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Brain Trauma: Commonly Linked to Depression

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be life changing. A TBI is the medical term for when the brain is injured by force trauma. They can result from the impact of car accidents, bicycle crashes, or any kind of blow to the head. 1.5 million people, not including those in military service, suffer a TBI every year. However, experts believe the number is actually much higher because mild TBI’s are not commonly reported to medical professionals.

Brain trauma can affect your life in many ways. It can cause headaches, a ringing in your ears, memory loss, sleep loss, and it can make concentrating much more difficult. However, the physical symptoms of a TBI are commonly combined with depression.

Depression is a very serious matter. Depression is more than simply feeling sad sometimes. Depression is long lasting sadness that is accompanied by a serious lack of energy and an inability to enjoy things in your daily life. Depression is a treatable disorder. If you feel like you are depressed, or suffer from a TBI, you should see a doctor immediately. Fifteen percent (15%) of people that are diagnosed with depression die of suicide. For more information on suicide prevention, click here.

Depression is much more common in people who have suffered a brain injury. Ten percent (10%) of Americans suffer from depression. However, thirty percent (30%) of people who have had a TBI suffer from depression. This is a stark and alarming difference. And this difference is true regardless of the severity of the TBI.

Depression is treated in two primary ways: counseling and medication.  The counseling used to treat depression is called psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is where the person suffering from depression routinely talks with a licensed medical professional about their symptoms and how to deal with them. The medications used to treat depression are antidepressants.  Often, people suffering from depression need to be treated both with psychotherapy and antidepressants.  It is important to note that experts and researchers do not yet know of the side effects of antidepressants on people who also suffered a TBI.

Common side effects of antidepressants include: stomach problems, weight fluxuation, sexual problems, and trouble sleeping.  Antidepressants can have different effects when they react with other medications one may be taking. Therefore, it is important to inform your doctor about you medical and prescription history.

The physical symptoms that one has when they suffer from a TBI can be life changing. They can affect your mood, your job, your love life, and even your familial relationships. This only causes added stress that further inflame one’s anxiety and depression. The anxiety can make the headaches worse also. Unfortunately, TBI and depression commonly go together and they only make each other worse. For more information, go here.

It is wise to contact an experienced personal injury attorney if you suffer from a TBI or depression.  Call one of the experienced attorneys at Dolman Law Group if you or someone close to you needs help in recovering from a TBI or depression. One of our experienced attorneys is waiting and willing to assist you, please call (727) 451-6900 for more information on how we can help your family with this important issue.

Keeping Your Children Safe: Proper Child Safety Seats

There is nothing more important than protecting our children. Every parent, guardian, or loved one needs to be exercising proper car safety with their children - this includes using the correct car safety seat.

Sadly, in 2009, 1,314 children aged 14 and younger were killed as a result of auto accidents. More than 179,000 children were injured in car wrecks during that same year. In that year, an average four children died every day from motor vehicle collisions.  Automobile collisions are the leading cause of children aged 3-14. The seriousness of the issue couldn’t be more obvious.

The proper use of a car safety seat is often the difference between life and death for a child. A proper child restraint system, decrease the likelihood of dying in a car accident by 71% for infants and 54% for children aged 1-4.  Unfortunately, studies by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, has found that as many as 72% of infant and toddler safety seats are used incorrectly. This unnecessarily places youngsters at a dangerous risk! 

There are a number of considerations to take into account when choosing the best child safety seat- they include the age, height, and weight of the minor. Also, children under 13 years should always remain restrained passengers in the back seat because the impact from airbags can be fatal to minors.  For more information on car safety seats go here.

There is strong evidence that public campaigns, stronger laws, and more strict enforcement of existing laws go a long way in preventing child fatalities from auto accidents.  Florida goes against the national trend in some ways regarding child safety seats.

Florida is one of the last states to allow children under four (4) years old to ride without a child safety seat of any kind. Forty-seven states have laws that are more -strict, which require children over four to be restrained insome kind of booster seat.  However, many experts believe that the majority of state laws are not strict enough to protect children. This means that people should exercise safety, that exceeds state guidelines.

Experts believe that children should remain in boosters seats until they are either eight (8 ) years old or fifty-seven (57) inches tall. Also, children younger than thirteen (13) should always sit in the back seat.  A good resource for determining which car seat is best for the children in your life go here.

Car safety is very important. Our children are our most precious gift and resource. So remember to make sure you have the proper car safety seat for your child’s age, height, and weight. Please ensure the safety device is properly restrained in the back seat of the car. And also, remember to wear your seat belt too.

Have you or a loved one suffered injury or death because of a car accident? Call one of the experienced Clearwater personal injury attorneys  of the Dolman Law group to discuss your legal rights and options. You can contact our injury law attorneys at:  727-451-6900. We are ready and willing to assist you and your family with this important issue.

NTSB Proposes New Standard For Intoxicated Drivers

The National Transportation Safety Board says: the current threshold for determining whether someone is too drunk to drive is not strict enough. Currently, all fifty states, including Florida, have adopted a Blood Alcohol content level (BAC) of 0.08 as the threshold that indicates that someone is driving under the influence in violation of the law. However, despite this standard that was once considered conservative, 10,000 people die in car crashes every year where drinking and driving is involved. For that reason, The National Transportation Safety Board is lobbying all fifty states to adopt a stricter standard of 0.05

Drinking and driving is an epidemic in the United States.  It is believed that an adoption of a more stringent standard, will help decrease the number of car wrecks and deaths that result from inebriated drivers. One in three of all car accident related deaths in the United States involved intoxicated motorists.

The adoption of this new BAC standard is but another initiative in a long lineage of governmental attempts to decrease DUI related deaths. Progress has been made over the years due to the combined strength of a range of federal and state policies, tougher law enforcement, and stronger advocacy. But too many people are still dying. Even one person is too many.

Although there is be no magic cure, efforts like the increased standard can help curb the trend and prevent needless fatalities. In the past 30 years, nearly half a million Americans have lost their lives due to drunk driving.  It is believed that by increasing the standard from 0.08 BAC to 0.05 BAC, as many as 800 lives will be saved a year.  If adopted in all 50 states, the increased standard could save as many as 24,000 lives in the next thirty years.  That is a huge and important difference.

Under the current threshold of 0.08 a male of about 180 pounds can get be over the legal limit by drinking four alcoholic drinks over the period of an hour. Under the new threshold, that same male would reach the legal limit after drinking three alcoholic drinks over that same period.  For more information on how much it would take a person of your weight to exceed the legal limit, under both the current and proposed standard go to: http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

However, it is important to note that may factors besides weight and gender influence one’s level of intoxication.

It is expected that new standard will receive some push back from voters and also be unpopular. However, experts believe it will eventually be the standard in the United States. More than 100 countries across the world have adopted 0.05 BAC or lower as their threshold for unlawful drunk driving.

Have you or a loved one suffered injury or death because of a drunk driver? Call one of the experienced DUI victim attorneys  at the Dolman Law group to discuss your legal rights and options. You can contact one of our experienced attorneys at:  727-451-6900. We are ready and willing to assist you and your family with this important issue.

Remember: Don’t drink and drive!

Reduced Healthcare Costs May Lead to More Mirena Lawsuits

Mirena is a contraceptive device designed to be implanted in the cervix by a physician. Mirena quickly gained popularity among women as it does not require daily, weekly, or even monthly maintenance to be effective. Once implanted, the Mirena device is supposed to stay in place for up to five years. Additionally, Mirena was originally marketed to women as a miracle drug that would increase female sex drive and promised to make its users “look and feel great.”

 Mirena is currently used by about 8.5% of U.S. women. Of course that number pales in comparison to Yaz and Yasmine, which are the top selling birth control products in the United States. The disparity is due in part to the fact that Mirena can be very expensive. In most cases the Mirena device and accompanying procedure can cost in excess of one thousand dollars. In light of new healthcare options available under Obamacare however, the cost of Mirena may be greatly decreased making it more readily available to women who cannot currently afford it.

Unfortunately for Bayer, the increased availability of the Mirena device will likely lead to an increase in law suits based on the harmful side effects associated with the drug, as well as claims that Bayer falsely advertised its benefits and withheld negative effects from the general public. For example, the advertising claims of looking and feeling great turned out to be completely false when the US Health and Human Services Division of Advertising and Communications determined that Mirena’s less serious side effects included a decrease in libido, weight gain, and acne. It is the more serious side effects of the drug however, that has led to the massive litigation Bayer faces today.

Shortly after receiving FDA approval, reports of Mirena’s negative side effects began pouring in. To date, the FDA has received over 45,000 reports of adverse effects associated with the drug. While the device is designed to be inserted and to stay in place for 5 years, that is not always the case. Many of these 45,000 reports involved cases of the device dislocating from its position and travelling into different parts of the body. When this happens, surgery is often required to find and retrieve the device. Sometimes the reason for the device’s dislocation is that it actually tears a hole into the uterine wall through which it escapes to travel to other organs in the abdomen. In these cases, the woman may be unable to have children in the future as a result of the tear. Even more devastating are reports that Mirena has caused ectopic pregnancies- a pregnancy in which the fetus attaches and begins to form in the fallopian tube. These pregnancies are always life threatening- both for the fetus and for the mother- and require emergency surgery to remove the fetus. The result of the surgery is often infertility.

In April of 2013, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multijurisdictional Litigation (JPML) deiced to combine the 40 Mirena lawsuits pending in federal court into one Multijurisdictional Litigation case in New York’s Southern District. There are currently still 60 cases pending in state courts across the U.S. and the decision as to whether to combine those into multijurisdictional litigation is still pending in a New Jersey State Court. While only about 100 cases have been filed against Bayer to date, the over 45,000 reports of negative side effects received by the FDA and the increased availability in the drug due to the new healthcare changes likely mean that Bayer can look forward to many more lawsuits due to this defective drug.

For more information on Mirena lawsuits, or if you or someone you know has suffered vaginal bleeding, uterine tearing, or ectopic pregnancy following the use of the Mirena device, contact the bad drug attorneys at Dolman Law Group for a free consultation and case evaluation. 727-451-6900. 

Johnson & Johnson Concealed Dangers of Risperdal

Risperdal is an antipsychotic medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and irritability related to Autism. Unfortunately, it seems that Johnson & Jonson- the drug’s manufacturer- has traditionally paid little to no attention to the FDA’s approved uses and instead encouraged medical providers across the country to prescribe Risperdal for non-approved uses. In fact, the federal government learned that Johnson & Johnson actually paid kickbacks to several doctors in exchange for the physician prescribing Risperdal, both for approved and unapproved uses- like treatment of dementia in the elderly.  In 2010, Johnson & Johnson began paying boatloads of money to settle lawsuits brought by the government alleging dishonest and unfair business practices.

Since that time, federal authorities have also investigated other techniques utilized by Johnson & Johnson to market Risperdal. To date, multiple lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson by both the federal government and private citizens alleging the pharmaceutical giant intentionally downplayed serious risks associated with use of the medicine it its advertising campaigns. For the past two years, Johnson & Johnson has attempted to negotiate a settlement agreement with federal authorities concerning misleading promotional techniques. Now it appears such negotiations have hit a stalemate.

One of the biggest risks associated with use of Risperdal is an increase in prolactin within the body. Prolactin is responsible for breast growth and milk production in females following childbirth. The increase in prolactin often caused by Risperdal can cause a wide range of breast issues including abnormal lactation for women and gynecomastia (male breast growth) and even impotency in men. Other side effects associated with use of Risperdal tend to arise mostly from prescribing the drug for off-label uses. In elderly patients for example, the FDA discovered that patients prescribed the drug may cause up to a 1.7% increase in death resulting from health problems ranging from heart disease to pneumonia.

As a part of the settlement agreement, federal authorities want Johnson & Johnson to admit that they knew of the increase in prolactin and its associated dangers, and that they specifically under-marketed these dangers when advertising Risperdal. Johnsons & Johnson is reluctant to make such an admission however, as they are also facing litigation from private citizens who have actually experienced these side effects. If Johnson & Johnson admitted to federal authorities that they knew of the side effects and undersold the risks, the thousands of private citizens suing the company would be able to use such statements against Johnson & Johnson in their lawsuits as well. It is easy to see how such an admission of wrongdoing could end up costing Johnson & Johnson significantly. The Wall Street Journal reports that the federal litigation alone could cost the drug’s manufacturers upwards of $2 billion.

For more information on the dangerous side effects associated with use of Risperdal, of if you or someone you know has experienced side effects following use of the drug, contact the experienced bad drug attorneys at Dolman Law Group for a free consultation and case evaluation. 727-451-6900.

Dolman Law Group is a Clearwater based Florida personal injury law firm that only represents plaintiffs.