News Inferno, May 14, 2012

Another lawsuit has been filed by a victim of an allegedly botched surgery using the da Vinci Surgical Robot. This time, an Alabama woman is claiming that Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci Robot, suppressed complaints and concealed rates of complications associated with the robot from the public and federal health regulators. She is seeking $270 million in damages.

The Alabama complaint is just the most recent of several lawsuits have been filed around the country alleging that da Vinci Surgical Robot design flaws, coupled with a lack of adequate training on the part of surgeons who use the device, have caused serious injuries to patients, including:

• Tears and burns to blood vessels
• Tears and burns to the intestines
• Tears and burns to the uterus
• Vaginal cuff dehiscence

Tags: da Vinci Surgical Robot | lawsuit

May 14 (Reuters) - A sculptor may recover royalty payments from the U.S. Postal Service, which used an image of the artist's Korean War Memorial sculpture on stamps and related merchandise, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, based in Washington, D.C., overturned a lower court award of $5,000 to sculptor Frank Gaylord, finding he was entitled to a larger share of the $30.2 million in revenues the postal service allegedly collected on the image.

Gaylord, an 87-year-old sculptor who fought in World War II, won a government-sponsored contest to build a memorial to Korean War veterans in 1990. His copyrighted work, consisting of a platoon of 19 steel soldiers, became the centerpiece of the Korean War Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 1995, photographer John Alli began photographing the memorial under various conditions, eventually capturing a ghostly image of the steel soldiers after a snowstorm.

In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service paid Alli $1,500 to use the photo in a commemorative line of 37-cent postage stamps, but failed to request Gaylord's permission. The agency sold 86.8 million stamps and licensed the stamp image to retailers, reaping alleged revenues over $30 million.

Gaylord sued in 2006 for a piece of the pie, alleging copyright infringement. Government lawyers argued that Alli's photograph and its transformation into a stamp constituted fair use. But the Federal Circuit disagreed, finding the postal service liable for copyright infringement. It sent the case back to the lower court to assess damages.

The lower court rejected Gaylord's request for a 10 percent royalty, plus interest and instead granted Gaylord $5,000 -- the most the postal service had ever paid to license an image.

Gaylord appealed, and the Federal Circuit overturned that award on Monday. Instead of only considering what the postal service would have paid, the court should have determined what deal Gaylord and the postal service would likely have reached. Gaylord consistently licensed images of the work for a 10 percent royalty, the court found.

"The trial court must consider all evidence relevant to a hypothetical negotiation rather than limiting its analysis to the Postal Service's past licenses for different works," Judge Kimberly Moore wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel.

The U.S. Postal Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment; the Justice Department declined to comment.

Heidi Harvey, a lawyer with Fish & Richardson who represented Gaylord pro bono, said the decision marks the first time the Federal Circuit both recognized royalty damages as a remedy available for copyright infringement, and acknowledged a citizen's rights to claim those damages from the government.

Gaylord is not the only artist who has sued over subsequent renditions of an original work. French photographer Patrick Cariou sued Richard Prince in 2009, accusing the collage artist of lifting images from Cariou's Rastafarian photography. A New York federal judge ordered all infringing copies of Cariou's photographs destroyed, a decision currently on appeal before the 2nd Circuit.

In a separate case, the Associated Press sued artist Shepard Fairey over his use of an AP photo to create the Barack Obama "Hope" image. That case settled in 2011.

Harvey said Gaylord's case was different from those examples, not involving a collage or a reimagining of the original.

"This case is where the postal service took the picture of a sculpture and put it on a stamp," she said.

The case is Gaylord v. United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2011-5097.

Tags: USPS | sculptor | copyright | royalties

New York Times, May 14, 2012

After working 17 hours straight at a natural gas well in Ohio, Timothy Roth and three other crew members climbed into their company truck around 10 o’clock one night last July and began their four-hour drive back to their drilling service company’s shop in West Virginia.

When they were just 10 minutes from home, the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The truck veered off the highway and slammed into a sign that sheared off part of the vehicle’s side, killing Mr. Roth.

About two months before the fatal crash, Mr. Roth nearly died in a similar accident when another co-worker with the same company fell asleep at the wheel after a long shift and ran the company’s truck into a pole. In 2009, Mr. Roth’s employer was penalized in New York, Pennsylvania and Utah for violations like “requiring or permitting” its oil field truckers to drive after working for 14 hours, the legal limit.

Over the past decade, more than 300 oil and gas workers like Mr. Roth were killed in highway crashes, the largest cause of fatalities in the industry. Many of these deaths were due in part to oil field exemptions from highway safety rules that allow truckers to work longer hours than drivers in most other industries, according to safety and health experts.

Tags: trucking | natural gas

Lawyersandsettlements.com, May 14, 2012

Jacksonville, OR: There has been much development on the Chantix portfolio in recent months that speaks to the Jekyll-and-Hyde personality of the smoking cessation drug introduced by Pfizer in 2006. Released amidst much fanfare and embraced by smokers trying to quit, Chantix was soon derailed by allegations of Chantix suicide and Chantix lawsuits.

To that end, the first two of eight bellwether lawsuits have a court date, as ordered by US District Court Judge Inge Johnson in Alabama. The October 22nd court date, and the subsequent trial will be watched closely, for this is the first test case. There are thousands of Chantix lawsuits in the pipeline.

Chantix targets those neuroreceptors in the brain responsible for the pleasurable feeling that smokers derive from inhaling, shielding those receptors from the influence of nicotine. The theory: if smokers are robbed of the pleasure associated with smoking, quitting will be easier.

Clinical trial data on Chantix prior to approval was impressive. Critics, however, cite that study participants were carefully screened for best results, and had the benefit of one-on-one professional counseling that most Americans trying to quit would not have access to.

When Chantix hit the market, various Chantix side effects soon overshadowed the success some smokers were having with Chantix.

Those side effects included Chantix suicide—which is the focus of the first bellwether lawsuit to be heard in October. Plaintiff Judy Ann Whitley claims the loss of her husband as an unlawful death. Mark Alan Whitely took his own life in 2007 after he began using Chantix to help him quit smoking.

Some Chantix users have enjoyed remarkable success, while others have experienced Chantix aggression, Chantix suicidal thoughts and other problems, including vivid nightmares. It appears as if Chantix, because it targets the brain, affects people differently.

Pfizer was no doubt buoyed by recent news that Chantix does not increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke or other cardiovascular concerns, according to a recent study by the University of California and published in the British Medical Journal. According to the Houston Chronicle (5/6/12), the results debunk an earlier study from last July, which suggested cardiovascular risk. The authors of the original study reportedly stand by their results.

Meanwhile, HealthDay News carried a report in February that a small study appears to show Chantix may help problem drinkers curtail their consumption of, and dependence on, alcohol.

"Chantix might reduce alcohol consumption by reducing overall enjoyment of the alcohol drinking experience," said study author Emma Childs, a research associate at the University of Chicago, in comments published in HealthDay (2/15/12).

"Chantix increased the unpleasant effects of alcohol, for example feeling drowsy and irritable, [and] participants also reported that they didn't like the alcohol effects as much," Childs said.

The study appears in the May, 2012 print edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Study authors admit the sample size of 15 participants was a limitation, and further research involving far more participants will be needed to achieve an accurate and definitive outcome.

Will Chantix eventually have an indication for problem drinkers, as well as smokers?

"We are not currently performing any studies with Chantix," Childs said, "although other groups are actively pursuing this line of research with a view to developing Chantix as an aid to people wanting to quit or cut down their drinking."

In the meantime, Chantix and suicide continues to be a concern. The second of two bellwether Chantix lawsuits is scheduled for January of next year. The plaintiff in that action represents the estate of Sandra Corey of Jacksonville, Oregon. Corey, according to the lawsuit, began using Chantix October 2, 2007 and soon experienced the onset of depression. Corey committed Chantix suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 24th of the following year.

A third bellwether case is that of plaintiff Billy Bedsole Jr. who, according to the Birmingham News of Alabama (3/26/12) claims to have suffered insomnia, severe anxiety, severe depression, erratic behavior and Chantix aggression, suicidal ideation and hospitalization after taking Chantix.

The manufacturer of Chantix defends its product. In a release, the manufacturer stated: ''Pfizer stands by Chantix, which is an effective treatment option for adult smokers who want to quit, and has been approved in 100 countries and prescribed to 15 million smokers, including eight million in the United States,'' Pfizer said in response to questions from the Birmingham News.

According to figures published in the Birmingham News there are no fewer than 2,498 cases as part of the Chantix MDL, with an additional 68 Chantix lawsuits pending in New York state courts.

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/chantix/chantix-suicide-lawsuits-side-17716.html

Tags: Chantix | smoking

Huffington Post, May 8, 2012

Texting while driving is illegal in 38 states, but a pending court case in New Jersey may determine whether there are legal ramifications to texting someone when they're behind the wheel.

In 2009, Kyle Best got into a car accident while replying to a text sent by Shannon Colonna.

Best, who was 19 at the time, was behind the wheel of his pick-up truck and, as he texted, drifted into opposing traffic and slammed into David and Linda Kubert's motorcycle.

The Kuberts both lost their left legs as a result from the collision and have brought a suit against Best for his role in the injury.

Now, in what could be a precedent-setting case, lawyer Stephen "Skippy" Weinstein has expanded the complaint to also include Colonna.

"They were texting back and forth like a verbal conversation," Weinstein told ABC News. "She may not have been physically present, but she was electronically present."

Tags: Texting | accident

Detroit Free Press, May 13, 2012

From A-list movie actors to supermodels, celebrities have had their share of courthouse drama and/or run-ins with the law recently. USA TODAY rounds up what has happened "on the record."

John Travolta, 58

On the record: This big-screen leading man is being accused of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a $2 million lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles masseur. The suit was filed May 1 in California's U.S. District Court. In the court documents, an anonymous male plaintiff says that in January, the actor exposed himself and groped him. Travolta's attorney, Marty Singer, says the actor was in New York on Jan. 16, when the accuser says the incident took place. In recent days, an Atlanta masseur joined the lawsuit and also is seeking $2 million in damages. Both men were being represented by attorney OkorieOkorocha, but the first accuser is getting a new lawyer. Singer told People in a statement: "This second 'anonymous' claim is just as absurd and ridiculous as the first one."

Matthew Fox, 45

On the record: The Lost actor is due in court in June after being arrested in Bend, Ore., early May 4 after an officer spotted a car whose driver failed to stay in his lane of traffic and use a signal. Fox, who resides with his family in Oregon, was booked on suspicion of DUI and released later that day. In the fall, a Cleveland bus driver accused the actor of assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress. Authorities decided not to press charges in that case.

Amanda Bynes, 26

On the record: Nearly a month after her pink-haired DUI mug shot went viral, Bynes was beset by more wheel woes. Driving her black Range Rover in L.A. on May 4, the former Nickelodeon star nicked a pickup, police say — and kept on going. But Bynes caught a break: Damage to the truck — paint rub to the right front fender — was declared too minimal to be criminal. (According to People, the officers reasoned that Bynes didn't feel the impact, so they decided not to charge her with a hit-and-run.)

Linda Evangelista, 47

On the record: Back in 1990, at the height of supermodel mania, Evangelista uttered one of the most (in)famous quotes in celebrity journalism: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day." Her son's bills may not be quite that steep, but, as Manhattan court papers revealed during the testy child-support trial between Evangelista and Francois-Henri Pinault, father of 5-year-old Augie, they befit the babe of a billionaire: $46,000 a month for armed ex-NYPD bodyguards and a 24-hour nanny, among other expenses. On May 7, as Evangelista was set to testify for the second day, the former flames settled. "We are happy that we were able to reach an agreement for the benefit and well-being of our son, Augie," they said in a statement. No word on how many figures Augie's allowance amounts to — it's sealed.

Lindsay Lohan, 25

On the record: On May 4, Lohan was on the right side of the law, for once: The L.A. County District Attorney's Office nixed a case brought against her by a nightclub manager accusing the actress, who has signed on to portray Liz Taylor, of nicking his right leg with her Porsche on March 14. After an investigation, prosecutors declined to charge her with leaving the scene of an accident. "There is no direct evidence to show Lindsay Lohan or anyone else struck victim (Thaer) Kamal," Deputy District Attorney John Gilligan wrote. "Kamal's changed story and lack of cooperation with law enforcement make him a non-credible witness."

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/54946310?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CEntertainment%7Cp

Tags: John Travolta | Lindsay Lohan

Thomson Reuters, May 11, 2012

NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - It was a tale of doom foretold in a pie chart.

On Jan. 27, Dewey &LeBoeuf's partners were summoned to a meeting on the 22nd floor of the law firm's New York City headquarters to discuss the firm's finances. While most of them knew Dewey LeBoeuf faced challenging times, few were prepared for what they were soon to hear from their chairman, Steven Davis.

Using a PowerPoint slide show, Davis presented a grim picture: Of Dewey's approximately $250 million in net income for 2011, about half was committed to pension obligations to retired partners and compensation that was owed to certain partners for the two prior years. Just half the pie remained to distribute to disappointed partners.

The firm was living on the edge, Davis revealed. "You have to own this problem," he told stunned partners, according to a lawyer who attended. Davis declined to comment for this article.

Tags: Dewey & LeBouef | Steven Davis

CNN, May 11, 2012

(Mashable) -- If you're one of the millions who purchased an iPod between Sept. 12, 2006, and March 31, 2009, you might be in for a surprising email. It states that you're being enlisted in a class-action lawsuit against Apple — though you do have the right to recuse yourself.

The class-action lawsuit was originally filed by a customer in January 2005 and was ignited by the creation of the music service Harmony. Back in 2004, the company RealNetworks created Harmony as a digital rights management (DRM) translation service. It allowed users to play songs downloaded from the RealPlayer music store on Apple's iPod.

But as any iPod user knows, songs must be loaded onto iTunes to be played on Apple's devices. That's because Apple created an iPod firmware update not too long after the announcement of Harmony, which blocked it and other music services from uploading songs to the iPod.

The customer filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of unfairly blocking competition. Now, years later, it's gaining steam.

Though RealNetworks has nothing to do with this case, the . District Court for the Northern District of California gave the lawsuit class-action status in November 2011. The website ipodlawsuit.com, which details the entire case, explains:

"The lawsuit claims that Apple violated federal and state laws by issuing software updates in 2006 for its iPod that prevented iPods from playing songs not purchases on iTunes. The lawsuit claims that the software updates caused iPod prices to be higher than they otherwise would have been."

The "class-action status" of the case means that if you own any of these devices — first through fourth generation Nanos, second and third generation Touches, first through third generation Shuffles, a fifth generation classic iPod or the special edition U2 iPod — you're automatically included in the lawsuit. (Official notices began going out this week.) But you give up any right to sue Apple individually over the same concerns.

Alternatively, you could also request exclusion from the case. However, if Apple does end up losing, you don't get to share in any kind of "recovery" that may be rewarded.

So far, there's no money involved — no actual settlement or reward has been determined.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/tech/gaming-gadgets/apple-ipod-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11

Tags: iPod | Apple | RealNetworks | Harmony | iTunes

Thomson Reuters, May 14, 2012

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan's $2 billion-plus trading loss raises serious questions about whether the New York Federal Reserve and other regulators were asleep at the wheel or whether it is asking too much of them to keep up with the financial engineering conducted by complex institutions with diverse, global operations.

The discussion may have migrated from too big to fail to too big to manage and too big to regulate.

Though the Fed - JPMorgan's primary regulator - is not supposed to prevent banks from losing money, and JPMorgan remains stable, the shock loss rattled confidence in the financial sector.

It also raises questions about how attuned regulators were to the botched derivatives trade.

Tags: JPMorgan

NewsInferno, April 30, 2012

Calling the tremendous growth in cell phone use the “biggest experiment of our species,” attendees at a scientific conference held in London last week have called for more independent research into the possible connection between cell phones and brain cancer. According to a report from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, in calling for more study, attendees at the Children with Cancer conference highlighted recent findings from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics, which show a 50 per cent increase in frontal and temporal lobe tumors between 1999 and 2009.

The conference was headed up by Professor Denis Henshaw, emeritus professor of human radiation effects at Bristol University in the U.K.

“Vast numbers of people are using mobile phones and they could be a time bomb of health problems – not just brain tumors, but also fertility, which would be a serious public health issue,” he told the Daily Mail. “‘The health effects of smoking alcohol and air pollution are well known and well talked about, and it’s entirely reasonable we should be openly discussing the evidence for this, but it is not happening.”

Tags: cell phone | brain cancer

Miami Herald, May 1, 2012

The statewide task force to review Florida’s Stand Your Ground law will begin its work Tuesday, but a state senator who formed his own task force is recommending the law be rewritten to make it more difficult for defendants to claim self-defense.

Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, said Monday the controversial law should be revised to allow law enforcement officers more leeway to investigate shootings of unarmed victims and make the self-defense protection less available to criminals looking for an out.

“We wanted to make sure that we put together an accurate report, to give the governor direction, to give the Legislature direction and to give the governor’s task force direction,” he said. “Every day this law is being used and misused in courtrooms throughout the state of Florida.”

His task force recommended that those claiming self-defense should have the opportunity to make their claim before a grand jury, which can decide whether to bring charges or dismiss. The group also pushed for more clear wording in the statute and a new system to track all the cases where stand your ground is used as a defense. The 18-member group did not recommend that the law be repealed.

Tags: Florida | Stand Your Ground law

New York Times, May 1, 2012

Dewey & LeBoeuf, the New York law firm crippled by financial mismanagement, an exodus of partners and a criminal investigation of its former chairman, encouraged its partners on Monday evening to look for another job, according to an internal memo.

The firm’s leadership has been scrambling in recent days to stave off failure by merging with another law firm and persuading its lenders not to push it into liquidation. “All partners,” said the memo, which was reviewed by The New York Times, “are encouraged to seek out alternative opportunities.”

The memo represents the latest chapter in a tumultuous period for Dewey, which has come apart after disappointing profits forced its leadership to slash partners’ compensation. An accelerating wave of partner defections since January — more than 85 of its 300 partners have left, including at least 11 on Monday — has imperiled the firm.

Tags: Dewey & LeBoeuf | Steven H. Davis

CNNMoney, May 1, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Occupy May Day is underway.

Occupy San Francisco got an early start on May Day, kicking off its organized protest at 8 p.m. on April 30.

"San Francisco, once a stronghold of the dispossessed, has become a playground for the rich and a living hell for those of us who can't keep up or have no interest in capitalist relations," Bay Area protest organizers said in a statement.

May Day protests were also underway in Greece and Turkey. Two thousand people gathered in Syntagma Square in Athens and another 7,000 protesters gathered outside a factory where employees haven't been paid in six months, according to their union.

Thousands of protesters in Istanbul's central Taksim Square were met with police presence.

Tags: Occupy | May Day | 99%

Thomson Reuters, April 29, 2012

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - Embattled law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf said on Sunday it had removed its former chairman from various leadership positions amid a probe by the Manhattan district attorney and said that talks with rival firm Greenberg Traurig about a potential transaction ended with no deal.

According to an internal firm memo obtained by Reuters, Dewey's executive committee voted to oust Steven Davis from its ranks and remove him from a five-member management team put in place during a leadership shakeup last month. The firm's management also disclosed that talks with Greenberg Traurig had ended.

"We are in discussions with other firms about a possible transaction and will consider those and other options for the firm moving forward," the memo said.

Tags: Dewey & LeBoeuf | Greenberg Traurig | Steven Davis

Thomson Reuters, April 27, 2012

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - New York prosecutors are looking into allegations of wrongdoing by a key leader of the troubled law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, according to an email sent by firm management to partners on Friday.

The memo, a copy of which was provided to Reuters, stated that the firm "learned earlier today" that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has launched a probe into the actions of Steven Davis, formerly the firm chairman and now part of a five-member management team.

A source familiar with the probe said a preliminary investigation was prompted after a group of Dewey partners asked District Attorney Cyrus Vance to examine "financial irregularities" at the firm. The scope of the investigation remains unclear.

Another source familiar with the matter said prosecutors are investigating whether Dewey leadership made misleading statements about payments due to partners.

Tags: Dewey & LeBoeuf | New York | Steven Davis

Lawyersandsettlements.com, April 30, 2012

Washington, DC: A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson has been hit with a Tylenol death lawsuit, as the parents of a 2-month-old infant have accused the companies of being negligent in the manufacturing of the product, Reuters reported.

According to the news outlet, the otherwise-healthy infant, Markus Cherry, died in April 2010, just three days after he was given Concentrated Tylenol Infant Drops. Tests that were done post-mortem concluded that the medication had been contaminated with bacteria that was considered harmful.

Cherry's death led to a recall of more than 40 types of infants' and children's medications across the US, as the Food and Drug Administration also investigated the plant where the contaminated product came from.

According to the news outlet, the plant had previously been cited for quality-control violations and the infant's death only heightened the attention that was paid to the site. In February 2010, officials met with Johnson & Johnson management about its operation, and after the death of Cherry, the FDA issued a report that alleged that the companies failed to investigate a number of consumer complaints.

Reuters reported that training and lab facilities at the site were found to be lacking by the investigators. The Cherry family has accused the drug manufacturers of trying to cover up widespread contamination, and have claimed that Johnson & Johnson hired a private company to buy up the entire stock from retailers to prevent the information from getting out.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the company's alleged "stealth recall" prevented consumers from learning about the potential harm that the product could cause. This, according to several legal experts, has given the family a significant issue to bring up in the lawsuit and could affect their potential settlement.

According to the news source, the FDA has a detailed record of the plant's problems and has alleged that there is proof that managers ignored known dangers at the site. This information could be used as context for why the issue was not brought to the public and why Johnson & Johnson allegedly tried to purchase the remaining stock from retailers.

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/tylenol/tylenol-liver-damage-lawsuit-side-17668.html

Tags: Johnson & Johnson | infant | Tylenol

NewsInferno, April 27, 2012

Illnesses in the growing, nationwide Salmonella sushi outbreak have reached 200. Reported in 21 states and Washington, D.C. the outbreak has been linked to raw, scraped tuna.

According to government health officials, the outbreak now involves two rare Salmonella strains, said MSNBC. Originally only thought to involve Salmonella Bareilly, the outbreak now also involves the Salmonella Nchanga infection, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC noted that two genetic fingerprint patterns of the Salmonella strains have been grouped into one single outbreak strain.

Tags: Salmonella | Sushi | Centers for Disease Control and Pre | CDC

NewsInferno, April 27, 2012

A new study has found an association with glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsato’s Roundup, and Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s-related brain disorders. According to a report from the Organic Authority, Roundup is the best-selling pesticide in the world and is the companion chemical application to many of the company’s genetically modified seeds including corn, soy, canola and cotton.

Tags: Monsanto | Roundup

NewsInferno, April 27, 2012

People who smoke cigarettes before and after receiving a total joint replacement, such as a hip replacement device or knee implant, are far more likely to endure revision surgeries on those implants than people who don’t smoke.

Two recent studies presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons showed that smokers were less likely to fully heal following a total joint replacement surgery in which they received either a hip or knee implant. Also, orthopaedic surgeons are more likely to aid in encouraging implant recipients to quit smoking before they are scheduled for surgery to decrease the likelihood of complications after receiving the implant.

For one study, more than 600 patients who received total knee replacement (TKR) implants were analyzed. Among recipients who smoked cigarettes there was a 10-times greater rate of revision surgeries than non-smokers. Failure rates of the TKR were exactly 2-to-1, comparing smokers to non-smokers. Just more than one-fifth of the patients who smoked prior to and after receiving their knee replacement were likely to suffer another form of “medical complication” compared to just over one-tenth of patients who didn’t smoke. Those complications included deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or blood clots, anemia requiring treatment, cardiac problems, and acute renal failure, according to a press release from that conference of the AAOS.

A second study looked at the impact of smoking on patients who received an ultraporous metal acetabular reconstruction surgery, from an implant like the failed DePuy Orthopaedics ASR hip implant, which uses a metal to replace the cup-like connection of the hip joint. These implants have been the source of great speculation in the medical device and joint replacement communities, including the ASR implant which was recalled in August 2010 due to a high failure rate.

The study presented at the AAOS conference found that smokers who received this type of hip implant were three-times more likely to suffer from a device failure than non-smokers, 9 percent to 3 percent.

Overall, patients who didn’t smoke were more likely to endure a total hip or knee replacement without suffering complications, anything ranging from pain and inflammation post-surgery to revision procedures or an eventual early replacement surgery caused by a device failure.

One surgeon from University of South Florida told the conference he has begun refusing to outfit patients who smoke with total knee or hip implants, only agreeing to do so once a patient has quit. This, he said, has resulted in 40 percent of his patients quitting smoking and, in turn, less complications from joint replacement surgeries from procedures he’s performed.

An associate dean for clinical and translational science at Mayo Clinic told the same conference that the moments prior to surgery are an optimal time to encourage would-be recipients of hip and knee implants to quit smoking and that every patient should be encouraged to quit prior to enduring a procedure.

http://www.newsinferno.com/defective-medical-devices/smokers-more-vulnerable-to-joint-replacement-failures/37152

Tags: Smokers | joint replacement | Hip replacement

NewsInferno, April 27, 2010

DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent, Johnson & Johnson, continue to be hit with lawsuits over recalled metal-on-metal DePuy ASR hip implants. Just yesterday, the national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP announced it had filed yet another DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuit, this time on behalf of a Virginia resident who claims one of the defective implants caused her to suffer from elevated chromium and cobalt levels.

The lawsuit was filed on April 12, in the DePuy ASR hip implant multidistrict litigation currently underway in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. The complaint was among several Parker Waichman LLP filed in the litigation that day.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, a 62-year-old woman from Ferrum, Virginia, received a DePuy ASR Hip Implant on October 10, 2007. By February 2011, the Plaintiff was suffering from pain, as well as elevated chromium and cobalt levels due to her metal-on-metal DePuy ASR Hip Implant. The plaintiff is asking the court for medical monitoring, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

DePuy ASR Hip Implant Recall

 
DePuy issued a worldwide recall of the ASR Hip Resurfacing System and ASR Acetabular System in August 2010, after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12%-13%) who had received the devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. By the time the implants were pulled off the market, more than 93,000 people worldwide had received one of the devices, according to a statement from Parker Waichman LLP.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Dangers

The ASR hip implants are metal-on-metal devices, a class currently being reviewed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Last May, the agency directed 21 companies that market all-metal hip replacements, including DePuy, to conduct post-market studies of their products to determine if they were shedding dangerous amounts of metallic debris in patients. The FDA recently announced that its Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices Panel will meet over June 27 and 28 to discuss the risks and benefits of metal-on-metal hip systems, as well as make potential patient and practitioner recommendations for their use.

It is believed the metal debris shed by metal-on-metal hip implants can lead to serious side effects, including:

• Tissue damage
• Development of cysts and pseudotumors
• Premature device failure
• Need for revision surgery
• Possible long-term damage to organs and other systems from toxic metals

In March, a large study published in The Lancet showed that there is a 6.2 percent chance patients with all-metal hips will need a replacement within five years. “Metal-on-metal stemmed articulations give poor implant survival compared with other options and should not be implanted,” the study authors wrote. The month prior, a report in the British Medical Journal revealed that metal-on-metal hip implant manufacturers were aware of mounting evidence linking the devices to serious, long-term health consequences, but for years failed to warn the public about these dangers. The report warned that hundreds of thousands of people around the world may have been exposed to dangerously high levels of toxic and potentially cancer-causing metals from failing metal-on-metal hip implants.

Since the DePuy ASR hip implant recall, DePuy and other manufacturers have been named in lawsuits over their metal-on-metal hip replacement devices. In addtion to the DePuy ASR hip implant litigation in Ohio. Claims involving a metal-on-metal version of DePuy’s Pinnacle hip implant have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in Texas. In February, a multidistrict litigation was established in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for lawsuits involving the all-metal Wright Conserve Hip Replacement System. Several lawsuits are also pending in the U.S. over Biomet metal-on-metal hip implants.

http://www.newsinferno.com/defective-medical-devices/lawsuits-over-depuy-asr-metal-on-metal-hip-implants-continue-to-mount/37128

Tags: DePuy | Hip implants