Dangerous Products – Drugs

There's a good chance we will see more Plavix lawsuits, as further information about the deadly side effects of this drug continue to surface. Research shows Plavix may cause death or serious injury due to stomach bleeding (often ulcers).

Oddly enough, Plavix, considered to be the second best-selling drug in the world, was supposed to be a terrific alternative for aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes. This "super aspirin" does the exact opposite, and more than doubles the risks for bleeding ulcers, heart attacks and strokes.

Plavix increases the risks of bleeding in patients with peptic ulcer disease making them 12 times more likely to suffer from ulcers and stomach bleeding than patients who took a heartburn pill and an aspirin. The bleeding results in severe consequences or death due to the blocking of the formation of platelets in blood.

This drug also triggers platelet and protein blood clots in some individuals that are fatal once they reach the brain or kidneys. The sad thing is that an aspirin likely does a better job, but not taken with Plavix. Combining Plavix with aspirin virtually doubles the risk of death or stroke even in those with no history of heart disease.

Accusations were made that the drug company behind Plavix deliberately misinformed doctors and the public about the efficacy of Plavix to make a profit. The drug became the sixth top selling drug in the USA with profits of $3.8 billion dollars. At this point, it might be good to ask who the drug companies are really supposed to represent and help. If the answer isn't clear, that's quite the damning indictment of drug companies.

Plavix lawsuits are being filed frequently across the States and many law offices are asking people who have had a bad experience with this drug to contact them. This drug is still being marketed. The lawsuits already launched as well as those to come haven't seemed to harm Plavix sales.

If a loved one suffered serious Plavix side effects, contact a fully qualified litigation attorney with experience in this area to assess the potential claim and advise how to proceed. There is the possibility of being able to recover damages for pain and suffering, lost income and medical bills.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Act Quickly in a Product Liability Case

If a product that was recently purchased turns out to be defective and also causes some serious injuries, consult a product liability lawyer immediately. Time is of the essence in cases like this.

Every day the cash registers ring across America, signaling the purchase of a wide variety of items from clothing to chain saws, etc. While many people don't really think about it at the time, they may have just bought a defective or dangerous product. Think that would never happen? "Don't be so sure, as product accidents are very common," commented Georgia super lawyer Stephen M. Ozcomert of Atlanta.

Over 10,000 complaints are filed every year due to defective products and thousands of people who used them died or sustained serious injuries. We're not talking small numbers. The deaths each year resulting from the use of defective or dangerous products is over 22,000 and the numbers of injuries are close to 29 million. Those are staggering numbers, and ones that tend to creep up every year.

"While there are numerous agencies that act to regulate product liability, it often becomes a real circus trying to figure out who is responsible for what and where to report a claim. This may well become an issue in court during a defective product lawsuit," outlined Ozcomert.

The whole intention behind product liability laws is to protect all consumers from badly made products. But more than that, the laws are designed to ensure retailers, corporations and manufacturers be held responsible for negligent behavior. In instances such as this, negligent behavior is letting a defective or dangerous product into the marketplace. "Often the question of whether or not the company who made the product knowingly released it, and it harmed or killed someone, becomes the focal point of a product liability case," added Georgia super lawyer Stephen M. Ozcomert of Atlanta.

The nice thing about product liability law is that the standard of proof in this area happens to be a bit more lenient than in other areas of law. However, these are still difficult and expensive cases to pursue as often manufacturers vigorously defend claims brought by injured persons, and often one must retain expert witnesses to prove the case against the manufacturer.

The bottom line is that there are so many different areas of product liability law that it only makes sense to speak to an attorney with experience in this area. "Act quickly, because time is of the essence in cases such as this," said Ozcomert.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Elevated Lead Levels

Even today, lead levels are a problem, especially for younger children.

Although there are regulations in place to prevent lead poisoning, it remains a chronic health issue for kids. It is so prevalent that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have provided the rough estimate that over 300,000 children suffer from elevated levels of lead in their systems. One in six children are reported to have a "high" level.

If you're wondering why the rate of lead poisoning seems to be higher for children, it's because their absorption rate is a great deal higher than that of an adult. For instance, the rate of absorption (gastrointestinal) in adults is 3% to 10%. In children it is 40% to 50%, which is alarming and explains why children have such difficulty with lead poisoning symptoms.

Lead poisoning creeps up on a person over a long period of time; meaning long exposures to minimal concentrations of lead (such as lead based paint) may result in a toxic level of lead in the body. This is often referred to as chronic lead poisoning, and seems to be the most common.

Even though lead paint was banned in 1978, older buildings that predate that ban still have lead paint on the premises. There may also be landlords or building owners who chose not to remove the hazard from their properties. Imagine the potential consequences for children living in such buildings.

The poisoning seems innocuous if you aren't aware of what is going on, or don't know that you live in a home or apartment with lead-based paint. Over time, the paint begins to disintegrate and winds up becoming lead dust.

This is particularly bad on doorframes and windowsills. If the dust stayed in one place and was easy to clean up, the problem might not be as bad. However, it tends to settle on everything in the home, including toys and other objects to which children are exposed. Of course when children play, they put things in their mouth. Lead paint chips are also quite attractive to children who often will experiment by eating them.

What are the consequences? Over time lead poisoning may result in anemia, hearing loss, mental retardation, kidney malfunction, headaches, learning disabilities and hyperactivity. If you happen to be pregnant, the baby may experience retarded growth, delayed sexual maturation (females), low birth weight and gestational age.

If you suspect lead poisoning, get a blood test to confirm your suspicions and then immediately speak with a competent attorney who will assess your case to file a lawsuit for damages.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.

Prescription Drug Injuries or Death

It was a poor choice at best and a deadly choice at its worst. The switch the medical community made from prescribing Oxycontin to using methadone only added fuel to the fire of drug addiction.

Once it was discovered that Oxycontin had the ability to turn people into drug addicts, doctors started to hunt for something else to hand out instead to act as an effective painkiller. Their next drug of choice turned out to be methadone and, in hindsight, it might have been a worse choice than Oxycontin.

Methadone has crept in quietly and taken over one of the leading roles in today's drug addiction problem. The overdose statistics are frightening. Would you believe that they increased by a whopping figure of 500% between 1999 and 2005, and that was prior to doctors switching to prescribing it instead of Oxycontin? It seems likely that the numbers will have increased since then.

Using methadone as a short-term painkiller is one thing, particularly if is used to aid recovery from a serious injury or accident. Using methadone precisely as prescribed and only for the specified period of time, will most likely avoid addiction problems. Using methadone for the long haul is asking for trouble of the worst kind.

Generally speaking, methadone is normally handed out for severe pain, or at least it used to be. It seems that more and more it is also being favored for moderate pain. Ask the people who died using methadone if it was worth the risks. There are definitely other viable options the medical community could champion instead.

Methadone is noted to be an extremely addictive drug and it is, like smoking, very hard to stop. The withdrawal symptoms are tough both mentally and physically and most people in withdrawal need medical drug detox in addition to a full drug rehabilitation program in a treatment center. This is not a drug to mess around with.

This drug is so dangerous because it causes changes in breathing (slower respiratory rate) and changes in a person's heartbeat that a patient might not feel. The real kicker is that although the pain relief lasts for a few hours, the drug stays in the system longer. Adding more methadone to what is already in the body may cause problems such as coma and death. It also metabolizes slowly and pain relief does not come as fast as people expect, so they take more which compounds the problem.

If you or a loved one has faced serious consequences after taking methadone, or if a family member has died because of a methadone overdose, immediately contact an experienced attorney and discuss your options for filing a methadone lawsuit.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.