PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - David N. Juurlink, MD PhD AU - Laura Y. Park-Wyllie, PharmD MSc AU - Moira K. Kapral, MD MSc TI - The effect of publication on Internet-based solicitation of personal-injury litigants AID - 10.1503/cmaj.070652 DP - 2007 Nov 20 TA - Canadian Medical Association Journal PG - 1369--1370 VI - 177 IP - 11 4099 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/11/1369.short 4100 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/11/1369.full SO - CMAJ2007 Nov 20; 177 AB - Serious adverse drug events can prompt personal-injury lawsuits. However, the extent to which biomedical publication regarding drug-induced harm can influence the legal process has not been well characterized. Using an advanced Google search strategy, we determined the number of Internet “hits” for websites soliciting plaintiffs for medicolegal action before and after publication of a study that highlighted the risk of dysglycemia among patients taking the antibiotic gatifloxacin. We found that early online release and print publication were associated with an immediate and sustained increase in the number of websites soliciting plaintiffs for legal action.