Sabatini and Associates, LLC

Wearing a helmet lowers a motorcycle rider’s risk of fatal injury by 29 percent and reduces the risk of traumatic brain injury by 67 percent. Despite the documented effectiveness of helmets, many motorcyclists choose not to wear them, especially when state laws don’t require helmet use. Surveys show that in states without universal helmet laws, only 34 to 54 percent of motorcycle riders wear helmets. But in states where helmet use is mandatory for all riders, 98 percent of motorcyclists use this safety gear.

Based on internal company documents revealed in Vioxx litigation,  JAMA authors uncover how the company, without disclosing it, compensated ghostwriters who aren’t even doctors, to create articles for professional journals that have the potential to influence doctors and popularize drugs prescribed to the public.  In the 250 documents reviewed by the authors, Merck employees either working by themselves or in collaboration with a medical publishing company helped create the study on Vioxx. They would then recruit academics or leaders in the medical field to lend their name as the lead author. For scientific review papers, Merck would outline the plan for the manuscript then ghostwriters were hired from medical publishing companies, which typically pay about $20,000 per submission to the ghostwriter.

The scientist then recruited to be the named author would be offered “honoraria” for their participation.

This review in JAMA finds that among 96 published articles, 92 percent of clinical trials disclosed Merck’s financial support.  But only half disclosed Merck’s involvement in the creation of the publication or whether the author had received compensation. In another JAMA article in the same issue, the documents suggest the company’s control of the data allowed it to downplay the risk of death from Vioxx in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 but not before it was linked to an increase in heart attack and strokes. The FDA says the drug lead to up to 139,000 heart attacks, 30-40 percent of them fatal.

Litigation followed and ultimately resulted in a $4.85 billion settlement against Merck to settle U.S. cases. The internal company documents were released as part of the settlement.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can result from acute injury, as indicated by a retrospective study. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome developed in 96 patients within 2 months after an automobile accident in a study conducted by Dr. Ames. Forty-four (44) of these ninety-six (96) patients underwent carpal tunnel release. It is believed that the mechanism of injury is blunt trauma from the steering wheel or dashboard. (see Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Journal of American Osteopathic Association, Dr. Elliot L. Ames, 1996)

Dr. Ames is a clinical assistant professor of surgery, division of orthopedic surgery, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ. The carpal tunnel joint on the wrist are in close proximity as the hand grasps the steering wheel, and as a result, are vulnerable during impact. The injury can occur when the hand is braced on the steering wheel at the time of a front or rear-end collision. Because the base of the thumb can be injured by the steering wheel and the carpal tunnel is in close proximity, it is reasonable to calculate the carpal tunnel takes blunt trauma during impact. To learn more about this topic read: Acute Median Neuropathy After Wrist Trauma: The Role of Emergent Carpal Tunnel Release by Gregory Mack, M.D., Scott McPherson, M.D., and Bruce Lutz, M.D. This article was published by Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, 1994.

According to the Triple A, 42,642 people died in car crashes in 2006.  This equates to about 117 deaths per day and almost 5 per hour.  This is the equivalent of two jumbo jets crashing every week.  The AAA attributes many of the fatalities to excessive speed, drunk driving and the failure to wear a seat belt.  Triple A also reports that the costs arising from car accidents have gone up with the largest cost increase being hospital costs.

The Connecticut personal injury lawyers of Sabatini and Associates, LLC provide quality legal representation to clients in Hartford, Connecticut, and surrounding cities including: West Hartford, Newington, New Britain, Avon, Canton, Wethersfield, Glastonbury, East Hartford, Norwich, Granby, Rocky Hill, Bristol, Manchester, East Hartford, Plainville, Berlin, Farmington, Windsor, South Windsor, Bloomfield, Enfield and counties including New Haven County, Tolland County, Hartford County, New London County, Litchfield County and Fairfield County..

The FDA reports additional patient deaths are possibly linked to the blood thinner heparin so the company is mounting a recall of all of the drug.  

Baxter International Inc. will recall the remaining lots of single and multi-dose injection and it will recall HEP-LOCK products.

Last month, Baxter recalled nine lots of heparin multi-dose after the drug’s use was linked to four deaths and hundreds of mysterious allergic reactions.

Most of those adverse events were attributed to the multi-dose vial of heparin.

Now 17 other deaths are being investigated because of a link to heparin, although the FDA reminds reporters that those patients were already very sick so a definitive cause-effect at this time has not been established.

The Connecticut personal injury lawyers of Sabatini and Associates, LLC provide quality legal representation to clients in Hartford, Connecticut, and surrounding cities including: West Hartford, Newington, New Britain, Avon, Canton, Wethersfield, Glastonbury, East Hartford, Norwich, Granby, Rocky Hill, Bristol, Manchester, East Hartford, Plainville, Berlin, Farmington, Windsor, South Windsor, Bloomfield, Enfield and counties including New Haven County, Tolland County, Hartford County, New London County, Litchfield County and Fairfield County..