Medical malpractice lawsuits span all areas of medical study, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Yet the recent lawsuit regarding illegal bone cement experiments are some of the most serious and horrific lawsuits of all. When Barbara Marcelino died at the age of 83 in the middle of a spinal surgery, her family was sobered but not surprised. Her daughter admits that she didn’t know if her mother would survive the surgery because of its intensity.
Yet the entire family was appalled when they later got a call from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and learned that Barbara hadn’t died because she wasn’t physically able to pull through the surgery. She had died of an illegal experiment. During the surgery, the doctors chose to inject illegal bone cement into Barbara’s spine. The result of the experiment was the woman’s untimely death.
The government has filed criminal charges against the doctors at the hospital and the manufacturer making and selling the illegal bone cement. This company is known as Synthes. While most people have never heard of this company, it is a recognizable name in healthcare. While Synthes has had significant success in the past, the company has also endured some reputation-ruining recalls. In 2009, the company was accused of running illegal clinical trials and experimenting on humans without their consent or without government permission to do so.
In 2002 and 2004, Synthes created the product Norian XR, a substance that had the ability to turn into bone when it was injected into the human body. The Food and Drug Administration asked Synthes to discontinue Norian XR in certain spinal surgeries because of the dangers and unpredictability of the medicine. Synthes pushed forward with the product anyway. The result was at least five deaths from Norian.
According to Fortune, Synthes repeatedly ignored evidence of danger related to the bone cement, and continued to use it in operations without permission in order to test its effectiveness. The doctors responsible for using the bone cement have been questioned and may be sued. Fortune says that this is a terrifying discovery, as it shows that professional doctors are relying on the opinion of young sales representatives when performing life-threatening surgeries on their patients.
Before the death of Barbara Marcelino and the other patients who were injected with Norian, pages and pages of research showed that the bone cement had the tendency to form fatal blood clots in a patient. Synthes hid the evidence when they did their sales, and continued in off-label marketing even though it was illegal. Many medical companies are charged with off-label marketing every year, bringing on severe and fatal consequences.
According to CNN, the FDA cannot directly monitor surgeons. Because of this, doctors can prescribe any medications or procedures that they want to while they are working on a patient. They also can disregard warnings by the FDA and purchase off-label prescriptions like Norian. One worker at Synthes told reporters that she was specially trained by the company to teach doctors how to work with Norian. She says that she knew from the beginning that she was on thin ice, and could be severely punished for her actions.
If your loved one was injured or killed because the surgeon used an off-market prescription during surgery, or used a dangerous and illegal technique when performing surgery, then you have every right to litigate. Talk to a medical malpractice attorney right away for more information about how to seek compensation for your losses. You should hold medical personnel responsible for their mistakes by seeking damages from the hospital and the manufacturer of the dangerous medication or substance.