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• Ritter Lawsuit Demonstrates How Medical Malpractice Caps Discriminate On Basis Of Wealth

  David Lowe | March 14, 2008 4:22 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  After a month long trial, John Ritter's doctors were found not liable by a California jury for medical malpractice in the actor's death in 2003. The lawsuit alleged that a cardiologist misdiagnosed an aortic dissection as a heart attack, and that a radiologist failed to perform an x-ray that might have revealed the dissection, thus causing Ritter to lose the chance for surgery that might have...

• Divided Supreme Court Affirms Decision In FDA Preemption Case

  David Lowe | March 03, 2008 6:06 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  In the wake of last month's Supreme Court decision in Riegel v. Medtronic, holding that Federal Drug Administration approval of medical devices shielded manufacturers from product liability lawsuits by injured patients, concerns have mounted that the Court will confer similar protection to drug manufacturers whose products have received FDA approval. This would leave injured consumers to the...

• FDA Raises Number of Potential Heparin Related Deaths to 21

  David Lowe | February 29, 2008 7:31 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Today's New York Times reports that as many as 21 deaths may be linked to the drug heparin, and the number of reported adverse reactions (mostly decreased or low blood pressure and fast heart rate) has risen to 448, according to the FDA. Baxter International, whose heparin seems to be involved with the problems, announced that it was expanding a recall to include most of its heparin products,...

• FDA Inaction Leads to 22,0000 Patient Deaths From Trasylol, Drug Researcher Claims

  David Lowe | February 15, 2008 12:11 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Stay tuned this Sunday for another FDA failure story on 60 Minutes in which Dr. Dennis Mangano, a respected drug researcher, asserts that 22,000 Trasylol deaths could have been avoided if the Food and Drug Administration had paid heed to his published research about Trasylol's dangers, and removed the heart surgery drug from the market two years ago, when his study revealed its widespread...

• Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over Ketek

  David Lowe | January 25, 2008 11:28 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  A lawsuit was filed this week against the makers of Ketek on behalf of the widow of Otto J. Laven, a Milwaukee man who died of respiratory arrest shortly after taking the antibiotic for treatment of his bronchitis. The suit, filed in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, alleges that Ketek (also known as "Telithromycin") was defective and unreasonably dangerous for use by patients with a...

• Tree Stand Manufacturer Settles Suit By CPSC

  David Lowe | January 11, 2008 1:47 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Ardisam, Inc. of Cumberland, Wisconsin is paying $420,000 to settle a suit by the Consumer Product Safety Commission alleging that it failed to report personal injuries suffered by hunters using its tree stands when the stands unexpectedly detached from trees. Even though the company allegedly became aware of at least nine injury incident reports as early as 2000, the company did not report the...

• Two Killed In 100 Car Pile Up On Foggy Highway Near Madison

  David Lowe | January 06, 2008 11:09 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  At least two people have been killed and more than 50 injured people have been sent to Madison area hospitals after more than 100 vehicles collided in foggy conditions on Interstate 90 on Madison's east side on Sunday afternoon, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol. The pile ups involved two incidents, just south of Highway 12-18, with collisions occurring on both sides of the...

• Popcorn Chemical Responsible For Lung Disease Dropped From Recipe

  David Lowe | December 19, 2007 7:32 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  The nation's leading makers of microwave popcorn are removing the flavoring chemical diacetyl from their recipes. ConAgra announced the change Monday and similar moves have been made by General Mills, American Pop Corn Co. and Weaver Popcorn Company.I have commented previously on the dangers to consumers and food industry workers, many of whom have suffered serious injuries or died due to the...

• Decline in Medical Malpractice Cases Has Brought Down Malpractice Insurance Costs

  David Lowe | December 14, 2007 2:20 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Another story today adds to the mounting evidence that medical malpractice suits are in decline and that medical malpractice insurance costs are headed downward. In Baltimore, Maryland, a consent order settlement has been reached between the State and the largest medical malpractice insurance carrier, Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society, which will result in the return of excess medical...

• Milwaukee Hospital Warns of Brain Disease Contamination

  Paul Jacquart | December 14, 2007 1:43 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Froedtert Hospital has issued a warning to nearly 100 patients who underwent surgery this week that they may have been exposed to a rare, fatal brain disease spread by surgical instruments. It was discovered that another patient who had surgery this week may have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, part of a family of prion diseases, which include mad cow and chronic wasting disease. It is thought that...