NEW YORK, April 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the wake of Bayer's announcement that it had pulled its controversial heart surgery drug Trasylol from the market in November 2007 after a Canadian study suggested that its use increased surgical complications and death rates, nationally known plaintiffs' advocates Napoli Bern Ripka & Associates, LLP by Marc Jay Bern, a Senior Partner at the firm, who oversees the firm's Trasylol litigation, have filed another lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of a heart surgery patient who after being administered Trasylol (Aprotonin), experienced renal failure requiring ongoing medical treatment.
The lawsuit, Gary A. Rowlett and Roxie A. Rowlett v. Bayer Corporation, et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The patient, Gary A. Rowlett experienced renal failure after aortic valve replacement where Trasylol (Aprotinin), a drug used to minimize intraoperative bleeding, was administered. A case filed earlier by Napoli Bern Ripka & Associates, Randone v. Bayer, was the subject of a profile on the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes," on February 17, 2008, entitled "One Thousand Lives A Month." Mr. Randone suffered kidney failure and other serious complications caused by his physicians' use of Trasylol that ultimately resulted in his death.
The Ottawa Health Research Institute stopped their study of Trasylol in 3,000 heart bypass and valve surgery patients, upon their finding that while those given the drug suffered less intraoperative bleeding, they had a 50% higher chance of dying post surgically than those patients who were given one or another of two older medical alternatives. Dr. John K. Jenkins, an official of the Food and Drug Administration, said the "F.D.A. could not identify a specific patient population where the benefits of using Trasylol could outweigh the risks." The F.D.A. said that the fact that the Ottawa group ended their study early was a strong factor in their decision to request that Bayer withdraw the drug from the market.
About the Firm:
Napoli Bern Ripka & Associates, LLP, a nationally-known law firm advocating on behalf of injured plaintiffs in pharmaceutical and environmental tort matters, is based in Manhattan and Great River, New York, and has offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. The firm has successfully litigated claims of thousands of persons injured by the diet drugs Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine (Reduxtm), Rezulin, Propulsid and represents clients in environmental claims arising from petroleum spills and MTBE contamination throughout the eastern United States, as well as over ten thousand plaintiffs suffering toxic exposure injuries after working on the debris pile at the site of the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 attacks.