On November 29, 2018, the FDA warned about a rare but serious life-threatening risk of stroke and artery rupture in patients taking the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab). Since the drug’s approval in 2014, a total of 13 patients so far have reported these…
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine raises more concerns about the safety of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters when used in older patients with pulmonary embolism (PE—a blood clot in the lung). Results of the study showed that patients receiving an IVC filter…
According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. The disease affects an estimated 3 million Americans, with more than 120,000 suffering blindness because of it. On July 29, 2016, the FDA approved a new treatment for…
A North Carolina man recently filed a new Zimmer M/L Taper Hip System lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He names as defendant manufacturer Zimmer U.S. Inc., and claims that after he was implanted with the Zimmer hip…
Baby powder manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is currently defending nearly 12,000 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs claiming that its talc products caused their cancers. In the course of the litigation process, the company has had to produce thousands of pages of internal company documents. According
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates are rising across the United States. Since 1999, suicide rates have increased by more than 30 percent. In 2016, nearly 45,000 lives were lost to suicide. In Pennsylvania alone, the suicide rate increased…
The Make a Wish Foundation began back in 1980 because of one seven-year-old boy’s desire to be a police officer. Chris had leukemia, but he wanted to “catch bad guys” with U.S. Customs Agent Tommy Austin, a friend of the family. Austin took the issue…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced plans to “modernize” its fast-track 510(k) approval process, which has been heavily criticized by some as allowing potentially defective medical devices onto the market before they are properly tested in clinical trials. The 510(k) process cu
Back in 1970, a handful of attorneys banded together to protect America’s land, water, and air from pollution and other harms. They called themselves the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Today the organization consists of nearly 500 attorneys, scientists, and other experts, along with 1.4…
The FDA approved Tasigna (nilotinib) in 2007 for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). A few years later, however, studies revealed a link between patients taking the medication and atherosclerosis, a progressive narrowing of the arteries and blood vessels that can lead to heart…
The American Cancer Society estimates that every year, about 9,310 new cases of testicular cancer are diagnosed, and about 400 men die from the disease. They add that the rate of testicular cancer diagnoses has been increasing in the U.S. and many other countries for…
Patients who are taking certain type 2 diabetes drugs need to be aware of a potential risk for a rare but serious genital infection. The FDA recently warned that drugs like Invokana, Jardiance, Farxiga, and other SGLT2 inhibitors could increase the risk of an infection…
