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Archive for October, 2009
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) is a serious adverse reaction primarily caused by prescription and over the counter medications such as Ibuprofen. Recently, our TEN attorneys represented Karen Robinson, a woman who developed TEN after taking Children’s Motrin, an Ibuprofen product manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare.
Shortly after taking the medication, Ms. Robinson developed symptoms of TEN including painful lesions which led to large sheets of skin sloughing off about 60% of her body. Her mucous membranes including eyes, mouth and even genitals were also affected. Ms. Robinson was hospitalized in a burn unit for approximately one month. She is now blind in her left eye and will most likely not regain vision in right eye.
Ms. Robinson, represented by Simon, Eddins & Greenstone, LLP’s Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis attorneys, sued McNeil for failing to warn of the risk of TEN on the label of their over the counter Children’s Motrin product.
Before McNeil began selling Children’s Motrin over the counter, the prescription including warnings about the risk of TEN and a related condition called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS). However, when they began selling the product over the counter, the warning about TEN/SJS was removed
A jury found in favor of Ms. Robinson, and awarded her $3.5 million. However, the jury also found that Ms. Robinson was contributorily negligent because she continued to take the Children’s Motrin after she first became sick. The case was tried under Virginia law, and this state has a provision that historically has barred plaintiffs found to be contributorily negligent from receiving any amount of their awards. The final outcome of Ms. Robinson’s case is yet to be decided.
However, her case has established that McNeil was negligent in failing to warn about the dangers of their product. This is the first such finding against the company for OTC Children’s Motrin and opens the doors for other victims to receive financial compensation for their injuries.
Tags: Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Residents living near the former W.R. Grace Zonolite factory on North Maple Street in Spokane, Washington, have recently been distressed to learn that the EPA suspects soil in their yards, as well as public property, may be contaminated with asbestos.
Testers in hazmat suits are taking dozens of soil samples in each yard and sending them off for a new, more sophisticated test that can detect asbestos rates occurring at rates as little as .25%. The EPA is spending between $900 and $1400 per yard for the analyses.
Concern over the area grew as the publicity over the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, exploded several months ago as a result of the company’s federal trial. The town of Libby was heavily contaminated by asbestos from the mine and more than 200 people have died from asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.
The Zonolite factory produced insulation using hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos contaminated vermiculite from Libby for years before closing in 1973. It was in the early 1970′s that regulations governing asbestos use were passed.
Anyone that worked at the Zonolite factory, as well as anyone living or working nearby should be regularly screened for mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases throughout their life. Until the results of the soil analyses are back, people living in the vicinity of North Maple Street should avoid doing anything that disturbs the soil and should refrain from outside activities in their yards.
Tags: asbestos, EPA, Libby Montana, mesothelioma, WR Grace
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
A recent Minnesota home and garden article discussed 1950′s floor tile in a home that was suspected to contain asbestos. A person asked whether they should remove the tiles or if there was a way to cover them. An expert recommended that the person cover the tiles and then gave some advice on an easy way to cover them.
We have to say that we completely disagree with this advice. Any level of asbestos exposure can cause mesothelioma, and doing anything to the tiles could cause asbestos to be released into the air where it could be breathed or swallowed and lead to mesothelioma down the road.
Additionally, the law regulates how asbestos in construction and renovation must be handled. Almost every day, there is a news report of some location around the country that attempted to deal with asbestos in a fast, inexpensive manner and someone was either dangerously exposed, or the person/organization responsible for the property or renovation was cited, fined, or will face prison time.
Asbestos is deadly. Covering it up for someone down the road to unknowingly be exposed to is careless at best. If you know it is there, you must take steps to protect anyone in the future from being exposed to it. What if the house was sold?
Daily, we mesothelioma attorneys stand for the rights of people who had a right to know what they were being exposed to. When it comes to asbestos in renovations, we say, “Protect everyone—both now and in the future. Advise authorities and follow the law.”
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
When fire, police, and emergency personnel responded to Ground Zero on 9/11, few anticipated the horrendous disaster they would face that day and throughout the coming weeks. Even now, eight years later, the suffering continues as emergency workers face current or future conditions such as breathing problems, cancer, and mesothelioma.
Most of us are familiar with the tragic events of that day, but few of us know that the Twin Towers were insulated and fireproofed with asbestos and other toxins that were widely used in construction throughout the 20th century.
Today, many of those that responded to that emergency are now suffering a variety of health issues. Mike Valentin, who was a New York Police Detective that worked at Ground Zero, is now unable to work because he has an inoperable and terminal tumor near his trachea and aorta that began as lymphoma. Valentin attributes his cancer to asbestos and other toxins he was exposed to when the towers went down.
Before 9/11, Valentin was a healthy man and typically ran 6 to 8 miles a day. Now, his health and that of many that served with him that day is ruined.
Valentin has founded the 9/11 Police Foundation to “provide support, education, and other forms of charitable relief to police officers with an injury or disability associated with the attacks of 9/11, and their families.”
Because any level of asbestos exposure has the potential to cause mesothelioma, it is possible that some cases of mesothelioma may develop in those that worked at Ground Zero or were exposed to the asbestos that blew in thick clouds across the city as the towers came down.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
New Jersey man John Deck, owner of J.A.D., Inc., faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for his alleged part in a conspiracy that caused tons of asbestos-contaminated construction waste to be dumped on an unauthorized site.
The contaminated site is a 192 acre former dairy farm near the New Jersey town of Frankfort. Deck allegedly created a fake permit that he used to trick trucking companies into transporting the waste to the farm. According to a federal criminal complaint, suspicion was raised around Oct. 5, 2006, when “One of victim #1′s truck driver(s) reported that the site did not appear to be a legitimate solid waste management facility, but rather a farmer’s field.”
According to the EPA, the asbestos on the site is contained under a synthetic cover, but it is too little, too late for many in the area. Nearby resident Alice King expressed her frustration, “So he pleas guilty – whoopee. What’s that going to do? He poisoned the whole … town.”
If found guilty, in addition to prison time and fines, Deck will likely have to pay the cost of the remaining clean up as well as reimburse the federal Superfund for the money they paid for the temporary containment.
Residents are concerned that the temporary containment is not adequate and they are still at risk of asbestos exposure one of several deadly diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma
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