James T. Capretz Law Blog

A federal jury awarded a Minnesota
Edina man $1.8 million in damages Wednesday against Johnson & Johnson and a
subsidiary for failing to warn consumers and doctors that the drug Levaquin may
cause tendon damage.

The case in U.S. District Court in
Minneapolis was reportedly the first... Read More

The FDA recommended a ban on Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals prescription pain medications Darvocet and Darvon following reports from government and health experts linking the popular drugs to addiction and other life-threatening cardiac side effects. The medications are
used for the treatment of mild pain. A chemical ingredient in the drugs called
propoxyphene, an opioid, has been shown to cause... Read More

On October 16, 2010, Gina Kolota of the New York Times
published an article that concluded in some cases drugs that were supposed to
prevent serious medical problems were, in fact causing them.  The article mentioned a drug called bisphonates( Fosamax, Actonel and Bonivia)
and GlaxoSmithKline’s controversial drug Avandia.               &#... Read More

In a report released Wednesday September 29, 2010, Senator Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) said he believed that GlaxoSmithKline buried and downplayed
questions about Avandia’s safety. Senator Grassley, the lead
investigator of the Senate Finance Committee’s investigation of the
drug, stated that he and his colleagues went through over 250,000 pages
of GSK documents and interviewed many witnesses and whistle-blowers.
Mr. Grassley believed that the... Read More

On Thursday,
September 23, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the
diabetes drug Avandia will be restricted only to patients whose diabetes cannot
be controlled by other medications and have been made aware of the drugs risks
to the heart. Patients currently taking the drug will reportedly have to sign a
consent form acknowledging that they understand all the risks before they will
be allowed to continue... Read More

On Friday September 17, 2010 the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) announced that it is investigating the popular diabetes
medication Actos (Pioglitazone), which is a drug commonly used in the treatment
of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The announcement was made following the release of preliminary data showing thatthe drug may increase the risk of bladder cancer. According to the Read More

DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Recall UPDATE

On August 26, 2010 Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedic division, DePuy, issued a voluntary recall of its ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems which systems have been implanted since July 2003. DePuy claims the recall was prompted by the high rate of redo or revision surgeries needed by patients with the DePuy hip replacements. In 2008 Australian studies showed a high... Read More

Organic shingles have been
manufactured for many years by several companies. Simply put ,they  are
generally paper (waste or recycled paper) saturated with asphalt to make it
waterproof, then a top coating of adhesive asphalt is applied and ceramic
granules are then embedded. Algae-resistant shingles may contain a portion of
copper or tin.

Often times the organic shingle
manufacturer would warrant... Read More

Avandia News

On Monday September 6, 2010, the prestigious British Medical
Journal published an article stating that GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s diabetes drug Avandia
should not have ever been on the market and it also called for the immediate
withdrawal of the drug.

Back in July, the UK Commission on Human Medicines... Read More

Several lawsuits have been filed
relating to failures of the Johnson & Johnson DePuy ASR hip implant. 
Last August, Johnson & Johnson issued a worldwide recall for it’s ASR XL
Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System after data from the National
Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 people that
have received a hip replacement with devices supplied by... Read More