California Injury Attorney Blog

Take Heart, Take a Break
Recently, CNN Health reported that overtime hours can be hazardous to your health. A new study found that those who work in excess of 10 hours a day are more susceptible to heart problems, including heart attack and heart disease. At seven hours the danger of these diseases lessens. All the more reason to make sure that if you are working overtime you are paid for it and that you pay attention to your health.

The California Injury Attorney Blog has posted previously on the ways that employers attempt to avoid paying workers appropriate compensation by classifying them as exempt. The financial impact on workers who are misclassified by their employers is real and damaging. That is why it is so important to know your rights to overtime pay.

And now there is a new potential harm to those clocking long hours on the job with or without appropriate pay -- heart problems.

Balancing Act
The suspected cause of the heart problems for those working long hours is the lack of time to relax and alleviate stress. Long hours can be heartfelt, but not in a good way. Even if you don't feel particularly stressed, your heart can be suffering on the job

The lead author of the study, Dr. Marianna Virtanen at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London says the link between heart health and work hours has to do with balance. It's a risk factor that is overlooked if "you do not have enough time to take care of your health," says Dr. Virtanen.

The study included the health impact to over 6,000 civil servants in Britain who were followed for over a decade. Although the workers in the study were white-collar workers, the findings might well be applicable to those working in other jobs that require long hours and limited time for personal health.

If you are working long hours and you believe you may be entitled to overtime pay, please contact the San Francisco law firm of Hersh & Hersh for a free evaluation of your situation. We have experience helping workers get the pay to which they are entitled and we can evaluate your rights at no charge to you.

Don't let long hours go unpaid. And take time to take care of yourself and your heart health.

Related Web Resources

For more information on your right to over time pay, visit the California Department of Industrial Relations.

The story of Fen-Phen is long and arduous. The drug Fen-Phen caused serious injury and death and although it has been off the market for over ten years now, many patients were not diagnosed with the serious medical conditions that it caused until after they had stopped taking the diet pill.

The lawyers of Hersh & Hersh, who bring you the California Injury Lawyer Blog, were the first firm to take action against the drug manufacturer who made Fen-Phen. The firm was the first to file and settle a lawsuit making the connection between Fen-Phen diet pills and the progressive and potentially fatal disease, primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

The impact of the drug was of historic proportions, but not in a good way. Many people were harmed as these pills caused such serious injury in some cases the only way to survive was lung transplantation. The symptoms for many Fen-Phen users did not appear immediately. And when they did, they were serious or fatal.

Sadly, this is not the end for the impact that diet drugs and supplements can have on the unsuspecting public. The long term adverse health effects of taking some of these quick-fix drugs and supplements can be very dangerous indeed.

Diet drugs, supplements and other substances are sold to the public by the millions. We want our readers to be aware that there can be not only adverse medical consequences for taking diet drugs and herbal substances, but it is possible for these substances to interfere with other prescription medications a person is taking at the same time.

It is important to be knowledgeable about what you are taking and in what combinations. There are many resources available for this information. For example, the Mayo Clinic website has an entire section devoted to the importance of knowing what you are taking and how it will interact with your other medications.

The story of Fen-Phen is tragic. Arm yourself with information before taking herbal or other supplements that claim to be helpful or good for you.

Continue reading "Lessons Learned? Fen-Phen and Beyond." »

Last week a jury awarded a couple in Georgia $317 thousand against Yamaha for injuries sustained by the husband while using his Yamaha off-road Rhino-model recreational-utility vehicle. Other cases are pending against Yamaha for product liability for alleged defects in the off-road vehicle.

More cases are expected to follow given that this case was not an extreme injury. As reported by law.com, plaintiffs' counsel expects to see many other cases already filed in Georgia to go-ahead based on this verdict.

In this case, the injuries were not extreme, but the jury still found liability against Yamaha. The injured plaintiff was turning when the vehicle tipped over and trapped his leg which was crushed under its weight.

Plaintiffs' argued that the Rhino should have had a barrier to protect the rider's legs. The company placed doors on the Rhino after this accident occurred. According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, the jury, which took ten hours in deliberations after a two-week trial, was swayed by Yamaha's failure to test the Rhino for possible issues with occupant containment.

Yamaha is maintaining a "Truth About Rhino" website which states the company "is disappointed by the jury's decision to find for the plaintiff in this case and will pursue all appropriate legal remedies, including possible appeal."

Continue reading "Yamaha Takes $317 Thousand Hit in Georgia Off-Road Vehicle Case " »

Since 1999, GlaxoSmithKline has been selling the drug Avandia for Type 2 diabetes. The medication Avandia has a single ingredient - rosiglitazone -- which has been linked to literally hundreds of heart attacks and heart failures. Other medications Avandamet and Avandaryl contain this ingredient. These medications still await their shelf life fate.

The risk of heart problems with this medication are well established and are the subject an FDA black boxed warning and FDA safety alerts issued in 2007 and 2010. In addition, in December 2008 the FDA issued Guidance for Industry recommending that manufacturers study heart safety in formulating diabetes treatments.

The 2007 black box warning clearly indicates that patients with symptomatic heart failure should not take the medication. It also states that the medication causes or exacerbates congestive heart failure in some patients. Finally, it notes that the data on the risk of myocardial ischemia are not conclusive and are under review.

The data still under review by the FDA includes a clinical study called "Rosiglitazone Evaluated for Cardiovascular Outcomes and Regulation of Glycemia in Diabetes" or RECORD, which was designed to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone.

The FDA's completed review of this study is expected in July 2010. Once the FDA completes its review of the data from the RECORD study, the agency will present the cardiovascular safety data on rosiglitazone at a joint meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committees. At this time, the Advisory Committee will provide updates on "the risks and benefits of rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes."

In the earlier warnings, the FDA noted the following recommendations to patients taking Avandia and medications with rosiglitazone, including: don't stop taking the medication without healthcare professional advice; talk with your healthcare professional about concerns regarding this medication; read the risks included in the medication guide, and report side effects to the FDA's MedWatch.

Earlier this year, The New York Times published an extensive piece on Avandia and rosiglitazone. The article noted the opinions of several scientists who have urged the removal of Avandia from the market and as well as the ongoing "fierce debate" at FDA over whether to allow it to continue to be sold.

If you or a loved one has taken Avandia or a medication containing rosiglitazone and have had suffered heart attack or other cardiovascular problems, contact Hersh & Hersh for a free consultation on your legal rights.

Related Web Resources

Visit the Food and Drug Administration's site for more information on how drugs are approved for use.

Continue reading "Heart Attack and Related Risks Continue with Avandia Use" »

Recently, the California Injury Attorney blog posted our readers on the dangers of the use of gadolinium as an MRI contrast agent with particular at-risk patients.

Who is at risk?
Patients with severe kidney disease or generally severe renal insufficiency, need to be very well-informed about gadolinium dangers if they are about to have an MRI or related study with a contrast agent.

Gadolinium use in these patients can lead to a condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) or another condition nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD). If such a patient has had an MRI with contrast and begins to have NSF or NFD symptoms, it is important to see a medical professional. The following are some things to be aware of with regard to MRI with contrast agents.

Talk with your doctor.
For patients with severe renal insufficiency, it is very important to talk with a medical professional about whether use of a contrast agent is necessary. If it is necessary, it is then critical that the amount of gadolinium used is carefully managed and that any prior use of contrast agents be taken into account. In other words, it is very important that there is some passage of time before this agent is used again before it has been eliminated from the patient's body.

Some doctors might suggest that hemodialysis patients have that procedure after a contrast MRI to help remove the gadolinium from these compromised patient's bodies.
There is no data on whether this "elimination" process can help reduce the risk of developing NSF or NFD.

Symptoms to watch for after an MRI.
After an MRI with a contrast agent make sure to watch for any issues involving changes in skin, such as hardening, thickening or tightening; color changes on the skin, such as reddening or dark patches; burning or itching of the skin; joint pain or tightness; pain in hips or ribs. Other symptoms include yellow spots on the whites of the eyes and deep pain in hips or ribs.

Continue reading "Symptom Watch After MRI with Contrast Agents" »

Many Americans have had an MRI. But many Americans may not realize the dangers involved for some patients in the use of contrast agents with MRI. Contrast agents help healthcare professional see internal structures more clearly on an MRI. There are some basics that are important to know.

Nearly three years ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a request for a black box warning for the labeling of gadolinium-based contrast agents used for the enhancement of MRI imaging. The warning was targeted to patients with severe kidney insufficiencies and those involved in liver transplantation (both before and after surgery) or with chronic liver disease.

The FDA's warning request was intended to generate warnings in the use of these contrast agents in patients with these severe kidney insufficiencies and other issues. Patients with severe kidney insufficiency that receive gadolinium-based agents are at risk for developing serious health issues including, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) or another condition nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD), from the use of gadolinium.

This 2007 warning request came after a June 2006 warning to health care professionals regarding some of these risks. These conditions are very serious indeed. The symptoms include serious problems with organs, skin and connective tissue that may not only result in broken bones, but seriously impact patient movement. Patients began to notice problems early on or some time after an MRI using these contrasting agents. Unfortunately, NSF or NFD can develop in patients that have been exposed to the contrast agent once, or multiple times.

At the time of the boxed warning request, the FDA said it had been "carefully monitoring potential safety signals related to these contrast agents after receiving reports about the risk of this potentially life-threatening disease." Years later, patients are still suffering from the debilitating impact of these serious conditions when MRI contrast agents have been used on them and they were at risk for these conditions.

There are five gadolinium-based contrast agents used in the United States and these include: Magnevist (gadopentetate dimeglumine), Ominiscan (gadodiamide); OptiMARK (gadoversetamide); MultiHance;(gadobenate dimeglumine);and Prohance (gadoteridol).

If you would like to read more about the FDA's black box warning request and about gadolinium, click here.

Continue reading "Know the Dangers of Gadolinium Contrast Agents" »

In these tough economic times, families are working harder than ever to put food on the table and receive the pay they have rightfully earned. One of the ways you and your family can protect yourselves is to know your rights with regard to wage and hour laws and overtime pay provisions.

The California Injury Attorney Blog will be posting from time to time on workers' rights and wage and hour claims, so that readers begin to educate themselves on their rights.

There are many nuances to the laws that protect workers and it is important to consult with experts who can help you understand your rights.

California has many protections in place to make sure that workers receive their overtime pay. Employers are not allowed to classify employees as managing themselves or in a sales job, just to avoid paying overtime.

Many employers try to avoid paying overtime pay, giving meal and rest breaks by misclassifying employees. That is, they call them "management" or "sales," for example, when they are actually doing some form of labor or selling is only a small fraction of how they spend their time on the job. This is misclassification and it is illegal and you could be entitled to back pay of OT, penalties and other compensation.

Generally, overtime pay applies to a nonexempt employee who is 18 years old or older or a minor employee who is 16 or 17 years old and is legally allowed to work. Nonexempt employees may work eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. But once more hours are involved, the employer must pay additional wages such as overtime pay.

Although it is difficult to generalize, if you are a person employed in a job that is not a professional licensed job like a lawyer, a doctor or is not a technical job like a highly skilled computer programmer, you might well be a nonexempt employee.

Assuming you are a nonexempt employee, you are likely entitled to earn overtime pay from your employer. What this means is that once you have worked the permissible number of hours allowed by law in a day or in a week, your employer may be required to pay you as follows:

"One and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek; and

Double the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek."

Again, this applies if you are not exempt from overtime and are not in a classification of employee that is not entitled to earn overtime. There are also some exceptions to the general overtime pay rules and for certain classifications of employees overtime pay is calculated differently.

Related Web Resources

For more reading on overtime pay rights, please click here.

Continue reading "Know Your Overtime Pay Rights" »

Recently, the makers of Tylenol® (McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc.) consulted with the Food and Drug Administration to voluntarily recall many over-the-counter children's and infants liquid products. The specific bottles involved in the recall and their lot numbers are listed on the Tylenol website and include products that were made between April and June 2008.

These products have unexpired use dates and could still be inadvertently given to infants and children. All products involved in the recall were manufactured in the United States, but were distributed to several other countries.

The reason for the voluntary recall? In the company's words, "some of these products may not meet required quality standards." Although there have been no medical issues with the use of these products, the company is taking what they deemed a precautionary measure because, "some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles."

This explanation, although somewhat vague is actually a good step. The company advises that the potential for serious medical problems is "remote" they do not want these products used.

They also noted that prior to new manufacturing at the plant where these products were made, they have taken a look across their manufacturing operations to ensure quality.

The California Injury Attorney Blog has posted on recent recalls of products that could otherwise harm or injure children and adults.

Related Web Resources

For specific recall information, please visit the Tylenol website.

Continue reading "Voluntary Recall of Infants' and Children's Tylenol®" »