Polk County Medical Malpractice Law Blog

In early May of 2010, three FDA agents entered the Houston office of Cetero Research. Cetero Research was a laboratory facility that conducted research for drug companies around the world. The purpose of the inquiry was to investigate a former employee's allegation that Cetero had manipulated test data and had tampered with their records. The lead agent confronted Cetero's president, who openly acknowledged that a significant amount of the laboratory's work was fraudulent.

When the investigator revealed his findings to the FDA, his expectation was that they would move quickly to re-test the prescription drugs in question. He also expected the FDA to warn patients and doctors.

Approximately 52,000 bottles of Levoxyl have been recalled by Pfizer due to reports of an odor emanating from some of the containers. Levoxyl is used to treat those who have a thyroid disorder, and this recall may affect a number of Iowa residents. The company stopped sending shipments of the defective drug in February after it became aware of the issue. Levoxyl is now on the FDA's list of drug shortages because a new supply of the medication may not be available until next year.

The odor was the result of an oxygen-absorbing canister that Pfizer packages with the drug to enhance the stability of its product. People have described the odor as "plastic-like." The recall of this medication is not the first time that Pfizer has had to recall a drug because of the way it smells: It has also recalled Lipitor and Advil for similar reasons.

While Iowa citizens may not be directly affected, the recent discovery of contaminated medication in a Connecticut hospital and another contamination case last year has spurred more inspections by the Food and Drug Administration into compounding pharmacies. While no injuries or deaths have been linked to this current case, the New Jersey based pharmacy, Med Prep Consulting, has issued a drug recall for all of its products and stopped all shipments.

The drug recall extends to three states: New Jersey, Delaware and Connecticut. So far, the names of the facilities Med Prep has sent products to in these areas have not been released, but the Delaware Division of Public Health is sorting through the pharmacy's shipping information. In addition to pharmacies and hospitals, doctors' offices may have also received the tainted drug, which is administered for both seizures and preterm labor. This drug alert comes in the wake of a serious drug contamination case that occurred last year when 50 people died and 720 were sicken across the nation by a steroid that came from a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy.

Ever since 2009 the maker of Yaz and Yasmin contraceptives have been hit with thousands of lawsuits claiming the company failed to warn users on some of the possible complications that could arise from taking these oral contraceptives. These lawsuits have revolved around claims related to blood clots, strokes and even deaths.

Recently, Bayer agreed to settle lawsuits related to those Yaz and Yasmin takers who claimed to have suffered from gallbladder injuries after taking the oral contraceptives. The company has agreed to pay up to $24 million, with $2,000 going to those who suffered from gallbladder injuries and $3,000 to those who actually had to go in and get their gallbladders removed. Depending on the number of lawsuits related to gallbladder injuries, the payout may end up being reduced.