Drug Injuries From Off-Label Use
Off-label use is a use other than what the manufacturer has stated in writing is the intended use of a drug. For instance a drug may have been approved for one use by the FDA. However doctors may prescribe the drug for other uses. This can pose a danger. So before taking a drug, you should read what is the allowed use. Furthermore if the actual use does not match this then ask your doctor why it is being prescribed.
Claims against the drug maker for injury from such uses are a problem. The maker may be immune from suit in certain cases provided it complied with what the FDA requires to be disclosed. Although the use may be off label some makers allow such usage in order to increase sales. This goes back to the sometimes all too cozy fit that exists between doctors and the drug companies. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Malpractice-Drug Injury From Off Label Use
To grasp the nature of drug injuries you must have some basic facts about pharmacology. This field is divided into pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Pharmacokinetics deals with how the human body allows a drug to pass through it. Pharmacodynamics deals with the drug’s actual effect on the human body.
The former addresses issues of how the body absorbs the drug. Also how and whether it attaches to a protein. Within the body the drug is broken down. How it is broken down may be affected by the presence of other drugs. How the kidneys get rid of the drugs or, in some instances, retain them is an aspect of this field.
Finding The Right Receptor
Pharmacodynamics deals with how drugs attach to a receptor or enzyme. A cell only contains a defined number of receptors to which a drug can bind. The drug must attach to the right receptor. The drug serves as the key to unlock the receptor in order for the drug to then do its work.
When the drug opens that lock (receptor) it may have a good or harmful effect. For instance, the drug known as Rogaine was designed to treat high blood pressure. It was observed that it had the side effect of causing hair growth. So today Rogaine is sold as a hair growth drug and not as a drug for high blood pressure.
The PDR
Drug makers prepare what are called package inserts that go with their products. The info in this insert is also contained in the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR). Only FDA approved uses are listed as being “indications” within the package insert or the PDR. The FDA licenses drugs and devices. However it does not practice medicine. As a result the FDA defers to doctors in terms of usage of drugs and devices. This off label usage can be a bonus to makers. Makers cannot promote off label usage. However they do some times turn a blind eye to this off label use. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Malpractice-Drug Injury Lawyer
If off label usage has caused injury then the claim against the doctor may be a straight medical malpractice claim. It is based upon the usage of the product. In the alternative it may also be based upon a failure to obtain informed consent. That is, the fact that the intended use of this product varies from the actual use may be malpractice. The fact that it is being used for a purpose not approved by the FDA is info the patient has a right to know. The failure to provide that to the patient may be malpractice. How strong that claim is may be a function of how far the doctor has strayed from the FDA approved usage.
So if the off-label use simply consists of a higher dosage that may not be of import. In contrast if the drug has been prescribed for a problem not listed, that may be proof of fault on the part of the doctor. Where the injury to the patient is a side effect that was warned about by the manufacturer but not disclosed by the doctor, then that may be an informed consent claim. In contrast the mere listing of this side effect by the maker may establish causation.
For instance a reported side effect is “x”. The drug is then used off-label. The patient develops “x”. That is some evidence that the off-label use is what caused “x”.
Drug Injuries-FDA Website
The FDA maintains a very fine site on drugs as does US Pharmacopeia. dealing with its approved drugs.
Malpractice-Drug Injury From Compounding Pharmacies
Tainted steroids from a compounding pharmacy in Mass. infected hundreds of pain medicine patients. The tainted drug was methyl-prednisolone acetate. This is a pain drug injected into the spinal canal. It became tainted with a fungus that is the cause of a very rare form of meningitis. This illness was tricky because the symptoms tended to be slow in coming on. The early symptoms are easily confused with the flu. In addition the symptoms include being sensitive to light, stiff neck, weakness or numbness and slurred speech. However the fungus infects the brain and requires months of care in order to cure.
The company that prepared the compound was what is called a compounding pharmacy located in Framingham, Mass. They custom make drugs for individual patients.
Compounding By Mom and Pops
Of 56,000 community pharmacies across the country 7,500 are considered to be compounding pharmacies. In this instance, the large volume of doses that were being prepared raised questions as to whether it is really a pharmacy or a drug maker. The pharmacies themselves are controlled by the State although the FDA claims oversight of drug compounding.
Drug injury from these types of companies is alarming. The fungus that tainted this drug caused a number of incidents of meningitis. Some resulted in death. The drug that the fungus was in is a very potent long acting steroid. It was used to relieve inflammation and pain in people with ruptured discs. In addition it treats certain types of arthritis.
The FDA had been uncertain as to whether it had the power to control these pharmacies since most of them are Mom and Pop outfits that prepare special drugs for special patients. However this company had gone far beyond that. It was preparing large batches of drugs for distributors.
Drug Injury Lawyer-FDA On Notice
The FDA has been on notice for many years of these problems. As The Washington Post reported on October 12, 2012 a survey from the FDA found that almost one-third of compounded drugs had problems with them. These included tainting and incorrect strengths. These companies have been copying drugs and thereby acting as makers. They are not allowed to act in that fashion. The whole idea was to allow these groups to act as Mom and Pop stores to avoid the red tape of larger firms. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Malpractice-Drug Injuries From the Cozy Fit
Following the money is a poignant concept. This is true with big Pharma and doctors. Tracking where the money comes from and where it goes to tells you who “owns” who.
There is a great deal of money that flows between Pharma and doctors. What Pharma does is to offer doctors money rewards to prescribe their drugs. In addition they ask doctors to take part in speakers’ bureaus and sign off on articles that are ghost written by someone else.
Exposed
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, in a June 2012 article in Trial Magazine, reported on this. His 2004 book entitled On the Take: How Medicine’s Complicity With Big Business Can Endanger Your Health (Oxford University Press 2004), is a commentary on this.
One thing that concerned Dr. Kassirer is this issue of ghost writing. It exists not only in regards to journal articles but also in clinical trials. Such a trial consists of a drug being tested by a group of doctors to see what effects it may have. As a result the ghost writing of these trials calls into question the conclusions reported.
Also Dr. Kassirer reported that there is a very cozy fit between medical device makers and doctors. The device makers supply a great deal of funding for meetings and education for doctors.
Drug Injuries-Sunshine Allowed In
Within Obamacare there is a sunshine rule that requires pharma to report any doctor who is making more than a small amount of money from them. In addition they must publish this info on a website that is available to the public. These websites have a way of becoming difficult to identify.
In 2007 surveys that were done among doctors who belonged to the AMA showed a large fraction of them had taken something from industry. 16% were receiving money for services on speaker’s bureaus. 18% were receiving money for consulting.
Most doctors are beyond reproach when it comes to conflicts involving the care of their patients. However a doctor who attends a meeting in Hawaii that is paid for by pharma may well be inclined to prescribe that companies’ drugs in the future. In other words that impact is what pharma is buying. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Doctor speaking fees paid by Merck during the year 2010 totaled $20.4 million. They were paid that sum to discuss and, in effect, promote Merck’s products. To the extent that medical malpractice cases deal with pharmaceutical or medical device issues it is worthwhile to explore this.
Merck had disclosed that for the second half of 2009 they had paid $9.4 million to nearly 1700 doctors to promote their products and to discuss health care topics. Merck is not alone.
These numbers show the bias that many doctors may have in terms of drugs, devices and treatment.
Malpractice-Drug Injury Be Prepared To Ask Questions
This raises the question of what does the patient do. Some issues that you may want to research or ask your doctor about are the following:
- Is she involved or been involved in any trials of drugs and, if so, when and what did this involve?
- Has he been involved in any speaker’s bureaus promoted by industry?
- Has she signed off on any articles or trials that were written by anyone other than the doctor?
Drug Errors
Drug errors are on the rise according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This is the lead U.S. agency charged with improving quality, safety and efficiency of health care for all Americans. They report that in 2008 1.9 million people became ill or were injured from drugs. This includes side effects, being given the wrong type or dose or because they took the wrong type or dose. The report does not state whether the errors were made at the prescriber level, the dispensing level or the consumer level. Noteworthy that the substances most often found at the center of the presumed error were steroids, pain relievers, blood thinners and heart and blood pressure drugs.
Many of these errors could be avoided. Better exchange of info between the doctor and the patient and better access to info on-line could reduce errors.
Sometimes the error is on the part of the pharmacy. They give the customer the wrong stuff. Their error may be as simple as that. Other times they may be accused of not recognizing the doctor’s error. That is the doctor prescribed the wrong stuff. The defense that the pharmacy may raise is called the learned knowledge defense. That is they are allowed to rely on the learned knowledge of the doctor to order the right stuff.
Malpractice-Drug Injury From Pain Killers and Warning Labels
On September 10th,2013 the FDA announced that it was requiring increased warnings on labels relating to certain pain killers. The focus is on OxyContin and oxycodone. These new rules will apply to other pain killers known as opioids. Enhanced warnings are to combat increased abuse.
In 2010 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that over 16,000 people died from overdoses involving opioids. That same year the CDC reports that enough opioid pain relievers were sold to treat every adult in the United States with 5 mgs of hydrocodone every four hours for a month.
Improved Labelling
Improved labeling will apply to all delayed release and long acting opioid painkillers. In the past these were given to patients with short term pain. Over the past decade the use of pain killers has exploded and now their use is common for things such as back pain to arthritis.
A study reported in a Washington Post article of September 11, 2013 notes that about 2 million in the U.S. are misusing painkillers. Those are numbers that far exceed those who are addicted to cocaine or heroin.
The new warnings will alert patients and doctors that these drugs should be used only by patients for whom other treatment is not working. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Failure To Warn
Seventy-five percent (75%) of all prescriptions are filled with generic drugs. Generic drugs are ones that contain the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by a patent. Generic drugs can be sold after the patent expires. The generic drug may differ in some characteristics such as the manufacturing process, formulation, color, taste and packaging.
In Pliva, Inc. v. Mensing from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court diluted the Wyeth decision by ruling that makers of generic drugs cannot be sued for failure to warn, Such claims are preempted by U.S. law. However in Wyeth the Court held that drug makers could be sued for failure to warn in state court on the theory that the FDA approval process does not preclude pharma from giving better warnings than what are required.
This creates different standards between the two forums. As a result, it gives a motive for manufacturers to produce more generic drugs than brand name drugs. They thereby decrease their risk.
See the pages on Wikipedia for more info.
Contact Brien Roche today for a free consult regarding your drug injury claim in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.