Class Action Finder » Medical

New Brunswick class action against province’s health authority

yuming — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:38:09 +0000

Last week, a class action lawsuit was launched against New Brunswick’s Regional Health Authority for faulty pathology work at the Miramichi Regional Hospital.

The complaint alleges that the hospital authority was negligent when it hired pathologist Dr. Rajgopal Menon in 1994 against the advice of Dr. John MacKay, its vice-president of medical services at the time.

It also claims that inadequate background checks were done and the authority ignored warnings made by Menon’s previous employer, the Saint John Hospital.

The class action represents 50 patients who were treated by Menon, between 2004 and 2005, and seeks damages on behalf of all of them.

Menon oversaw diagnostic testing of 24,000 pathology samples from 1995 to 2007.

The health authority is also charged with not reacting quickly enough in dealing with possible inaccuracies in Menon’s work.

An independent audit made late last year reflected discrepancies in 18 per cent of 227 prostate and breast cancer cases under Menon’s care in 2004 and 2005. Of these cases, six per cent were misdiagnosed.

In 41 cases, there was either misdiagnosis of the stage of cancer, or there was an incomplete protocol, or examination, while the other nine patients had undetected cancers leading to misdiagnoses, according to the claim.

Las Vegas clinic malpractice

yuming — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:04:48 +0000

Former patient and plaintiff, Charles Anthony Rader, Jr., is suing Las Vegas surgical outfit, the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, for reusing syringes and vials of anesthesia. This clinic is believed to have spread hepatitis C because of its unsafe practices.

According to health officials, five people who were infected with the virus sought medical treatment at the clinic on the same day in September. A sixth victim reportedly contracted the virus in July.

Hepatitis C is a potentially fatal blood-borne virus.

An estimated 40,000 patients who underwent anesthesia at this same medical center between March 2004 and January 2008 have been asked to test for hepatitis B and C and HIV.

This class action suit seeks punitive damages in excess of $10,000 per victim.

Observers of the case predict that more patients will join this class action suit. Nevada law permits only one plaintiff to file a class action lawsuit.

Welder’s Disease

yuming — Wed, 09 May 2007 03:58:40 +0000

Manganism or Welder’s Disease is similar to Parkinson’s disease as it is also a chronic neurological degenerative disorder. But its effects are caused by manganese poisoning. Welders often inhale manganese fumes when they weld metal rods. Manganese particles enter the blood stream and travel to the brain where nerve cells are damaged by this toxic by-product.

Symptoms associated with Welder’s Disease are tremors, impairment of speech, stiff muscles, an awkward gait, stooped posture, difficulty in swallowing, insomnia and memory loss. A recent study found that those who were exposed to manganese poisoning suffered from Parkinson-like symptoms 15 years earlier than Parkinson’s sufferers who were never exposed to welding fumes. It has yet to be proven there is a firm link between manganese inhalation and Parkinson’s.

In 2003, retired Illinois welder Larry Elam, got a US$1 million payout from his former employer Lincoln Electric. This is the first-ever successful class action lawsuit for Welder’s Disease in the U.S., which has led to other individuals seeking compensation for manganese-related injuries in a welding environment.

Bausch & Lomb

yuming — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:59:11 +0000

ReNu with MoistureLoc, a contact lens cleaner produced by Bausch & Lomb, contained harmful contamination that resulted in 35 cases of blinding infection, fungal keratitis, in Singapore.

It has been claimed that the eye-care company stalled this information reaching the US authorities and waited up to a month to announce that this contact lens product had been pulled out of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Bausch & Lomb reportedly failed to prevent contamination at its South Carolina factory. The company has stopped distribution of this lens cleaner worldwide since 13 April 2006 .

Baxter Dialyzers

yuming — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:58:13 +0000

Baxter International voluntarily recalled their dialyzers when reports of deaths were allegedly linked with its kidney dialysis product. There have been 50 deaths worldwide, including four in the U.S., that were associated with the Baxtor dialyzer. The first deaths were reported in Spain.

From January 1998 to October 2001, this machine was distributed to facilities in more than 50 countries.

What could have caused these deaths was a perfluorohydrocarbon-based performance fluid used in a manufacturing step that leaked into the patients’ blood streams. The symptoms suffered by those who did not survive the side effects of this poisoning were: shortness of breath, chest tightness, a heart attack or a stroke just hours of being treated on the Baxtor dialyzer.

Asbestos & Mesothelioma

yuming — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 03:54:24 +0000

Asbestos has been claimed to cause mesothelioma lung cancer and lung disease asbestosis if its loose particles are breathed in regularly. A cheap and fire-resistant mineral, asbestos has been used in a wide range of products like water pipes, roofing materials, brake and clutch linings.

This naturally occuring mineral has been claimed to cause mesothelioma lung cancer and lung disease asbestosis if its loose particles are breathed in regularly. This leads to scarring of the lungs and ultimately cancer. Banned in the US, this material is latent in nature and can take up to 30 years to for cancerous symptoms to show up.

It has been reported that mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers and other such tradesmen most commonly suffer this type of cancer. Their families can also be affected because they could inhale the asbestos fibers from the worker’s clothes, skin and hair.

Asbestos is widely recognized as a health hazard and has been highly regulated since.

Welder’s Disease