Beasley Allen attorney Leigh O’Dell has been selected to serve on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for consolidated Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) concerning transvaginal mesh. Transvaginal mesh is used to repair conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The mesh is implanted through the vagina and is used to shore up pelvic organs that have become displaced due to age, childbirth, hysterectomy or obesity.

For years, drug companies touted the benefits of HRT. Marketing campaigns for medications like Premarin, Prempro and Provera targeted both women and their doctors, promising that the drugs could perform miracles. Manufacturers boasted these drugs could not only temper bothersome symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, mood swings, and vaginal dryness, but they had the added benefit of protecting women against heart disease, a serious concern among older women. Use of these drugs was even encouraged for off-label uses, including the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

Women who are pregnant should avoid drugs used to treat hypertension, or high blood pressure, because they have been associated with injury and death to developing fetuses.

A Philadelphia, Pa., jury awarded $72.6 million to three plaintiffs in a Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) case after hearing three weeks of testimony regarding the link between hormone replacement drugs and breast cancer.

In August 2010, people who had received metal-on-metal artificial hips began to be concerned about their implanted devices. DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, had announced a recall of its ASR LX Acetabular hip system due to a higher than normal failure rate.

A Supreme Court ruling on June 23 reversed separate U.S. appeals court rulings that would have held generic drug manufacturers responsible for warning patients of safety label changes.

Drug regulators in France and Germany have suspended the use of the diabetes drug pioglitazone – found in brand name drug Actos, manufactured by Takeda - in light of a recent study linking the drugs to an increased risk of bladder cancer. Pioglitazone is usually prescribed to treat Type 2 diabetes.

A new Swedish study has verified that antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase the risk for birth defects when taken by the mother during early pregnancy.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Appellate Court affirmed a $1.5 million compensatory and $8.6 million punitive award against Wyeth, a division of Pfizer, on behalf of a woman diagnosed with hormone positive breast cancer. Plaintiff Mary Daniel had taken Wyeth’s hormone pill, Prempro, for 18 months. The trial and appeal was handled by Plaintiff’s attorneys Zoe Littlepage and Rainey Booth. How does this most recent decision affect the track record in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) litigation against Wyeth, which has been going on for several years?

Nine people died and 10 more were sickened in six Alabama hospitals after receiving IV packs filled with nutritional supplements that were contaminated with a dangerous bacteria. The supplement packs were compounded by a Birmingham pharmacy called Meds IV. Beasley Allen attorneys are investigating claims related to patient deaths as a result of receiving the tainted IV fluids.