Columbus Personal Injury Law Blog

With the approach of summer and family road trips, drivers are reminded that Ohio law requires children between the ages of 4 and 15 to be properly restrained by either a child car seat, booster seat, or safety seat at all times while they are being transported by a motor vehicle, with the exception of taxicabs or public safety vehicles.  Observing these important laws can dramatically reduce injuries to young automobile passengers arising out of motor vehicle accidents.  The laws in Ohio concerning child restraint systems are as follows:

If a child is under 1 year old and weighs less than 20 pounds, the child must be in a rear-facing child seat;

If a child is at least 1 year old and weighs more than 20 pounds, the child can ride in a forward facing seat;

A child weighing over 40 pounds must ride in a booster seat until the age of 8, or until the child is at least 4'9" tall.  Boosters properly position the seatbelt.  A high backed booster should be used if the car's backseat is below the top of the child's ears;

Children under the age of 12 should ride in the backseat of the vehicle to prevent airbag injuries and death.  Airbags deploy with great force at an angle that will injury or kill a child;

In addition to exposing a child to serious injury or death, drivers who violate this law can be charged with a misdemeanor.

For more information, contact the Ohio car accident lawyers at Clark, Perdue & List.

Source, DMV.org, "Safety Laws in Ohio: Child Car Seat Laws."

Januvia, also known as sitagliptin phosphate, is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a potentially dangerous drug.  This medication is also available in combination with metformin in a pill known as Janumet.  Although the FDA has issued a safety alert, Januvia and Janumet remain on the market.

Januvia, manufactured and sold by Merck & Co., Inc., is a prescription medication used to control blood sugar levels for people with Type II diabetes.  Januvia was approved by the FDA on October 16, 2006, and nearly 6 million prescriptions had been written by 2010. In the second quarter of 2007, Januvia sales totaled $144 million.

Reports of serious allergic reactions and a potentially fatal skin condition called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ("SJS") began soon after Januvia was placed on the market.

By October 2009, the FDA ordered Merck & Co. to update the warning labels on packaging for Januvia and Janumet to include a warning for risk of acute pancreatitis, based on 88 cases of pancreatitis reported to the FDA between October 2006 and February 2009.  An FDA review found that over half of the pancreatitis cases resolved when Januvia was stopped.

Recent studies at UCLA found a six-fold increase in pancreatitis among users of Januvia and Janumet when compared to four other diabetes medications. Researchers also found that Januvia and Janumet patients were nearly three times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer.

If you or someone you know has suffered adverse effects due to Januvia, contact the Ohio dangerous drug lawyers at Clark, Perdue & List.

Source: MedCompare, News, Suggests Possible Link Between Two Type 2 Diabetes Drugs and Pancreatic Cancer," Sept. 19, 2011.

The first lawsuits alleging injuries and deaths from use of the dangerous drug Pradaxa were recently filed against manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim. Eight individual suits have been filed in federal courts in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Louisiana--states that have very short statute of limitations for filing pharmaceutical lawsuits against drug makers. These lawsuits include claims against Boehringer for negligent design, negligent manufacture, failure to warn, strict liability, breach of warranty, and violations of state consumer protection laws.

Plaintiffs' attorneys expect that a multi-district litigation ("MDL") will soon be established to consolidate lawsuits arising from this dangerous drug.  It is possible that an MDL for Pradaxa claims could be based in Connecticut because Boehringer's United States headquarters are located in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Although Praxada was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2009, 505 cases of hemorrhaging have already been reported to the FDA in the first quarter of 2011.  In a study by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), it was reported that 272,119 Pradaxa prescriptions were dispensed in the first quarter of 2011.  The ISMP study found that 932 serious adverse events were reported, including 120 deaths, 25 cases of disability, and 543 hospitalizations.

In addition, the results of seven clinical trials published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in January 2012 found that Pradaxa was "significantly associated with a higher risk" of myocardial infarctions (heart attack) and acute coronary syndrome.

When the drug manufacturer was asked for comment, Boehringer acknowledged that it was aware of a large number of serious adverse drug events connected to Pradaxa.  Boerhinger "attributed the report volume in part to the rapid acceptance of the drug into the market and an active sales force with extensive contact with physicians, resulting in more frequent reports."

The ISMP noted that elderly patients are at greater risk of adverse events, adding that one-fourth of the affected patients were 84 years old or older. "While more study is needed, it may turn out to be a major drug safety mistake for the FDA to have approved a one-dose-fits all drug intervention as risky and sensitive as an anti-coagulation in older patients," said Thomas Moore, ISMP senior scientist.

For more information, contact the Ohio Pradaxa lawyers at Clark, Perdue & List.

Source: Pharmalot, "Pradaxa Side Effect Reports Were Hemorrhaging," Ed Silverman, January 11, 2012.

According to statistics released on January 4, 2012 by DogsBite.org, 31 people died in the United States in 2011 as a result of dog bites.  Pit bull or pit bull mix dogs were responsible for 71% of the fatal attacks.  Notably, adults fell victim to dog bite attacks over twice as much as children.  Of the 22 people killed by pit bulls, 15 were 32-76 years of age while 7 were 5 years of age or younger.

2011 also saw an increase in the number of people killed by dogs they owned.  Eight of the fatal dog bite attacks recorded in 2011 involved a fatal injury inflicted by a family dog upon its primary caretaker.  Seven of these attacks involved pit bulls.

Over all, 58% of the 2011 fatal attacks occurred to adults and 42% occurred to children. Of the children, 62% of the victims were 1 year old or younger.

So far in 2012, Dogsbite.org has recorded 10 fatalities due to dog bites.  Seven of these victims were children, the oldest of which was 6 years old and the youngest only 2 days old. Of the adult victims, one was an 84-year-old woman and one was a 92-year-old man who was attacked in his front yard.

DogsBite.org is a national dog bite victims' group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks and educating the public about dangerous dogs.

Source: Dogsbite.org, 2011 Statistics.