William Kokoszka, a 54 year-old Connecticut resident, has filed a personal injury lawsuit against Zimmer Inc., for extreme pain and injuries due to a defective artificial hip manufactured by Zimmer.

In each case, the patient experienced excruciating pain following implantation of the Zimmer Durom Cup and all have, or soon will, be forced to undergo a painful revision surgery.

“At my age, I wanted to continue my active lifestyle, including spending time with my family, working with my charities, traveling with my husband, and being able to perform basic daily activities,” stated Renee Donnelly, age 74, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, one of the patients that filed a lawsuit.  “However, once I was implanted with the defective Durom Cup, my life became very limited.”

“I used to lead a very fulfilling and active lifestyle, traveling abroad, exercising regularly, volunteering, and working in my garden.  Now, my life is so limited due to the pain that the defective Durom Cup implant has caused me,” stated plaintiff Karen Hoggarth, age 54, of  Westerville, Ohio. “I can’t even walk up the stairs without pain.”

“The quality of life physically and mentally, today and in the future, for myself and my family has been permanently damaged by the defective Zimmer Durom Cup I received in 2006,” added William Kokoszka, another plaintiff from Meriden, Connecticut.  “Zimmer should be accountable for its negligence and disregard for the safety of patients implanted with the Zimmer Durom Cup.”

Zimmer Durom Cup Lawsuits

The Durom Cup was first sold in the nation in 2006 and was implanted in over 12,000 patients over a two year period.  The estimated failure rates of the Durom Cup ranges between 20% and 30%.

After the Durom Cup was introduced in the United States, Zimmer began receiving complaints from physicians that the artificial hip was failing.  “Despite warnings from leading orthopedic surgeons, Zimmer continued to aggressively market the Durom Cup in 2007 and into 2008, blaming surgeons for the growing failure rate,” stated attorney Wendy R. Fleishman of the national law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP.

Learn more about the Zimmer Durom Cup and defective hip implant lawsuits.

GlaxoSmithKline insists that the study was reliable and that it demonstrated that the drug is safe. Critics assert that the study conducted by GlaxoSmithKline was flawed, manipulated and that its findings cannot be trusted.

The nation’s leading medical advisory group, The Institute of Medicine, released a report last week “concluding that Avandia increased the risks of stroke, heart failure and death compared with Actos.”

Beginning today, the FDA will determine in two days of hearings on whether Avandia should be withdrawn from the market.

Read an earlier entry outlining a New York Times report that exposed how Avandia is linked with risks of heart failure.

Patients taking Avandia that suffered serious side effects are welcome to contact a Lieff Cabraser attorney to learn about their legal rights for no charge or obligation.

Paxil, Paxil Oral Suspension, and Paxil-CR are trade names of the drug Paroxetine, which is a member of a class of drugs known as “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs). A 2005 study based on 3,500 pregnant women, linked Paxil to twice as many birth defects compared to other antidepressants when taken during the first three months of pregnancy.

The birth defects identified in the study included congenital defects, heart defects and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a potentially fatal disease.

If your child was born with birth defects and you were prescribed Paxil or other antidepressant drugs while pregnant, please contact our law firm to learn about your rights for no charge or obligation.

In April 2010, Ms. Mercado was diagnosed with a severe lung disease as a result of her exposure to ConAgra’s microwave popcorn which contained butter flavorings with added diacetyl. The disease is associated with inhaling butter flavoring vapors and has been identified as bronchiolitis obliterans — literally, an obliteration of the lung’s airways. Breathing tests can identify difficulty in moving air in and out of the lungs, called lung obstruction. In the case of bronchiolitis obliterans, that obstruction is “fixed,” meaning it doesn’t respond to normal asthma medications.

About her injury, Ms. Mercado stated, “I have always taken good care of myself and never would have thought that something as seemingly harmless as eating microwave popcorn would have hurt me so badly.” The lawsuit charges that Ms. Mercado sustained a severe lung disease after consuming microwave popcorn containing the butter flavoring chemical diacetyl. The chemical is used for the aroma and taste in butter, some cheeses and snack and bakery products.

Learn more about diacetyl injuries and the rights of victims of diacetyl-related lung diseases.

The decision to update the labels came after two studies that were commissioned by Bayer showed that the risk of Yaz and Yasmin was comparable to that of other oral contraceptives on the market, according to press reports.

Click here to learn more about the risks associated with Yaz and Yasmin.

When the Sprint Fidelis leads fracture, the defibrillator can fail to send a needed electrical jolt, and the patient can die. Or the defibrillator can send repeated, massive shocks, which can themselves be fatal.

In March 2009, Medtronic disclosed that at least 13 Sprint Fidelis patients may have died, including four patients whose deaths were related to efforts by doctors to surgically remove the product. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FDA database includes at least 12 additional deaths allegedly linked to the recalled device.

“The hazard of [Sprint] Fidelis lead fracture is increasing exponentially with time and, based on our data, occurring at a higher rate than the latest manufacturer’s performance update,” doctors at the University of Rochester concluded in findings published in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology [abstract only].

The study found that the three-year survival rate of 426 Medtronic leads inserted in the hospital’s patients was 90.8%, meaning 9.2% failed. In December 2009, one report estimated the failure rate of the Sprint Fidelis lead may eventually reach 30% of all patients.

Medtronic Heart Device Lawsuits

In lawsuits against Medtronic, patients represented by Lieff Cabraser have alleged that a design defect is responsible for their lead fractures. The complaints also allege that Medtronic failed to act timely as it knew of large numbers of failures of the device at least a year prior to issuing the recall. Learn more about the Medtronic heart lead recall.

A separate recall of 2.3 million vehicles announced last week, involving accelerator pedals that can stick on their own — is being expanded to include an undisclosed number of vehicles in Europe. In most cases, the same vehicles are involved in both recalls. It was not immediately clear how many different vehicles, in total, are part of the two actions. The vehicles being added to the floormat-related recall are the 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.

Read the full article on the CNN Money site.

Lieff Cabraser is investigating multiple fatal accidents involving Toyota and Lexus cars that suddenly accelerated. Persons injured in accidents involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles that suddenly accelerated who would like to learn more about their legal rights are welcome to contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser by clicking here. There is no charge or obligation for our review of your case.

“While prescribed Yaz, my daughter developed several pulmonary emboli, which obstructed her pulmonary artery and caused her to suffer cardiac arrest. My baby was dead for almost three minutes,” stated Dana Kraus. “She was in excellent health prior to taking Yaz. This was a terrifying experience. We almost lost her. We were so lucky. The doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh were able to save her life.” Pulmonary emboli are blood clots in the lungs that can lead to abnormally low blood pressure and sudden death.

“As alleged in the Complaint, Yaz is a dangerous prescription drug sold without adequate warnings about the risks of serious and fatal injuries,” stated attorney Wendy R. Fleishman. “Bayer failed to warn doctors and patients that Yaz poses a greater risk of serious side than previous generations of oral contraceptives.”

The serious Yaz problems reported include blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, strokes, and gall bladder damage. In certain cases, women have died due to these adverse effects of Yasmin and Yaz.

Lawsuits filed against Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin, by women represented by Lieff Cabraser allege that the company failed to adequately warn patients and physicians of the increased risk of serious adverse effects from Yasmin and Yaz. Meanwhile, Bayer touted the birth control advantages of the drugs in television advertisements.

Lieff Cabraser represents patients injured and families of loved ones who died while taking prescription drugs with dangerous side effects, including women taking Yaz birth control or Yasmin oral contraceptive who suffered dangerous side effects.  Contact to a Yaz injury attorney at Lieff Cabraser.

Nevertheless, after receiving what an FDA report described as “extreme,” “unusual” and persistent pressure from four NJ Democrats, agency managers overruled the scientists and approved the device for sale in December. All four legislators began their pushing within a few months of receiving significant campaign contributions from the manufacturer of the patch.

This only highlights the importance of passage of the Medical Device Safety Act, which would restore the right of patients injured by faulty medical devices to hold manufacturers accountable. The safety of millions of Americans with medical devices cannot and should not be put in the hands of one person at the FDA. The civil justice system provides an independent check and balance on corporations to ensure that their products are safe for consumer use.