Heart disease and respiratory ailments are responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans each year. Many of these cases are preventable but sadly some are prompted by exposure to dangerous products. Diseases like asbestosis, conditions like heart attacks and even specific heart valve diseases have all been tied to various exposures to defective drugs, products and chemicals. Some of these cases, illnesses and deaths could have been avoided with proper testing of medications and proper warning.
One such illness, Asbestosis, is a disease caused by chronic and continued exposure to the asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral that is actually toxic to humans. Asbestosis is not a type of cancer rather it is a respiratory illness brought on by scarring of the lungs from the presence of asbestos fibers in lung tissue. The scarring prevents the lungs from properly expanding and contracting limiting a patient’s ability to breathe and therefore limiting daily function. Asbestosis infection can range from serious to manageable because it hinges on the exposure to asbestosis and on the lifestyle habits of the sufferer – i.e. whether or not the person was a cigarette smoker.
Another example of a drug bringing on a serious cardiac or respiratory problem is the drug Fen-Phen and its link to the development of life threatening heart valve disease. The Mayo clinic ultimately discovered the problem when they had to do 25 heart valve replacement surgeries on users of Fen-Phen and when they conducted analysis of the diseased tissues they found distinct commonality. The heart valve disease developed by users of Fen-Phen, a would-be miracle diet pill that rose to popularity in the 1990’s, can be treated surgically or in a non-invasive manner depending on the age, physical condition heart structure of a patient. Heart valve disease can lead to more serious heart conditions as well as to compensatory problems with your respiratory and circulatory systems.
Finally, probably one of the most well documented cases of disease developed from products is that of Merck and their Cox-2 Inhibitor, Vioxx. Cox-2 inhibitors were hailed as a miracle drug for arthritis sufferers worldwide because they supposedly brought the benefits of NSAID drugs for pain relief and reduction of muscle and joint inflammation without the side effects of gastrointestinal distress. Unfortunately, Merck did not publicize the disturbing effects of Vioxx on patients with any kind of heart condition. Merck ultimately pulled Vioxx from the market in 2004 just before a number of damning studies linking Vioxx and thousands of patient deaths and heart attacks were released. In a single study 27,000 sudden cardiac deaths were linked to Vioxx. Similarly, certain HRT drugs, like Premarin, Premphase and Prempro are also well known to cause heart attacks.
This kind of massive product liability is bad for companies, bad for patients and promoted massive individual and class action lawsuits. If you or someone you love has developed a cardiac or reparatory problem because of exposure to a drug or defective product, you should contact a reputable product liability or personal injury attorney as soon as possible.