It was announced last week that Actavis Totowa LLC is recalling all lots of Digitek. A spokesperson for the company said that 11 reports of serious illness have been linked with Digitek. The spokesperson said that the company is not aware of any deaths in relation to the recall.

Digitek is a prescription medication used to treat abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure.

Tests of Digitek show that the reported illnesses may be caused by overdose. Some tablets of the drug might are thought to contain at least twice the FDA approved dose of the active ingredient.

All lots of the prescription drug are being recalled. Digitek is distributed under the “Bertek” label by Mylan Pharmaceuticals. It is also distributed under a “UDL” label by UDL Laboratories Inc.

Defective drug attorneys are working on cases in which serious illness has resulted due to the negligence of drug companies.

Throughout the country, medical facilities are looking to computers to help decrease the amount of prescription drug errors. Medical facilities throughout New Hampshire are beginning to adopt a computerized medical record system.

The new system will have a doctor input medical information and prescriptions directly into a laptop. This will help to prevent medical errors and prescription errors caused by misread or bad handwriting.

In this new system, prescriptions will be entered into the laptop and sent directly to the pharmacy, which is intended to prevent prescription fraud and errors.

Currently, prescription errors caused by handwriting accounts for a large percentage of medical malpractice and prescription drug related injuries and fatalities.

Defective drug attorneys are working on cases in which severe adverse reactions are attributed to prescription drugs.

          In February a landmark decision was made affecting the rights of consumers. The Supreme Court voted 8-1 against the plaintiff in a case in which he claimed the manufacturer of a medical device was responsible for injuries he suffered when the device burst during heart surgery. The Class III device was a Medtronic catheter that was being inserted into his coronary artery when it was over-inflated by the doctor. The plaintiff sued the doctor and Medtronic. 
          The plaintiff lost the case because the court found that 1) the Medtronic catheter had been sufficiently tested and 2) the “pre-emption clause” in the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 overruled common-law claims about the effectiveness and safety of medical devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
          This decision by the Supreme Court will have an influence on future product liability lawsuits, especially since it covers both warnings and design defects for medical devices approved by the FDA. Because of this ruling, it may become more difficult for victims of faulty Class III medical devices to seek justice for injuries and damages caused by faulty, dangerous, or defective products.

          If you or a loved one has been harmed by a product, contact the product liability lawyers at Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP at 1-800-460-0606.