Maricopa County Wrongful Death Law Blog

Actos, a popular drug first approved for use in 1999 to treat Type 2 diabetes, has been linked to bladder cancer when used for more than one year. Millions of people have used the medication in the past decade, both in the U.S. and overseas. For much of that time, there were no warnings that extended use could result in bladder cancer.

Then in June of 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted the public to the fact that "long-term Actos users are at an increased risk for developing bladder cancer." Product liability lawsuits for the dangerous drug began to be filed by injured patients.

In response to a report from the Medicare Advisory Committee, the Obama administration is considering requiring drug and medical device companies to disclose payments made to doctors for research and consulting. It would also require doctors to disclose their ownership and investment interests in drug and medical device companies.

The change was recommended by the committee after finding evidence that medical treatment decisions made by doctors were influenced by their financial relationship with drug and device companies. In addition to increasing costs, patient advocates say outside financial interests can contribute to medical malpractice by making doctors more willing to prescribe risky medications or to use medical devices in a manner for which they have not been approved.

In December, something went terribly wrong with an elevator in an office building in New York City. The tragic death of a 41-year-old woman has received extensive coverage. But the story is far from over. A criminal probe has begun. It's likely that the victim's family will pursue a wrongful death claim and at least one victim is pursuing an injury claim.

Passenger Kathleen Mullahy says she can no longer ride an elevator - and therefore cannot work - due to the emotional trauma of watching her coworker die in front of her. She and another passenger were stuck in the elevator with the body for more than an hour. She is suing both the building and the elevator repair company, Transel.

A recent report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services says that 86 percent of all hospital errors go unreported by hospital employees. Unreported errors included overdoses and wrong medications, bedsores and hospital-acquired infections and even medical errors resulting in patient death.

Although hospitals are legally required to report and then analyze medical errors if they want to be eligible to bill Medicare or Medicaid for services, the HHS study found very little oversight of hospital error-tracking records by organizations that inspect hospitals. It also found that hospital employees often did not recognize when a medical error had harmed a patient and should have been reported.

A Massachusetts family is grieving the loss of their 19-year-old son who died while working construction on a new home. The young man was working on the roof framing of three-story house when he fell from the roof to the basement. He died from the fall.

News stories of the fatal construction accident made no mention of safety equipment, which is essential for the safety of construction workers working at heights.

In the past two weeks, two stories have hit the Internet regarding drug recalls: one an example of a recall done right and one announcing a wrongful death lawsuit in a case of a drug recall done wrong. In both cases, the drug manufacturers knew about problems at their manufacturing facilities resulting in quality defects with over-the-counter medications. Dangerous drugs had gotten onto store shelves.

The two manufacturers - Johnson & Johnson and Novartis - took different approaches. One issued a public recall; one failed to inform the public.

A severely disabled young man living in a group home in Nebraska is in the hospital after a caregiver left him in a scalding hot shower. The 22-year-old resident is quadriplegic, with cerebral palsy, brain damage and blindness. He has the mental capacity of a 9-month-old child and requires round-the-clock care.

The caregiver reportedly wheeled him into the bathroom of the group home, turned on the shower, and then left him alone. Negligence of the group home caregiver resulted in third and fourth degree burns to his back and the lower part of his body. He was placed on a ventilator and will require extensive skin grafts.

An investigative series by ProPublica and NPR has looked into the problems with the death investigation system in the U.S. One of the issues that the news organizations recently looked into is the marked reduction in how many autopsies get performed in the U.S. these days as opposed to the past and how a lack of routine autopsies can lead to repeated misdiagnosis errors and unchecked medical malpractice.

According to ProPublica, fifty years ago autopsies were routine in cases where a death was unexpected. Now, hospitals only perform autopsies in five percent of deaths and no one requires hospitals to do them. Insurance companies do not pay for autopsies. The downward trend in these procedures may have a lot to do with hospitals wanting to avoid discovering medical errors that could lead to medical malpractice and wrongful death suits.