Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Marilynn Marchione reports on surprising new research that suggest, “Giving babies Tylenol to prevent fever when they get childhood vaccinations may backfire and make the shots a little less effective” (AP for FinLaw, 10/16). The new research, which only studied the use of Tylenol to prevent fever, not its effect in reducing a fever, is the first substantial study about the potential link between the use of fever-reducing medicines and reduced immunity.

Although the research also suggests that the vast amount a children still received enough protection from the vaccines despite ingesting Tylenol, the “results make a ‘compelling case’ against routinely giving Tylenol right after vaccination… Tylenol or its generic twin, acetaminophen, is widely recommended as a painkiller for babies. Many parents give it right before or after a shot to prevent fever and fussiness, and some doctors recommend this.”

Developing a fever after a vaccination is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is natural part of the body’s response to the vaccination. Some other researchers suggest that although “there’s been speculation for a long time that the use of [fever reducers] might [have] an effect on antibody production after vaccination…this is far from proved [and] given that so few children develop high fevers after vaccinations, skipping the meds unless fever develops might be the way to go.”

As a products liability and medical negligence lawyer, I am intrigued be the results of this study. Since the results suggest that there is little to no risk of holding off on giving children a fever reducing medicine until after a fever develops, parents may want to consider waiting to give their children Tylenol or other fever reducers. Further research should clarify the actual risk of ingesting Tylenol after a vaccination.

The Chicago Tribune reported attorney general Lisa Madigan called for nursing home reform in Illinois and instructed nursing homes to “beef up inspections and improve record keeping of criminal activity,” in order to protect elderly and disabled citizens from mentally ill felons who live in the same facilities (David Jackson and Gary Marx, 10/8). She called for the nursing homes to work with the state police to perform an immediate review of the criminal history of every felon currently residing in a nursing home so that they can be appropriately monitored. Despite being required by law, these reviews are the target of reform because they have been inadequate by overlooking or downplaying violent crimes.

Madigan, who supported the 2006 state law requiring criminal background screenings for all new nursing home admissions, is encouraging the health department and state police to inspect problematic nursing homes, and is further urging the health department to “hault the operations of facilities that fail to comply with patient protection laws.” Governor Pat Quinn’s office announced the first meeting of the new Nursing Home Safety Task Force, which was formed in response to the Tribune Series, Compromised Care, for Thursday October 8, 2009.

As a nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer, I am pleased to see the actions taken by the Illinois government to address the widespread problem of patient safety. Adequate background checks prior to nursing home admissions are critical to maintaining patient safety, and as such should be monitored thoroughly.

The Food and Drug Administration is “alerting doctors that a widely-used blood thinner has been reformulated to improve its safety, though the change could open the door to dosing errors” (AP for FindLaw, 10/1). The FDA is alerting doctors about the change in potency so they will be aware that patients may need higher dosages to achieve the same effect.

The drug, Heparin, will be ten percent less potent than the original drug. The change was designed to make it easier to spot impurities in the drug, which was linked last year to hundreds of life-threatening allergic reactions and deaths. As a result of the problems with contamination, “the drug was recalled by Baxter International and the U.S. blocked imports from a Chinese company that supplied the key ingredient.”

As a Chicago lawyer who has seen too many disastrous drug cases, I am pleased to see the FDA’s actions in communicating to doctors the changes in a drug. Changes in drug composition can be especially dangerous after the drug has been on the market and doctors are accustomed to prescribing the drug. Under such circumstances, it is extremely important that doctors be made aware of changes so they can prescribe accordingly.