Avandia to Come off Retail Shelves

Citing the heart attack risks posed by Avandia, the federal government announced yesterday that the diabetes drug would be pulled from retail pharmacy shelves in November.

Under a new program taking effect on Nov. 18, only certified doctors will be allowed to prescribe the drug, but only to patients who've been informed of the risks and who have already been safely treated with it.  Those patients will have to get their prescriptions filled by mail order through specific pharmacies.

Avandia, once the world’s best-selling diabetes pill, is used to treat people with type 2 diabetes.  However, studies have shown the drug increases heart attack risk by about 40% in those patients.  Type 2 diabetes affects about 23 million Americans.

In 2007, FDA drug-safety expert David Graham reported to an advisory committee that Avandia had caused heart problems, including deaths, in 66,000 to 200,000 people.

The attorneys at Messa & Associates are experienced at handling cases involving pharmaceutical and drug product injuries.  Our skilled team of attorneys has successfully pursued litigation and obtained verdicts and settlements for victims of pharmaceutical injuries.  If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries as a result of taking the diabetes drug Avandia, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.

Hip Manufacturers Ordered to Study Implants

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered all producers of metal-on-metal artificial hips to study their implants, which have been linked to high early failure rates and severe health effects in some patients.  Makers of the device must conduct studies of patients who received the hips to determine if the implants are shedding high levels of metallic debris.  Some patients have encountered that problem, including soft tissue damage that has disabled them.

Metal-on-metal hips, in which the ball-and-socket components are made from metals like cobalt and chromium, accounted until relatively recently for about one-third of the estimated 250,000 hip replacement procedures performed annually in the United States.  However, over the last two years, the use of the implants has fallen off in part due to reports that they were prone to early failure and that some patients had developed serious health problems related to particles of metallic debris that are shed by the devices as they wear.

Approximately 20 manufacturers including the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet and Wright Medical are required to study their products.

Each manufacturer may determine how to conduct its individual studies, but under the agency rule, has 30 days to file a proposed plan with the FDA.  The companies must collect information from patients who received the devices, including taking blood samples to determine the levels of metallic ion in their systems.  They are also being asked to determine how frequently the devices are failing.

The attorneys at Messa & Associates are experienced at handling cases involving pharmaceutical and medical device injuries.  Our extremely skilled team of attorneys and medical experts has successfully pursued litigation and obtained verdicts and settlements for victims of medical device injuries.  If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries as a result of an artificial hip replacement, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.

Ryobi Sheet Sanders Recalled Due to Laceration Hazard

One World Technologies, Inc. is recalling about 300,000 Ryobi ¼ Sheet Sanders because pieces of the fan can break off from the fan assembly and be ejected from the product, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.

There have been 31 reports of broken fan pieces being ejected from the sander, including two reports of minor lacerations.  The sanders were sold at Home Depot, Gardner, Inc., Tap Enterprises, Inc., Direct Tools Factory Outlets, Amazon.com, and ToolKing.com from June 2005 through August 2010 for about $30.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled sander.

The attorneys at Messa & Associates have successfully represented many victims of defective products.  If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by one of the recalled Ryobi ¼ Sheet Sanders, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.

Table Top Feeding Chairs Unsafe, Says CPSC

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that versions of the “metoo” clip-on table top chairs sold by phil&teds USA Inc. are unsafe.  The chairs have metal clamps that attach to most table tops, such as a restaurant table.  Those clamps can easily come loose, causing the chair to detach resulting in the child falling to the floor.

The agency says that fingers or hands can also be pinched or crushed when the chairs partially detach from a table, catching a child's fingers or hands between the clamp and a metal bar on the front of the chair.

                                                                                                                            

The CPSC says about a dozen children have been injured while using the chair, but the company refused to issue a recall that was acceptable to the commission.  The "metoo" chairs have been sold at nationwide retailers such as Target and Toys R Us as well as online.

Messa & Associates is experienced in handling cases involving injuries to children as a result of products with manufacturing and design defects.  In addition to their research and knowledge, our attorneys work with highly regarded experts to prepare every case.  If your child has been seriously injured by a phil&teds metoo table top chair, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.