Brain Injury Resources & Links

What You Should and Shouldn’t Do if You Suspect Medical Malpractice

jkrawitz on September 5, 2017

Category: Medical Malpractice
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 83.6 percent of adults and 93 percent of children had contact with a health care professional in 2015. Hospital visits numbered 125.7 million while physician office visits numbered 922.6 million.

While the vast majority of medical procedures go smoothly, errors do occur and cause injury to patients. Surgery errors are the most common basis for an inpatient medical malpractice claim. As for outpatients, errors in diagnosis are the most common basis for a claim.

If a person suspects medical malpractice due to an adverse outcome from a medical diagnosis or procedure, he or she may decide to reach out to the physician, medical care provider, or hospital for some explanation or recourse. As a recent case illustrates, that may NOT be the best course of action to take.

Practicing Defensive Medicine: The Doctor’s Cure for Malpractice

lexblog on September 7, 2016

Category: Medical Malpractice
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

“Defensive Medicine” is a phrase used when doctors order extra tests or perform additional procedures because they are concerned about being sued for “missing something.” However, studies do not support the idea that the extra tests or procedures are warranted and actually reduce the risk of a physician being sued.

In fact, numerous studies have shown that the greatest predictor of whether a physician is likely to be sued is whether he or she has been sued before. In other words, physicians who have been sued once are much more likely to be sued again. Between 1991 and 2005, 6% of all doctors in the United States were estimated to be responsible for 58% of all malpractice payments.

Stark & Stark Attorney Published in the Philadelphia Business Journal

sstark on October 29, 2015

Category: Beer & Spirits, Stark News
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

Bianca A. Roberto, member of the Business & Corporate and Beer & Spirits Groups, authored the article Raise a Glass: Pennsylvania’s Archaic Liquor Laws are Finally Changing, which was published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on October 27, 2015.

The article describes the impact that local brewers, distributors and retailers of beer have had on Pennsylvania’s economy in the last year. This impact has been both significant and positive, as the beer industry brought more than $9.2 billion into the Commonwealth in 2014. Even more positive, the industry employs nearly 41,000 people, and also helps generate jobs in similarly aligned industries like agriculture, finance, insurance and real estate.

Despite all this growth, Pennsylvania has extremely stringent liquor laws. Luckily, this does seem to be changing slowly, as “the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) declared that beer distributors are permitted to sell 12-packs of beer.” Previous to this, these Pennsylvania beer distributors had been limited to only selling beer by the case or keg, and 6-packs could only be sold in bars, supermarkets or convenience stores permitted to sell them, usually at a higher cost.

Ms. Roberto also added, “the Concord Township Board of Supervisors approved beer sales at the Wawa located at 721 Naamans Creek Road in Chadds Ford. If approved, customers will be able to purchase up to two 6-packs of beer at the Delaware County store.”

You can read the full article by clicking here.

New Jersey Court Upholds $11.1 Million Jury Award

khart on July 18, 2014

Category: Transvaginal Mesh
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

As we previously reported, an Atlantic County jury awarded a former nurse $3.35 million in compensatory damages and $7.76 million in punitive damages for injuries she suffered from a pelvic mesh implant made by Johnson & Johnson.

The Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Ethicon, maker of the Gynecare Prolift pelvic mesh product, filed a motion requesting a new trial following the jury’s decision. The Presiding Civil Judge in Atlantic County Superior Court, Carol E. Higbee, recently denied Ethicon’s motion. Judge Higbee found that “there was strong evidence presented and multiple sources of evidence that in fact there were many problems with this product.”

More than 5,900 similar lawsuits alleging injury related to pelvic mesh devices are currently pending. If you or a loved one has experienced any injury from the use of a pelvic mesh implant, please contact Stark & Stark and speak to one of the Mass Tort attorneys, free of charge, who can help assess any claims that you might have against Johnson & Johnson.

Endo International Settles Pelvic Mesh Cases for $830 Million

chilliard on May 20, 2014

Category: Transvaginal Mesh
Tag: Brain Injury FAQs, Brain Injury News, Brain Injury Resources & Links

Endo International Plc (“Endo”) has agreed to pay $830 million to resolve legal claims from women who allege that they were injured by the company’s transvaginal mesh devices. Endo said the settlement will cover a “substantial majority” of the mesh litigation brought against its American Medical Systems subsidiary. This settlement comes only one year after Endo agreed to pay $54.5 million to settle an undisclosed number of other mesh cases.

If you or a loved one has experienced any injury from the use of a vaginal mesh implant, please contact Stark & Stark and speak to one of the Mass Tort attorneys, free of charge, who can help assess any claims that you might have against a manufacturer.

Stark & Stark Mass Torts Group Authors Chapter in New Jersey Environmental Law Handbook

sstark on May 16, 2014

Category: Stark Events
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

Stark & Stark Shareholders Martin P. Schrama and Stefanie Colella-Walsh, members of the firm’s Mass Torts group, have co-authored the chapter “Mass Torts and Class Actions in New Jersey” in the eighth edition of the New Jersey Environmental Law Handbook. This publication breaks down environmental law in a way that is not only informative, but also easy to understand.

This particular chapter seeks to provide a better understanding of the complex litigation models used to resolve tort related environmental law causes of action in the State of New Jersey—the class action and the multicounty litigation (“MCL”). The former is a product of both federal and state law and is often used to resolve diverse disputes across the country. The latter is a New Jersey mechanism devised to efficiently resolve complex tort actions filed in state court.

Buy your copy of the New Jersey Environmental Law Handbook by clicking here.

New Account of Phineas Gage

Bruce H. Stern on May 9, 2014

Category: Brain Injury Resources & Links
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

Almost everyone involved in representing or treating persons with traumatic brain injury is aware of the history and story of Phineas Gage. Mr. Gage, in 1848, was working as a railroad foreman for the Rutland & Burlington Railroad.

Diabetes Expert Warns Use of Byetta Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

khart on June 19, 2013

Category: Byetta, Januvia/Janumet and Victoza
Tag: Brain Injury News, Brain Injury Resources & Links

As we have previously reported, litigation regarding incretin mimetics, such as Byetta, Januvia/Janumet and Victoza, continues to grow across the country. Byetta (Exenatide), manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, in association with Eli Lilly and Co., entered the market in 2005 for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Byetta, now sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca, is a type of incretin mimetic that is administered as a subcutaneous injection of the abdomen, thigh or arm within 60 minutes of a person’s first and last meal of the day (i.e. two injections a day).

Dr. Peter Butler, the former head of endocrinology at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and former editor of the American Diabetes Association journal has advised that Byetta may be unsafely tied to pancreatic cancer. The resource center, DrugRisk, recently added a 2011, study from the UCLA that indicated use of Byetta could increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 290% and thyroid cancer by 473%. As the New York Times reports, Dr. Butler, believes that the seriousness of these risks was not received by the FDA at the time of testing. Dr. Butler worries that the use of very young animals, not as prone to pancreatic cancer, could have skewed the results and subsequent knowledge of the danger.

If you feel you have experienced any side-effects from taking Byetta, Januvia/Janumet or Victoza, you can contact Stark & Stark and speak to one of the Mass Tort/Pharmaceutical Litigation attorneys, free of charge, who can help assess any claims that you might have against the Byetta, Januvia/Janumet or Victoza manufacturers.

Incretin Mimetic Medications Byetta, Januvia/Janumet and Victoza Can Cause Substantial Injury

khart on June 3, 2013

Category: Byetta, Januvia/Janumet and Victoza, Defective Drugs
Tag: Brain Injuries in Sports, Brain Injury News, Brain Injury Resources & Links

There are an estimated 25 million people in the United States with diabetes with an estimated $245 billion a year in diabetes-related health costs. A number of drugs have been introduced to treat diabetes patients and time has shown that certain types of these drugs can cause substantial injury.

Byetta (Exenatide), manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, in association with Eli Lilly and Co., entered the market in 2005 for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Byetta is a type of incretin mimetic that is administered as a subcutaneous injection of the abdomen, thigh or arm within 60 minutes of a person’s first and last meal of the day (i.e. two injections a day). Byetta is widely prescribed and made $710 million in 2010 and is expected to surpass $1 billion in sales by 2015.

Januvia/Janumet (Sitagliptin) was developed and marketed by Merck & Co. as an oral anti-hyperglycemic beginning in 2006. It is an enzyme-inhibiting drug that helps control blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetics. Januvia generated sales of more than $4 billion last year alone.

Victoza (Liraglutide), developed and manufactured by Novo Nordisk, was approved for sale and use in January 2010 for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Victoza is a type of incretin mimetic that is administered as a once-daily injection. It has enjoyed strong market support, selling an estimated $1 billion in 2011. Sales reached nearly $750 million in the first half of 2012.

Recently, researchers at Johns Hopkins University determined that these medications could be linked to pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, leading to an FDA warning. The FDA is currently working with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases and the National Cancer Institute to determine whether incretin mimetic medications should be pulled from the market altogether.

Sex Lives Often An Overall Casualty of Traumatic Brain Injury

Bruce H. Stern on May 6, 2013

Category: Brain Injury Resources & Links
Tag: Brain Injury Resources & Links

Health Day News recently issued a story on a study published in NeuroRehabilitation in which the author Jhon Alexander Moreno, a neuropsychologist at the University of Miami, analyzed the results of fourteen studies that together included almost fifteen hundred patients, spouses, partners, and people without traumatic brain injury as well as rehabilitation professionals.

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