Halifax Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Trasylol (Aprotinin) is a drug used during heart bypass surgery to help reduce bleeding and the need for blood transfusions. But a documentary on CBS's 60 Minutes last night suggests the drug may be responsible for contributing to the loss of one thousand lives a month.

You can watch the whole story here.

On January 26, 2006, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an article by Dr. Dennis Mangano reporting an association of Trasylol (aprotinin) with serious renal toxicity (kidney failure) and ischemic events (cardiac arrest and stroke) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

Although the Trasylol study was published in January 2006, Bayer failed to disclose the study to the FDA until after an advisory panel meeting in September 2006. The study's researcher, Dr. Dennis Mangano, has said that 22,000 patients could have been saved if Trasylol had been taken off the market when the January 2006 study was first published.

The F.D.A. issued a Public Health Advisory in November 2007. On November 5, 2007 the drug manufacturer Bayer agreed to suspend marketing of the drug at the request of the F.D.A.

Bayer suspended marketing of Trasylol (aprotinin) in Canada in November 2007 following a request from Health Canada.

Bayer is now facing hundreds of lawsuits in the United States alleging injury of death due to the drug and the Defective Drug Claims are likely to spread to Canada, just like the Vioxx litigation.

Is this another case of a drug manufacturer puts dollars over lives? You decide after watching the video.

Injury is the leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents in
Canada. A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information indicates that the number of children injured each year in Canada has declined steadily over recent years.

The rate of child injury in 2005–2006 was 36.7 per 10,000 persons, compared to 40.6 per 10,000 persons, in 2001–2002.

The authors of report suggest that the decrease in pediatric injuries could be due to a variety of
factors, including:

Improved injury-prevention programs;
Changing practice patterns with changing hospital admission criteria;
Administrative changes; and
Legislation designed to target child safety concerns.

The leading cause of injury was unintentional falls (37%) with double the number of injuries of the second leading cause of injury, car accidents (18%).

It is perhaps not surprising that car accidents resulted in more serious injuries. The study reports that falls resulted in 24,433 hospital days with an average of 2.3 days required for treatment. Whereas car accidents resulted in 32,118 hospital days with an average hospital stay of 6 days required for treatment.

The leading cause of injury that resulted in death among children and adolescents under age 20 years was car accidents (55.5%).

While the trend towards fewer injuries is encouraging, more study is needed to identify the specific reasons for the decrease so that governments and hospitals can determine how to most effectively spend limited health care and trauma prevention dollars.

You can read the whole report here.

Continue reading " Pediatric Injuries Requiring Hospitalization in Canada Dropping " »

Driver fatigue is a factor in 20% of fatal car crashes and the cause of more than 400 deaths due to car accidents every year according to a new report from the Highway Safety Roundtable.

The study also reported that an alarming 20 percent of Canadians admit to falling asleep at the wheel at least once over the last year.

I was actually a little surprised by the reports findings. In my practice representing people who have suffered injury as a result of motor vehicle accidents, I would have said driver fatigue was an issue in close to 50% of all serious car crashes.

The Canada Safety Council has posted a website: Tips to Avoid Drowsy Driving that is worth a look.

Continue reading " Sleepy Drivers Cause 400 Deaths 2100 Serious Injuries Every Year " »

Dave Irwin was one of the famous Crazy Canucks, the legendary Canadian Olympic ski team. He was one of the greatest skiers in Canadian history, and one of the fastest skiers in the world. Now he is a survivor of brain injury; the result of repeated concussions from some of his spectacular wipe outs during his downhill racing career.

I just watched the documentary Downhill Racer on CBC's Fifth Estate about Dave Irwin. It is a powerful story about Irwin's brain injury and his struggle for recovery.

If there is anyone who still doubts that concussions due to sports injuries can have catastrophic consequences, they need to watch this documentary.

Continue reading " "Crazy Canuck" suffered Brain Damage from Skiing Injuries " »

Dangerous drivers suffering from alcohol abuse, cardiac disease and neurologic disorders are not being reported by their doctors; and doctors may be committing medical malpractice for failing to comply with provincial laws.

A recent report in the medical journal Open Medicine found that between 1996 and 2001 37% of drivers admitted to a trauma unit with injuries from car accidents had a reportable medical condition that made them unfit to drive.

Most of the patients (85%) had seen a doctor in the year before the crash, and 14 per cent had even seen a doctor a week before their crash. But only three per cent of these had been reported to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

The author of the report Dr. Donald Redelmeier of Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, was quoted by CTV as saying:

"There's sort of a historical tradition where a lot of physicians didn't believe road safety was a part of public health...Globally, motor vehicle crashes account for almost 1 million fatalities, far eclipsing malaria for the first time in the history of the planet."

All Canadian provinces and territories have enacted some form of legislation requiring doctors to report patients who are believed to be unfit to drive a motor vehicle. In some jurisdictions, the duty is mandatory; in others, it is discretionary. In either case, the duty to report is an exception to the normal rules in respect of doctor-patient confidentiality.

The authors suggest a number of reasons why doctors may not be following the law requiring them to report unfit drivers:

Uncertainty as to whether a patients impairment is serious enough to report;

Concerns over how their patients will react;

Being too busy;

Lack of training; and

The view that road safety isn't a medical problem.

Based on their findings, the authors conclude that mandatory reporting in Ontario "does not achieve its stated purpose."

Innocent victims of car accident have filed personal injury claims against doctors for failing to report unfit drivers who subsequently caused car accidents. See for example Toms v. Foster

Whatever the reason, a doctors failure to report can have serious consequences, not only for the innocent victims of car accidents caused by unfit drivers, but to the doctors who fail to report them.

Lead contamination in toys and other consumer products has been receiving a great deal of coverage from the media lately. See this story, for example.

However, China is not the only source of potentially dangerous toys. The Attorney General of Vermont has sued Canadian Toy manufacturer Ganz Inc. of Woodbridge, Ontario, for distributing items of jewelry and other metal products containing high amounts of lead through retail stores in Vermont.

The lawsuit points out the consumers shouldn't be complacent or assume a product is safe simply because it isn't made in China. So how do you find out if a product is safe?

Katy Farber runs a great blog called Non-Toxic Kids with information about product recalls and contaminated toys and dangerous products. It's a great resource. Check it out.

Health Canada has a website listing all it's Advisories, Warnings and Recalls. You can find it here.

The popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox and a competitor have been linked to dangerous botulism symptoms in some users, cases so bad that a few children have died, the government warned Friday.

Botox, and its competitor, Myobloc, use botulinum toxin to block nerve impulses, causing them to relax. In rare cases, the toxin can spread beyond the injection site to other parts of the body, paralyzing or weakening the muscles used for breathing and swallowing, a potentially fatal side effect.

The drugs are not approved for use with children but are commonly used to treat severe muscle spasticity in children with cerebral palsy.

MSNBC has reported that the FDA:

...warned that patients receiving a botulinum toxin injection for any reason —cosmetic or medical — should be told to seek immediate care if they suffer symptoms of botulism, including: difficulty swallowing or breathing, slurred speech, muscle weakness, or difficulty holding up their head.

Health Canada is now reviewing the safety of Botox as a result of the reported deaths.

Health Canada spokesperson Carole Saindon told CTV News:

"Departmental experts are currently reviewing safety information on the issue of toxin spread regarding Botox. Canadians can be confident that after a thorough review, Health Canada will take action, if necessary,"

These reports highlight the dangers of "off label" use of drugs. Since the drugs are not being used for their approved purpose, they have also not been subjected to testing by the FDA and Health Canada for potential side effects from the non-approved drug use.

A judge has fined a Nova Scotia man $700 for driving drunk last spring in an incident that killed his best friend. Jonathan Savoy initially faced four charges, which included impaired driving causing the death of his friend, David MacDonald.

The more serious charge was dropped in a plea bargain deal that involved Savoy pleading guilty to impaired driving, taking a car without permission and driving while suspended.

Susan MacAskill of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said she was appalled with the judge's decision.

"Somebody's dead and nobody seems to be held responsible..."

In 2004, it was estimated that 3,013 individuals were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Canada. MADD Canada estimates that at a minimum 1,157 of these fatalities involved impaired driving. Further, MADD Canada estimates that approximately 68,245 individuals were injured in impaired driving crashes (187 per day).

A $700.00 fine for a drunk driving crash that killed someone. Appalling doesn't begin to describe the situation. It appears I am not the only one that shares that opinion.

Continue reading " Fatal Nova Scotia Crash Nets Drunk Driver $700 Fine " »

Nearly 200 Chinese cancer patients were paralyzed or injured by contaminated leukemia drugs manufactured by a Chinese pharmaceutical company that supplies the abortion pill Mifepristone (or RU-486) to the United States.

The New York Times has reported that Chinese drug regulators have accused the drug manufacturer, Shanghai Hualian, of a cover-up and have closed the factory that produced the tainted cancer drugs.

The Times has reported that the same company is the sole supplier of Mifepristone (the abortion pill) to the U.S.

The Times has previously reported on how a Chinese drug company Honor International Pharmtech had been accused of shipping counterfeit drugs into the United States.

Health Canada has not approved Mifepristone for use in Canada. So why should we Canadians care?

There are numerous products manufactured in other countries that are approved for sale in Canada. There has been an explosion recently in the popularity of alternative health products and herbal or "traditional" remedies.

How do you know if the drug, or product you are taking is safe?

Drugs and natural health products that are authorized for sale in Canada will have either an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), a Natural Product Number (NPN) or a Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) on the label. These numbers indicate that the products have been assessed by Health Canada for safety, effectiveness and quality.

You can check for a list of foreign product alerts, advisories and warnings issued by Health Canada here.

...and not just for Patriot fans.

After watching New England's shocking loss to the Giant's in last nights Superbowl (and watching the reactions of the people watching the game) I was reminded of a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggests watching exciting sporting events can increase the risk of heart attack.

I haven't seen any reports (yet) of anyone having a cardiac arrest after Manning's touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left in the game.

A drug designed to help people stop smoking may be linked to "serious psychiatric problems."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory Friday saying is "increasingly likely" that Pfizer Inc.'s smoking-cessation drug Chantix may be tied to serious psychiatric symptoms.

Health Canada approved Chantix for sale in Canada in early 2007.

There is no indication if Health Canada will be issuing a similar warning here in Canada.

A new Canadian study suggests depression is a physical outcome of "minor" head injuries like concussion.

In the past, coaches and athletes have considered having your "bell rung" (a concussion) to be a relatively minor injury that athletes need to "shake off" before returning to the game. The sports medicine study was conducted to determine the effects of concussion on elite or professional athletes.

The National Post reported that:

Using sophisticated MRI scans that track cerebral function in real time, the research by the Montreal Neurological Institute focused on elite-level athletes. The results, though, have "huge" implications for the general population, given the large number of people who suffer mild head injury, says Dr. Alain Ptito of the McGill University institute, the study's lead author

The Post reported that the study would have an impact on treating Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

However, I think the study will have a dramatic effect in helping personal injury lawyers who represent persons who have suffered head injuries.

The author of the report says:

The results could likely also be applied to the "epidemic" of Canadians who suffer mild head injuries in car accidents, workplace mishaps and the like, Dr. Ptito said.

In my practice representing victims of car accidents, I have had literally hundreds of clients who have suffered a concussion who subsequently develop disabling depression. In most cases, the insurance company hires a psychiatrist who prepares a report suggesting that the injured person's depression is due to pre-existing psychological issues or stress.

At least now we have a tool to prove that depression is actually caused by a physical injury!

Continue reading " Depression Linked to Brain Injury " »