Miscellaneous

• Merck's Vioxx successor being reviewed by FDA

  Lindsay Bauer | April 20, 2007 3:20 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Merck has created a successor to its now defunct drug Vioxx. The new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is called Arcoxia. Like Vioxx, Arcoxia is a Cox-2 inhibitor and was developed to treat osteoarthritis, but be gentler on the stomach then other drugs. On Tuesday, April 10, 2007 FDA advisers discussed the safety of Arcoxia as they attempted to determine if the new drug should be...

• Environmentalists win battle over EPA

  Lindsay Bauer | April 13, 2007 8:54 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  On April 2, 2007 a major battle was won on behalf of Massachusetts and environmentalists everywhere. The case of Massachusetts v. the Environmental Protection Agency ruled in a 5-4 decision that the federal government was wrong to ignore its responsibility to regulate carbon dioxide emission from cars and trucks. It is hoped that this ruling will lead to much needed federal action to slow...

• Wake up feeling tired?

  Tiffany Farr | March 02, 2007 12:05 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Wake up feeling tired? Your antidepressants may be to blame. R. Robert Auger, a sleep researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has found links between taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors (more commonly known as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc.) and REM behavior disorder. REM behavior disorder describes when a person's body does not become paralyzed during REM sleep, allowing them to...

• SSRIs prescribed to patients for off-label use

  Christen Wiese | February 26, 2007 5:08 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  In 2005 a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Paxil, Lexapro, Prozac and Zolfoft are often prescribed for treatments not approved by the FDA.This then exposes the consumer to the side effects that has not been tested for their condition. For example, patients have been prescribed SSRI's for pain, shyness,...

• FDA restricts use of antibiotics

  Tiffany Farr | February 09, 2007 10:24 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  The FDA has imposed a "black box" warning for the use of the antibiotic, Ketek. The drug has been shown to cause severe liver problems, even death. The FDA now believes that Ketek should only be used to treat pneumonia and not other, less serious bacterial infections such as bronchitis. Patients with myasthenia gravis, a disease causing muscle weakness, should also not take the drug. Visual...

• Cancer risk higher near Houston Ship Channel

  Lindsay Bauer | February 02, 2007 8:12 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  A study conducted by the city of Houston and paid for with tax dollars has finally confirmed what most of us have long suspected. Living near all the chemical plants around the Houston Ship Channel increases the risk of cancer in children. More specifically, children living within a two-mile radius have a higher risk of developing certain types of leukemia. The chemical in question around the...

• Proposed guidelines provide experimental drugs to critically ill

  Christen Wiese | December 11, 2006 5:53 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Revised federal guidelines have been proposed to the FDA regarding experimental drugs being given to the seriously ill. The revised guidelines will lay out the specifics regarding when the drugs will be given and also provide if and when the drug companies could charge for the experimental drug. Since the 1970's the FDA has made experimental drugs available to large groups of people or...

• IRC Violates OSHA Guidelines

  Lindsay Bauer | December 08, 2006 11:38 AM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  International Resistive Company (IRC), a Corpus Christi, Texas facility, has been the subject of recent court action by Reich & Binstock attorney Mike Howell. The plant manufactured electronic equipment and resisters for the automotive industry. The firm is pursuing the claim on behalf of a non-smoker who died of lung cancer. The company has been the subject of repeated intensive OSHA...

• Taxus Recall

  Vickye Young | November 14, 2006 3:44 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Boston Scientific Corp., the largest maker of heart stents, expanded a voluntary recall of its drug- coated Taxus devices because of possible defects in the delivery system. The recall will involve approximately 85,000 Taxus stents. About 200 Taxus stents were also recalled.The company first described the problems with Taxus publicly in April and quickly instituted changes to the balloon design....

• The Ugly Truth About Tort Reform

  Allison Snoddy | October 30, 2006 5:22 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Recently our office received a letter from a woman that had problems with her mother and a negligent nursing home, I thought it would be interesting to read what one of the attorney's wrote back:I am sorry to hear about your mom's treatment. You hit the nail on the head. Tort Reform has made nursing home cases difficult to pursue because of the damages cap. State employees are often incompetent....