Author: Ring of Fire Staff

The Australian National Registry has dealt another blow to the already crippled Johnson & Johnson efforts to defend a product manufactured by one of its subsidiaries.  The Australian National Registry recently released its 2012 Annual Report revealing that the DePuy ASR total hip replacement has a whopping 44% revision rate at 7 years.  The average revision rate of all other total hip replacement products is only 6% at 10 years, according to the 2012 Annual Report.  In addition, this 44% revision rate does not actually show the percentage of the products that have failed inside of patients at 7 years, and it does not account for patients who had faulty products. For example, it does not include patients who are awaiting revision, patients who cannot afford medical treatment, patients who cannot have a revision due to other medical conditions, patients who would rather suffer from the failed product than go through the pain of another hip replacement, patients whose surgeons have not yet detected the failed product, and patients who have passed away.  Therefore, the percentage of DePuy ASR XLs that have failed at 7 years is likely much great than 44%. DePuy recalled its ASR XL total hip replacement implant in August 2010 after the England & Wales National Registry reported a 13% five-year revision rate.  The revision rates were likely not as high at that time because...

By Kimberly Lambert October 9th 2012  8:00am There is no question that innovative medications have saved lives over the years, but many lives have been jeopardized due to the reduction of dollars spent in researching and developing medications.  The truth is that pharmaceutical companies put only a fraction of their resources into research and development of new drugs, but spend billions to market a drug as “new” which in reality is only slightly different than drugs already on the market.  As recently reported in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), current “incentives that reward companies for developing large numbers of new drugs with few clinical advantages“ result in the promotion and increased sale of these similar, but more expensive drugs.  Not only are many of these drugs essentially the same as its less expensive, older form, but as exampled below, many are merely medicinal afterthoughts turned blockbuster by billions of dollars spent on creative marketing.  The BMJ reports that for every dollar spent on research and development, $19 goes towards marketing and promotion. It is estimated that consumers are exposed to no less than 30 – 40 advertisements per day.  Since the deregulation of direct-to-consumer ads, the marketing dollars spent by pharmaceutical companies is money well spent churning an estimated $200 billion in profits since 1995, according to the website MinnPost and the Huffington Post.  Marketing doesn’t stop with consumers,...

By Cameron Stephenson http://privatehaftpflichtversicherungg.com/ October 8th 2012, 8:00am (Child exposed to thalidomide.) On Friday, August 31, 2012, German pharmaceutical giant Gruenenthal issued a public apology to victims of its late 1950s early 1960s morning sickness “wonder-drug”, Thalidomide.  Originally developed in 1957, Thalidomide was knowingly rushed onto the market prematurely so that maximum financial gain could be realized without any regard to the permanent damage it would cause to human guinea pig consumers. The public apology, offered exactly 50 years to the day after the bad drug was removed from the market for causing countless congenital birth defects, is receiving harsh responses from Thalidomide victims’ organizations, such as UK based The Thalidomide Trust, dedicated to seeking a permanent financial settlement for the victims still coping with the health problems and disabilities caused by the bad drug.  This organization, and many others, are still wondering after all these years, where is the financial compensation for the victims?  Thanks for the verbal apology…I guess, but if you really want to say you’re sorry and at least even begin to try and mean it, start by compensating the people whose lives you have ruined at a minimum.  As I see it, this apology is paramount to 50 year delayed slap in the face.  It has been estimated that more than 10,000 children, born in forty-six countries, had deformities due to thalidomide use by...

By Virginia Buchanan October 7th, 2012  8:00am Nurses who suffer burnout on the job may be associated with serious infections in hospitalized patients.  The American Journal of Infection Control reported recently that approximately 7 million hospitalized patients who are in-patients for other medical problems end up with infections that are acquired in the hospital. A study conducted at Rutgers found a significant association between patient to nurse ratio and urinary tract and surgical site infection.  Even with taking into account patients' underlying health and nurse and hospital characteristics, nursing burnout was still significantly associated with these infections. The study also reported that in hospitals that reduced nurse burnout by 30% saw an annual cost savings of nearly $70 million, with over 6000 fewer infections. Hospital-acquired infections are thought to be largely preventable and are the source of numerous medical malpractice claims.  Medicare also considers many infections avoidable and no longer pays hospitals for costs associated with certain infections. Although one can not conclude from this that a happy nurse equals a healthy patient, this study suggests it may go a long way towards that goal. More information on Medical Errors and Malpractice. Virginia Buchanan is a shareholder at Levin, Papantonio.  She has served on the Board of Directions of the Florida Bar Foundation and has been Treasurer of ABOTA, Chairperson of the Civil Process Server Grievance Committeee and has...