New York Personal Injury Laws

Increase in Children with Autism

Today on You Be The Judge. The percentage of children with autism has skyrocketed during the past 30 years. Some people blame vaccinations, others say it only seems like autism has increased because we’re more aware of it.

Are Common Drugs Causing Autism

Imagine that you were taking drug X, then imagine that scientist have become curious about the effects of drug X on human health and behavior. They conduct extensive testing on lab animals, and conclude that there seems to be a direct link between the drug and harmful conditions found in a specific segment of the animal population. For instance, pregnant rates.

Next, imagine that you fit into that specific human population segment, and are possibly susceptible to the highly increased risk of the negative effects seen in animals caused by drug X.

Then imagine that there are known alternatives to drug X such as exercise, that have been found to be beneficial and possibly even more beneficial than the drug.

Finally, imagine that studies have shown that a placebo is just as effective as the drug X that you have been taking. How does all of this make you feel about drug X?

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSIRs) Effect on Pregnancy

Now let’s take a look at a real life scenario that goes on today. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSIRs, are often found in antidepressants. These antidepressants are believed to affect serotonin.

Now, in a developing embryo, serotonin plays a critical role in the brain’s development, and many believe that autism is characterized by changes in the serotonin system. Therefore it seemed reasonable that taking these antidepressants during pregnancy might affect developing baby’s brain formation. Regarding these antidepressants, Doctor said, “It really shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, given that numerous animals studies have shown that exposure during development leads to changes in the brain and changes in behavior. Changes that often mimic autism.”

Studies Connecting Autism to Antidepressants

Authors of the mentioned animal studies warned that their findings of harmful effects should concern us when using these drugs on humans. Only two studies have been completed on the links between autism and antidepressants in humans.

The first study, a smaller one, published in 2011, found that children whose mothers took antidepressants are twice as likely to have autism. A study recently published in the British Medical Journal surveyed a much larger group, and it found that the use of antidepressants was associated with a risk of autism three times that of women not taking those drugs. The authors of these studies were cautious with their words as no one has conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial, RCT.

An RCT can most accurately assess causation. Now to conduct an RCT, pregnant would be required to take antidepressants in order for researchers to evaluate the effects on their babies. However, ethical issues have discouraged studying the negative effects of antidepressants during pregnancy. It’s fair to note that an RCT is not always necessary to presume that a problem exist.

For example, no Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted on cigarettes, yet nearly everyone acknowledges that they cause harm. Regarding pregnant women taking antidepressants, the latest studies suggest that non-drug approaches such as psychotherapy or exercise may serve the mother just as well, or perhaps even better than the antidepressant.

Finally, after years of research, there is little evidence that suggest that the antidepressants are clinically more effective than a placebo. Do you think there is something to be concerned about here? Should doctors recommend other treatments instead of antidepressants for pregnant women suffering from depression?

By: Edward Lake

Do Pharmaceutical Companies Hide Negative Test Results?

Today on You be the Judge. Do pharmaceutical companies have the ability to control which studies are published about their drugs? Can studies showing bad results be hidden? Are doctors being misled about the benefits of some drugs? Modern medicine has worked many wonders, and helped millions, perhaps billions of people worldwide. Due to the profitability of drug manufacturing, pharmaceutical companies are able to afford expensive, in-depth research, to develop new medications that save people from devastating and life-threatening health problems.

When drug makers seek to create new medicines, they fund extensive research and testing, before releasing the medications on the market. Doctors then rely on this research, to decide for themselves, whether the drug is suitable for their patients. As a patient, you are then given information to decide whether you are comfortable with the potential side effects. But there is a problem. Drug makers are the ones funding and conducting the studies that validate their products.

Research Disproving Pharmaceutical Claims

Award winning physician and writer, Dr. Ben Goldacre, has compiled extensive research by experts from around the world, into his most recent book, Bad Pharma. Dr. Goldacre explained that researchers outside of the pharmaceutical industry have been examining the studies provided by drug makers, and comparing the reported results, with those found in independently-funded trials. These researchers found that the industry-funded trials produced a significantly higher rate of favorable outcomes for their drugs, than did the trials that were funded independently.

Reboxetine Example

Here’s another example of how the flow of information is distorted. Reboxetine is an antidepressant used to treat depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and ADD/ADHD. At one point, it was considered to be one of the most effective drugs of its kind and was prescribed worldwide. Later, researchers gathered the data on all the trials ever conducted on Reboxetine. Dr. Goldacre shows that out of the seven trials comparing Reboxetine against a placebo, only one yielded a positive result, and this was the only one published in an academic journal. The other six trials, all using substantially larger samples of patients, showed that Reboxetine was no better than the placebo sugar pill. Many other studies on Reboxetine were never published, including those that showed its negative side effects maybe worse than other competing drugs.

Originally, doctors, including Dr. Goldacre, reviewed the published trials to determine if Reboxetine was effective and good for their patients, unaware of the other studies that found the drug to be non-beneficial. From a legal standpoint, drug makers are doing nothing wrong by withholding test results. But what do you think about this?

By: Edward Lake

Manhattan Workers Vulnerable to Asbestos

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you worked in Manhattan, in New York City, New York. And you’re wondering, where did you get this disease from? Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I am in New York City, New York.

I have some information for you about asbestos exposure sites in Manhattan. Now, every discussion about asbestos exposure in Manhattan starts with a discussion about building and construction. Here in New York City, the skyscrapers and the Manhattan skyline that we all know so well, were built primarily throughout the course of the last century.

Where The Exposure Came From

The World Trade Center was built in the late ’60s and into the 1970s, and at the time was the largest construction project in the world, creating the tallest buildings in the world at the time. The Brooklyn Navy Yard is just a stone’s throw away across the East River to Brooklyn.

Where ships were constructed and built using all manner of asbestos products. Other famous buildings like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, as well as lesser known high-rises, multi multi story buildings were constructed during the course of the last century with union tradesmen’s hands, which exposed those workers to asbestos dust.

Large hospitals, perhaps even hospitals that you are being treated at such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell, NYU, Columbia Presbyterian. These hospitals are large medical facilities which were built during the course of the past century.

The subway and transit system, has been built and worked on during the course of the last century by union hands. All of this work exposed workers to asbestos. Now you have mesothelioma, and if you worked in New York City, you could have been exposed at these job sites.

We have information about these job sites and about asbestos exposure. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we handle cases for mesothelioma victims and their families every day. If you have questions, we can answer those questions. I invite you to look at the number on the screen below, and give us a call. We’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Tylenol Health Risks

Previously on You Be the Judge, 37-year-old Antonio Benedi felt a case of the flu coming on. After taking the recommended dosage of Tylenol for three consecutive days he ended up in coma, near death, and was in desperate need of a liver transplant. One culprit and each year 450 deaths, 26,000 hospitalizations, 56,000 emergency room visits, 100,000 calls to Poison Control Centers. The suspect? A very common, everyday drug.

Acetaminophen Dosages

When people hear about the dangers of Tylenol or acetaminophen they often assume that Tylenol only harms people who abuse the medication or who don’t follow the directions. Is this true? And is the recommended dosage safe? It is widely asserted that a daily intake of 7,000 milligrams can severely damage an adult’s liver, but the level at which such damage begins to occur is predicted to be much lower. Levels as small as 2,000 to 4,000 milligrams have been implicated in approximately 10% of deaths related to acetaminophen, proving that the medication does not have to be abused to cause harm.

Considering that a single capsule of extra strength versions of acetaminophen is 500 milligrams, as few as four capsules might damage the liver. This is particularly concerning when you realize that bottles containing 500 milligram capsules of acetaminophen say that the maximum daily dosage is eight pills. 8 times 500 milligrams a total of 4,000 milligrams.

To add to the confusion around this medication, prescription drugs containing acetaminophen often have warnings about liver failure and even death, but the over-the-counter versions do not.  In 2009 the FDA recommended that the adult daily dosage for acetaminophen be reduced from the current maximum of 4,000 milligrams to no more than 3,250 milligrams.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary and the manufacturer of Tylenol, responded that they feared the recommendations could have the effect of steering consumers away from their drugs. To this day the company has not reduced the recommended dosage.

Selling Tylenol & Acetaminophen Over-The-Counter

Consider the following facts:

One, hundreds of the drug users die annually and tens of thousands are hospitalized. Two, over-the-counter forms do not warn of liver failure or death while prescription forms often do. Three, acetaminophen is the number one cause of acute liver failure. Four, the maximum dosage and the manufacturer’s recommended safe dosage leave no room for human error. Five, warnings on the label about alcohol are not very clear. Six, there are no warnings on the label about taking the medication while fasting. See the previous episode for details about taking acetaminophen with alcohol or while fasting. Seven, alternative medications are available that yield the same benefits and far fewer risks. Eight, many experts believe if Tylenol were introduced as a new drug today it would not be approved.

The damaging effects of acetaminophen are linked to over 100,000 Poison Control Center calls, 56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and more than 450 deaths each year.   One final thought, if the side effects and risks linked with acetaminophen were associated with a dietary supplement, it would be pulled from the market immediately.

By: Edward Lake

Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, but your employer and every employer that you ever worked for is out of business and you’re concerned with how you could have a legal case.

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I can tell you that almost every client that walks into my office brings up this concern. I’ll give you an example.

 Worker’s Compensation for Asbestos Exposure

A plumber that I represented recently came to my office and talked to me about his exposures to asbestos, but his big concern was that the four plumbing companies that he worked for during the course of his career as a plumber, which was over 40 years, they were all small companies and were all out of business. I explained to him that in New York State, and in most states, you can’t even sue your employer for work-related injuries; your benefits are limited to worker’s compensation.

How a Plumber was Exposed

So when I met with this client, this plumber, we talked about all the ways he was exposed to asbestos and it came out that he was exposed to asbestos from all types of equipment during his 40-year career as a plumber, boilers, and pumps, and asbestos cement, and pipe covering and pipes, and all sorts of things, and he was able to have a very strong and successful case.

 Employer Out of Business, Not Out of Responsibility

Why am I sharing this with you? Because this is a common concern. The client comes into my office and informs more that their employers are out of business, and they think that they can’t address their legal rights. And I explain to them that it’s not just the employer who can be responsible, there’s many other entities who can be responsible, and an asbestos case is really an attempt to capture all of the lifetime exposures to asbestos.

 Contact Us With Questions or Concerns

I’m sure you have many more questions about this topic as it relates to mesothelioma, and we can answer those questions. I’m Joe Williams, and if you look at the screen below you’ll see my office number. I encourage you to give us a call, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Struggling With Depression

When you’re struggling A, it’s hard. It’s hard to do just about anything. People who don’t understand will say, “Just exercise,” or, “Be positive.” They don’t get it. A lot of TV ads say here’s a drug to fix your depression. Your doctor says the medication will work wonders, so you take their word. And you know what? Sometimes, it really does help you feel a lot better. You might have more energy, more motivation to do the things you love, to be with the people you want to be with. But as time goes by, maybe you suffer side effects. Maybe you just don’t think the pill is necessary.

Whatever the reason is, you decide to stop taking the drug. No problem, right? But, there is a problem. Antidepressants like Cymbalta carry a warning that reads, “Never stop an antidepressant medicine without first talking to a health care provider. Stopping an antidepressant medicine suddenly can cause other symptoms.” But the warning doesn’t explain what kinds of symptoms, how severe they might be, how to taper the dose or what a patient should do if depression or other symptoms recur. Is it really that dangerous to stop taking Cymbalta? Just ask the thousands who suffer withdrawal symptoms.

Drug manufacturer, Eli Lilly, ran multiple clinical trials on Cymbalta prior to releasing the drug on the market. They found that roughly 44% of patients experience withdrawal symptoms. In a strangely worded label, they stated that more than 1% of patients experienced severe withdrawal symptoms – a gross understatement. In another trial of more than 1,200 users, approximately 51% of patients experienced withdrawal symptoms. Dr.Joseph Glenmullen, Harvard clinical instructor in psychiatry and author of The Antidepressant Solution points out that the actual risk is more likely to fall in the range of 66% to 78%, given the drug’s half-life.

When a person takes an antidepressant, the body develops a certain dependence on it over time. Then, when the person stops taking the drug, the body reacts because it misses the chemicals in the drug. Half-life refers to the time the body takes to reduce the drug’s presence by half. Cymbalta’s half-life is extremely short, about 12 hours. When a user stops taking Cymbalta, the sudden absence of the chemical can result in immediate and often severe withdrawal symptoms. Share this video with your friends and family to raise awareness of the dangers of discontinuing use of Cymbalta.

Free Consultation

Millions of Americans take antidepressants. Please warn your loved ones of the serious withdrawal side effects. Share this video today to spread an awareness of the consequences of Cymbalta’s half-life. Have you suffered severe withdrawal side effects after taking Cymbalta? Talk to one of our professionals today at 888-LAW-8500. Our legal team has served over 20,000 victims across the country. You do not pay to consult with us, and if we end up working for you, we will get paid only if and when you do. Call today for a free consultation, at 888-LAW-8500. That’s 888-529-8500. And visit us online at lawyersusa.com/cymbalta.

By: Dan Cogdell

Asbestos Exposure in Powerhouses

You’ve worked in powerhouses for a good part of your working career, and you were exposed to asbestos, and now you have mesothelioma. Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I’d like to talk to you about the types of exposures to asbestos that workers in powerhouses had.

I’d like to talk to you about a former client of mine, who is a powerhouse worker, who is in what’s called the major maintenance gang at one of the utilities here in New York, in New York City. And his job entailed him going to every powerhouse in that particular utility’s system.

 Exposure on the Job

So he is a good client to talk about, because his case involved all the exposures that a typical powerhouse worker would have. So he was able to testify in his case, about exposure to asbestos on boilers. And having worked in powerhouses yourself, you know that the boilers in a powerhouse are giant.

 Large Amounts of Asbestos

Some as tall as ten stories, and just covered and filled with asbestos products, including asbestos block, asbestos cement, asbestos gaskets, asbestos refractory. And this particular former client of mine, talked about asbestos pipe covering on the pipes throughout the powerhouses.

As well as asbestos blankets on the turbines attached with wire to the exterior of the turbines. He talked about asbestos containing flange gaskets, used on almost every pipe in the entire powerhouse. He discussed asbestos coverings on various equipment like pumps and other types of equipment.

He talked about asbestos on valves, he talked about asbestos packing and gaskets used inside of various types of equipment. And these are many of the exposures to asbestos that powerhouse workers could have.

But there are many more, and I’m sure you have many questions about the types of exposures to asbestos that a worker would have in a powerhouse. Well, we can answer your questions. I’m Joe Williams. I invite you to call our office at the number listed below, and we’ll answer your questions. We represent mesothelioma victims every day, and we certainly would be there to answer your questions for you. Thank you for listening.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

How is mesothelioma diagnosed? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City and I can tell you that there’s generally two ways that physicians – doctors – diagnose mesothelioma.

Clinical Diagnosis

The first way of diagnosing mesothelioma is a clinical diagnosis. That means that a doctor is evaluating a patient’s presenting symptoms to draw a picture as to what this patient could be suffering from. So the things that are evaluated are things like shortness of breath. Often with mesothelioma victims fluid builds up – it’s called a pleural effusion – but it’s basically just a build up of fluid between the bony rib cage and the lungs and when the fluid builds up it pushes on both the ribs and the lungs. The ribs don’t move, they’re made of bone, so it pushes in and impacts the lungs, makes it harder for the patient to breathe. Shortness of breath is a known symptom of mesothelioma. General fatigue and weakness, weight loss – substantial weight loss, unexplained, in a short period of time – is another factor, another symptom that physicians will use to clinically diagnose or be suspicious of mesothelioma.

Definitive Diagnosis

For mesothelioma victims, the definitive diagnosis comes in the form of a biopsy, and for pleural mesothelioma it’s a biopsy of the pleura. The pleura is the lining on the outside of the lung sometimes referred to as a saran wrap like substance that lines the exterior – the outside – of the lung and doctors will take a biopsy of that surface to determine if a patient has mesothelioma. And how is that biopsy taken? Well, it’s usually taken through a surgical technique and I’d say the most common one would be a video-assisted thoracostomy sometimes known as a vat, V-A-T, a video-assisted thoracostomy. The doctors go in with several instruments, one of which has a camera on it, and the surgeon – the doctor – can visualize the area in the chest where the mesothelioma could be, and with other instruments – and again this is a minimally invasive technique – the physicians can take a biopsy, a piece of flesh.

That biopsy material is then taken and sent to a pathology lab within the hospital. And the pathologist, they’re a specialized doctor who deals with diagnosing disease from looking at a slide. The flesh is put onto a slide and for mesothelioma victims the slides are often stained in certain ways so that different cell types can be visualized when the pathologist looks under a microscope at the slide. That pathologist then writes out a report – it’s called a pathology report – and the pathology report is a very important piece of paper that becomes part of that patient’s medical case because it definitively diagnoses their disease, and it becomes a very important part of their legal case because it definitively diagnoses them as having been a victim of pleural mesothelioma.

I’m sure you have many other questions about how mesothelioma is diagnosed. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we handle cases every day for mesothelioma victims. This is what we do every day and we can answer your questions. I encourage you to call our office at the number below and we’d be happy to answer your questions. Thank you.

Seeking Legal Help

You’ve been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma; you and your family are very stressed out, you’re not feeling well, and you want to wait a while before you take on perhaps the stresses of a legal case even though you know you were exposed to asbestos. Let me explain to you why that’s not a good idea.

Some Medical Information

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about mesothelioma and why it’s important to get help right away in seeking justice for your mesothelioma diagnosis. I have next to me an anatomical drawing of a right-sided mesothelioma, and in this diagram we see a lung. The lung parenchyma here is represented by this tissue, and we can see it’s scarred and fibrotic, that’s called asbestosis, an indicator of a lot of asbestos exposure over a long period of time. And this area here, this yellowish-white area, is a malignant mesothelioma tumor.

This tumor grows in a diffuse pattern, and it’s been described as growing sort of like the rind on a grapefruit, and it grows and encases the lungs and causes shortness of breath, and as it grows and gets bigger and thicker a patient has more difficulty breathing; more difficulty expanding their lungs, because their lung are being collapsed by this tumor, which pushes against both the bony ribs, but the bony ribs don’t move, so it pushes against the spongy lung tissue and causes the lungs to contract and causes the patient to not be able to get a full breath, causes the patient to be short of breath.

As mesothelioma progresses, and unfortunately it progresses very, very quickly, over the course of months the mesothelioma tumor can grow outside of the lung and go from a stage 1 tumor to a stage 2, 3, or 4 tumor based upon the spread of the tumor to local and distant sites. And it’s important that mesothelioma is a malignancy that grows quite quickly, so it’s important that even though a person who’s a victim of mesothelioma is feeling quite lousy and is very upset it’s important at the onset, to seek out whatever legal help you’re going to seek.

So that that way qualified, confident people can get to work for you to help you seek justice while you’re strong, while you’re able to memorialize all your exposures to asbestos, while you’re able to discuss all the ways that you think that you were exposed to asbestos.

You have questions about mesothelioma. I’m Joe Williams. At our office, we represent mesothelioma victims every day. I invite you to give a call to our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you very much.