According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, women who use hormone therapy after menopause may be at a higher risk of ovarian cancer, and the risk remains elevated for up to two years after women stop taking estrogen. What’s more, even a relatively short duration of hormone therapy, less than four years, is associated with a 30 to 40 percent higher risk of ovarian cancer in current users, researchers said.

Hormone therapy has been linked to health hazards in the past. Notably, part of a long- term government run study known as the Women’s Health Initiative was stopped early in 2002 because women who took hormones for many years had an increased risk of breast cancer, stroke, heart disease, and blood clots in their lungs and legs. Since then, the use of hormones, once offered to millions of older women to treat menopause symptoms and potentially protect against heart disease, has dropped dramatically. Breast cancer rates have also dropped, most likely because of decline long- term hormone use, experts say.

“Women currently taking hormones seem to reduce their risk of ovarian cancer by quitting hormone use,” says study author Linda Steinrud Morch of Rigshospitalet- Copenhagen University, in Denmark. “The risk warrants consideration when deciding whether to use hormone therapy, particularly if a woman has a special predisposition for ovarian cancer. She should consider not taking hormones.”


For more information see: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/14/ovarian .cancer.hrt/index.html

Labels: blood clot, breast cancer, heart disease, Journal of American Medicine Association, menopause symptoms, ovarian cancer

In a report released by the New York Department of Investigation, staffers at a Brooklyn hospital were accused of falsifying medical records and lying to authorities in an attempt to cover up the neglect of a patient who died on the waiting room floor.

According to the report, Esmin Green, 49, was left sprawled on the emergency room floor for nearly 24 hours when she collapsed from a blood clot. After Green died, a senior nurse at the hospital made three false entries in Green’s medical records to make it appear as though she had been checking on the patient regularly. In actuality, Green had been ignored which was evidenced by a security camera capturing footage of her collapse and slow death. The nurse subsequently admitted that she fabricated entries into Green’s medical records because she was afraid of losing her job.

The city, which owns and operates the hospital, has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Green’s family for $2 million. However, Green’s family and relative stated that they hope the investigative report will lead to a criminal prosecution.

A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said the office is reviewing the report, but declined to comment on whether criminal charges will ensue.

Labels: blood clot, emergency room, hospital, medical records, NYC, wrongful death

Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy program, petitioned the FDA asking that it pull Ortho Evra from the market.

Otho Evra, more commonly known as the “birth control patch” or simply “the patch” is about twice as likely to cause blood clots as the birth control pill. That’s because women who use the patch are exposed to a dose of estrogen that is 60% higher than the dose in the pill.

Public Citizen has a long history of success in helping keep dangerous drugs off the market. To name a few victories:

• 1976: a Public Citizen petition lead an FDA ban of chloroform, a cancer-causing chemical, in cough medicine and toothpaste.
• 1982: Oraflex, an arthritis drug, was taken off the market after Public Citizen exposed that it was causing injuries, including death.
• 1985: Upon urging from Public Citizen, the FDA required a label change for aspirin warning of the link between Reye’s Syndrome and the use of aspirin in children.
• 1986: Public Citizen obtained a court order requiring the FDA to add a warning regarding Toxic Shock Syndrome to tampon labels.
• 1996: Public Citizen won a Supreme Court case, confirming the right of injured people to sue medical device manufacturers.
• 2000: Public Citizen lead efforts to ban Rezulin, a deadly diabetes drug.

To read the petition, click here: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2654

If you or someone you love has been hurt by Ortho Evra, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the expert Ortho Evra attorneys at Schlichter, Bogard and Denton for a free consultation.

Labels: birth control patch, blood clot, DVT, Ortho Evra, patch, Public CIitizen

Hundreds of women throughout the country are the victims of serious injuries caused by the NuvaRing. They have suffered strokes and blood clots, and many of them died. 150 or more women or their families have filed lawsuits against Organon, the maker of the NuvaRing, for the injuries and deaths it has caused.

The NuvaRing is a vaginal contraceptive ring that provides monthly birth control by inserting it against the cervix. It uses a type of synthetic hormone that is different from the one used in traditional birth control pills and is more dangerous.

If you or someone you love has been hurt by the NuvaRing, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the expert attorneys at Schlichter, Bogard & Denton for a free consultation.

nuvaring@uselaws.com
nationalinjuryattorneys@uselaws.com
314-621-6115

For more information, see the following links:

Woman warns others not to use NuvaRing

Schering-Plough, Akzo Nobel sued over NuvaRing contraceptive device

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over NuvaRing

Labels: attorney, birth control, blood clot, contraception, death, DVT, lawyer, Nuva Ring, NuvaRing, stroke, thrombosis