| Trasylol |
|
|
|
|
Over the course of 14 years – and thousands of surgeries – Trasylol had developed a reputation. Not as an invaluable clotting drug that reduced bleeding during complicated operations – as its manufacturer, Bayer AG, marketed it – but as a problem. Surgeons, worried about adverse effects of the drug, were increasingly avoiding Trasylol, and in 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, citing Bayer’s own data showing an increased risk of kidney damage, congestive heart failure, stroke, and death, advised doctors to monitor patients who had been given the drug. A year later, at the FDA’s urging, Trasylol was withdrawn from the market. For thousands of patients, however, the damage has already been done – and the worst may yet be to come. Recent studies have demonstrated that Trasylol’s problems are even worse than doctors suspected. One study, which followed 10,000 cardiac bypass patients at Duke University Medical Center, found that patients who had been given Trasylol were nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to die within 30 days of surgery than those who had not received it. Another study found that the long-term impact of Trasylol could be devastating, as well, with patients who had received the drug far more likely to die within five years of their surgery than those who had not. But the harm Trasylol has caused – and may still cause – doesn’t have to go unanswered. At Babbitt, Johnson, Osborne & Le Clainche, we’ve been litigating complicated cases – including some of the most complex pharmaceutical matters ever to be seen in Florida, or elsewhere – for more than four decades. We know how to argue, and win, tough cases, but just as importantly, we know that our clients need more than our aggressive advocacy. They need our support, dedication, commitment, and advice. We don’t just seek compensation. We seek accountability. And for more than 40 years, we’ve been getting it. |