of the statute of limitations by sending a pre-suit, notice of their claims shortly before their filing deadline expired. The notice was not accompanied by a form allowing the doctor access to the daughter’s medical information as required by the health care liability law. After the parents filed suit, the doctor moved for summary judgment, arguing that the notice did not delay the parents filing deadline, resulting in the suit being barred as untimely. … [Read more...]