The Johns Hopkins investigators emphasize that the drug therapy clearly improves length of survival in advanced cancer by months to years, and that the goal of their new study is to find ways of preventing or slowing the damage through nerve-protective therapies identfied through simple skin testing.

Many patients who take oxaliplatin report bothersome neurological side effects, including pain in the hands and feet and a numbness or tingling in the throat that affects swallowing, according to study leader Michael Polydefkis, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the EMG Laboratory and Cutaneous Nerve Laboratory at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Though these symptoms develop over time in the majority of patients, some report neuropathies as early as when the drug is first infused.

To get a better sense of how oxaliplatin affects nerve cells, Polydefkis and his colleagues recruited eight cancer patients about to begin oxaliplatin treatment at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. All had been diagnosed with advanced colon cancer.

Before their first oxaliplatin infusion, each patient underwent a comprehensive neurological examination, including nerve conduction testing, a clinical exam to look for signs of nerve damage, and a punch biopsy that removed tiny (3-mm diameter) portions of skin near their knees and ankles. Once oxaliplatin treatment began, consisting of infusions over two days once every two weeks for 12 cycles, the researchers performed the same tests after 30, 90 and 180 days. Another 180 days after they finished with treatment, the patients received one final exam.

Test results showed that each of the patients’ nerve function and neuropathy symptoms worsened over time and that results from the punch skin biopsies neatly mirrored the side effect arc. Using a microscope, the researchers saw that nerve cells’ long extensions, called axons, degenerated over the course of oxaliplatin therapy. This progression persisted after treatment stopped. Even 180 days after their last doses, seven out of the eight patients’ axons continued to wither.

“This drug has rapidly become the standard of care for people with advanced colon cancer, but we really knew little about how oxaliplatin affects nerves over time,” he says. “With people living longer lives on oxaliplatin, it’s important to know more about these neurological side effects so patients and their physicians can make educated choices on how this drug is used, and perhaps suggest ways to limit the damage.”

The new study strongly suggests that punch skin biopsies could be an easy and inexpensive way to follow nerve cell degeneration, a crucial prerequisite for testing the effectiveness of drugs currently in development to trace, prevent or slow nerve damage.

“Skin biopsies can be done pretty easily, uniformly and cheaply anywhere, including hospitals, doctors’ offices and clinics, and those places can have the tissue sent to Hopkins for analysis,” Polydefkis says. “High-quality neurological testing isn’t nearly as easy or economical to do, so it’s possible that the biopsies could play a pivotal role in bringing neuroprotective drugs to fruition.”

Smith, of Yukon, underwent surgeries on March 3, 2009 and November 24, 2009 to implant the Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Orthopaedics ASR XL Acetabular device in her left and right hips. On November 22, 2010, Smith was forced to have a revision surgery to replace the failed, defective recalled ASR components in her left hip.

“We are filing this case to protect Ms. Smith’s rights and to ensure that she is fairly compensated for her damages and injuries,” said attorney John David Hart.  ”Ms. Smith was forced to have a major surgery to replace a failed, recalled hip.  This surgery would have been completely unnecessary if the Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. hip replacement system had been safe and effective, as promised.”

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, Inc., recalled its ASR XL Acetabular metal-on-metal hip replacement system on August 24, 2010. This recall came after data from a recent study indicated that the five year failure rate of this product is approximately 13%, or more than 1 out of every 8 patients. DePuy identified reasons for the failure of the hip replacement system as component loosening, component malalignment, infection, fracture of the bone, dislocation, metal sensitivity and pain. Additional complications from the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular hip replacement system may include increased metal ion levels in the blood, bone staining, necrosis, swelling, nerve damage, tissue damage and/or muscle damage.

John David Hart and the Law Offices of John David Hart represent many individuals throughout the United States who have been injured as a result of this defective hip replacement system.  The Law Offices of John David Hart is a group of experienced and dedicated legal professionals working to protect the rights of people wronged by the acts of others.  Across the country, the firm represents individuals in cases of catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, dangerous drugs, automobile and truck accidents and oil and gas litigation

The verdict, awarded against Barry Walter, M.D. and Virginia Surgery Associates, was later reduced to $1.85 million to comply with Virginia’s “doctor and insurance company protection” law.

Read full story via  Virginia Malpractice News.

Read full story via Burness Communications

Dr. Torrino Jennings of Mechanicsville, Va., was also sentenced in federal court in Boston on Wednesday to three years of probation following his release.

Read full story via NewsChannel 8.

Such centers are not equipped to deal with emergencies such as the one that killed their daughter, Stephanie, both Joanne and Thomas Kuleba said during a news conference.

Read full story via  MiamiHerald.com.

A congressional study and a national consumer advocacy group found at the time that the health care industry had spent millions of dollars exaggerating the malpractice crisis in Nevada and elsewhere in the country. Doctors overall weren’t actually leaving Nevada at a high rate.

But the hard-hitting television campaign of five years ago, produced by influential Republican strategist Sig Rogich, helped persuade voters to overwhelmingly approve an industry-backed ballot initiative imposing a $350,000 cap on malpractice damages for pain and suffering.

via Attorneys hope to lift malpractice damages cap – Las Vegas Sun.

Success with gastric bypass surgery results in the loss of weight and requires following a healthy diet regime. However, for some, gastric bypass surgery results in major medical problems or even death. The problem has been so widespread that these problems have been commonly referred to by many nurses as a “gastric bypass gone bad” and have resulted in numerous medical malpractice lawsuits.

When the desire to lose the excess weight is so passionate that a major surgery is chosen the desired result is to live the new life with a new healthy body. When something goes wrong that result is not only lost physically bad, but emotionally bad.

via  InjuryBoard Virginia Beach.

“This is a consensus bill. Senator Bell, myself, Senator Knudson, members of the trial lawyers, members of the medical community all sat in a room last Friday, and for nearly two hours, hammered out the respective positions that you see in the substitute,” he said.

Read full story via  KCPW.