According to recent studies, doctors and scientists discovered a number of serious and potentially fatal side effects linked to drug-coated arterial stents used to maintain structural integrity of blood vessels after angioplasties. The mesh-wire stents emit a drug intended to help prevent re-closure of the blood vessel, so that blood can flow through unobstructed. While well intentioned, these drugs can allegedly result in a fivefold increase in blood clotting-related injuries such as:

• Heart attacts
• Pulmonary embolisms
• Strokes
• Blood clots
• Deep vein thrombosis

Furthermore, many people have suffered severe physical allergic reactions to the drugs used in some of the stents. Some of these reactions include:

• Rash
• Pain
• Fever
• Blood pressure irregularities
• Itching
• Hives

There are number of cardiac stents, but the two most cited as potentially dangerous are the Johnson & Johnson Cypher Stent and the Boston Scientific Taxus Stent.

The Cypher Stent was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2003 to hold open arteries, and the Taxus Stent was approved in March 2004. There are almost 800,000 angioplasties performed each year to remove arterial blockage, but somewhere between 15% and 30% of all patients must undergo a second dangerous and expensive procedure to reopen the artery due to re-closure.

Then, in November 2006, the Cleveland Clinic released an analysis of 14 studies on drug-coated stents that detailed the link between blood clots and the chemicals embedded in the mesh wire. The researchers discovered that the drugs Sirolimus (Johnson & Johnson) and paclitaxel (Boston Scientific) were allegedly four to five times more likely to cause serious cardiac side effects. Recent estimates speculate that there are at least 290 blood clots and 60 deaths linked to the Cypher Stent, and a total of 85,000 Taxus Stents have been recalled in the last three years due to potential health safety risks.

The true danger of these defective medical devices is that their side effects often have no external symptoms to alert victims or their doctors to the potentially life-threatening problems going on in their bodies, and as such it is extremely difficult to treat or prevent their consequences.

If you or someone you love is the victim of the side effects of the Cypher or Taxus Stents, you need to take immediate action to protect your rights and your health. Let us fight the corporations that put their profits ahead of your safety in order to increase their profits and business profile. You must act quickly, for the statute of limitations in your state gives you only so much time to pursue your lawsuit, and once this period expires you have no legal way to collect restitution for your pain and suffering. We will work together to get you the justice you deserve. Contact us today.