The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Beovu for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on October 7, 2019. Less than one year later, it was discovered that Beovu caused some patients to suffer a rare and very serious inflammatory condition called retinal vasculitis or retinal vascular occlusion.
The Sackler family, the owners of Purdue, will likely escape criminal liability for their alleged involvement in this crisis. However, just last week, pharmacy giants Walgreens and Walmart were found liable in federal court for their contribution to the opioid abuse epidemic in two Ohio counties. This first-of-its-kind verdict could serve as a harbinger for thousands of cities and counties that blame the companies for their part in the nation’s opioid crisis.
After the June recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initially approved Philips’ plan to “repair and replace” the defective foam with a different silicone-based foam. However, during a manufacturing facility inspection, the FDA later found that the silicone-based foam used in a similar device marketed outside the United States had failed a safety test for the release of certain concerning chemicals. As a result, the FDA warned Philips that the replacement machines may also be defective.
Plaintiffs have prevailed in five of the previous seven bellwether trials, including a $7.1 million verdict in April in a three-plaintiff trial — mostly punitive damages, a $1.7 million win in June, and another victory in October that ended in an $8.2 million award. 3M beat the claims in the second and fifth trials, which ended in defense verdicts.
There are approximately 29,000 talc claims currently pending in Federal Court alleging a link between J&J’s talc and ovarian cancer or asbestos cancer mesothelioma. While continuing to deny liability for devastating injuries to thousands of women, J&J is pursuing a strategy known in legal circles as the “Texas Two Step” authorized under Texas law.
A Florida federal jury awarded U.S. Army veteran Brandon Atkins $8.2 million in the fourth bellwether trial in the massive 3m defective military earplugs litigation.
New legislation has been proposed after a recent report by the U.S. House of Representative's Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy revealed dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium in various commercial baby food products.
Valsartan, a common drug used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, has been recalled over NDMA contamination. NDMA is a probable human carcinogen that was once used as an ingredient in rocket fuel and is currently actually used to create cancer in rats for cancer research.
Last week, after months of legal maneuvering, a New York bankruptcy judge approved Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, including contentious opioid liability releases for the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue. Numerous state attorneys and other parties generally oppose the deal, arguing that the court does not have the authority to release the Sacklers from liability without state consent.
Multiple JUUL lawsuits from around the country were consolidated in the JUUL multidistrict litigation (MDL) in 2019 and assigned to Judge William Orrick in the Northern District of California. The MDL consists of individual personal injury cases, school district public nuisance cases, county and municipality cases, and class action cases.
The VCF was established shortly after September 11, 2001 and has paid out more than $7 billion to approximately 2,700 individuals who have been injured, as well as to 2,800 family survivors.
To prevent further injuries from this potentially devastating toxic herbicide, a coalition of groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week aiming to reject the EPA’s recent decision to renew its approval for the use of paraquat.
Benzene, a known carcinogen, has been detected in certain major sunscreen brands, including several manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.
U.S. District Court Judge Robin L Rosenberg recently dismissed all the claims against the generic or store brand versions of Zantac, “With Prejudice” stating that the claims are preempted by federal law. In looking on the bright side, though, attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were pleased that the cases against the brand name manufacturers, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi and Pfizer, are still going forward.
“Due to the unprecedented backlog of cases piling up on the administrative docket, which tallies over 250,000 cases, the court deems it necessary to accelerate the bellwether trials and discovery for the remaining mass of cases,” Judge Rodgers commented. The multidistrict litigation is now the largest mass tort ever brought in federal court.
Christina Prudencio, the plaintiff, says she used talcum powder daily since the age of 16 and is currently suffering from malignant mesothelioma. Prudencio is now 35 and attributes her terminal cancer case to her long-time use of the company’s talc-based baby powder.
Johnson & Johnson is pursuing questionable financial and legal tactics to potentially avoid liability as talc-related cancer claims continue to be filed. A U.S. House of representatives subcommittee is currently exploring J & J’s possible liability shielding strategy, commonly known in legal circles as the “Texas Two Step.”
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Dr. Christopher Bunick, MD, PhD, who is an associate professor of Dermatology at Yale University commented, “there is not a safe level of Benzene that can exist in sunscreen products. Even benzene at 0.1 ppm in a sunscreen could expose people to excessively high nanogram amounts of benzene." The FDA is currently investigating the issue.
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The lawsuits against Davol and Bard were consolidated into an MDL in August 2018 to more effectively and feasibly address the continuously growing number of suits filed. An MDL is similar to a class action in that it provides for a more efficient handling of similar claims filed by a large number of people, grouping together multiple individual cases and moving them to a single court. Johns’ bellwether trial will serve as a sort of “test case” to help anticipate the results of future similar cases with a goal of moving the overall litigation towards resolution.
The deal includes a guilty plea of three felony counts, the dissolution of the company, and over $8 billion in penalties.
Like thousands of other small businesses, the restaurants sought coverage from their insurer, the Cincinnati Insurance Co., for their losses that stemmed from state-mandated shutdowns implemented to curb the spread of the virus. After being denied coverage, the restaurants filed suit against Cincinnati, contending that the government’s order that forced their closure was a non-excluded “direct physical loss.”
The lawsuit alleges merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and MasterCard cards because Visa and MasterCard, individually, and together with their respective member banks, violated the antitrust laws.
The campaigns, from which U.S. authorities seized millions of dollars, relied on sophisticated cyber tools and the solicitation of cryptocurrency donations from around the world. Forfeited funds from the case may in whole or in part be directed to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism (USVSST) Fund.
While hernia mesh surgeries are among the most common surgical procedures performed today, there are still a number of risks involved. Read this blog post to learn more about the possible complications and adverse events that can occur following hernia mesh repair surgery.
At the Court of Appeal, Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer AG in 2018, sought to challenge the trial court’s findings – arguing that Johnson failed to prove liability and causation and that the plaintiff’s failure-to-warn claims are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
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3M has argued that because it made the earplugs for the U.S. military and discussed specifications about the product with the government, its claims are therefore preempted and the company should not be held liable. Judge Rodgers disagreed, however, citing a lack of evidence of any back-and-forth dialogue concerning design specifications.
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse during your time as a Scout, please know that you are not alone and you have a voice. We are committed to helping you access the information and services you need to obtain the justice you deserve. It is important to come forward now if you were abused as a Scout, as the bankruptcy court has now set a November 16, 2020 deadline for claims to be filed. Once this window has passed, survivors of abuse may no longer be able to seek legal action against the BSA.
Bayer announces the agreement, and will pay up to $10.9 billion, to resolve the major Monsanto litigation. The agreement comes after years of litigation from thousands of plaintiffs who allege exposure to the weedkiller caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers.
Johnson & Johnson still faces more than 16,000 similar lawsuits as well as a federal criminal investigation into how forthright it has been regarding its products’ safety. The company’s assertions of the safety of its baby powder have been seriously called into question after the FDA found trace amounts of asbestos in a sample of Johnson’s Baby Powder in 2019.
The FDA’s announcement came in January after the clinical trial found that more patients taking lorcaserin were diagnosed with cancer compared to those taking a placebo.
It was announced by Deborah L. Connor, the Interim Special Master of the Fund, that $1,075,000,000 will be available for third-round payments from the Fund. Third-round payments will be authorized by the Special Master to eligible claimants by May 19, 2020. Subsequent rounds of payment will be authorized by the Special Master by January 1 in subsequent years, if funds are available, until the USVSST Fund expires in 2030.
Having lost three jury trials in California for combined damages of $191 million, Bayer signaled a move towards mediation in December by agreeing to postpone at least a half-dozen additional trials – some of which were scheduled to start this month.
Since the cases were transferred to Florida, Judge Rodgers has been actively working with the parties and the government to streamline the litigation. The Court has now held seven case management conferences as the pretrial proceedings continue to move forward.
The study found that women who use permanent dye or straighteners are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who do not use these products.
Three bellwether trial cases will be selected by the Court by February 14, 2020 and are slated to commence in May, July, and September of 2020. In addition to the suits pending in the federal court system, Bard is also facing several thousand claims in the state court of Rhode Island, where the manufacturer’s headquarters is located.
“When doctors fail to perform or woefully misread tests, when nurses botch routine procedures, when clinicians ignore and disregard pain, servicemembers deserve their day in court,” says Rep. Speier regarding the proposed legislation.
Zostavax is a vaccine developed by Merck & Co. that helps reduce the risk of getting shingles in individuals over 50 years old. Though adverse reactions can occur in virtually all medications, the safety of the vaccine has been called into question after several individuals developed more serious side effects shortly after being inoculated.
After Iran was properly served and defaulted, the Court held a bench trial to determine whether the evidence was sufficient to support entry of default judgment under the FSIA. Upon consideration of the Plaintiffs’ evidence and the record as a whole, the Court found Iran to be liable for the attacks and granted default judgment against Iran.
Although most people have been exposed to PFAS at low levels, individuals with higher exposure, including firefighters, military personnel, and residents living near military bases, are at a greater risk of PFAS-related health problems.
JUUL has been the subject of criticism, and now legal action, in recent months over its continued promotion of its products as “safe,” despite the fact that there are no scientific studies supporting this claim.
In a series of internal emails obtained by lawyers representing plaintiffs in the Roundup® litigation, a Monsanto executive suggests ‘beating the s**t out of’ a concerned mothers group who wrote an open letter to Monsanto, expressing concerns over the effects of GMOs and Roundup® on their children.
Eight suits from Minnesota, California, Oklahoma, and Texas have recently been centralized in Florida Federal Court by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, along with an additional 635 related actions.
The FDA called for this removal after new information showed that the Biocell breast implants with a textured surface manufactured by Allergan accounted for a disproportionate number of rare lymphoma cancer cases.
The product has become a hot topic in the last few years with the mounting litigation against several prominent manufacturers over alleged health risks and links to cancer.
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The devices have been identified by the FDA under a Class I recall, the most serious type of recall reserved for products or devices that may cause serious injuries or death.
Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup®, is accused of failing to warn about the risk of developing Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and other cancer associated with exposure to Roundup®.
Lawsuits have been filed against the makers of the Stockert/Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler system (the “Stockert Device”) by patients who developed life threatening infections after the device was used during their heart bypass surgery.
Taxotere, also known as Docetaxel, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat breast cancer and other forms of cancer. Taxotere has been linked to permanent hair loss (also known as alopecia) in addition to certain other serious ailments and risks.
If you or a loved one was a U.S. military service member, veteran or contractor between 2003 and 2015 who was diagnosed with partial or total hearing loss or suffer from tinnitus, you may have a claim against 3M.