News & Blog

Stryker’s Custom Cranial Implant

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

stryker-implant

Note to Reader: The FDA classified the recall as a Class I recall, meaning that Stryker’s Custom Cranial Implant Kit could predictably cause serious harm or death.

If you or someone you know has been implanted with a Stryker cranial implant and is suffering side effects or injuries, an individual’s legal rights incur time limits, contact our law firm at once.

Stryker’s Custom Cranial Implant Kit is used during surgical procedures, such as cranioplasties, to repair deformities or defects in the skull. The FDA approved Stryker’s Custom Cranial Implant Kit in March 2005 as a non-sterile device. This meant that hospitals and doctors sterilized the devices themselves prior to using it. However, In October 2007, Stryker began illegally marketing and labeling its Custom Cranial Implant devices as sterile. This meant that Stryker was now solely responsible for sterilizing these products. Despite this requirement and the potential health risks to patients, Stryker negligently failed to follow at least nine (9) safety requirements established by the FDA to ensure that only safe and sterile device are implanted in patients.

Stryker’s illegal marketing and negligent manufacturing practices have resulted in serious injuries in what is believed to be hundreds of patients.

Serious injuries include but are not limited to:

  • Intracranial abscesses
  • Sepsis
  • Severe infections
  • Meningitis
  • Death
  • Other types of long term care were often required such as intravenous antibiotic treatment, re-operation, and additional hospitalization.

In September 2009, the FDA investigated the manufacturing facility in which these product were made and discovered that Stryker’s manufacturing practices violated numerous federal safety regulations. As a result, Stryker recalled all Stryker Custom Implant Kits labeled as sterile. Stryker stated that it was recalling these devices because it could not assure sterility of the product and because implantation could result in serious health problems including infection intracranial abscess, wound infection, sepsis, re-operation with revision of cranioplasty, long-term neurological deterioration, additional hospitalizations, long-term intravenous antibiotic treatment and death.

Legal rights for victims

Lopez McHugh is a consumer advocate law firm working on behalf of all U.S. citizens in 50 states that have received defective medical devices, such as the Stryker cranial implant. Legal rights vary by state, and the time for filing a claim is limited. Call our law firm today to have your questions answered by our attorneys who are familiar with the Stryker Corporation and the defective cranial implant.

Radiation Overdose at Cedars Sinai Hospital

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

On 12 October 2009, hospital officials at the renowned Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center reported that a serious hospital error caused over 200 stroke patients to receive eight times the normal dose of radiation during a CT procedure known as the CT brain perfusion scan.

If you or someone you know was overdosed with radiation, contact our law firm by calling 877-737-8525, or email using the form to the right to learn your legal rights.  Your consultation is free, and there is no obligation.

Injuries caused by medical error

radiation-therapy1Of the 206 patients exposed to this dangerous dose of radiation, at least 40 percent reported patchy loss of hair as a result of exposure during brain scan. Others reported a reddening of their skin in response to this overdose. What’s worse: according to medical experts, radiation at such a high dose poses an increased risk of cancer.

A spokesperson from Cedars-Sinai pointed out, the risk of cancer from high radiation exposure is lower in older patients who are more likely to die of other causes first. Of those exposed to high radiation due to medical error at the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, the median age was 70. Nonetheless, this careless medical error subjected hundreds of patients to dangerous levels of radiation, which poses potentially deadly risks.

Details on the medical error

According to the hospital, this medical error occurred in February 2008, when the Medical Center initiated a new protocol on a special type of CT scan that is used to diagnose stroke. This new protocol was implemented because doctors believed it would provide better information about blood flow disruptions in the brain following stroke.

To use this new protocol, the CT scan machine’s standard pre-programmed settings required an override. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding about the default settings and the new protocol resulted in the administration of radiation at eight times the intended amount.

According to hospital officials, once these new settings were established, they locked in this higher dose, administering it to every patient who came to the hospital for a CT brain perfusion scan. While the scanner was used for other tests as well, those receiving this specific CT brain perfusion scan were the only patients who received this extremely high dose of radiation.

Astonishingly, this error went unnoticed by hospital staff for 18 months—between February 2008 and August 2009—until a stroke patient reported loss of hair following a CT brain scan.

At that point, the hospital began investigating the problem, discovering that 206 patients had been exposed to eight times the intended amount of radiation during this time. Each of these patients were informed of this serious medical error.

According to medical experts, it would have been difficult to detect this excess radiation exposure simply by looking at the result of a CT scan. However, increased radiation does produce a clearer image.

After learning of the incident, the Food and Drug Administration issued an alert to warn other hospitals and urge them to check their CT protocols. Other “advanced hospitals” around the country are currently reviewing their own safety procedures to detect and/or prevent such errors from occurring at their facilities.

While medical radiation experts claim it is not uncommon for radiologists to re-program CT equipment, doctors often do so in order to administer less, not more, radiation to their patients. Some experts note that overrides are more common in large “state-of-the-art” hospitals.

If you or someone you know was overdosed with radiation, contact our law firm by calling 877-737-8525, or email using the form on the top right-hand side of your screen to learn your legal rights.  Your consultation is free, and there is no obligation.

Raptiva Pulled From Market – Raptiva Recall

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Raptiva, a drug used for treating psoriasis, was pulled from the market on April 9, 2009.

The FDA has reported that Raptiva can cause the development of a condition called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.  This is a neurologic disease that can be fatal.  Anyone currently using Raptiva should communicate with their physicians so they can begin tapering off the drug, as it will no longer be available after June 8, 2009.  Physicians are not supposed to issue any new prescriptions.

Read More Details on Raptiva and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

Metrolink Text Messages in Detail

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

metrolink-train-wreckThe text messages sent by Metrolink train engineer, Robert Sanchez, were made public by the NTSB this week.  Records show that Sanchez was texting a friend only 22 seconds before the deadly impact which killed 25 people, including Sanchez.  The accident also injured another 101 people on board and caused over $10  million in damages, according to a report by federal investigators.

In addition to the messages sent that day there were also messages sent less than a week prior with the implications of Sanchez allowing a friend to operate the train:

[Sanchez to friend]: “I’m REALLY looking forward to getting you in the cab and showing you how to run a locomotive.”

[Friend to Sanchez]: “OMG dude me too.  Running a locomotive. Having all of that in the palms of my hands.”

[Sanchez to friend]: “I’m gonna do all the radio talkin’…ur gonna run the locomotive & I’m gonna tell u how to do it. ”

Sanchez had been caught with a cell phone twice before; once an employee turned him in, and another time a manager called his phone, which rang inside the cab.

Sanchez missed several signals that instructed the Metrolink train to stop, in order to give the oncoming freight train time to exit a tunnel and move onto a side rail in order to let the (more…)

Psoriasis Drug Linked to Brain Infection and Death

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Raptiva is an injectable drug used for the treatment of psoriasis.  It has been discovered to cause a serious brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. The FDA has confirmed at least three cases of patients who died from PML after using Raptiva more than three years.  According to the National Institutes of Health, PML usually lasts for months, 80 percent die within the first six months, and those who survive can be left with severe neurological disabilities.

In October of 2008, the drug’s manufacturer, Genentech, revised the drug’s label to warn about the risk of risks of life-threatening infections.  The FDA is looking into whether Raptiva should remain on the market. In Europe, supervisory agencies are recommending that physicians stop prescribing Raptiva and that patients using the drug be switched to something else.

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