Injury @ MindSay

Modern medicine has become remarkably adept at treating a variety of shoulder, knee and hip injuries through arthroscopic surgery that repairs injuries that used to keep people, particularly athletes, on the shelf for months or years.

Now, it’s not uncommon to see a professional athlete recover in a matter of weeks from these injuries and such operations are becoming more and more commonplace even down to high school athletes.

However, there is still no getting around the pain the follows such surgery and heavy doses of serious narcotics such as codeine and morphine may be necessary during the recovery process.

While these drugs can be taken orally, another medical advance, the shoulder pain pump, is frequently used to pump pain medication directly into the shoulder through a catheter and provide more direct and effective relief.

Finely-tuned athletes, of course, recover faster than the rest of us who may undergo such surgery for arthritis, tears or other injuries. But for all of us there is no escape from the painful recovery and these pumps can be a godsend.

Be aware, however, that there can be a serious downside with the use of these pumps. Cartilage damage – with the tongue-twisting medical tag of Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis  -- can occur.

An American Journal of Sports Medicine published study found that for some patients the result can be long-lasting and even permanent damage that is extremely painful and can cause a debilitating restriction of the shoulder even worse than the original injury.

This can take several weeks to show up through symptoms such as shoulder weakness, grinding or popping noises, an inability to completely use the shoulder again or pain that won’t go away.

There also have been questions raised about the whether the devices have been thoroughly reviewed and whether the dangers outweigh the gains. Numerous lawsuits have been filed and legal Web sites are advertising for victims and class-action suits discussed.

It appears that while the shoulder pain pumps can be effective for many patients who undergo arthroscopic surgery others can be seriously affected in a negative way.

 

 

Pain Pump Class Action

Modern medicine has come a long way in helping us prevent illness or the spread of diseases.  But the question of are these drugs being tested enough to keep us safe?

 

Levaquin is one such drug that we will look into.  Levaquin is a synthetic drug agent that is primarily used to treat severe bacterial infections. It is in the fluoroquinolone class of antiinfectives.

 

Levaquin is manufactured by the US Company Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  The FDA approved this drug back in 1996 for use in the US for fighting massive bacterial infections. This drug reportedly has made Ortho-McNeil-Janssen over 1.6 billion in sales.

 

Presently there is concern in the medical community related to sever side effects from the use of Levaquin and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics. This drug can be administered in various ways – the most common being in tablet forms. Other methods also include an oral solution and an injection type of administration.

 

The dangers of these types of fluoroquinolone products including Levaquin have been profound. While the vast majority of injures include tendon damage or tendon ruptures, there are also reports of nerves injuries, joint pains, and cardiac effects.   

 

Many in the medical community believe that quinolones may be toxic to human tissue.

Anaphylactic reactions and allergic skin reactions, serious, occasionally fatal, may occur after first dose.  Severe, and sometimes fatal, hepatoxicity has been reported. Central nervous system effects, including convulsions, anxiety, confusion, depression, and insomnia may occur after the first dose.

 

The FDA Issues Warning on Levaquin Labels.

When the FDA took note of the side effects being seen in the population, it issued a label change for the drug to fully illustrate the warnings associated with taking quinolones including Levaquin. 

 

The following is the actual warning from the FDA:

Fluoroquinolones, including LEVAQUIN®, are associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture in all ages. This risk is further increased in older patients usually over 60 years of age, in patients taking corticosteroid drugs, and in patients with kidney, heart or lung transplants [See Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].

Source: accessdata.fda.gov

 

 

We have noted that the legal community is preparing strong actions against Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, as websites for victims of these injuries have started to appear. Many are seeking compensation from the know side effects, especially the tendon rupture type cases.

Levaquin Settlement

I've had the chance in the last three days to actually earn some $$$..included in this labor was a roofing job. I found that I still have most of the flexibility I had earlier in life.
Somewhere in all that I hyper-extended my right knee and now have limited range and a lot of pain..ugh!
Even sitting here at my AgedMac hurts..
gonna go recline

when you draw blood that's a sign to stop for the day. I was finishing up a few pieces. the room was  getting warm. abi was meowing for lunch and well I knew it was time to stop but I laid out some ovals of organza to begin a new piece called les chat. when my mind went somewhere else for just a second and prick. ouch! expletive deleted and I decided I had better get out of the heat and some some cold liquids in me.
this is what I was doing before the blood started seeping onto the work...

So it turns out the crackling noise my knee makes when I bend it is caused my inflamation under the kneecap. Perhaps I shouldn't of said I might need surgery on it a few weeks ago. That was overspeculating. But you know what, if it didn't worry me, I wouldn't of got it checked out.

 

I'm getting this sleeve cusion thingy to support my knee soon. It shouldn't cost much. Hopefully my knee will stop crackling before it actually does cause me pain.

 

I'm also weening off the anti-depressents I've been taking for a year and half now. I'm sick of how I feel like I'm going to faint everything I sit up/stand up after laying down for a bit.

 

Tonight was the last dance of the year at Westgate, and the 1st one for the semester for me. I went with Mikko, Nigel and Chris. The theme was "around the world" and they did makeup like a Norwegean heavy metal band. I wish I did that, but oh well. I had my hair wavy and wore a black and white tank top, jeans and a pair of heals from payless. I now know why I don't wear heals often: the only pair of heals I own are shit!!! I now have blisters and my feet ache. I guess thats what I get for walking around in 3 year old shoes that only cost $25.

Anyways though, we only stayed at the dance for a little over an hour because it was extremely boring. Afterwards we went out and got pizza and icecream and such. After THAT we hung out and Mikko and Nigel played frizeebee while Chris and I chatted. I got to say, the time after the dance was much more fun than before. We laughed, talked about life, and really just became better friends since we don't hang out like that often. I can only hope there are many more times like that to come.

 

Anyways I'm exhauted and ready to go to bed. I'll see you all later:)

 

-Kristal