Personal Injury Litigation Blog

A recent article from scientificamerican.com reported on a serious hospital error that has left residents of Los Angeles and citizens throughout the United States shocked and questioning the standard of care provided by hospitals and medical professionals, as well as the quality of medical devices. According to the report, health care workers at the Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are responsible for an error that was made when resetting a computed tomography (CT) scanner. As a result, 206 patients who underwent an x-ray CT scan received eight times the normal dose of radiation during brain scans over an eighteen month timeframe. Shockingly, this mistake remained unnoticed from February 2008 until this August after a stroke patient notified the hospital that he had experienced significant hair loss after having a scan.

Apparently, the CT scan had to be re-set to override the preprogrammed instructions and accommodate new protocol for CT brain perfusion scans so that doctors could properly examine any disruptions in the flow of blood to brain tissue and diagnose strokes. As it turned out, the use of this protocol caused the amount of radiation to be eight times higher than the expected dose.
There is no doubt that radiation exposure is a serious issue, and there is no excuse for hospital professionals to make a mistake that puts trusting and innocent patients at risk of radiation overdose, nor is it acceptable for a defective medical device to go unnoticed by its manufacturers or be used on patients by doctors.

As the skilled CT scan radiation exposure attorneys at Panish, Shea & Boyle, LLP continue to monitor the inaccurately calibrated and potentially defective GE CT scan machines, we advise anyone who has experienced radiation overdose from such machines to contact our firm. Our lawyers are well-versed in product liability, medical malpractice, personal injury, and pharmaceutical litigation, lending us the wide range of legal experience and knowledge that you need to successfully obtain compensation that you deserve from negligent parties. For more information about defective CAT scanners , or if you or a loved one has experienced any ill-effects from such scans, please call Panish, Shea & Boyle, LLP at 1-800-591-8116.

Source:http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=hospital-error-leads-to-ct-scan-rad-2009-10-13

Yaz and Yasmin, a popular form of oral contraception, has recently been scrutinized for findings that show those who use the Bayer Pharmaceuticals drug open themselves up to a variety of health problems that can even lead to death. Although neither Yaz nor Yasmin has been officially recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), numerous studies have shown that, while users of any birth control pill increase their chances of experiencing health complications, users of Yaz and Yasmin have an even greater chance of experiencing serious health problems. The reasoning for the increased danger in using Yaz and Yasmin lies in one of the active ingredients that they both incorporate.

Specifically, both Yaz and Yasmin contain a hormone known as drospirenone (DRSP). The majority of other birth control pills do not use this hormone, and for good reason. DRSP has been linked to a variety of health ailments. DRSP may increase potassium levels in a Yaz or Yasmin users, and, for those individuals that either have or are susceptible to liver, kidney, or adrenal disease, increased potassium levels can create additional health problems. Users of Yaz and Yasmin have also been documented as suffering from deep vein thrombosis, commonly known as a blood clot. In fact, a study in the Netherlands showed that those individuals that use Yaz or Yasmin increase their odds of suffering from a blood clot by a whopping 6.3 times (although it should be noted that all birth control pills increase blood clot probability, just not as much as Yaz and Yasmin do). Blood clots can be deadly, and those individuals that experience blood clotting as a result of using Yaz and Yasmin may not be able to recover in some instances. Furthermore, Yaz and Yasmin users have also been known to suffer from heart attacks and strokes, both of which may have been caused by the presence of DRSP in Yaz and Yasmin.

The FDA did issue a letter of warning to Bayer Pharmaceuticals, but it doesn’t appear as though the pharmaceutical giant is putting much stake into the warning. As of October 22, 2009, the Bayer website is displaying an article about a study that shows that all methods of oral contraception increase the probability of blood clots occurring in users. This issue, for all intensive purposes, has never been challenged by those afflicted by health ailments resulting from Yaz/Yasmin use. Rather, and what Bayer is failing to point out, is that while the percentage of increased risk of blood clots for those users of Yaz and Yasmin may be comparable to other birth control bills, it is still greater than those birth control pills nevertheless. Bayer, essentially, recognizes that their product is more dangerous than others but is choosing not to make any sort of change to its product.

Yaz and Yasmin use may lead to complications that can result in heart attacks, strokes, and pulmonary embolisms. Even if the risk of injury is only slightly higher than other birth control pills, Yaz and Yasmin have still been shown by studies to increase the likelihood of serious ailments occurring. The Yaz and Yasmin side effect attorneys at Panish, Shea & Boyle are monitoring the Yaz & Yasmin drug situation and are currently investigating Yaz & Yasmin side effect complaints. We represent clients throughout the U.S., as well as globally, and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call Panish, Shea & Boyle today at 800-591-8116 for more information about your Yaz or Yasmin personal injury case.