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6
Sep

Congratulations Again, Terrell Grice!

The 2010 winner of our “My PSA Contest!” was Terrell Grice of Fayetteville. We received the following update from Terrell’s high school video teacher (Patricia Barnard, of Douglas Byrd High School):

Terrell Grice has graduated and is now attending Full Sail University in Florida after receiving a generous scholarship based on his video work. He won first place in the NC SkillsUSA Contest called “TV production skills.” He also competed at the SkillsUSA National Conference in June 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri, representing all of North Carolina. He completed a full length movie, which showcased this summer at Douglas Byrd High School, and was attended by our school board members and our School Superintendent, Dr. Till.

Terrell’s prize of an Apple MacBook computer with Final Cut Pro software allowed him to achieve his dreams by extending classroom learning into the workplace. Thank you, HensonFuerst, for supporting the TV and video programs across the state of North Carolina.

We say: Thank YOU, Patricia. We love to hear that HensonFuerst’s MY PSA CONTEST! has such a profound impact on North Carolina students. While we are delighted to help nurture Terrell’s considerable talent, we also recognize that his success—and the success of all North Carolina youth—is due to the dedication and creativity of teachers like you.

Thanks for the update! We look forward to seeing what artistry comes from the students’ imaginations in 2012.

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2
Sep

Health Risk from Improper Medication Storage

Where you store your family’s medications could mean the difference between cure and relapse. Too much heat or humidity can alter the way a medication works, making them lose their potency. If a life depends on proper dosage of a specific medication, this could have serious consequences.

An article in The New York Times outlines the causes, risks, and solutions to improper medication storage.

Pharmacists suggest that most drugs be stored at room temperature, no lower than 58 degrees, no higher than 86 degrees. Temperatures above or below that range can cause medicines to physically change, lose potency or even threaten your health.

For patients with such chronic illnesses as diabetes or heart disease, a damaged dose of a crucial medicine, like insulin or nitroglycerin, can be life-threatening. But even common medicines can break down with potentially harmful effects, and you can’t always tell by looking at the pill or liquid that a problem has occurred, said Janet Engle, a pharmacist and past president of the American Pharmacists Association.

Examples of what can happen if a specific medication decays or undergoes other dangerous changes:

  • Antibiotics–if they decay, they can cause stomach or kidney damage.
  • Aspirin–can cause stomach upset (more than the usual).
  • Hydrocortisone cream–can separate and become useless in the heat.
  • Diagnostic test strips–like those used to test for blood sugar levels, pregnancy or ovulation, are extremely sensitive to humidity. If moisture sticks to the strips, it will dilute the test liquid and possible give a false reading.
  • Hormone pills–thyroid, birth control and others, are especially susceptible to temperature changes. These are often protein-based, and when protein gets hot it changes properties.
  • Insulin, seizure medicines and anticoagulants–small changes in doses in some medicines like these can make a big difference to your health.

HOW TO STORE MEDICATIONS

According to The New York TImes:

  • Don’t store medicines in the medicine cabinet… or anyplace in the bathroom. The high heat and humidity of a bathroom is dangerous for drugs.
  • Choose to store medicines in a cool, dry place, such as a hallway linen closet, bedroom closet, or even a kitchen cabinet (as long as it is away from the stove.) If children have access to the medicines, consider storing them on a high shelf or in a lock box.
  • Packaging doesn’t protect drugs. Just because you haven’t opened the package doesn’t mean the drugs are safe.  HOWEVER, drugs become even more vulnerable to alterations if they are taken out of their original packaging. (It is okay to use a day-by-day pill box if necessary.)
  • When traveling, keep medications in a handbag or separate bag that you can carry with you. Even 10 minutes in a hot car can expose medications to dangerously high temperatures.
  • If you must carry emergency drugs with you for long periods or in hot locations, store them in a small cooler with a cool pack.
  • When you travel on a plane, keep the medications with you. Baggage holds aren’t temperature-controlled. Make sure to keep prescription medications in their original bottle or packaging (to make it easier to go through checkpoints).
  • If you notice that a medication has changed color, smell, taste, or consistency, don’t take it. Also, throw away pills that stick together, are chipped, or are harder or softer than usual.

Before discarding any medicine that you think may have been damaged by extreme temperatures, call your pharmacist. Some will replace the drugs free of charge. If the medicine was covered by an insurer, check with the company as well. It may reimburse you for a replacement dose.

Check with the manufacturer of the drug, too. Many have programs to replace certain damaged medicines.

And one last thing: If you do need to throw medication away, read our previous blog about the proper way to discard drugs. Click here:  News About Old Drugs

To read the full article in The New York Times, click here:  Mistakes in Storage May Alter Medication

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23
Aug

Hip Implant Complaints Surge

On August 24, 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, sent a letter to doctors announcing a recall of two of their hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Why? Because they have a higher-than-usual failure rates, causing people to have to have second surgeries to replace the replacement.

About 1 in 8 percent of the DePuy replacements will fail within 5 years. What’s worse, the faulty hip replacement causes serious pain and difficulty walking, and recovery from the second hip replacement is often more difficult than after the first. There is also the possibility of metallic particles being shed by the devices. These potentially toxic cobalt-chromium particles may, in high levels, cause heart and/or nervous system problems.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, since January 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 5,000 reports of problems with metal-on-metal hip replacements… more than they received in the previous four years combined. About 75 percent of the complaints were about the recalled Johnson & Johnson products.

The mounting complaints confirm what many experts have feared — that all-metal replacement hips are on a trajectory to become the biggest and most costly medical implant problem since Medtronic recalled a widely used heart device component in 2007. About 7,700 complaints have been filed in connection with that recall.

Many of the metal-on-metal hip replacement products were sold without testing them in patients (a move that, strangely is  within FDA guidelines). But in May 2011, the FDA ordered producers to examine the failure rate, the complication rate, and the threat to patients. In addition, researchers are trying to understand exactly how the metal particles cause tissue damage, and why some people experience debilitating pain, while others don’t. According to the article in The New York Times:

As problems and questions grow, most surgeons are abandoning the all-metal hips, saying they are unwilling to expose new patients to potential dangers when safer alternatives — mainly replacements that combine metal and plastic components — are available. Some researchers also fear that many all-metal hips suffer from a generic flaw. Current use of all metal devices has plummeted to about 5 percent of the market, though a few of the models are performing relatively well in select patients.

“It is like playing Russian roulette,” said Dr. Geoffrey H. Westrich, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who has stopped using all-metal implants.

But for patients who already have tissue damage from faulty hip replacements, the idea that the FDA will now begin studying the devices amounts to little more than a cruel joke. According to one patient, physical therapist Ann Morrison, who was interviewed by reporters for The New York Times:

“We will be the little crash test dummies here until they figure out the health ramifications for us down the road,” said Ms. Morrison, who has sued the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson, which made her implants.

What To Do Now

If you already know that you received one of the recalled DePuy hip replacement systems, or any metal-on-metal hip replacement, we recommend two things:

1. Schedule a follow-up appointment with your surgeon, even if you’re not currently having symptoms. It is possible that you could have early signs of failure before you recognize the pain. Your doctor will be able to evaluate how your hip is functioning and whether the recalled implant is in need of replacement.

In that visit, your orthopaedic surgeon may also want do a blood test that looks at the level of microscopic metal particles around your hip. Metal particles are a sign that recalled implant has failed. If the blood test indicates a high level of these particles, your surgeon may want to do a second blood test three months later. These levels may be high even if you are not experiencing any symptoms, so this blood testing is very important.

2. Call HensonFuerst Attorneys for important information about your rights. If you or someone you care about received one of these defective joint replacement components, we would like to speak with you right away.  You may have a legal case and be able to collect compensation for the injury caused by this faulty medical device.

What’s most important: DO NOT contact DePuy, or SIGN ANY RELEASES OF YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS TO DePuy or JOHNSON & JOHNSON or any other manufacturer before you talk with a lawyer. On DePuy’s website, they ask patients to register with them and receive a claim number. DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF. Let a lawyer handle everything. Big corporations look out for their own financial interests, not the interests of people who may have been harmed. If Johnson & Johnson was interested in helping patients, they would not have allowed the device to continue to be sold even after they knew it was causing serious problems.

At HensonFuerst, your health is our top priority. We dedicate ourselves to protecting individuals from the greed and callousness of large corporations. Let us work for you. Our attorneys are available 24 hours/day, every day of the year at 1-800-4-LAW-MED (1-800-452-9633). Or, visit our website at www.lawmed.com for more information. You can also fill out a free online consultation form for an immediate evaluation of your case.

Life Doesn’t Wait, and neither should you. If you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers!

This law firm is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or associated with the Associated Press, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., or Johnson & Johnson

To see the HensonFuerst YouTube video about the DePuy hip recall, click here:  HensonFuerst YouTube video

To read the full article in The New York Times, click here:  Hip Implant Complaints Surge, Even as the Dangers Are Studied

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19
Aug

Labor Day “Booze It and Lose It” Campaign Begins

Ahh… you know summer is almost over when the Labor Day festivities begin. And today, the “festivity” in question is the annual Booze It & Lose It campaign by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP).

From today, Friday, August 19 through Monday, September 5, the state will see checkpoints and stepped-up patrols in an effort to remove impaired drivers from the roads. How much of a force will be rallied? Well, in 2010, the Labor Day Booze It & Lose It campaign conducted more than 11,000 patrols and checkpoints.

“As summer comes to an end, law enforcement officers across the state will be removing impaired drivers from our roads,” North Carolina’s Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said. “Celebrating responsibly is simple; plan ahead and always designate a sober driver.”

According to the GHSP, in 2010, there were 500 alcohol-related crashes in North Carolina during the Labor Day campaign, resulting in 20 fatalities and 395 injuries. In addition, officers charged more than 3,200 North Carolina motorists with driving while impaired.

Enjoy summer, but please don’t drink and drive… you risk the loss of your license, at the very least.

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16
Aug

North Carolina Teen Driver Logs

A new North Carolina law that goes into effect on October 1, 2011, changes the rules for teen drivers and how they can progress from having a learner’s permit to a provisional license. And according to an article in the News & Observer, a quirk in the language of the law could keep about 110,000 teens from getting their provisional licenses when expected. According to the N&O:

The law’s most sweeping change affects teens who want to trade up from a learner’s permit, which requires Mom or Dad in the front seat, to a provisional driver’s license, which carries fewer restrictions. They’ll have to produce logs – signed by parents – to show they drove with front-seat supervision for 60 hours. The logs must be spread over at least six weeks, including some night driving.

The problem is that teens who already have their learner’s permits and hoped to get their provisional licenses after October 1 will have to have driving logs…even though the logs hadn’t been required when their permits were issued. In fact, the blank forms haven’t even been distributed.

Sixty hours of front-seat time is a huge time commitment for teens, and even worse for parents. Can you imagine trying to find an extra 10 hours each week to go driving with your child?

Fortunately, the N&O has offered a solution:  Start keeping your own logs. When the official log forms are distributed, you can simply transfer the information from your own logs to the proper forms required by law.

Today’s N&O offers downloadable copies of a sample driving log you can print out and use until an official form becomes available, the Teen “Driving to Live” Contract, and a Skills Mastery Checklist. We’ve also provided the links to the forms here (click for a pdf link):

Driving Log

Driving To Live Contract

Skills Mastery Checklist

To read the full article describing the new law from the News & Observer, click here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/16/1415694/obstacle-to-teen-license-under.html#ixzz1VDjU92rZ

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10
Aug

Study to Examine Driving in Triangle Area

An article on WRAL.com reports that a federal project will be studying the driving behavior of about 3,100 people in six states, including our own. The goal is to discover the underlying causes of crashes and traffic congestion, and eventually to reduce driving fatality rates. The project, called the Second Strategic Highway Research Program’s Naturalistic Driving Study, or SHRP2, is the largest coordinated safety program every undertaken in the United States.

Researchers will install cameras in cars to  record drivers’ movements, and radar on the front of the cars to measure the cars’ proximity to other cars and objects.

“We’re actually getting in the car with the driver to see what’s happening prior to the crash,” said Martha Wilaby, Triangle site manager of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program’s Naturalistic Driving Study.

The study is recruiting drivers of all ages, but would like to find more drivers under age 25 and older than age 65. Study participants in North Carolina must live within 50 miles of Morrisville, own or lease a qualifying vehicle, and be willing to complete questionnaires and allow driving data to be collected every 3 to 6 months for the duration of the study, which could last up to about 2 years. (Click here for a link to qualifying vehicles: Eligible Vehicle List)

The study is still recruiting. To be considered for participation, contact Martha Wilaby, at 919-388-3424, or MarthaWilaby@westat.com.

To read the full study on WRAL.com, click here:  Study looks at behavior of Triangle drivers

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8
Aug

Failure of Surgical Mesh a Serious Worry for Women

Surgical mesh is a common medical product used to repair conditions in which body organs need extra support. For example, one of the most common uses has been to repair hernias. In women, surgical mesh is also used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI), conditions that occur when the muscles and ligaments supporting internal organs weaken. Treatment can include surgery to shore up the organs, with surgical mesh being used to keep the organs from “sagging” inside the body cavity.

Over the past three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received nearly 4,000 reports of severe complications (including 3 fatalities) associated with surgical mesh used to treat POP and SUI. The most frequent complications include:

  • erosion through vaginal epithelium (inner wall of the vagina);
  • mesh contraction, leading to vaginal shortening and pain;
  • infection;
  • abscesses;
  • pain;
  • urinary problems;
  • recurrence of prolapse and/or incontinence.

There were also reports of surgical complications when the insertion of the mesh perforated bowel, bladder, or blood vessels. In some cases, vaginal scarring and mesh erosion led to a significant decrease in patient quality of life due to discomfort and pain, including dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse).

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed troubling results with these procedures. Compared with traditional surgery without mesh, women who had a transvaginal mesh (TVM) inserted to treat pelvic organ prolapse suffered higher rates of serious complications, including bladder perforation and pelvic hemorrhage… and they had an increased number of adverse events after the surgery, including newly acquired urinary incontinence.

On July 13, 2011, the FDA issued an update on TVM, which clarified its recommendations:

The FDA is issuing this update to inform you that serious complications associated with surgical mesh for transvaginal repair of POP are not rare. This is a change from what the FDA previously reported on Oct. 20, 2008. Furthermore, it is not clear that transvaginal POP repair with mesh is more effective than traditional non-mesh repair in all patients with POP and it may expose patients to greater risk. [emphasis added by the FDA]

The FDA recommends that surgeons recognize that most cases of POP can be treated successfully without surgical mesh.

Unfortunately, doctors and the FDA have known about the problems with surgical mesh for at least 3 years, without warning women about the serious risks of the surgery. If you or someone you care about has a transvaginal mesh (TVM) used to correct pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence and suffered any of the above symptoms, our law firm may be able to help. Contact us today to learn how. We are available 24/7 at 1-800-4-LAWMED; or contact us via our website at www.lawmed.com.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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2
Aug

Ford Recalls 1.1 Million Pickup Trucks

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[from MSNBC.com

Some Ford pickup trucks are being recalled due to a problem with the way the fuel tanks are attached. Straps that hold the fuel tanks in place can corrode and break, which can cause the fuel lines to separate from the tank, ore for the tank to actually fall to the ground. The most common cause of the corrosion seems to be road de-icing chemicals.

According to an article on MSNBC.com, Ford reports three vehicle fires and one injury related to the fuel tank strap problem.

The recalled vehicles are:

  • Ford F-150 full-size pickups, model years 1997-2004
  • Ford F-250 pickups of less than 8,500 pounds, model years 1997-1999
  • Lincoln Blackwood trucks, model years 2002-2003

Ford will notify owners in mid-September and recommend that the fuel tank straps be replaced with versions that have a greater resistance to corrosion. In addition, dealers may install a cable support under the strap an an interim repair, or a steel reinforcement over the existing straps as a permanent repair.

For more specific information, visit the recall page from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) here:  Ford truck recall information

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27
Jul

Describe Your Pain….

Anyone who has ever been severely injured in an accident, had surgery, or been diagnosed with a chronic illness knows that one of the most difficult parts of a doctor’s visit is trying to explain the quality and severity of your pain. Now, researchers are working to make that process easier for patients and their doctors.

“Pain research is very difficult because nothing allows the physician to see the patient’s pain directly,” says Werner Ceusters, MD, professor of psychiatry in University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and principal investigator on a new National Institutes of Health grant, An Ontology for Pain and Related Disability, Mental Health and Quality of Life. “The patient has to describe what he or she is feeling.”

Anyone who has ever lived with pain knows that describing it is no easy task. Typically, the first step is for the physician to ask about severity: On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no pain, and 10 is pain severe enough to send you to the emergency room, how would you describe your pain. That might be easy to rate the pain at the moment, but if you go 3 months between doctor appointments, it doesn’t suffice. Some pain spikes to level-10, but settles back at a level-5.  And sometimes, living for months or years with level-6 pain can make a person feel helpless and hopeless.

The next step is to describe the pain. Healthcare workers sometimes offer a list of acceptable adjectives:  Burning, stabbing, aching, sharp, dull. That doesn’t begin to cover it. What if the pain is like nothing you’ve ever felt, and the only word that seems to describe it is, simply, pain? What if the pain feels like tiny trucks are driving over your bones–does that description make sense to a doctor?

In an article in ScienceDaily, researcher Ceusters says:

…each patient’s subjective experience of pain is different. Descriptions of pain therefore lack the precision and specificity that is taken for granted with other disorders, where biomarkers or physiological indicators reveal what health-care providers need in order to assess the severity of a particular disorder.

An added complication is that people have different vocabularies, different linguistic capabilities, and different cultural backgrounds, all of which can affect how people evaluate and describe pain. That’s why Ceusters is beginning to find ways to describe pain in uniform, formal ways. His research, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, will study data gathered from thousands of patients with chronic pain in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, and Germany.

In the end, the goal will be to represent what pain is, and how it relates to body parts, activities, and functions. According to Ceusters:

“Our goal is to create a software program that will allow all pain specialists to express themselves in crystal clear terms,” he says, “We will create a symptom checklist that can be understood by computers. We have to define the terminology of pain.”

For people whose lives are defined by pain, that is a worthy goal that could eventually lead to a greater understanding and treatment of a variety of chronic pain conditions.

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25
Jul

Workplace Accidents Worse After Lunch

Researchers in Spain have verified the existence of the Lunch Effect, that workplace accidents that occur between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm are more serious and more likely to be fatal than accidents at any other time of day.

According to an article describing the research in ScienceDaily, the hours closest to lunchtime account for only about 18% of accidents, but nearly 30% of all workplace fatalities. The Lunch Effect is true for workers who are young or old…just starting on the job, or with years of experience…in small businesses, or in large corporations…at all times of the year…with all types of machinery…and for all manner of falls.

“The gravity and mortality rate of accidents are higher in the hours around lunchtime, regardless of who, how, when, where or with what the accident happens,” Miguel A. Camino López, lead author of the study, said. The researcher in the Engineering and Responsible Management Group at the University of Burgos focused on the construction sector for this study.

The Lunch Effect remained true, even after researchers took other factors into account, such as the possibility of alcohol consumption at lunch, or whether the workers took naps (remember: this was Spain, where the siesta is still respected). The researchers looked at all accidents suffered by constructions workers in Spain from 1990 to 2002–a total of 10,239,303 accidents.

“Companies can use these figures to help them understand the times of day with especially high levels of accident gravity and mortality,” stresses Camino. “Workers should be informed of these risks, and the Ministry of Employment should make greater efforts to promote preventive measures in the construction sector, such as continuous shifts.”

To read the full ScienceDaily article, click here:  Workplace Accidents Are Worse After Lunch

To read the article abstract from the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, click here:  The special severity of occupational accidents

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