Drug Injury Attorneys in Florence
Holding Drug Manufacturers Responsible
When you are sick or injured, or helping a loved one deal with illness or injury, you must be able to trust that doctors will make the right decisions to help you or help your loved one get better. The facts are that some medications prescribed by many doctors have ingredients that may cause the patient additional health problems or drug side effects. Many such medications have been investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and require warning labels, but many times patients are not always aware of these risks.
If you or a loved one has been injured or become sick after taking a certain prescription medication, the Florence drug injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner can help you file a drug injury lawsuit to get you or a loved one compensated for your pain and suffering and your injury-related expenses.
We will start working on your case today. Just call us at (256) 333-5000 or fill out the online consultation form to get the experienced drug injury help you deserve.
Injuries Caused By Dangerous Drugs
The drug injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner assist people suffering from negative drug side effects.
Examples of negative drug side effects include:
- Cancer: Several prescription drugs have been shown to have been linked to an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer, these include the diabetes drug Actos® and the birth control injection Depo-Provera®.
- Cardiovascular injuries: Some patients can experience severe forms of cardiovascular side effects‒such as blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes from kidney dialysis drugs, low testosterone therapies, as well as birth control medications.
- Depression and suicide: Some patients may experience forms of severe depression and suicidal thoughts after taking popular prescription drugs, such as the acne medication Accutane®.
- Diabetes: The cholesterol drug Lipitor® can help reduce the patient’s risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues. But it can also affect some patients’ blood glucose levels, which can lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes.
McCutcheon & Hamner Is Here for You
It is a devastating and life-changing event to suffer a serious injury or illness because of a medication that you trusted and was supposed to help you get better. When the injury is the manufacturer’s fault, you shouldn’t have to pay for your medical bills or lost wages. Let the drug injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner help you get the money you need.
Is Your Antibiotic Safe?
In 2013, the FDA issued a strong warning against a popular classification of antibiotics referred to as fluoroquinolones. In the warning, the FDA indicated that these antibiotics may be linked to serious, sudden, and potentially permanent nerve damage.
This serious condition is commonly referred to as peripheral neuropathy. The initial package labeling for the drug failed to warn patients and doctors of the rapid, serious, permanent nerve damage. This important information should have been on the antibiotics labeling and packaging from the start.
In 2011 over 23 million people were prescribed a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Peripheral neuropathy has been listed on warning labels since 2004 as a possible side effect of taking these antibiotics, and many patients have reported long-lasting nerve damage and disability as a result of taking these antibiotics.
Common Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are most commonly prescribed for respiratory infections and urinary tract infections(UTI) but these antibiotics are many times over-prescribed for conditions not requiring an antibiotic of the strength of this class.
Some of the commonly prescribed fluoroquinolone antibiotics include:
- Ciprofloxacin (Cipro)
- Gemifloxacin (Factive)
- Levofloxacin (Levaquin)
- Ofloxacin (Floxin)
- Norfloxacin (Noroxin)
- Moxifloxacin (Avelox)
If your doctor prescribes you any of these antibiotic medications, make sure that your personal medical condition warrants the use of an antibiotic medication that may potentially bring with it very serious adverse side effects.
Rapid Onset of Nerve Damage Symptoms
Peripheral Neuropathy can be described as damage to nerves that function to send information to and away from the brain and spinal cord as well as the rest of the body. Damage to these nerves can interrupt these connections, nerve damage symptoms can vary depending on which nerves are damaged. Generally, the nerve damage symptoms most often take place in the legs and arms.
These symptoms may include:
- Numbness
- Shooting pain
- Pain
- Burning
- Dizziness
- Tingling
- Anxiety
- Malaise
- Psychosis
- Memory loss
- Weakness
- Headaches
- Panic
Nerve damage symptoms can occur rapidly, sometimes within several days of starting the antibiotic medication. Nerve damage symptoms can last for months and can continue after you have stopped taking the antibiotic medication.
Benicar
Benicar was approved in 2002 and is widely used by patients suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension. Benicar is known by the generic name Olmesartan. Benicar is an angiotensin receptor blocker also known as an ARB. Benicar may be prescribed alone or with other high blood pressure medications. Some of these other angiotensin receptor blocker drugs are Azor, Tribenzor, and Benicar HCT.
Some patients prescribed and taking Benicar suffer severe gastrointestinal side effects while taking Benicar. In July of 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning stating that Benicar can and may cause sprue-like enteropathy in patients taking Benicar. The condition known as sprue-like enteropathy is one in which the patient experiences vomiting, dehydration, chronic diarrhea, rapid weight loss, and cardiovascular problems. Some patients with these Benicar side effects have required hospitalization.
Benicar was first linked to sprue-like enteropathy after patients at the Mayo Clinic had to be hospitalized. These patients were thought to suffer from celiac disease. Celiac disease is one in which patients have an adverse reaction to gluten. When a gluten-free diet failed to control the patients’ symptoms, doctors came to realize that each of these patients had been prescribed Benicar. After being taken off of the drug Benicar, the patients at the Mayo Clinic saw their symptoms begin to improve.
Around 10.5 million Benicar and Olmesartan-containing prescriptions were dispensed in 2012. After the FDA warning in 2013, many more Benicar prescribed patients came forward, reporting sprue-like enteropathy symptoms thought to be related to the drug Benicar.
Lipitor
Lipitor is a drug manufactured by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Pfizer also owns a generic manufacturer named Greenstone which makes a generic form of Lipitor. Pfizer knew as early as 1997 that Lipitor increased the risk of diabetes.
Lipitor is a drug that is given to decrease cholesterol in the bloodstream. It is known as a statin. There are certainly occasions where a statin drug is needed to lower cholesterol especially in someone who has a high risk of a heart attack or who has previously had a heart attack.
Some of the strongest personal drug injury cases against Lipitor are with females 51 to 70 years of age whit a BMI of 30 or less. BMI or body mass index is determined by a ratio of height to weight. People who have a BMI of 30 or greater fall into the category of obesity. Because the increased risk of heart attack is greater, the use of Lipitor is appropriate because the risks associated with the drug are outweighed by the risk of obesity and high cholesterol.
Because Pfizer knew of the increased risk of diabetes and did not warn the people taking the drug or the physicians prescribing the drug, we think certain people have a good personal injury lawsuit. Those people specifically are women 51 to 70 years of age with a BMI of 30 or less with no previous heart attacks and no family history of diabetes who were diagnosed with diabetes after two months of taking Lipitor or within six months of last taking Lipitor.
The law is that a drug manufacturer has to revise the warning with the drug if there is reasonable evidence of an association with an adverse condition or event. The law is found in the code of Federal regulation (C.F.R.) 201.57.
If you took Lipitor and developed diabetes, you should be suspicious. Don’t make any decision about a drug prescribed for you without discussing this with your personal physician. If you or a loved one feel you may need to file a claim against Pfizer and their drug Lipitor call an experienced attorney.
The Florence drug injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner can explain your rights under the law regarding the drug Lipitor and many others. Call us at (256) 333-5000 today for one of our experienced lawyers to review your situation.
