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95 Reglan Suits FiledUSA –Matthews & Associates Law

Firm has filed 95 cases so far againstthe makers of Reglan, as well as itsgeneric versions of metoclopramide.Most of the suits were filed in Philadel-phia’s Court of Common Pleas, thoughsome were filed in Calif. and others inNew Jersey. Reglan/Metoclopramide isa gastrointestinal drug known to causethe neurological syndrome of TardiveDyskinesia.

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FDA asks MDs for HelpUSA – To help identify misleading

Big Pharma drug claims, the FDA onMay 11 announced "it will begin askingdoctors to keep an eye out for mislead-ing drug advertisements as part of theagency's latest effort to police the phar-maceutical industry's multibillion-dol-lar marketing machine." ——–————————————————————————————————––—

AVictory for PedestriansMONTGOMERY, TEXAS – Firm at-

torney Adam Funk won a pedestrian-caraccident trial in Montgomery in Febru-ary. A pregnant woman and her husbandwere attempting to cross a street when amotorist hit them as he made a left turn.The couple sustained injuries that re-quired medical attention.

Defense argued the couple shouldhave crossed at a crosswalk 1/4-miledown the way. The jury disagreed.——–——————————————————————————————————

FDA Sued over ChemicalWASHINGTON D.C. – A top envi-

ronmental group has sued the FDA overits failure to regulate bisphenol A, aubiquitous chemical studies have linkedto reproductive harm, cancer and obe-sity. The Natural Resources DefenseCouncil filed a lawsuit June 29 in theU.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Cir-cuit, arguing millions have been unnec-essarily exposed to bisphenol A. (p.2)

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2905 Sackett St., Houston, Texas 77098

Table of ContentsFDA Sued over bisphenol A..............p. 2Dangerous Drugs/Devices.................p. 2MRI/Gadolinium Case(s)..................p. 2Paxil Birth defect Lawsuits...............p. 2Anatomy of a Drug Lawsuit..............p. 3Securing your Medical Records........p. 3Yaz Cases Consolidated....................p. 4

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Summer Issue 2010

Medical Records AlertUSA – Matthews & Associates Law

Firm is finding medical and pharmacyrecords are arriving much more slowlythan they had in the past. Whether thetardiness is a result of slow medical ad-ministrations or deliberate foot-drag-ging in PI cases, the firm respectfullyrequests help from all able clients. (p. 3)

David Matthews has a top rating inMartindale-Hubbell and is board-cer-tified in personal injury trial law. Voteda “Texas Super Lawyer” by his peers,he has more than 100 jury verdicts.

Pre-emption Ploy Back in PlayBig Pharma has spent millions of

dollars lobbying Congress to weakenthe FDA and give drug makers a freepass when they make a drug that injurespeople. The drug makers’ plan was, and

is, to hide behind theFDA’s seal of ap-proval, even as theywork to weaken theagency’s ability tooversee drug safety.The result has beenrecord drug recalls,tainted science, a re-volving door between

FDA and Big Pharma employees, andan increasingly disfunctional FDA. Theend game for Big Pharma has been theploy of pre-emption, a ploy duplicitous,unethical, and never-ending. (p. 2)

Gadolinium/MRI Case Settled in Massachusetts

BOSTON –Matthews & Associatessettled an MRI/Gadolinium poisoningcase in late January 2010 with Bayer,the makers of Magnevist. (p. 2)————–—–——————————————————————–————–

MRI Cases Filed NationwideUSA – The firm has filed nearly three

dozen cases – in state courts and in fed-eral court in Cleveland, Ohio – for vic-tims of gadolinium-based contrast dyesused in magnetic resonance imaging.The firm will argue that the makersfailed to properly study and researchgadolinium and the impact it could haveon people with impaired kidney func-tion, and failed to warn of gadoliniumdye’s potentially fatal problems. —————————————————————————————–———

Avandia Raises MI RisksUSA – Researchers at GlaxoSmith

Kline determined in 2003, ‘05 and ‘06that Avandia, a drug used to treat Type2 diabetes, significantly increases therisk of serious heart problems. The FDAissued a warning in 2007 and in ‘08.Amid mounting evidence, two of FDA’stop safety officials recommended yank-ing the drug from the market. (p. 2)—————————————————————————————–––—––

Accutane can Cause IBDUSA – The acne drug Accutane can

cause Irritable Bowel Disease, which isoften technically diagnosed as Crohn’sdisease or colitis. Early symptoms mayinclude diarrhea and rectal bleeding.Matthews & Associates is actively pur-suing cases of Accutane injury. Thedrug was approved by the FDA in 1982.—————————————————————————————–––—––

Paxil LawsuitsUSA –Matthews & Associates attor-

neys are currently representing familiesof children who have suffered Paxilbirth defects. In 2005, the FDA warnedthat the SSRI antidepressant/anxietydrug Paxil had been linked to an in-creased risk of birth defects. (p. 2)—————————————————————————————————

Pre-emption Ploy (from p. 1)

The Supreme Court rejected the pre-emption defense last year in a casebrought by a professional musician wholost her arm after receiving an injectionof a Wyeth drug (Wyeth vs. Levine), rul-ing that FDA approval of a drug doesnot give its maker immunity when thatdrug injures people. But now genericdrug makers are trying to take the sameargument to the Supreme Court.

We pray the Court again rules to pro-tect people and not let corporationshide behind the lobby-weakened FDA.We also ask that you write or call yourfederal representatives. Let them knowpre-emption for generic drug makers isno more acceptable than it is for name-brand makers. Generic drug makers arenot copying pencils or tennis shoes.They’re selling drugs that can injure orkill us, and making enormous profits;therefore, they have just as much re-sponsibility as name-brand drug mak-ers if those drugs are found to bedefective and unreasonably dangerous.

Tell your representatives, “No to pre-emption for generic drug makers, too.”————————————————————————————————

Dangerous DrugsReglan/Metoclopramide (from p. 1)Chronic use has been linked to tar-

dive dyskinesia, which may include in-voluntary and repetitive movements ofthe body, such as lip smacking, grimac-ing, tongue protrusion, rapid eye move-ments or blinking, puckering andpursing of the lips, or impaired move-ment of the fingers, even after the drugsare no longer taken. Symptoms arerarely reversible, and no cure exists.

Avandia (from p. 1)Hundreds of thousands of Americans

are still taking Avandia, according toThe NY Times, despite internal FDAreports that say switching every Avan-dia patient to an alternate drug couldprevent about 500 heart attacks and 300cases of heart failure each month.

Yaz/Yasmin/OcellaThese medications could be putting

millions of women at risk of serious“side effects,” including stroke, heart at-tack, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis,pulmonary embolism, and even death.The drugs’ ingredient drospirenone maycarry a risk of blood clots nearly doublethat of other birth control medications.

SeroquelSeroquel has been linked to a high in-

cidence of type 2 diabetes, pancreatitis,hyperglycemia and other blood sugardisorders, leading the FDA to requestthat manufacturer AstraZeneca clearlylist dangers on Seroquel packaging. Weare currently litigating these cases.

TrasylolA blood-clotting agent used in heart

surgeries, Trasylol can increase the riskof heart attack, kidney complicationsand stroke not only during surgery butup to five years after. It costs up to 50times more than two alternative clottingdrugs, neither of which carries the samerisks. We have filed nearly 300 Trasy-lol cases in the U.S. thus far.

Call us for a free consultation. ————————————————————————————————

Paxil Lawsuits (from p. 1)

The FDA asked GlaxoSmithKline tomodify Paxil's labeling to reflect therisk of birth defects, which is especiallyhigh if an expectant mother took Paxilduring her first trimester.

Known generically as paroxetine,Paxil was brought to market by GSK in1992. By 2006, it was the fifth most-commonly prescribed antidepressant inthe US, with more than 19.7 millionprescriptions. Paxil was approved bythe FDA to treat symptoms of depres-sion, obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), panic disorder, generalizedanxiety disorder (GAD), social pho-bia/social anxiety disorder, and pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).Paxil was the first antidepressant for-mally approved in the US for the treat-ment of social anxiety disorder. ————————–—————————————————————————————

Vioxx Payout UpdateTRENTON, N.J. –Drugmaker Merck

& Co. has finally made its final, $4.1billion payment into a fund to settle tensof thousands of U.S. claims that with-drawn painkiller Vioxx caused heart at-tacks or strokes, the company said in aregulatory filing in the spring.————————–————————————————————————————

FDA Sued by NRDC (from p. 1)

NRDC, which petitioned the FDA tooutlaw bisphenol A two years ago, nowcharges the agency with failing to regu-late the chemical found in everythingfrom soda bottles and tuna cans to chil-dren's sippy cups. The FDA's own rulesrequired it to approve, deny or other-wise respond to the October 2008 peti-tion within 180 days, the suit said. Aftermaintaining for decades bisphenol Awas safe, the FDA reversed itself in Jan-uary, saying exposure to it was of "someconcern" for infants and children.

Developed as a synthetic estrogen inthe 1930s and later transformed into aplastic used in food containers, bisphe-nol A has come under increasingscrutiny not just for its connection to re-productive harms, but also to sup-pressed immune function, cancer,neurological delays and diabetes.

Gadolinium/MRI (from p. 1)

The Boston suit settled for an undis-closed sum. Meanwhile, Bayer facesseveral other lawsuits regarding Mag-nevist, and the company is not alone.The FDA has indicated all five avail-

able Gadolinium/MRI contrast agentscan cause several serious problems, in-cluding nephrogenic systemic fibrosis(NSF). Most NSF victims are on dyal-isis. If the kidneys can’t expel gadolin-ium-based dye fast enough, it breaksfree of its chelate; then it can infectskin, muscle tissue, bone and organs.The skin of patients with NSF often

swells and tightens on the extremitiesand sometimes the trunk. The conditionmay develop in days or months after anMRI. The FDA first warned medicalprofessionals about the link betweengadolinium-based dyes and NFD/NSFin June 2006. The gold standard for di-agnosis is a punch biopsy of skin tissuefor microscopic analysis. Call our toll-free MRI hotline: 1-888-527-5722.

Anatomy of a Pharmaceutical Lawsuit by Adam FunkMany clients with a Reglan (or other drug) lawsuit understandably ask, “How

does this work and how long does it take?” Every case varies, but we can haz-ard a guess by drawing on years of experience with other drug cases, which havetypically taken 2-5 years to resolve. Once we receive a contract – which givesus the legal right to take action – and a medical release form (or HIPPA) – whichallows us to order any and/or all of a client’s relevant records, then we gather ev-idence to prove a client was given Reglan/metroclopramide and also to provea client has a diagnosed injury associated with the drug, such as Tardive Dysk-inesia/Dystonia or Reglan-induced Parkinson’s. Once we’veobtained proofs of use and injury, we then need to identify thespecific company which made the generic metoclopramide.This can take some time as a drug dispensary traces all the rel-evant numbers to identify the specific manufacturer(s). Oncewe secure all that information, we’re ready to file the case. Se-lecting a court venue is the next step. Laws govern where cer-tain cases can be filed, but within that legal framework we tryto file each according to where we feel our individual client’scase stands the best chance of success.Then the real fight starts with the pre-trial process. We will

argue back and forth with defense attorneys about hundredsof thousands of documents, numerous depositions and pre-trialhearings concerning liability, venue, damages and other issues. These fights canlast for months, but sooner or later we get a case to court. Our strategy is to winone case at a time. And though these cases can take several years to play out toa conclusion, we’re hopeful that we will be able to try the first Reglan case inthe country, in Philadelphia, towards the sumer of next year.

Mesothelioma/AsbestosMatthews & Associates continue to

pursue mesothelioma cases throughoutthe country. Mesothelioma is caused byexposure to asbestos, which is present inmany work places such as construction,ship building, automotive and other man-ufacturing industries. People with a his-tory of extended asbestos exposure are atthe highest risk for developing malignantmesothelioma.Even minor exposure to cancer-causing

asbestos can result in malignant mesothe-lioma. However, mesothelioma has a la-tency of up to 40 years. Many peoplepreviously exposed to asbestos are onlynow showing symptoms; the typical agerange of meso victims is 50 – 70. Asbestos consists of tiny fibers that can

find their way to the outside lining of thelung and damage the cells of whichpleura is made. These fibers can also becarried on clothing, which also makesthem dangerous to family members.

Symptoms may include, but are notlimited to, respiratory distress and a last-ing cough and pneumonia. Symptoms areoften mistaken for less serious ailments,and many patients show no signs at all.Diagnosis is usually made by chest x-rays and CT scans. Anyone with concernsshould seek medical help.

Call us for a free consultation

Adam Funk——————————

Obtaining Your Own Medical Records (from p.1)Virtually all cases are subject to a statute of limitations; so it is always better to

secure records sooner rather than later. In some cases, while our firm orders recordsand waits for them – sometimes six months or more – some medical facilities maybe able to legally destroy some records before sending them. Some facilities maycleave tightly to a state law which requires them to keep records for only sevenyears. For whatever reason, whether fear of litigation for what old records mightreveal, or maybe a desire to free up space – though in the computer age, textrecords fill remarkably little space – medical or drug-dispensing facilities are in-creasingly destroying records as soon as they are legally able to do so.

In some cases, mother nature may intercede while we’re awaiting records. Wesadly recall some New Orleans’ Vioxx clients who survived Hurricane Katrina butwhose records did not, winding up under 18 feet of water that buried their hospi-tals along with all their medical records and consequently their potential cases. In addition, we don’t automatically order records with information gleaned from

a client’s first contact sheet, which often comes from a referring attorney’s office.We often want to speak with a client ourselves first, to verify information – facil-ities’ and doctors’ names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. – to be absolutely surewe’re ordering the right information from the right facilities. That takes more time.Of course our firm orders records every day and will continue to do so. We nei-

ther expect nor depend on a client’s help in securing records. But any client whois physically able can, with a proper ID or driver’s license, usually secure recordsmuch faster than any law firm can, sometimes several months faster. In a word, weurge you to do whatever you can to help expedite your potential case.

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Firm Attorney HonoredHOUSTON – Matthews & Associates

attorney Adam Funk was elected to theBoard of Governors for the newlawyers of the American Association ofJustice (AAJ). Mr. Funk was nomi-nated by his peers for the ten-year ap-pointment. Mr. Funk handles severalpersonal injury cases and heads thefirm’s Reglan docket. ————————————————————————————————–

Reglan Hotline USA –Matthews & Associates Law

Firm has set up a special hotline just forReglan clients. Statutes of limitationissues require timely prosecution ofReglan cases; therefore, a large staff ison hand to handle Reglan calls quicklyand efficiently.

Please dial 1-888-520-5207.

Yaz Cases Consolidated, Moving Forward ILLINOIS – Yaz cases throughout the country have been consolidated in the

Southern District of Illinois, to a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) court. Yazcases are filed separately, but the MDL helps law firms on both sides through-out the country share expert testimony and other resources, especially in the pre-trial stages. Matthews & Associates Law Firm is in the process of orderingprescription and medical records to prove Yaz use for our clients and an associ-ated injury. We have sent our clients the required Plaintiff Fact Sheet (PFS).

Judge David Herndon, a former trial lawyer, is overseeing the Yaz docket forthe MDL. (http://judgepedia.org/index.php/David_Herndon <http://judgepe-dia.org/index.php/David_Herndon> ). Judge Herndon has ordered defendants torefrain from destroying any documents. For more information, see the web link:(http://www.ilsd.uscourts.gov/mdl/2100/orders/order674.pdf<http://www.ilsd.uscourts.gov/mdl/2100/orders/order674.pdf>)

We have received more than 16 million pages from Yaz defendants. We needto review each page, which takes much time and requires a lot of staff, includ-ing highly paid experts with the education and experience needed to both navi-gate miles of computer PDF files and sift through mountains of paper documents.

In part because Yaz defendants repeatedly received “bad ad” letters from theFDA, the agency has begun a program asking doctors to monitor pharmaceuti-cal advertising for misleading information. While it seems to be a good sign thatthe FDA is asking for help from the private sector in monitoring Big Pharma, thisrequest also dramatically underscores the fact that the FDA needs help. Never-theless, the Big Pharma lobby continues with its long-range plan to weaken theFDA and yet use it as a litigation shield at the same time.

Please see “Pre-emption Ploy Back in Play,” our editorial on page 1.—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Matthews Legal News gives clients andother friends across the country up-to-dateinformation about our firm’s litigation,as well as late-breaking national news.Matthews & Associates is a law firm oftrial lawyers, consultants, investigatorsand medical personnel. We help peopleharmed by negligence, greed or incompe-tence. With more than 100 years of com-bined legal experience, our lawyers havepracticed law in nearly all 50 states andPuerto Rico. We have the financial re-sources to handle any personal injury case.

Matthews & AssociatesDavid P. Matthews, J.D.Julie L. Rhoades, J.D.Lizy Santiago, J.D.Jason C. Webster, J.D.Adam T. Funk, J.D. Rachal G. Rojas, J.D.Bradford J. Gilde, J.D.Marla Briscoe, J.D.

713/522-5250888/520-5202 toll free713/535-7184 faxthematthewslawfirm.com

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Matthews Legal NewsMatthews & Associates2905 Sackett StreetHouston , TX 77098