Serious complaints are stemming from Medtronic Infuse bone graft patients. Although Medtronic sales spiked at $800 million as recently as 2011, it appears a litany of Medtronic lawsuits are poised to launch.

Complications tied to Medtronic products are deadly. They’ve ranged from difficulty swallowing to even death. A variety of patients are enduring so much pain it literally requires them to be on other precarious forms of medication such as Oxycontin.

One Californian woman in 2008 suffered respiratory arrest and died after receiving a Medtronic device following surgery. The family was quick to file suit against the medical device manufacturer, believing her death was caused by the faulty graft.

A completely separate study also indicated Medtronic devices could cause sterility among men. It’s an equally serious claim, that despite not carrying quite the same consequences of wrongful death, is placing immense scrutiny toward one of the largest medical supply companies currently operating.

Medtronic may be placed in a position where they distribute high sums over several lawsuits. It remains to be seen whether or not the amount of cases being filed will warrant a joint lawsuit that carries a significant penalty.

The third largest drug company, Merck, and fellow pharmaceutical partner, Scherling-Plough had agreed to pay out $688 million dollars to their investors after not coming forward with an unfavorable study of their top selling cholesterol drugs, Zetia and Vytorin.

Upon the drugs conception, Merck paid a research team to provide evidence that Zetia and Vytorin were the best in the industry at reducing cholesterol. Unfortunately for the company, the study suggested that the drugs were no better than a cheap generic statin drug for reducing plaque in arteries. The company did not want the results of the study to interfere with the sales of the pricey drug, and delayed releasing the unflattering results until 2008. After the news was released, the stocks plummeted, and the sale of the drugs also started declining rapidly.

Scherling-Plough will be ordered to pay $473 million while Merck will pay $215 million, a settlement which is widely seen as a triumph for private civil litigation. This is not the first time that the company has paid out over the concern of the two drugs, in 2009, both companies paid just over $40 million dollars to settle lawsuits from consumers and insurers, then $5.4 million from a civil protection suit.

Since the study was released, the two companies have been trying to get Zetia back in demand by combining it with Pfyzer drug, Lipitor, but were quickly rejected by the FDA.  Although many people have stopped taking the pricey cholesterol reducing-drugs, they are still one of the most popular brands on the market. If you have been the victim of a drug company’s wrongdoings, make sure you contact an experienced attorney to get you the compensation you deserve.

The number of lawsuits leveled against the PMDD medication company Yaz has risen significantly after the Federal Drug Administration ordered the company to place a stronger warning label on their product in April of 2012.

The stronger warning label states that ““some epidemiological studies reported as high as a three-fold increase in the risk of blood clots for drospirenone-containing products…whereas other epidemiological studies found no additional risk.”

A December 2011 FDA study found that women who take the birth control pills, which contain the active ingredient drospirenone , are at an increased risk of developing blood clots compared with women who take a contraceptive without drospirenone.

Despite the study, an FDA panel voted 15 to 11 to keep the controversial contraceptives on the shelves, deciding that the benefits of Yaz and drugs like it outweigh the risks. However, the panel did vote in a near unanimous decision to add stronger warning labels that specifically address the risk of blood clot.

Yaz has also been accused of dishonestly representing their product in television advertisements which has prompted the FDA to conduct a ‘corrective advertising’ study. The study will help to “answer questions about their recall and understanding of the benefit and risk information, their perceptions of the benefits and risks of the drug, and their intent to ask a doctor about the medication,”

In 2008 Bayer, which operates Yaz, was reprimanded by the FDA for minimizing the serious risks associated with the drug as well as broadening the drug’s indication to include PMS. The TV ads for the product were deemed to be in violation with federal statutes and regulation.

Stryker Corporation said on Wednesday that a hip implant recall that began in June of 2012 will cost up to $390 million for treatment, new surgeries, lawsuits and insurance payments.

The company said that is has raised the low end of its expectations for these unforeseen costs and have also raised their related financial reserves. This will result in a 35 cent charge per share for shareholders or an estimated $174 million before taxes.

Stryker, a manufacturer of power tools, surgical accessories, and hospital beds, recalled its ABG II and Rejuvenate modular-neck hip devices in June after discovering there was a risk of corrosion, which may result in local tissue damage as well as pain and swelling. The recall came after other orthopedic device manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson, took similar action sparking the largest hip replacement recall ever. Stryker provided the new cost information early January after projecting their finances for the next quarter and full year.

Broadspire Services was hired as a third-party claims administrator to help the company deal with patients who need to have their recalled hip implants replaced.

The final price tag for the recall depends on the number of patients who require testing and follow-up procedures as well as the cost of lawsuits.

Stryker has released a statement advising anybody who currently has either the Rejuvenate or ABG II modular-neck hip implants to consult a doctor.

The company said that blood tests, X-rays, MRIs or ultrasound evaluations may be needed to examine the device. Replacements that are made of exclusively metal, known as metal on metal, are particularly troublesome. In addition to high failure rates, these models may release metals into the blood stream over time.

Researchers are unsure of the long term effects of high levels of metal in the blood stream.

With the current reported cases of flu on the rise, all indications point to yet another breakout epidemic for the dreaded debilitating illness. If you’ve personally been holding off on acquiring a flu shot, now is the time to have yourself treated to avoid a serious headache down the line.

Medical reports are now suggesting people are building a higher resistance to antibiotics throughout the flu season, in some cases rendering them highly ineffective in treating the individual. Simple statistics would point that a higher tolerance can mostly be attributed to the increased amount of registered prescriptions for antibiotics during the seasonal flu period.

It has long been known that doctors should not prescribe their patients antibiotics outside of situations that call for them specifically, the fear being antibiotics becoming essentially irrelevant to the user in treatment. The cases have prompted a series of lawsuits that have placed further scrutiny upon the use of antibiotics as a form of treatment.

The excessive amount of antibiotics used throughout the flu season raises other concerns. A certain line of antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, is raising red flags on its own. Some patients have reported retina detachment as well as an even more alarming overall blindness.

Such reports stress the importance of doctors following the important regimen for prescribed medicines throughout the season ahead. Talk with your doctor about your line of treatment should you find yourself under the weather this year.