New York Defective Products Lawyer | Manhattan Automobile Defects Attorney

"Quality Service With My Personal Attention"

Welcome to the New York Defective Products Law Firm of Leandros A. Vrionedes, P.C. We have offices in New York City, and serve clients in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, and Westchester. For over fifteen years, our lawyers have provided legal representation and advice to individuals and their families in New York involved in defective products cases, including consumer products, drugs and medicines, industrial and manufacturing machinery, medical devices, and automobiles and other motor vehicles. This is a firm dedicated to providing the finest legal representation to the injured public throughout New York.

We provide expert and individualized service for your specific defective product law needs. The cornerstone of our success is the quality relationship, which we maintain with our clients and/or their families. Our New York Law Firm focuses on intelligent legal representation and pledge to listen to and communicate with clients. As New York Lawyers, we treat our Clients with integrity and respect for their needs, goals and objectives.

Defective products harm millions of people every year. Manufacturers of products can be sued for design defects, improper safety devices and manufacturing defects. Products Liability cases may involve:dangerous toys, automobile design, sport utility vehicle rollovers, gas tank explosions, seat belt failures, improperly designed consumer and household products, industrial machinery & equipment, farm machinery, tractors and equipment, products causing explosions and burns, and aviation products. In any products case it is important to save the product or have an attorney act quickly to investigate and preserve the evidence.

There are three main categories for defective product cases. They are 1) Design defects, flaws in the design of the product; 2) Manufacturing defects, specific defects that occur during the manufacturing process of a product; and 3) Failure to warn consumers of the potential dangers and risks of the product.

Drugs and Medicines

Drug companies may send to market a drug that has not been adequately tested or may cause unforeseen side affects. Such drugs have been Vioxx, Phen Phen, Baycol, fosamax, celebrex, and crestor. They can cause a variety of side effects, which include heart attack, stroke and death. Please call us if you have suffered any side effects from a prescription you are taking including:

Avandia

Avandia (also known as rosiglitazone) improves blood sugar control in adults with type-two (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Generally, Avandia, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline, is used in conjunction with other drugs, as well as diet and exercise, to control blood sugar. While Avandia has been shown to greatly assist in treating type-two diabetes, it has also been associated with some dangerous side effects.

The FDA warns that individuals at risk for heart failure, fluid retention, or active liver disease should avoid taking Avandia. Patients taking the drug may also be at risk of developing primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), a cardiovascular disease. Most doctors associate PPH with a higher-than normal blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. PPH has also been associated with the development of heart valve disease and heart valve defects. In fact, the FDA reports that existing data suggests that patients receiving short-term treatment with Avandia may have a 30% to 40% increased risk of heart attack and other adverse heart-related events. The FDA also warns that individuals with type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes) or diabetic ketoacidosis (dangerously high levels of ketones) should not take Avandia. Moreover, women taking Avandia have been found to face a greater risk of bone fracture.

Chantix

Chantix (also known as verenicline) is used as a smoking cessation drug. However, it has been linked to serious neuropsychiatric symptoms, including changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, and suicide. Patients may have experienced these types of symptoms as a result of nicotine withdrawal, but some patients taking Chantix who experienced these symptoms had not yet discontinued smoking. In most cases, neuropsychiatric symptoms developed during Chantix treatment, but in other instances, symptoms developed following withdrawal of Chantix therapy. The FDA issued a health advisory notice regarding Chantix on February 1, 2008.

Duragesic

The Duragesic (also known as the fentanyl transdermal system) patch is used by patients with moderate to severe chronic pain, who have been taking a regular narcotic pain medicine for longer than a week. Each patch contains a three day dose of fentanyl gel which is designed to release a steady dose of the analgesic through a rate controlled membrane. Patients must avoid exposing the patch to excessive heat because this exposure promotes the release of fentanyl from the patch. This increases the absorption of fentanyl through the skin, which can result in nausea, sedation, drowsiness, or a fatal overdose. The FDA issued an alert regarding the use of Duragesic on July 15, 2005, which was updated in December 21, 2007. As recently as June 2007, a Florida family was awarded $5.5 million dollars in the wrongful death verdict of a 28 year old man following the first United States Duragesic patch trial.

Heparin

Heparin is a blood-thinning drug that contains an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from China. The drug has been known to cause allergic or hypersensitive reactions, with symptoms such as low blood pressure, angioedema, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The FDA issued a recall of Heparin on February 11, 2008.

Reglan

Reglan (also known as metoclopramide) is used to as a short-term treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease and to treat diabetic gastroparesis (slowed emptying of the stomach’s contents into the intestines), as it increases the rate at which the stomach empties into the intestines. Reglan has been linked to tardive dyskinesia, which can include involuntary and repetitive movements of the body, such as lip smacking, grimacing, tongue protrusion, rapid eye movements or blinking, puckering and pursing of the lips, or impaired movement of the fingers. Often these symptoms are irreversible once they manifest themselves. The FDA has imposed a warning regarding the long-term or high-does use of Reglan on February 26, 2009.

Trasylol

Trasylol (also known as aprotinin) is a drug that is manufactured by Bayer, which comes from bovine lung tissue. It is used to reduce the risk of bleeding in patients during open heart surgery. Trasylol is often used when a patient is undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), using cardiopulmonary bypass. A 2006 New England Journal of Medicine study, determined that patients given Trasylol had an increased risk of renal (kidney) failure, myocardial infarction (heart attack), and stroke, than patients who received no medication. In addition, a 2008 Canadian study, which published its findings in 2008, indicated that Trasylol increased the risk of death, as compared to other drugs that were used to decrease the risk of bleeding. As a result, Trasylol has been removed from general use on patients, as noted in a in a May 14, 2008 release from the FDA.

Medical Devices

Gadolinium

Gadolinium is a contrast agent for MRI. Gadolinium, or gadodiamide, provides greater contrast between normal tissue and abnormal tissue in the brain and body. Gadolinium looks clear like water and is non-radioactive. After it is injected into a vein, Gadolinium accumulates in the abnormal tissue that may be affecting the body or head. Gadolinium causes these abnormal areas to become very bright (enhanced) on the MRI. This makes it very easy to see. Gadolinium is then rapidly cleared from the body by the kidneys.

New reports have identified a possible link between NSF/NFD and exposure to gadolinium containing contrast agents. Nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD) causes thickening and hardening of the skin, often in the extremities, and occurs in patients with underlying renal disease.

The FDA has learned of cases of NSF/NFD in patients with kidney failure who received gadolinium-containing contrast agent. The FDA is actively investigating whether exposure to a gadolinium-contrast agent is associated with the development of NSF/NFD.

Bard® Composix® Kugel® Mesh Hernia Patch

The Bard® Composix® Kugel® Mesh Patch is used to repair ventral (incisional) hernias caused by thinning or stretching of scar tissue that forms after surgery. The patch is placed behind the hernia defect through a small incision. The patch is then held open by a "memory recoil ring" that allows the patch to be folded for insertion and later spring open and lay flat once it is in place.

The "memory recoil ring" that opens the Bard® Composix® Kugel® Mesh Patch can break under the stress of placement of the large sized products in the intra-abdominal (inside the belly area) space. This can lead to bowel perforations (rupture) and/or chronic (recurring) intestinal fistulae (abnormal connections or passageways between the intestines and other organs).

Automobiles and Other Motor Vehicles

Motor vehicle defect claims may be based on defects in the body and frame, brakes and braking system, cooling and temperature control system, electrical system, engine assembly, exhaust system, fuel system, lubrication system, passenger compartment, steering and suspension systems, transmission and drivetrain, and other parts and accessories.

A vehicle manufacturer or seller's liability for a car defect is controlled by the doctrine of strict liability. Regardless of what steps a manufacturer or dealer says it takes in designing, assembling, or handling a motor vehicle, you can make a strict liability claim based on a motor vehicle defect -- without making any showing as to negligence-- if all three of the following conditions exist: 1) The vehicle or one of its components had an "unreasonably dangerous" defect that injured you. The defect can come into existence either in the design of the vehicle, during manufacture, during handling or shipment (i.e. delivery from the manufacturer), or through a failure to warn consumers of a dangerous aspect of the vehicle. 2) The defect caused an injury while the vehicle was being used in a way that it was intended to be used. 3) The vehicle had not been substantially changed from the condition in which it was originally sold.

Motor vehicle defects include:

Airbags - Defective airbags include those that deploy with too much force, deploy in minor collisions when they are not otherwise needed, or fail to deploy under circumstances in which they should.

Sudden unintended acceleration - occurs when a vehicle uncontrollably accelerates when a vehicle is shifted into drive or reverse.

Tires – Poor tire shoulder design can lead to tread separation causing a serious accident.

Rollovers - The high center of gravity and relatively narrow wheelbase of SUVs increase their susceptibility to rollover.

Seatbelts - Some automatic shoulder belts are poorly designed and have been known to decapitate or otherwise seriously injure occupants when not used properly. Some seat belts have even been known to separate from their base upon impact, thus providing no protection to the occupant.
Passenger ejection – A passenger can be ejected due to faulty seat belts, collapsing seat backs and rollovers.

Crashworthiness and design – Several examples are exploding gas tanks and design flaws that fail to properly protect passengers during a crash.

See monthly motor vehicle recall reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.