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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Drug companies should be taken to task when warranted
Dear Mr. Rockefeller,
My mother took Celebrex
for three years, until she
had a heart attack and suf
fered seizures in 2004. My
mom did not die until July
2006 at age 84; I had to
take care of her all of these
years, as she suffered from
mild dementia. Can I sue
Celebrex’s manufacturer?
Dear Reader. It pains me
when I receive calls about
situations like your moth
er’s, because a family’s grief
never seems to end. We are
bombarded with misleading
advertisements by “TV law
yers” suggesting anyone who
has used Bextra, Celebrex,
Vioxx or some other drug,
has a money-making law
suit. I hate how this makes
the rest of us look.
Drug companies, who
rush drugs to market with
insufficient testing and/or
warnings, should be taken
to task.
Similarly, you would think
Give the gift of real help
We’ve come to the end
of another year. It’s
time to think about
improvements for 2007.
I am blessed to work with
healthy, successful people
who want to get even better!
All the many years I spent
asking questions about what
I should do with my life have
allowed me to help motivat
ed individuals consider and
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The more experience I
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that whatever gifts and tal
ents we have, our greatest
satisfaction comes when we
help others.
I realize, however, that dif
ferent people mean different
things by the word “help.”
Some think the word is syn
onymous with “bail out.”
I worked for years with a
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had financial problems. I
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Larry Burkett’s “Christian
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on “How to Manage Your
Money.”
My friend participated in
one of my
courses.
Working
on his spe
cific needs,
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with him
person
ally many
times.
Despite
my efforts,
he would
it k
Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
occasionally come to me and
others asking for help with
some crisis with his car or
other expense. I guess I’m
a slow learner! It took sev
eral of these experiences to
realize that his definition of
help was very different from
mine!
When I work with success
ful, healthy business lead
ers, the help I provide is in
transforming their thinking.
I contend that most adult
learning comes from para
digm shifts. A new piece of
information changes the
way we perceive what had
previously been a situation
we thought we understood.
Sometimes we experience
a huge “Aha!” moment. I
appreciate so much those
awareness-enhancing situ
ations! And I love orches
trating them for competent
individuals who are intent
on getting better.
I recently heard respected
author Wayne Dyer share
this insight: “If you change
the way you look at things,
it changes the way things
look.” He never said the
words “paradigm shift,” but
that’s what he was describ
ing. It’s hard, however, to
break old habits.
To look at things differ
ently, it helps to have an
experienced ally to stimu
late you to consider different
options.
So let me ask you to con
sider a new look at your
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the FDA would do a better
job scrutinizing new drugs
coming on-line, particularly
those having new efficacy
pathways. Yet, as a society,
we all have
to absorb
some risk
in new
drugs with
promis
ing poten
tial of
extended
and a bet
ter qual
ity of life.
Because
fi '
1- .V.
Jta
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
we all have to assume some
of this risk, it is not always
easy to sue drug companies.
Your mom’s situation illus
trates this last comment.
Did you ask for an autopsy
to determine the exact cause
of death? This question is
relevant because, if you are
claiming that your mother
died due to the past use of
Celebrex, with your moth-
plans to contribute to the
improved capabilities of the
individuals who work with
you.
Think about Andy
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er’s age, you need to rule
out other explanations for
her death, such as natural
causes; this is that pesky
“proximate causation” issue
I have discussed in other col
umns. Hence, your potential
lawsuit might be limited to
two years of pain and suffer
ing, as opposed to suing over
your mom’s death.
Another legal “knot” is
somethingcalled the “statute
of limitations.” Generally, in
Georgia, you only have two
years to sue from the date
of injury. There are excep
tions extending this deadline
based on a minor being the
wronged party, the injury
not being “discovered” until
later, or something called
a “continuing harm.” Your
mom stopped using Celebrex
in 2004 or more than two
years ago, so that could be a
problem.
While none of the excep
tions discussed above apply,
there is one other that prob
Stanley’s comment in his
book entitled The Next
Generation Leader. One of
the sections is subtitled “
See HOOPER, page 6A
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
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ably does afford hope - a
four-year limitation appli
cable to a product’s liability
claim, i.e., the Celebrex was
either a defective product or
that it violated an implied
promise that it was safe if
used as prescribed.
Also, because Celebrex is
marketed throughout the
United States, you may not
be limited to a lawsuit in
Georgia and you can use
another state’s more favor
able rules to sue. This is
often done in drug cases
- most of the Vioxx cases
are filed in New Jersey or
California.
Ultimately, however, as
with any drug case, your
biggest problem will be
convincing a jury that your
mom’s heart attack and sei
zures were caused by the
Celebrex. In medicine, many,
many conditions are called
“idiopathic.”
This means that doctors
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just can’t say what caused
the condition, only that a
patient suffers; unfortunate
ly, not every health tragedy
has a logical genesis; bad
things happen to good peo
ple. And, my guess is that,
due to your mother’s age,
it will be hard to connect
her deterioration with the
Celebrex. Ultimately, I can
not say that you have a case;
hence, my comments about
the damage that TV lawyers
can do to good families try
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ing to move past the griev
ing.
Warner attorney
Jim Rockefeller is the for
mer Chief Assistant District
Attorney for Houston County,
and a former Assistant State
Attorney in Miami. Owner
of Rockefeller Law Center,
Jim has been in private
practice since 2000. E-mail
your comments or confi
dential legal questions to
ajrfarocke feller la weenter.
com.
Hours:
Mon. -Pri.
9:3oam-s:3opm
Sal.
9:3oam-2pm
PERRY
2031 Highway 41S
478987.1256
5A
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i
41223