HACKARD & HOLT IN THE NEWS
Leading Rezulin Attorney Representing W. Virginia Woman in Lawsuit Against Warner-Lambert.
Issue: Nov 10, 2000
Action Among Mounting Wave of Litigation Claiming Severe Liver Damage From Recalled Diabetes Treatment
MARTINSBURG, W.Va., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ --
The attorney representing a West Virginia woman suffering from life-threatening liver damage filed suit in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg against Warner-Lambert Co., alleging that 70-year-old Anna Warriner of Ranson, W.Va., is among hundreds and perhaps thousands of people severely injured by Warner-Lambert's diabetes treatment, Rezulin.
Warriner, who was prescribed Rezulin for three years, is now being treated for severe abdominal swelling from fluid retention and is all but incapacitated by elevated ammonia levels in her blood. She and her husband, Ralph Warriner, have retained Michael Hackard of Sacramento, Calif., an attorney experienced in pharmaceutical liability who is representing more than 146 former Rezulin patients throughout the United States. Ten of Hackard's clients have received liver transplants and many more are on transplant waiting lists.
As in Hackard's other Rezulin cases, the suit filed on behalf of Anna Warriner alleges a reckless drive to produce a pharmaceutical blockbuster motivated Warner-Lambert's decision-making on Rezulin, a treatment for adult-onset diabetes.
Prior to its 1997 release, Rezulin was placed on a "fast-track" approval schedule after the company pressured U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials and even lobbied them to have a scientist critical of Rezulin removed from the process. Almost 2 million diabetes patients received Rezulin prescriptions after its FDA approval, earning Warner-Lambert an estimated $1 billion. Warner-Lambert pulled Rezulin from the market March 21 at the urging of the FDA.
The first sign of trouble for Anna Warriner came in August 1999, when she started having problems with balance, her memory and at times even her speech, said Ralph Warriner. Doctors took her off Rezulin two months later when they discovered liver failure was causing abdominal swelling, a condition that steadily worsened. After five procedures that drained 65 liters of fluid from her abdomen, surgeons inserted a shunt in an attempt to recirculate the excess liquid. Then another, more terrifying result of liver failure became apparent. Rising levels of ammonia poisoning her system shut down the part of her brain that controls motor skills.
After a lengthy hospital stay, she is slowly recovering at home. But it's far from the life she led, in which she raised six children and enjoyed crafts.
"Now, with her uncontrolled shaking, she can't really do those things. But she tries," Ralph Warriner said.
With her liver functioning at about 20 percent, there's room for hope, Warriner said. However, his wife is too ill to survive a liver transplant.
"It looks like somebody got to somebody in order to get Rezulin approved," he added.
Hackard has created a website -- www.rezulininfo.com -- detailing Rezulin's history and describing legal recourses. Hackard's law firm -- Hackard & Holt -- can be reached at 888-452-5805 or by email at hackard@hackardlaw.com.