News & Investigations

Gretchen Carlson of Fox News interviewed Jim McEldrew this afternoon on her television show. Jim has been representing injured individuals in railroad litigation for more than thirty years and formerly served as the President of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys. They discussed the implications of the foreign object and the potential for the railroad engineer to be confused as to his geographical position on the tracks.

Earlier today, Jim was also interviewed on Knowledge@Wharton, a daily call-in business interview program hosted by Dan Loney on SiriusXM channel 111.  On the air with Dr. Allan Zarembski, a Research Professor and Director of Railroad Engineering and Safety Program at the University of Delaware, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, they discussed the Amtrak derailment, Congressional funding and railroad safety.

McEldrew Purtell Partner and Railroad Attorney James J. McEldrew, III had his commentary on Positive Train Control published on the Philadelphia Inquirer website today.  The article discusses the need for the automated system mandated by Congress in 2008 to be implemented by Amtrak and other railroads to prevent accidents like the one last night. It’s titled “U.S. railroad’s must adopt ‘train control’ now.”

Takeda has preliminarily agreed to settle 8,000 lawsuits accusing the drug company of hiding cancer risks in its diabetes medicine, Actos, according to Bloomberg. The settlement will provide a payment of at least $287,000 per former Actos user. The deal is slightly higher than an earlier offer of $2.2 billion reported at the beginning of April.

Takeda’s board must still agree to the deal. Plaintiffs must also opt-in to the settlement, so individuals who have injuries warranting additional compensation can choose to decline it and continue with their lawsuit. The company can pull out of the deal if fewer than 95% of the plaintiffs agree to join the settlement.

The company faces lawsuits in Louisiana, Illinois, West Virginia, California and Pennsylvania. Last year, a federal jury ordered Takeda and Eli Lilly to pay $9 billion in damages to an Actos patient with bladder cancer. The seventh largest jury award in U.S. history, according to Bloomberg, was later reduced by a judge to $36.8 million and is on appeal. A Philadelphia jury last year awarded $2 million in damages to an individual on Actos with bladder cancer.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s release of information concerning the superbug infection last year in Philadelphia left us speculating about whether their conclusion, “no definitive link” between duodenoscopes and the outbreak, was warranted. The Friday the 13th release about last year’s events was short on details and seemed more like the hospital intended to bury the story in the Friday evening news.  We were hoping we would get more details later but so far, we’ve heard nothing new. Jefferson Hospital admitted to CRE infections in at least eight patients following the use of duodenoscopes from January 1, 2013 to June 1, 2014. After examining the information released, Dan Purtell, one of our trial attorneys, noted a few specific questions that he thought the hospital should have also answered: Patient Safety Jefferson did not release the number of patients who may have been infected by the devices or the number of ERCP procedures conducted between January 1, 2013 and June 1, 2014. Patient Disclosures Jefferson did not state if and how many patients were contacted by officials to disclose the potential exposure and whether these individuals were subsequently tested. Testing Jefferson did not identify the specific types of CRE superbug infections at issue, the testing protocol that was used, when the tests occurred or if the internal elements of the devices were specifically tested. These are just a few of the questions that Dan identified, but they make sense.

Why Are We Asking These Questions?

Last month, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said that two patient died with superbug infections following duodenoscope procedures in the city but that the deaths were “not clearly related” to their infections. The hospital’s silence following this disclosure was troubling. Now, the hospital has essentially asked us to trust it that there was no link between the infections and the duodenoscopes. We would be very interested in seeing the data that supports this conclusion. After an investigation lasting several months and in light of the the high level of scrutiny of the devices, we think additional information is warranted. In the Los Angeles outbreak at UCLA, the hospital had 170 patients potentially exposed. It notified everyone out of an abundance of caution and offered the patients free at-home testing kits. Did Jefferson do the same thing? We would like to know. If you have additional information about the outbreak at Jefferson, please contact Dan Purtell, Esq. at (215) 545-8800. If you are looking for additional information about the superbug infections, Dan has written an ebook for individuals and families that may answer some of their questions. The ebook can be downloaded at /superbug-infections/

Metro-North Train Derails[/caption] Metro-North Train derailed early this morning, December 1, 2013, at 7:20 a.m. in the Bronx, New York.  Metro-North authorities say four cars on a seven-car train leaving from Poughkeepsie at 5:54 a.m. derailed just feet from the Hudson and Harlem Rivers and just short of the Spuyten Duyvil station. News agencies initially stated some of those derailed cars were in the water, but that has been confirmed that was not true.  More than 130 firefighters raced to the derailment scene to help extricate passengers and crew from the train. Of the four people killed in this train derailment accident three where ejected from the train.  All passengers have been accounted for, said Gov. Cuomo. The Hudson line is suspended indefinitely and the Amtrak Empire line is suspended between Albany and New York City until further investigation. A frequent Sunday rider told a news station that he takes this train every Sunday and that it was traveling faster than usual as it approached the curve where it derailed and that was also confirmed to be one factor by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Tom Prendergast during a briefing near the derailment.  A similar incident took place near the area in a July derailment but on a different track. Friends and families trying to obtain information about people that may have been on this train are advised to contact New York City’s 311 information system, Gov. Cuomo said.

ORIGINAL NEWS SOURCE: NBCNEWYORK.COM | USATODAY.COM If you or someone you know have been injured in this or any other train accident please contact experienced Railroad Accident Attorney James J. McEldrew, III.  Mr. McEldrew is available to answer all your questions.  Jim was on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys from 1994 until 2001, and was President of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys from 2001 to 2002.  Call Jim today at 215-694-1267 or email him at jim@mceldrewlaw.com.

After detecting extremely high blood glucose levels of 1024 mg/dl or higher, the OTVIQ inexplicitly shuts down and fails to provide the user with an adequate reading and warning.  As a result, a hyperglycemic patient may inadvertently fail to inject themselves with insulin or seek immediate medical attention, which poses serious, even fatal, health risks. OneTouch® Verio®IQ[/caption] Of course, for diabetic patients, accurate blood glucose testing can mean the difference between life and death.  As blood sugar levels rise, patients may experience severe complications, such as cell and blood vessel damage, vision problems, and organ failure, which in turn, can result in blindness, ketoacidosis, even death.  Due to the severity of their condition, it is absolutely imperative that diabetics can trust in the quality of products like the OTVIQ. LifeScan and J&J are currently defendants in a Louisiana based wrongful death action, based on a comparable failure of a similar product, the OneTouch® Ultra® Blood Glucose Meter (“OTUBGM”). The plaintiff, Lenora Cousin, alleges her diabetic husband mistakenly overdosed on insulin, because of an inaccurate reading from his OTUBGM.  While the erroneous reading of Mr. Cousin’s LifeScan meter resulted in too much insulin, as opposed to not enough insulin (the risk related to the current recall), it demonstrates the significant danger to diabetic patients of defective blood glucose meters. If you or a loved one has experienced complications from use of a LifeScan OTVIQ, you may be entitled to legal remedies.  The attorneys of McEldrew Law have decades of success, litigating complex personal injury matters, related to product defects and medical device malfunction.  Moreover, to assist with your case, the staff of McEldrew Law includes a pharmaceutical diabetic engineer, formerly the in-house engineer for a major pharmaceutical company.  Our collective experience, knowledge, and expertise has resulted in a national reputation for excellence and results.  For a free and confidential consultation, contact McEldrew Law at (215) 545-8800 or jim@mceldrewlaw.com.

On September 10, 2012, Science Daily reported that the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”) had published a national study in the journal Health Services Research that showed over the last decade an increase in prescriptions written for powerful antipsychotic drugs to treat publicly insured children.The researchers found a 62 percent increase in the number of Medicaid-enrolled children ages 3 to 18 were taking antipsychotics drugs by 2007.Despite the FDA having not approved the drug for treating ADHD, prescription antipsychotic drugs use was particularly high for children with ADHD.In 2007, 65% of children prescribed antipsychotics were using the drugs “off-label,” or without FDA safety and efficacy data to support their usage.

David M. Rubin, MD, MSCE, a senior author of the study, attending pediatrician, and co-director of CHOP’s PolicyLab stated that “[i]f a child is prescribed an antipsychotic, it’s important for doctors to inform parents and caregivers if the drug is being prescribed off-label, of potential side effects, and of counseling therapies that might be offered as an alternative to medication.”Mr. Rubin was pleased that many of these drugs have been recognized as a priority for pediatric research by the National Institutes of Health.The increased off-label use of antipsychotics drugs raising many concerns in light of evidence linking antipsychotics with an increased risk of serious metabolic side effects in children, weight gain and diabetes.

The researchers found that the 28% increase in the number of mental health diagnoses assigned to children does not entirely account for that the increased spike in antipsychotic prescriptions., The number of children prescribed antipsychotics has grown steadily particularly for children with public insurance.

For children using the antipsychotic drugs the most likely diagnoses are for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism.However, these diagnoses did not make up the majority of antipsychotic drug users in the study.Children diagnosed with ADHD and those who were diagnosed with 3 or more concurrent mental health disorders made up the largest group of antipsychotics drug users.Moreover, 50% of children taking antipsychotics had a diagnosis of ADHD, while 14% had ADHD as their only diagnosis.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120910111700.htm