Drug Injury Attorney Blog

A status conference for the federal Levaquin lawsuits took place yesterday. They planned to discuss the coordinated trial schedule that was brought up at the last status conference, among other things.

At the beginning of this month, the parties held a status conference where it was agreed that they would hold the next bellwether federal trial on May 31 of this year. They also discussed the next state lawsuit that is scheduled to reach a courtroom on June 20 of this year. The federal lawsuit is going to be the second Levaquin case to make it to court. The first one ended up with plaintiff John Schedin receiving $1.8 million. Schedin developed tardive dyskinesia as a result of taking Levaquin.

Also what was likely discussed at the Levaquin litigation status conference were scheduling deadlines for the next trial, which will pit plaintiff Calvin Christensen against Johnson & Johnson. The case, the second bellwether in federal litigation, was chosen by the defendants, whose privilege it is, traditionally, to pick bellwether cases from a pool of lawsuits.

Like most Levaquin plaintiffs, Mr. Christensen is elderly, and his participation in the litigation will demand certain accommodations that may pose logistical problems. These problems and solutions to them will likely have been discussed at the status conference.

Yesterday's status conference took place at 2pm CDT. Judge John R. Tunheim presided over the conference. More than a 1,000 lawsuits were filed because of Levaquin side effects, with at least 1,500 more pending in the state court of New Jersey. The makers of Levaquin, drug giant Johnson & Johnson, is headquartered in New Jersey. Details on exactly what happened during the status conference are coming soon. One thing is certain: As the trial dates edge closer and closer, many plaintiffs will be waiting for the trial results in the hopes that a precedent will be set and Johnson & Johnson will be held liable for these injuries.

As a dangerous prescription drug attorney, part of my job revolves around the effectiveness of warning labels on pharmaceutical products. So I was interested to see a recent article about a push by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make prescription warning labels easier to understand. The Wall Street Journal reported April 25 on a pilot program from the FDA that would replace the several-page inserts that come with prescription drugs with a simple one-page sheet. And an FDA-affiliated organization, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, is developing a proposed national standard for the warning labels on the bottles themselves, which would state the purpose of the drug clearly and include simple instructions. Doctors and pharmacists are also encouraged to counsel patients more effectively, as part of a national campaign for awareness of the need to use drugs as directed.

Research shows that some patients really do need help with this. Three out of four Americans told the National Community Pharmacists Association that they don’t always use drugs as directed. One Northwestern University professor told the Journal that more than half of adults in several recent studies misunderstood packaging directions. Those mistakes can come at a price: the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that 1.9 million Americans were hospitalized for medication mistakes between 2004 and 2008, a with 52 percent jump in hospitalizations over those four years. The professor said some instructions on prescription labels are contradictory or genuinely confusing. Trouble also arises for patients with multiple chronic conditions, which makes medication errors more likely, and people with low literacy.

Prescription and over-the-counter warning labels are an important part of drug safety. And as a pharmaceutical liability lawyer, I know they’re an important part of recovering financial compensation when you’re hurt by a dangerous prescription drug. That’s because showing that you followed the directions on the warning label is a necessary part of showing the drug caused your injuries. Under the law, you often cannot recover financial compensation if the drug company can show that you disregarded the warning label. By contrast, the pharmaceutical company has legal obligations to warn you about the potential dangers of using the drug — and failure to warn is the basis for most pharmaceutical lawsuits. Most importantly of all, easily understood warning labels have the potential to stop millions of people from becoming ill because of medication mistakes.

Continue reading " FDA Testing Proposed Simpler Prescription Drug Labels to Fight Overdoses and Misuse " »

As a U.S. Supreme Court generic Reglan lawsuit case has finally seen the inside of a courtroom, many people are expecting the ruling will change the entire way that pharmaceutical companies and generic drug manufacturers do business in the future. While the Supreme Justices aren’t expected to make a ruling in the consolidated Mensing v. Pliva case until June, some of them are speaking out already.

The 9 judges on the Supreme Court Panel each seem to have different opinions when it comes to the liability of generic drug makers in warning the public about Reglan’s side effects like Tardive Dyskinesia. While federal laws don’t require generic drug makers to list warnings on their labels, state laws do. This is the main argument in the Reglan lawsuit, and the debate continues outside of the courtroom.

Justice Antonin Scalia has said, “I don’t see how you can hold them [generic drug companies] liable. The argument here is whether it will be the FDA ultimately that determines whether there was a grave enough risk to modify the label or whether that call will be made by a state court guessing what the FDA would have done, right?”

However, Justice Stephen Breyer showed himself to be on the other side of the fence when he addressed the defendant’s lawyers and said, “So your argument is that if we run across this tremendous… really serious problem, you’re saying the state has no right to say — even if we purposely didn’t tell anybody — they can’t get involved?”

While Justice Sonia Sotomayor sides with the plaintiffs, she also brings up the issue of generic vs. brand-name medications, saying, “Do you think Congress really intended to create a market in which consumers can only sue brand-named products?”

Justice Samuel Alito mostly gave his opinion about what a ruling for the plaintiff would mean. He asked, “Has the FDA made any calculation of the economic consequences of imposing this duty on generic drug manufacturers? I don’t know whether this is a good idea or not, but it does seem to me that it may significantly increase the costs for generic drug manufacturers, and therefore counteract one of the objectives of the statute, which was to provide generic drugs at a low cost.”

The plaintiff’s lawsuit is also favored by the AMA, the Obama Administration and 42 states.

Pfizer has reached a settlement agreement with Orchid Chemicals, based in Hyderabad, India. The agreement allows Orchid to sell the generic version of Effexor XR. This is on the heels of the U.S. regulators approving the sale of generic Effexor to Mumbai-based Wockhardt in India.

Orchid Chemicals’ stocks dropped this morning, according to information posted by the Bombay Stock Exchange. In 2009, the makers of Effexor XR, Wyeth, sued Orchid in an effort to stop the company from selling the generic version of the popular antidepressant medication. This action was taken because Wyeth didn’t want Effexor sold in its cheaper form before the drug’s patent expires in 2017. According to American patent laws, drug manufacturers can sell generic versions of drugs before the patent runs out on the brand name versions if they can challenge the patent with success.

A spokesman for Orchid Chemicals has confirmed that the settlement occurred, but the spokesperson for Pfizer, which now owns Wyeth, didn’t return emails. While Effexor XR has proven itself to be a high seller in the American market, it isn’t expected to be a blockbuster money earner for Orchid because the company has to share the market with other generic drug manufacturers.

Many lawsuits have been filed against the makers of Effexor due to claims that the manufacturers have not properly warned the public about the drug’s adverse side effects including aggressive behavior, suicidal thoughts, severe mood swings and even suicide. Newer research even suggests that Effexor is no more effective at treating depression than placebos.

If you have taken Effexor and experienced any of the severe side effects that are linked to the drug, contact your doctor immediately. You may also want to talk to a lawyer who might be able to help you recover money for your medical expenses.

A Reglan lawsuit that is being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court is gaining some attention lately as Julie DeMahy from Louisiana has had her case consolidated with Mensing v. Pliva Inc.

Like Mensing, Julie DeMahy has been diagnosed with the facial movement disorder tardive dyskinesia resulting from prolonged use of metoclopramide, which is a generic version of Reglan. DeMahy took the drug for 4 years starting in 2002 as a treatment for acid reflux. When she started the medication, the warning label claimed that the TD was a rare side effect; since then, newer information has been produced that proves that TD is a common side effect of Reglan and metoclopramide.

One study produced data that showed that 20 percent of patients that used Reglan over a long period of time would eventually contract TD. It is for this reason that the FDA only approved the drug for use of a period of no more than 12 weeks. This lawsuit will help to bring about answers to the question of how liable generic drug makers will be in promoting the side effects associate with the drugs they reproduce. Generic manufacturers like Pliva Inc. and Actavis Inc. who make generic Reglan (including the pills that DeMahy used) may end up being responsible for not updating their warning labels to include information that the brand name manufacturers include in theirs even though federal laws didn’t let them include the warnings.

This is what the defense lawyers are arguing in the case and the argument certainly has merits. However, state laws enforce drug companies to warn the public about the risks in taking drugs regardless of whether the drug is generic. One thing is for certain in this case that has gotten a lot of attention: There is a lot of support for the plaintiff’s cases. Support is flowing in from the American Medical Association, 42 states and even President Obama’s administration. DeMahy’s case of TD is so bad that she needs $6,000 a month to cover the cost of her medication for her spasms. In fact, she had a spasm that was so bad once that it actually tore her rotator cuff. The Supreme Court hasn’t made its decision yet and is still torn. The case is expected to be decided on in the summer.

In 2009, I wrote here as a dangerous drug attorney about the over-the-counter weight-loss drug Alli, known as orlistat to doctors and Xenical by prescription. The FDA began investigating Alli in 2009 after it received reports of liver damage from people who had taken it, and eventually required a black box warning on the drug’s packaging about the risk of severe liver damage. Now, a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports evidence that Alli has also been linked to increased risk of injury to the kidneys, according to an April 14 article from TheHeart.org. Separately, FDA watchdog group Public Citizen called on the FDA to ban Alli and Xenical. Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline intends to sell the drug but not discontinue it.

Alli (the over-the-counter version of orlistat) and Xenical (the prescription version) work by reducing the body’s ability to absorb about a quarter of dietary fat intake. Dieters must still exercise and watch what they eat, however — especially since eating too much fat can cause fecal incontinence. The black box warning about liver damage came in 2010, after the FDA received at least 32 reports of liver damage linked to orlistat, including cases of liver failure that required transplants.

The Ontario doctors used medical records to identify users of orlistat (which is prescription-only in Canada) who had sought medical treatment for kidney problems. Out of 953 users, they found five who had suffered kidney problems before starting orlistat and 18 who suffered them after using the drug. To control the study, they also looked at incidences of gastrointestinal bleeding and found no difference in rates. Meanwhile, Public Citizen cited FDA data showing 73 cases of kidney stones and 47 cases of acute pancreatitis linked to orlistat use.

As a defective drug lawyer, I hope the FDA is taking both of these groups seriously. Most people would agree that they’d rather be overweight than suffer permanent organ damage — but unless orlisat’s problems are widely publicized, many potential users could miss the reports linking it to liver and kidney problems. Especially because Alli is available over the counter — not under the care of a well-informed doctor — the FDA has a duty to protect the public by giving us the most complete information possible. If scientists show that orlistat causes kidney damage, the FDA would also have a duty to warn users — and, potentially, pull it from the market.

Continue reading " Study Links Increase in Kidney Injuries to Diet Drug Already Known for Liver Damage " »

Among all of the controversies surrounding the popular antidepressant medication Paxil, the most popular topics right now is whether Paxil really causes birth defects in children born to women who take Paxil during pregnancy.

With so much research being conducted that shows Paxil’s risk to unborn babies coming to light, more and more doctors are using the press to urge pregnant women and women who are thinking of getting pregnant to stop taking the drug. They are warning them that Paxil can cause birth defects in their children.

Research has already proven the link between Paxil and birth defects to be as high as giving the babies a 50/50 chance of being born with birth defects. Paxil birth defects usually end up with the baby experiencing heart complications. For a while, the fact that Paxil caused birth defects was hidden from the public or, at least, not widely advertised. It is for this reason and many others that the makers of the drug, GlaxoSmithKline, has settled more than $1 billion in damages and fines.

Last year Glaxo settled a whistleblower lawsuit for $750 million. This case was alleging that the company sold adulterated drugs, and that the company ignored other various problems at the manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico, including mixed packaging. That plant has since been closed down for what the company says are reasons that are unconnected to the settlement.

If you are depressed and thinking about becoming pregnant, again you are advised against taking Paxil. However, if you have taken Paxil during pregnancy and have had a baby that was born with birth defects, you may want to contact an experienced attorney. You may be eligible for compensation for your child’s injuries, which may include heart defects, club feet and other abnormalities. Don’t suffer alone with your child’s medical expenses when you may not have to.

Yet another study conducted on Paxil's side effects has indicated that the drug can cause an increased risk of suicidal behavior in severely depressed patients.

This newest study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, ironically was funded by the makers of Paxil, GlaxoSmithKline. The study showed that more patients considered committing suicide when taking Paxil than when taking placebos.

In this double-blind study, the researchers took information from 14,911 patients. About 0.34 percent of Paxil patients that were depressed while on Paxil either considered or attempted suicide. Only 0.05 percent of the depressed patients that were taking placebos had that experience. One thing that has to be mentioned is that there was no statistical difference between Paxil patients and suicide risks and the general population taking the drug. The researchers actually thought they saw an anomaly in the information.

Paxil and other SSRI medications like it have become very controversial as they have been associated with various life-threatening side effects. Some of the side effects include aggressive behavior, suicidal thoughts, suicide and confusion. Now many people are accusing Glaxo of hiding information regarding these side effects from the public. Lawsuits have been settled to the tune of more than $1 billion so far, with no end in sight for the drug company.

More and more research has been done to prove that Paxil and other SSRI medications pose more threat and danger than benefit. Research is even showing that taking Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause birth defects, but Glaxo still holds to its tale of no wrongdoing. However, the risks of taking SSRI meds like Paxil seem to far outweigh the benefits. In fact, one study claims that Paxil likely doesn’t work any better than placebos. Too much information is coming out against Paxil to be ignored or denied for long.

In the wake of all of the lawsuits against drug giant GlaxoSmithKline as well as poor sales, the company has decided to cut some jobs from its Neurosciences Division. According to a Charlotte Observer report, the jobs will be cut in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.

A Glaxo spokeswoman, Kathy Pitman, said that the number of employees that will be cut from the company really depends on how many of them can work in other positions at the firm. So far, Glaxo has already cut 22,000 jobs all over the globe since 2007. In the U.S. alone, Glaxo has cut as many as 4,100 jobs, which brought the total from 9,500 down to 5,400. The jobs had been cut due to a drop in sales of popular drugs like Paxil and Avandia and from the company suffering financial losses in at least 2 out of the last 3 quarters. Some of those losses can be likely be attributed to settlements being made left and right over the company's harmful drugs.

The bad sales were not helped by the company losing over $2 billion dollars in lawsuits against Avandia, its popular diabetes medication, and Paxil. The various investigations and huge settlement Glaxo had to pay after the whistleblower lawsuit alone have taken their toll on the company's finances as well. Glaxo has gotten a lot of bad press over Paxil's side effects and the lawsuits haven't slowed down much, either.

As to how the company plans to correct some of its financial woes, company officials say that they are planning on selling some of their less popular brands and buying some of its stock back from investors. As for the changes in the neurosciences research department, Pitman had this to say with regards to why they are letting so many people go: "Last year we scaled back our neurosciences research so there's not as much people needed to do the late-stage trials."

As a dangerous drug attorney, I was disturbed to see a report linking a common ingredient in over-the-counter medicines to a potentially fatal condition. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning April 7 about a link between benzocaine and a condition called methemoglobinemia. Patients with methemoglobinemia have reduced amounts of oxygen in their bloodstreams, causing the same symptoms they might have if they aren’t breathing at all — lightheadedness, blue or gray fingernails and lips, fatigue, rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. Benzocaine, which is found in gels and sprays for teething, canker sores and sore throats, has been linked to seven deaths and 319 bad reactions, mostly in babies and toddlers.

Methemoglobinemia is a rare condition, but it can cause death in extreme cases. Adults and children have developed the condition after using all strengths of benzocaine-containing products, after the first use or subsequent uses, and up to several hours after use. Most of those affected were children ages two and younger. The FDA’s statement advised parents not to use benzocaine in children under age two, except when supervised by a doctor. Adults are warned to follow the manufacturer’s advice when using the products and to keep them out of children’s reach. Adult patients who run an even greater risk include people who have breathing problems; heart disease; and certain genetic chemical deficiencies. Also at high risk are smokers and those who take drugs containing nitrates.

The FDA’s release notes that over-the-counter medicines containing benzocaine do not carry a warning about the risk of methemoglobinemia, and the agency says only that it will take more action if warranted. As a defective drug lawyer, I’m concerned about this lack of warnings, particularly for parents of young children. Teething children were identified as the group most vulnerable to methemoglobinemia, but an FDA press release does very little to get this information in front of their parents. Without a warning on the label, new parents — who are often too sleep-deprived to take care of their own health — may have no idea that there’s a risk of death from teething gels. The risk may be small, but it’s a risk that parents ought to have the tools to decide on for themselves. Current actions from the FDA and drug manufacturers just don’t provide those tools.

Continue reading " Ingredient in Over-the-Counter Teething Gel Linked to Deaths From Oxygen Deprivation " »

Reglan again is making the news for causing yet another adverse side effect. This time it is restless leg syndrome which is causing lawsuits to be filed against the makers of the acid reflux medication.

Restless leg syndrome and akathisia are some of the newest conditions that have been associated with Reglan use. Restless leg syndrome is pretty much what it sounds like. It is characterized by a patient's inability to stay still. Sufferers often find themselves experiencing sensations all over their legs such as creeping, aching, pulling, searing, tingling, bubbling or crawling. The only way that people can stop those weird feelings in their legs is by moving their legs around or walking. Reglan-induced akathisia causes sufferers to walk in place, shift their weight from one foot to another, or making peddling movements when they are sitting or lying down. People suffering from akathisia also have a hard time going to sleep. So far there isn't a cure for akathisia.

While the most common side effects linked with prolonged Reglan use are tardive dyskinesia, ocular deviation, NMS and secondary Parkinson's disease, lawsuits are expected to be filed that are based on restless leg syndrome and akathisia, too. The black box warning that was imposed by the FDA in 2009 doesn't mention restless leg syndrome since the drug was most popular for causing TD at the time. However, with all of the new side effects that have been added to the list, it is just a matter of time before the FDA starts adding more threats to the list with Reglan.

If you have experienced the effects of restless leg syndrome or akathisia after prolonged (more than 12 weeks) use of Reglan, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit. You should contact your doctor immediately to see if your condition is Reglan-induced, and then speak to a lawyer.

Continue reading " Yaz Side Effects Keeps Mounting; Many Wonder if Recall Will Ever Happen " »

A new bill by Independent At-large Councilman David Catania aims to allow Yaz and Yasmin to be sold over the counter in Washington. The bill was introduced on February 15 and a decision is expected in the next few months.

As it stands, Yaz and Yasmin currently hold 30 percent of the birth control market despite the black box warning. If the bill passes, Yaz will be even more widely available than it is right now, which offers far more risks than benefits for consumers. Some experts believe that attaining birth control is the major reason why women in Washington go to their annual exams, which also screens them for various other health problems including STDs. With the nation's highest HIV/AIDS rate (3 percent of the state's population has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, though that amount could be double with unreported cases), it is likely that the reported cases could drop in Washington if the young women stop going to the doctor for their birth control pills. That will inevitably bring the AIDS toll higher as more and more women will go undiagnosed while continuing to have sex.

The second problem that may arise with selling Yaz and Yasmin over the counter is obvious: The popular contraceptives have been linked to many potentially life-threatening conditions, including blood clots, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, gallbladder disease and deep vein thrombosis.

What about teenage girls? If teenage girls start taking Yaz and Yasmin without a doctor monitoring them, they will be engaging in unmonitored sexual behavior that will also increase their likelihood of contracting STDs as well. These women will also remain uninformed about any pre-existing condition that they don't know about that could aggravate their reactions to the drosperinone and ethinyl that make up the pills' main ingredients. In that instance, selling Yaz OTC could prove to be a complete disaster that doesn't benefit anyone except the pharmaceutical company that sells them.

As a dangerous medical device attorney, I’ve written twice so far about serious contamination problems in supposedly sterile Triad alcohol prep pads and other products. The products attracted attention after the Kothari family of Texas filed a lawsuit against manufacturer H&P Industries, which blamed a contaminated H&P product for the death of their two-year-old son. Products containing the same bacterium are blamed for disabling heart problems in a Tennessee man and a life-threatening infection in a ten-year-old cancer patient in Colorado. The FDA ordered H&P to stop production March 28, but the company apparently did not immediately comply. Possibly as a result, U.S. Marshals visited the plant April 4 to seize potential evidence, triggering a shutdown.

Products manufactured by H&P have been the subjects of multiple recalls since Harrison Kothari’s death in November. In that case and in several other widely publicized cases, products used to prepare patients for surgery were contaminated with a bacterium called Bacillus cereus, which is not a common hospital-borne infection. The media later discovered that serious problems at H&P’s Wisconsin plant had been turned up as early as July of 2009 and again in early 2010, but the FDA took no serious action. Inspections found plumbing products that could cause contamination, employees handling products without gloves, improperly cleaned and sterilized equipment and a medicine being made without its active ingredient.

It wasn’t clear what triggered the FDA’s request that H&P shut down its operations, but as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, it is unusual for companies not to comply. An H&P spokesperson said the company was “considering its options” last week. The FDA’s next option could have been to get a court order forcing a shutdown. But on April 4, the U.S. Marshals Service arrived to seize materials at the plant, and H&P voluntarily complied with the shutdown order.

It’s good news for patients that the H&P plant has ceased production, but disturbing to me as a defective medical device lawyer that it took so long to address these problems. As I’ve written before, previous problems included the president of the company authorizing shipments of products even though they failed inspections, a clear breach of safety and possible breach of the law. The FDA also didn’t resume inspections until a Colorado children’s hospital had an outbreak of Bacillus cereus and reported possible contamination to the agency. This inaction by the FDA may have come at far too high a price for the families that suffered a death or illness. Several lawsuits have already been filed in addition to the Kotharis’, and more are expected as more families begin to connect their illnesses with the unsanitary products.

Continue reading " US Marshals Force Triad Alcohol Prep Pad Maker to Obey FDA Shutdown Order " »

A woman in Galveston, Texas, Lana Speck, has filed a lawsuit against the makers of the popular and controversial birth control pill Yaz. Her lawsuit was filed amid claims that the pill gave her abdominal problems.

Speck is claiming that Bayer knowingly hid the dangerous side effects of the pills from the public. She filed her lawsuit on January 31 of this year. Speck also claims that she has been taking Yaz from 2001-2008 as a way of regulating her menstrual cycle (which is considered an off-label use of the drug). With her gynecologist's supervision, Speck says she followed the instructions to the letter.

The woman started experiencing stomach pains in 2006 and ended up having to have a cholecystectomy. Speck's original petition to the court stated, "After her gallbladder was removed, the plaintiff was in constant severe chest and upper abdominal pain as a result of her removed gallbladder. In addition, the plaintiff suffered continuous issues with her digestion that caused extreme diarrhea, indigestion, and crippling abdominal pain." Speck claims that her doctors also found gallstones which is a side effect of using Yaz or Yasmin. She says that she continues to suffer from post-cholecystectomy syndrome.

Recently, Bayer has been forced to change the way it advertises Yaz and Yasmin. The manufacturer has stopped running any advertisements that claim the pills can help with symptoms of PMS and clearing up acne. Yaz has been found to cause various other health problems such as heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, gallbladder disease, blood clots and deep vein thrombosis. Many lawsuits have been filed against Bayer amid claims that they knowingly downplayed the drug's adverse side effects and health dangers.

There is still time to file a Yaz/Yasmin lawsuit if you have suffered from any of the side effects. You may be able to receive money for your suffering. Thousands of plaintiffs have filed their Yaz lawsuits, so contact an attorney today.

Levaquin lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson are finally going to make it into the courtroom. State and federal court Levaquin trials have finally been scheduled to begin in April and May.

More than 2,500 lawsuits have already been filed amid claims that drug giant didn’t properly research its medication before putting it on the market, and that the company didn’t properly warn the public or medical staff of the drug’s link to tendon damage.

Right now, there are 1,512 lawsuits pending in New Jersey state court alone, and 990 are pending in federal court. The federal court lawsuits have been centralized during the pretrial process (in a multi-district litigation—MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that will be presided over by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim.

It was during a recent status conference that the trial dates were agreed upon by both parties in the lawsuits. The Levaquin trial that is set to happen in a New Jersey state court is scheduled to start as early as April 11, 2011, and is expected to last at least four to six weeks. The federal court trial that is part of the MDL will begin on May 31, 2011. There is still another case that is scheduled to go trial on September 12, 2011, in California state court; however, that case date may change in the future.

To date, only one Levaquin lawsuit has been settled. The lawsuit was filed by John Schedin, who was alleging that Levaquin caused his tendon ruptures. He won $1.8 million in the federal court back in December 2010. The verdicts in the next couple of trials may set the precedent for future Levaquin cases and how they will be judged, and will likely have all of the new litigants watching closely.

On March 12 of this year, the St. Catherine’s Standard published a story that focused on 32-year-old Ann Schwoob’s Yaz lawsuit, which she filed with one other woman. What makes this story interesting is that Schwoob has filed to make this suit a class action after she experienced a terrifying pulmonary embolism.

Schwoob has been taking blood thinners ever since she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her lungs after being prescribed Yaz last summer. She took the pills for two months before she started to experience a tightening in her chest that she said felt like fractured ribs. The hospital at St. Catherine’s originally thought Schwoob was suffering from a bout of pneumonia. However, when her symptoms didn’t subside with treatment, she went to a walk-in clinic that told her to get checked out in Hamilton. It was there that she was told she had suffered a pulmonary embolism.

When Schwoob talked to an interviewer at the Standard, she stated that she never would have taken the Yaz if she knew about the dangers.

"I've since found out that Yasmin has a higher risk of blood clotting than your average birth control pill, which isn't part of their commercial or isn't an extra warning or anything like that," she notes. "If there had been, obviously I wouldn't have taken it."

She and a Halifax woman are seeking $20 million in punitive damages and $500,000 each for special and pecuniary damages. Her lawsuit alleges that Bayer aggressively marketed Yaz without offering full disclosure of the risks to the public.

The spokesperson for Bayer in Toronto, Dr. Shurjeel Choudhri, responded to questions from the Standard by pointing out studies conducted in 2007 that showed no higher risk from patients taking Yaz than any other birth control pill. Choudhri also explained away the plaintiff’s British study example as "reflective in nature."

"When you look at the data in a retrospective way, you get a misleading result," Choudhri adds. "It looks like there is a higher risk, when in fact there isn't."