Legal Radar

Justice Department Leaves Misbranding Case After Trial Victory

In a small case hailing from Tennessee, the Justice Department early this week decided to withdraw charges made against a couple convicted of utilizing misbranded drugs in their clinics.

Dr. Anindya Kumar Sen and his wife, Patricia Sen, appealed their convictions to the 6^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming the federal government inappropriately used a federal law, while aiming them for drug purchases they thought were approved by the FDA.

Attorneys told the court that the Justice Department will no longer proceed in prosecuting the defendants.

Early this year, a federal judge demanded the couple to pay a $300,000 fine. Mrs. Sen, who purchased the drugs, served  a 2-day prison time. The couple was convicted of taking in misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.

The Sens’ attorney argued that a parent ordering a drug from Amazon.com to fill her child’s medicine cabinet would’ve committed a federal crime if the bottle label was damaged by the distributor.

Democrats Sock Scott on Solantic Case

State democrats in Florida are bringing over a new issue from the previous election by asking Governor Rick Scott to disclose a deposition in a suit, in which a clinic firm he operated was accused of fraud.

The democrats have done a huge Medicare fraud case against Scott’s old hospital chain, Columbia/HCA, an issue of race, as well as him utilizing the 5^th Amendment to curb self-incrimination.

They believed that fraud charges made against Scott are considered relevant despite his election a few years ago.

In the Solantic litigation, a doctor working for Solantic, headquartered in Jacksonville, blamed the firm of naming him medical director of several clinics within the locality without his authority or knowledge, in order to meet the new state regulation.

Scott offered a deposition prior to his governor candidacy. A settlement of the case was made via a confidentiality agreement.

After taking his position in the office shortly, Scott moved his stock in the company to a trust, which belonged to his wife. 

Johns Hopkins to Pay $190 Million in Medical Malpractice Suit

Johns Hopkins Hospital agreed earlier today to pay $190 million in a large medical malpractice suit. 7000 women sued the well known hospital for invasion of privacy, negligence and emotional distress. They were all seen by Dr. Nikita Levy, a gynecologist and obstetrician who worked at the facility. He was terminated in February 2013 once a female colleague reported that she was suspicious of a pen-like device worn around his neck during examinations. It turned out that he was filming women during their pelvic exams. Initially a class action was filed against the hospital. Dr. Levy was accused of "harmful and offensive" sexual contact with patients. He committed suicide just 10 days after he was terminated and the FBI did not file criminal charges because their investigation concluded that the  videos which exceeded 1000 in number had not been shared but only stored on his home computer. The hospital hopes that the settlement and the fact that the videos were not shared will "help those affected achieve a measure of closure."

NECC Manufacturer Begins Again After Failed Mediation

Litigation will continue against Liberty Industries, Inc., the manufacturer and designer of clean rooms in the New England Compounding Center, after the firm recently filed a motion to pull out from mediation.

The corporation, currently headquartered in Connecticut, was initially named in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court at the District of Massachusetts on behalf of affected patients.

UniFirst Corp., which conducted room cleaning at NECC as well as other injection sites, were also included in the litigation.

While litigation hasn’t gone Liberty’s way, UniFirst hinted on its July 17^th hearing that the firm was looking for mediation this October.

Damages was pursued from firms after a fungal meningitis outbreak was initially traced to infected products made in the New England Compounding Center.

The contaminated vials of methlyprednisolone were delivered to facilities in a dozen states and injected in spinal column of patients which killed 64 patients and injured over 700.

Although the bankruptcy piece may be coming to a close, the complaint process isn’t showing signs of slowing down.

Hopkins Settle Lawsuit with $190 M on Suspected Gynecologist

A Maryland judge gave approval on a preliminary settlement worth $190 million between John Hopkins Hospital and patients who claim to have secretly been photographed and video recorded by a gynecologist for several years.

The well-known Baltimore-based medical center was sued in the previous years after a tip pushed investigators to unearth over a thousand images and videos stored in Dr. Nikita Levy.

The gynecologist was accused of recording female patients undergoing pelvic exams in his exam room via hidden key fobs and pens.

Levy was fired in February last year and committed suicide in his home days later.

The suit, which was filed by thousands of his female patients, claim the medical center should’ve caught the doctor in act sooner.

John Hopkins Hospital indicated in a statement that the insurance will cover settlement costs.

The lead attorney of the victims, Jonathan Schochor, mentioned that the plaintiffs were greatly traumatized from the breach of trust.

 

Filing for Lipitor Suits Continue in S. Carolina Litigation

Lipitor suits alleging injuries triggered by statin are currently being filed in large numbers on a federal litigation underway at the U.S. District Court in South Carolina.

Based on documents recently published this year, more than 950 claims are currently pending in the proceeding, which was made for Lipitor claims that allege of triggering Type 2 diabetes from statin, a cholesterol medication. Plaintiffs are accusing Pfizer Inc., for not adequately warning of the side effect in marketing Lipitor.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing people who have been injured by faulty medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs, is currently offering private case analysis for those who were directly injured by Lipitor.

Lipitor suits currently being filed in South Carolina is alleging Pfizer’s Lipitor labelling back in February 2012 weren’t suffice, and patients were not warned adequately on its potential for triggering diabetes.

Alleged victims of Lipitor may be given compensation from Pfizer for their damages.

Halifax Hospital Agreeing to Settlement on False Claims Act

The Halifax Staffing Inc. and Halifax Hospital Medical Center recently agreed on an $85 million settlement to close out allegations in which Halifax was in violation of the False Claims Act by handing out claims to Medicare --- a violation of the Stark Law.

The case is worth paying attention to as it’s the biggest penalty made against a hospital regarding Stark Law violations, doubling its last record of $39 million.

The suits alleged that Halifax knew of violating the Stark Law but still deploying contracts with multiple oncologists that offered incentive pay which included prescription drug tests ordered and improperly billing MediCare

The government also claimed Halifax paid several neurosurgeons more than the market share of their work.

The deal doesn’t completely resolve claims pending in the suits against Halifax. A trial will be scheduled later this month to concentrate on whether the hospital falsely look in patients for short says who didn’t actually need inpatient care and then charging Medicare for the admissions.

Decreased Testosterone Suit Moved to Federal Multidistrict in Illinois

The Oliver Law Group P.C. made a note saying the Judicial Panel on the Multidistrict Litigation made a multidistrict litigation within the District Court of North District Illinois regarding low testosterone suits that allege some men to have suffered through varying cardiovascular problems which include strokes, heart attacks, and death.

While the Transfer Order from the Judicial Panel led to sending nearly 50 testosterone suits to Illinois, the panel said that multiple cases eligible for transfer are still pending in federal courts in the country.

Multidistrict litigations such as the testosterone treatment, for instance, lets a significant number of claims which involve allegations to proceed efficiently by curbing multiple discovery and unpredictable court rulings. Recent court records show that all testosterone lawsuits are putting allegations regarding heart side effects in relation to testosterone replacement treatments, including marketing strategies and other approaches utilized by defendants to help increase sales of the drugs.

$4.4 Million awarded in Medical Negligence Case

Michael Barbour was treated in the emergency room for chest pains and shortness of breath. During his initial evaluation, he was injected with Myoview through a catheter which was inserted into his arm. The vein is tested by injecting small amounts of saline into the catheter to ensure that it is functioning properly. However, when the Myoview was injected by the physician Barbour’s arm swelled up. The nursing staff treated his swollen and painful arm with a warm compress and he was discharged the following day with no evidence of having heart problems. Barbour’s arm progressively got worse and when the pain became too intense he sought more medical attention. He received ketamine injections which did not alleviate the pain and then had a spinal stimulator inserted. He and his wife filed a suit against the hospital and some staff members for negligence. A jury’s verdict found the physician liable and the Barbours were awarded over $4.4 million. 

Expert Surgical Witness Causes New Trial to be Set

The Connecticut Supreme Court ordered a new trial in a medical malpractice case.  The reason was because Dr. Todd Albert, an orthopedic surgeon and expert surgical witness in the trial, told the jury that suits of this kind drive up health care costs by forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine in Connecticut.  Albert testified that the boy's surgeon complied with accepted medical standards and that any doctor in Connecticut would have done the same thing.  Albert further stated that malpractice suits are the reason that many doctors, especially in Connecticut, cannot receive malpractice insurance and, thus, have to practice elsewhere.  This Connecticut Supreme Court decision allows the boy and his mother another chance to argue their case before a jury.  

The boy had to endure repeated spinal surgeries and may have future back problems because his surgeon failed to obtain timely X-ray photos prior to his operation to remove a benign, spinal tumor.  The photos the surgeon used were more than nine months old.  Furthermore, the plaintiffs argue that the surgeon burst the tumor during surgery, causing the growth to seed itself elsewhere causing debilitating spinal pressure.  The prosecution claims that this could have been easily avoided had the surgeon taken more recent X-rays.  As a result of the surgeon's mistake, the boy had to undergo two corrective operations and his back is now enforced with metal rods.  The original surgery occurred in 2001 when the boy was only eleven.