July 16, 2010

Diabetes Drug Avandia May Have Serious Heart Related Side Effects

Many people here in Tennessee and across the country have a loved one or a friend that suffers from or has diabetes. Many people also know about the medications that are out there to help people better control and manage their diabetes and health. All medications have risks, but some medications like Avandia for people with type 2 diabetes may pose dangerous and even life threatening risks to many people here in Tennessee and across the country. If you or a loved one takes Avandia, you might want to consult a Tennessee defective product and dangerous drug attorney right away to get the help you need.

Avandia is a type 2 diabetes medication that helps the body to be able to produce more of its own insulin and help people with this type of diabetes to manage their condition more easily. However, two times in 2007, the Food and Drug Administration gave this medication a black box warning because of its dangerous and even life alternating or life threatening side effects. These side effects may include but are not limited to:
• Heart attack
• Cardiovascular death
• Primary pulmonary hypertension
• Heart valve disease and other heart valve effects
• Liver problems
• Low blood sugar
• Low red cell count
• Increased chance of pregnancy among older women

It is believed that people taking Avandia were found to be forty-three percent more likely to suffer from a heart attack and sixty-four percent more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease than people taking another type of diabetes medication.

The FDA recommends that people taking this medication consult with their doctors about these risks and the chances of developing these problems and if you are at risk, you may want to consider another medication.

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Posted by Jim Higgins | | Email This Post

Posted In: Defective Medical Devices

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July 5, 2010

New Workers Compensation Law Limits Tennessean's Right to Reconsideration

Under the Tennessee Workers Compensation Act an employees recovery for a work injury is limited to 1.5 times their impairment rating if the employee returns to their pre-injury employer at the same rate of pay. I will admit that I do have mixed feelings with regard to this law. I do appreciate the fact that it encourages an employer to rehire the injured employee. Unfortuanlty, the compensation available under the comp act is already so limited it leaves an employee with such a nominal monetary award for a permenant injury that it is simply not equitable.

The law also has a safety provision that allows the employee to reopen the case if they loose their job within a certain period of time. For example, if a person has a shoulder or back injury and their compensation is capped becuase they return to work they may reopen the case if they loose the job within 400 weeks of the return to work date. Well the legislature just enacted an exception to this reconsideration right.

Specfically, if the employer reduces the injured employee's pay that employee may not reopen the case if it is the result of an economic downturn. To ensure that this is truly a pay reduction because of an economic downtown and not a punishment for filing a work comp claim the law states that atleast 50% of the employees working for the company must also have ad a pay reductions. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.


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Posted by Jim Higgins | | Email This Post

Posted In: Workers Compensation

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July 2, 2010

Coal Ash Landfill and Sickness Lead to Lawsuit

Many of us across the country and even the residents here in Tennessee expect our counties and states to live up to certain safety expectations. We expect our roads to be easily accessible, our parks to be family friendly and our drinking water to be safe. Unfortunately for one couple in Benton County this was not the case. High levels of mercury were found in their well and it injured them both.

The Gibsons had their ground and well tested for high mercury levels after having severe blisters and sickness after using the water and taking a shower. The state tested the water and found that the mercury was six times the normal drinkable level. In March of 2009, the state shut down the Gibson’s well.

The Gibson’s are pretty positive that the high mercury levels come from the landfill behind their home that has coal ash in it from TVA’s New Johnsonville steam plant. Trucks brought 100 tons of coal ash to the landfill every day and the Gibson’s claim they were not told about what might happen to them because of it. Reports into this case found that this landfill has had other problems including 2,000 tons of ash dumped on an unlined area of the landfill site. The state gave the company Trans-Ash the ones that run the landfill a fine of $160,000. The spokesperson for the landfill says that this is part of the process for dumping ash and they call it a “wet to dry process”. 1,200 pounds of mercury were found to be put in the landfill by TVA in the last year, some of that was before the new regulations to prevent it from seeping into the ground and in the water. These levels are dangerous and can result in significant injury.

The EPA is reviewing new rules to deal with the proper disposable of coal ash and the Gibsons have hired an environmental attorney to sue Trans-Ash and TVA. The state has made sure they have received safe drinking water from the City of Camden’s water supply.

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Posted by Jim Higgins | | Email This Post

Posted In: Personal Injury

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