Muscle Cream Overdose Causes Teen Athlete's Death

Ken Margolin — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:45:00 GMT

You've probably heard by now, of the sad case of Arielle Newman, the 17 year old track star, who died from using too much muscle cream. You know the products - the wintergreen scented balms with labels and ads claiming to transform the weekend athlete, into Michael Jordan in his prime. Most of these products contain the drug, methyl salicylate. Apparently, the young woman put adhesive pads over the cream, and used it in large quantities. Methyl salicylate can be toxic and cause respiratory and neurological problems. In the teen's case, the chemical was absorbed through her skin, ultimately in lethal quantities.

Although Ms. Newman's death from sports cream overdose, was extremely rare, the drug companies are not blameless. They overhype over-the-counter products, encouraging excessive use, exaggerating their effectiveness, and minimzing their risks. Preventable medication overdoses of over-the-counter drugs, become inevitable.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Asthma Drug Xolair Risks

Ken Margolin — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:30:00 GMT

Asthma is a highly-prevalent, yet also easily treatable condition. Drugs and inhalers can make asthma manageable for sufferers and enable them to suppress symptoms and to deal effectively with sudden, severe flare-ups. Asthma is often related to allergies and therefore responds to treatment by so-called "allergy shots." The benefit of this treatment is that the patient does not need to take medicine every day or carry around an inhaler all the time.

Xolair, produced by Genentech and Novartis, is a type of shot used to treat allergy-related asthma that has recently been linked to instances of anaphylaxis in some patients. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that has a very rapid onset and can be fatal. It causes swelling, severe respiratory distress, hives, fainting, and other reactions throughout the body. Anaphylaxis requires emergency medical treatment including the administration of steroids and oxygen. Xolair, in rare circumstances, can cause anaphylaxis, even in patients who have previously taken the shot without incident, and the life-threatening reaction can begin up to 24-hours after the shot if given. The FDA has therefore mandated that Xolair include labeling warning of this very dangerous side-effect and urges doctors to instruct patients in how to respond to an anaphylactic episode should one occur (e.g. having steroid syringes prepared for self-administration, etc.).

Fortunately, no deaths have been linked to Xolair, but the episode does point out the potentially catastrophic side-effects of other such allergy treatments, which can, in some individuals, actually trigger the very response they are supposed to prevent--but with a vengeance. In other cases of high-profit drugs that caused severe health problems, it turned out that manufacturers were aware of the danger, but chose not to publicize their knowledge until forced to do so. Vioxx is a prime example.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Boston Personal Injury Lawyer - FDA & Prescription Drugs

Muscle Cream Overdose Causes Teen Athlete's Death

Asthma Drug Xolair Risks