GlaxoSmithKline, in response to lawsuits brought by 8 U.S. states has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle legal actions over the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone). The drug maker announced it will pay $229 million and  that the settlement was within the provisions it had set aside for litigation previously. Last year […]

Metal-on-metal hip replacement devices consist of ball and socket components that are made of metal. Because of metal’s durability, metal-on-metal devices were expected to last longer than other hip implants. An estimated 80,000 Irish people have been fitted with metal-on-metal hip implants. Before they came on the market many metal-on-metal hip replacement devices underwent very […]

Hip replacement patients who have received metal-on-metal hip replacement devices may be at risk for serious health problems including cobalt and chromium poisoning, adverse local tissue reactions, pseudotumor formation and metallosis. These conditions can cause a metal-on-metal hip replacement to fail within just a few years of surgery and lead to risky revision surgery to […]

The metal debris shed from metal-on-metal hip implants is thought to be responsible for many of the ailments suffered by metal-on-metal hip replacement patients. If chromium and cobalt are shed by a metal-on-metal device, the particles can leech into the surrounding tissue and blood stream, eventually making their way into the lymph nodes. Research has […]

Health Canada, the government health regulatory agency has issued a safety warning about the risk of blood clots with the drug thalidomide. While uncommon, blood clots in the arteries can happen in patients taking thalomide (thalidomide) especially during the first 5 months of use. Some clots have resulted in death due to heart attack or […]

Louise Barry, a 41 year old employee of Dunnes Stores Clonmel has been awarded €54,600 damages by the High Court for injuries sustained by her in an accident at Dunnes Stores on the 13th October 2004. At that time Ms Barry was employed as a part-time sales assistant and was 6 weeks pregnant. Her job […]

The UK health regulator MHRA has issued a press release confirming that codeine-containing medicine should only be used in children over 12 years of age to treat short lived moderate pain. This is only if it cannot be relieved by other pain killers such a paracetamol or ibuprofen. Where it is used in children it […]

A trial has gone underway in California accusing Philip Morris USA, unit of the Altria Group Inc of falsely marketing its so-called “light” cigarettes as being a healthier option over tradition cigarettes. The lawsuit which seeks $543.6 million in restitution to California smoker for money spent on cigarettes, was brought as a class action and […]