Larry Gornick chosen to lead Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium in California:  Larry Gornick will be the point man in California for the upcoming class action lawsuits against Toyota  ------  NHTSA considers imposing civil penalty over Toyota recalls:  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today sharply criticized Toyota Motor Corp.'s handling of two major recalls. NHTSA is considering imposing civil penalties on Toyota for its conduct.  ------  Toyota owners file class action lawsuit:  Toyota car owners in Cincinnati asked a judge Tuesday to force the auto maker to pay their lease and car loan payments until the company fixes a problem with sticking accelerator pedals.  ------  Toyota accused of concealing safety issues from public:  A ruling expected soon in the suit could make public thousands of internal Toyota documents that show the company conspired to hide evidence in court.  ------  First NSF/Gadolinium case goes to trial in San Francisco:  Early signs of how each side could fare at trial in hundreds of lawsuits over contrasting agents that allegedly cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis are expected to come out of a San Francisco courtroom.  ------  FDA Panel Suggests Bayer, GE MRI Drugs Be Restricted:  A panel of medical experts on Tuesday suggested drugs made by General Electric Co. and Bayer AG be restricted to people without severe kidney problems amid reports they may cause a fatal thickening and hardening of the skin.

Gadolinium MRI Dye Side Effects Lawsuit - Attorneys

 

Gadolinium

Gadolinium Side Effects

NSF / NFD

Gadolinium Lawsuits

 

7 News Boston - Special Report    Watch the video
Dying for an MRI
Sunbeam Television Corp.
October 29, 2008

Tonight, a shocking 7News investigation. Tens of millions of Americans have been injected with dye during routine MRI exams. And some claim that procedure left them with a debilitating and potentially deadly new disease. 7's Victoria Block investigates in "Dying For An MRI."

His skin is tight and shiny. And just gripping a steering wheel is painful and dangerously difficult.

Rich Ivancic, victim
"My hands and fingers, I can't physically make my fingers close."

Her skin is so painful, it's debilitating.

Ann Wingren, victim
"You basically end up like a burn victim. Most people get up in the morning and decide what they are going to wear. I decide what I'm going to be able to do."

Both have nephrogenic system fibrosis, or NSF, a recently discovered disease that cripples its victims, even kills them. Their skin and internal organs progressively harden. Patients say its like their body is turning to stone.

What's shocking is how Rich and Ann apparently got it.

Rich Ivancic, victim
"I look at my life, I wonder a lot of times why do these things happen. What did I ever do?"

Both believe they got it from a dye injected into them during a routine medical test, an MRI.

Ann Wingren, victim
"The fact that a man-made drug would run me down never entered my head."

The dye that was injected into them contained the metal gadolinium. All dyes used for MRIs contain this metal.

The key factor is how the dye is made. Some manufacturers use a process that keeps the metal from entering the bloodstream. But a few use a different process, and its these dyes the victims claim made them so sick.

In healthy people, no matter how the dye is made, the metal passes through the body and doesn't cause a problem. But Rich and Ann have kidney disease. Their kidneys couldn't flush the metal out and it stayed in their system, poisoning them.

Some experts fear the same thing is happening to tens of thousands of other people who've had MRIs.

Dr. Jonathon Kay, NSF expert
"This works out to about 45 to 60,000 people who might have NSF. This is a very large problem."

In 2006, the FDA issued an alert warning that people with kidney disease should not be given dyes with gadolinium. But it was a warning that came too late for many.

Now almost 400 lawsuits have been filed by NSF victims in the U.S. alone with hundreds more expected this year. In the suits, victims claim the dye makers ignored evidence of problems when the dye was tested on animals. One lawsuit claims that when the dye was "injected into laboratory animals" researchers found "consistent patterns of toxicity."

Larry Gornick, represents NSF victims
"They've basically have taken their lives. These people are dying in a horrible way, hardening to death so a person figuratively turns to stone."

Peter Gerber is one of those people. He's fighting desperately to stay alive.

Peter Gerber, NSF victim
"No one has come up with a cure for this. I don't know what's going to happen."

Once a month he flies from San Francisco to Massachusetts General Hospital to be part of an experimental treatment program run by Dr. Kay.

Dr. Jonathon Kay, NSF expert
"I'm very concerned about the scope of this problem. This a condition that has been fatal in over half of the patients that I've seen."

A fact not lost on NSF victims struggling to stay hopeful in the face of a grim reality.

Peter Gerber, NSF victim
"The end of my life does not look very pleasant."

We reached out to the makers of the dye at the center of these lawsuits. Some told us they wouldn't comment because of the pending litigation. Others said their dye is safe.

And we want to stress that doctors believe if you are healthy, you don't need to worry about having an MRI using any kind of dye. But if you have kidney problems, you definitely want to speak with your doctor about what kind of dye will be used.

 

 

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