Pharmaceutical Injury Lawyers

Rottenstein Law Group Anticipates Multidistrict Litigation Progress After ...

New York, NY (PRWEB) August 08, 2011

The Rottenstein Law Group, which represents clients with claims stemming from the severe side effects of the drug Fosamax, anticipates progress to follow the establishment of a steering committee in multidistrict litigation.

The federal court in which multiple Fosamax cases are being handled jointly with regard to pretrial matters last month established leadership committees of counsel and assigned certain plaintiffs’ lawyers to those committees. Case Management Order No. 3 in Civil Action No, 08-08, In Re: Fosamax (Alendronate Sodium) Products Liability Litigation (No. II), was signed by the Honorable Garrett E. Brown, United States District Judge, of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on July 14.

The order established a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, designating 11 lawyers from as many different firms (from eight different States) to serve on the committee. The Steering Committee will be generally responsible for coordinating the activities of the multiple plaintiffs during pretrial proceedings.

The United States Panel on Multidistrict Litigation had previously, by order dated May 23, 2011, in case number MDL 2243, ordered that 36 actions against defendant Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (formerly known as Merck & Co.), pending in eight federal districts, be consolidated in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and, if possible, assigned there to Judge Brown.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Fosamax warning in October 2010, stating that the drug, among other bisphosphonates, causes atypical low-impact femur fractures. Subsequently, dozens of lawsuits were filed against the manufacturer in various federal courts. The suits allege, among other things, that Merck inadequately tested the drug and then failed to warn users of its dangers.

The Rottenstein Law Group urges anyone whose friend or relative has been prescribed Fosamax or another osteoporosis drug to reach out to that person and recommend that he or she consult a physician immediately and then speak to a qualified personal injury lawyer. The Rottenstein Law Group maintains a Fosamax Lawsuit Information Center at http://www.fosamaxfemurfracturelawsuit.com . The site has features that allow for easy sharing, including links for automatic posting on Facebook and Twitter, specifically to enable visitors to spread the word about the dangers of Fosamax.

Pharmaceutical company and NJ hospital sued for wrongful death ...

The relatives of a man who died in a New Jersey hospital after allegedly being poisoned by his wife have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital and the pharmaceutical company that employed his wife. The defendants are accused of allowing the man's wife continued access to both the fatal drug and the man, and in doing so, of negligently causing his death.

According to the wrongful death suit, the 29-year-old man died in January at the University Medical Center in Princeton, two weeks after he was admitted to the hospital, complaining of abdominal pain and numbness in his hands and feet. After his death, it was learned that he had been poisoned with thallium, an odorless, radioactive metal substance that is generally used to diagnose coronary artery disease. Investigators concluded that the man's wife had been slipping him the chemical for at least two months before his death, including during his hospital stay.

On the day he was admitted, he informed doctors that he and his wife were planning to divorce, and that he suspected that he was being poisoned. The attending physician made a note of the man's request to be tested for poison, as was shown by a note in the man's chart. "The fact that he is accusing his wife of poisoning him may suggest the presence of a paranoid syndrome, although one has to first exclude the possibility of any kind of poisoning," the doctor wrote. However, there is no indication that the doctor complied with the man's request.

In fact, the lawsuit alleges, the wife had continued access to the man's room, despite an additional note in his chart stating that she was acting strangely and that she should be monitored when she came to visit. Since her husband's death, she has been arrested and charged with murder.

The lawsuit also names drug company Bristol Myers Squibb, which employed the wife, as a defendant, claiming that the company failed to impose and enforce appropriate safety and security controls on such a dangerous substance.

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