Morelli Ratner PC works with a wide variety of cases, but our primary focus is on:
When there are large numbers of claims associated with a single product, they may be part of a mass tort. It basically means that an act of negligence on the part of an individual or company resulted in injuring many people. Many factors are considered when deciding if a claim should be part of a mass tort.
Earlier this month, a Canadian medical journal showed that the smoking cessation drug Chantix (varenicline) is associated with a greatly increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and congestive heart failure in a population of “smokers without a history of heart disease [as] compared with smokers who did not use the drug” (emphasis added).
Chantix has for several years now been associated with psychiatric problems and other health risks. (Morelli Ratner PC is currently litigating several hundred product liability claims for adverse events associated with the drug, including attempted and successful suicides).
The journal report found, based on meta-analysis of existing studies and trials, that Chantix use was associated with a 72% increased risk of serious cardiovascular adverse events.
The Times quoted the senior author of the report, Dr. Curt D. Furberg, of Wake Forest, as saying that “We have known for many years that Chantix is one of the most harmful prescription drugs on the U.S. market, based on the number of serious adverse effects reported to the F.D.A…It causes loss of consciousness, visual disturbances, suicides, violence, depression and worsening of diabetes. To this list we now can add serious cardiovascular events.”
One of the particular perversities of Chantix’s safety issues and lack of adequate warnings about its side effects is that creating the drug arguably wasn’t even necessary. There are various other existing ways to quit smoking, none of which have been found to increase the risk of suicidal ideation, violent behavior, or heart attacks. When the pharmaceutical industry claims to be investing in innovation, it’s actually referring most of the time to the creation of products like Chantix – new, trendy, sometimes unsafe drugs sold to “fix” medical problems for which we already have solutions.
-Benedict P. Morelli and David S. Ratner
Questions, comments, tips, or blog post ideas? Email us at blog@morellilaw.com
