On June 27, 2008, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department in Florida will conduct an event called Operation Medicine Cabinet. The program is aimed to safely dispose of unused prescription medication.

The purpose of the program is to help prevent accidental medication errors as well as promote proper disposal of prescription medication. Improperly disposed medication has been found to have an effect on the environment.

If a medication has been flushed down the toilet, or put down a drain, it may not be filtered out at a water treatment plant. Because of this, marine life has begun to test positive for medication toxicity in some parts of the country.

In the program, all medication that is turned in will be incinerated.

Defective drug attorneys are working to help those who have become seriously ill due to defective medication and medication errors.

A new electronic system is being backed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and many more groups and manufacturers. The new system will notify physicians electronically if a drug or medical device has been linked to new dangers.

The system is called the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN). The HCNN is expected to begin operation next month. Over 100,000 physicians have already signed up to the service.

HCNN is a free service offered to physicians that is being funded by drug and medical device manufacturers. The service will deliver the same information that is currently delivered to physicians via the postal service. The new electronic system is intended to deliver the information quickly to physicians, which can potentially help to save lives. The information will be delivered via e-mail.

Defective drug attorneys are working to help support those who have suffered from serious adverse reactions due to faulty prescription medications or medical devices.

Ethex Corporation has expanded its recall of morphine tablets on June 16, 2008. The recalled tablets potentially contain twice the dose of morphine that is on the prescription drug label.

Ethex Corporation originally recalled a single lot of morphine tablets on June 9, 2008. The recall has been expanded to include both 60 mg and 30 mg lots of extended release morphine tablets.

The recall expansion is being described as a precaution by Ethex Corporation. There have not been any reports of adverse reactions linked to the tablets.

Serious adverse reactions can develop due to an overdose of an opioid medication, like morphine. Symptoms of an opioid overdose include respiratory distress, low-blood pressure and hypotension.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed the following recalled lots: 30mg Tablet/NDC # 58177-320-04: Lots 75090, 77846, 77847, 80048, 83320, 89661, 89665, 90252 through 90258, and 93284 and 60mg Tablet/NDC # 58177-330-04: Lots 91762 (previously reported), 75091, 75092, 77848 through 77851, 82517, 82518, 83333, 83817, 83862, 84111, 84112, 84315, 84900, 85326, 85335, 85807, 86270 through 86276, 87723, 87939, 88007, 89083, 89668, 89669, 89821, 90260 through 90272, and 91763 through 91765.

Defective drug attorneys are working to prevent the serious illnesses and injuries that can result from faulty prescription drugs.

ETHEX Corporation is recalling one lot of 60 mg morphine sulfate tablets due to a risk of overdose. The tablets were manufactured with double the dose of morphine sulfate that is on the label, which could cause serious adverse reactions.

The lot affected by the recall is number 91762. No additional lots are being recalled.

The morphine tablets were released between April 15 and April 27, 2008. They are under the ETHEX label.

As with all opioid medication, the consequences of an overdose can be fatal. An overdose of morphine may result in difficulty breathing and lowered blood pressure.

To this date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not received any reports of adverse side effects.

Defective drug attorneys are working to help prevent serious consequences of faulty prescription medication by holding drug manufactures responsible for their negligence.

New studies show that Paxil causes increased birth defects when taken during the first trimester of pregnancy.  In many cases the most prominent birth defects were atrial and ventricular septal heart defects (holes in the heart chamber walls).  Other possible birth defects may include:

Difficulties with breathing

Seizures

Vomiting

Low blood sugar

Tremor

Irritability

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

No CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) propelled albuterol inhalers will be manufactured or sold inside the United States after December 31st, 2008. This change is a part of the Clean Air Act and the International Environmental treaty. Because CFCs are harmful to the environment, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that users switch to HFA (hydrofluoroalkane) propelled inhalers soon. Manufacturers have been increasing production of HFA inhalers, so a safe and effective alternative to CFC inhalers are available now.

Patients currently using CFC albuterol inhalers should talk to their doctors about making the transition to a different inhaler. HFA-propelled inhalers have a softer spray, and require a different priming, cleaning and drying routine.

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

On June 4, 2008, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that Merck is not responsible for monitoring the health of Vioxx users who have not shown any sign of injury. The court voted 5-1, dismissing a class action lawsuit filed by users of Vioxx who were seeking to have Merck pay for continuous medical monitoring to discover Vioxx related injuries.

In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered Vioxx to be removed from the market due to a link between Vioxx and heart attacks and other cardiac related fatalities. During the time period of the drugs inception in 1999 to 2003, Vioxx is responsible for more than 27,000 heart related incidents.

In this recent decision, the judges ruled that since the Vioxx users involved in the lawsuit did not have established injuries, they could not establish that the drug caused them harm.

There are defective drug attorneys working to help those who have suffered serious injuries as a result of defective prescription medication.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that at the end of the year albuterol inhalers, which are commonly used to treat asthma, will no longer be available for use.

Albuterol inhalers typically use a chemical called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. This chemical is used to propel the drug into the patient’s lungs, but has been found to be damaging to Earth’s ozone layer.

The Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer have settled on a treaty in which the United States has agreed to stop producing and importing substances harmful to the ozone, including CFCs. Therefore, as of December 31st, inhalers containing these chemicals can no longer be made or sold in the U.S.

The alternative will be inhalers using hydrofluoroalkanes, or HFAs. The FDA has already approved ProAir HFA Inhalation Aerosol, Proventil HFA Inhalation Aerosol, and Ventolin HFA Inhalation Aerosol, as well as Xopenex HFA Inhalation Aerosol which contains levalbuterol.

The FDA has confirmed that these alternatives are safe and effective for those switching from CFC inhalers, although they will taste and feel different. Each has different priming, cleaning, and drying instructions to prevent the medicine from building up in the inhaler.

The FDA states that there is an adequate supply of the HFA inhalers as increased production has already started, but urges those with asthma to start talking to their doctors now.

Defective drug attorneys are working on cases in which prescription drugs have caused harmful and serious side effects.

On May 29, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that Florida pharmaceutical company, SEI Pharmaceuticals, recall all lots of Xiadafil VIP tablets. The request made by the FDA follows previous actions taken by the state of Florida to prevent distribution of the drug. The FDA is advising consumers not to buy or ingest the product as the FDA may take further actions.

The drugs are being marketed illegally and are being recalled because they have been found to contain an undeclared ingredient that can cause alterations to blood pressure and other dangerous adverse side effects.

Xiadafil VIP Tabs are marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement and claim they are able to treat erectile dysfunction, or ED. The tabs contain the same ingredient that is used in Viagra. The ingredient is known to cause serious, life-threatening side effects.

Xiadafil VIP Tabs are sold in 8 tablet bottles, labeled Lot # 6K029, or blister cards of 2 tablets, labeled Lot # 6K029-SEI. These lots have an expiration date of September 2009.

Defective drug attorneys are working on cases in which adverse side effects have been caused by dangerous drugs.

On May 22, it was announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be working in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Both organizations working together will attempt to increase the capacity of the FDA to monitor the effectiveness of medical products. The proposed system is being called the Sentinel Initiative. It will create a new electronic system that will allow the FDA to query information through CMS that will allow them to monitor possible adverse effects of medical products.

The electronic system will maintain strict privacy. The information gathered will only be used to monitor the effectiveness of prescription drugs and medical devices. The intent is to be able to quickly determine if a product is dangerous.

Defective drug attorneys are working on cases in which serious effects of prescription drugs have caused life-long disability or fatality.