Switch to ADA Accessible Theme
Close Menu

Free Accident/Injury Consultation

Jacksonville 904-201-8226
Lake City 386-752-5511

October Litigation Update: Drugs Causing Cancer & Serious Addiction After Workplace Injuries

UpsetP1

Dozens of consumers are currently filing personal injury lawsuits claiming that they sustained serious injuries – including cancer – after taking the blood pressure lowering drug Valsartan. In October, many of these consumers also urged one federal judge to include two other related drugs – Irbesartan and Losartan – due to their similar effects. Drug companies already recalled a number all three types of the blood pressure and heart medications after testing came back positive for a chemical that is a probable carcinogen known as NDMA.

Tainted Blood Pressure Medicines Causing Cancer

If the federal judge allows for the addition of Irbesartan and Losartan to existing litigation involving Valsartan, this could significantly increase the number of lawsuits filed against these drug makers and sellers. According to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the contaminants in Valsartan may have gone undetected for four years, and the NDMA contamination is expected to cause cancer for every 8,000 people on the highest dose, resulting in millions of consumers becoming fatally ill. This includes, in particular, those who were on Valsartan and switched to Losartan, only to realize, months later, that both of the drugs had contamination issues.

Thousands of personal injury lawsuits are now expected, including consumers who have been injured from the drugs and are seeking compensation to cover ongoing medical monitoring, as well as employers and insurers that covered the drugs and who are now arguing for economic loss. Those arguing in support of adding these additional drugs to existing litigation argue that there would be a number of benefits from combining the litigation, as lawsuits involving each drug arguably rely on the same experts and discovery methods, including inspection reports, sales data, and other information.

Construction Work Is Creating Drug Addicts Due To On-The-Job Injuries

According to the National Institutes of Health, low-back pain is the most common workplace injury and reason for missing work, and opioids are the most common treatment for many back pain symptoms. In fact, the injury rate for construction workers is close to 80 percent higher than the national average of all types of workers?, and 15 percent of construction workers have some history of substance abuse.

Not only are construction workers more likely to get injured at work, but workplace culture arguably encourages significant opioid addictions in construction, as employers do not always require clean records and a number of workers are also concerned about informing their supervisors about personal injuries for fear of being drug tested and/or fired; all for getting injured. As a result, construction workers are now not only suffering from catastrophic injuries that they incur on the job, but those injuries they suffer from as a result of addiction.

Contact Our Florida Personal Injury Attorneys If You Have Been Hurt

If you have suffered a catastrophic injury on the job, or from a defective drug product that has made you or a loved one ill, contact our experienced Jacksonville catastrophic injury attorneys at Douglas & Douglas, Attorneys at Law today to find out how we can help.

Resources:

nypost.com/2019/10/30/this-profession-is-most-likely-to-make-you-a-drug-addict-study/

usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/10/30/losartan-recall-blood-pressure-medicine-may-added-valsartan-lawsuit/4087036002/

sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037687161930417X?via%3Dihub

/concussions-are-now-the-leading-cause-of-injury-for-children-in-sports-but-the-details-might-surprise-you/

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

© 2018 - 2024 Douglas & Douglas, Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved.
This law firm website and legal marketing are managed by MileMark Media.