Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

Play Tents Recall

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:05:33 -0500

Five retailers will recall Tots in Mind tents and play yard tents. The problem is the risk of strangulation and entrapment hazards.

Why didn't Tots in Mind announce the recall? They are longer business. Figures.

The five retailers are virtual who's who of retailers. Amazon.com, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Toys "R" Us., Burlington Coat Factory and Wal-Mart Stores

Tots in Mind had recalled the play yard tents in July 2010 and offered a repair kit that is no longer available. The CPSC now says that is a bad idea and urges consumers to stop using these products immediately and to not attempt to repair them.

Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base Lawsuits

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:55:06 -0500

A federal judge in Georgia granted the United States' motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the 10-year North Carolina statute of repose barred claims for plaintiffs' alleged exposure to solvents and benzene in public water at Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina. Plaintiffs were exposed to these volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 1957 up until 1987.

Then, along comes this draconian statue of repose. Unlike the statute of limitations, the statute of repose starts running whether or not you are aware of any defect and may toll even before you are injured.

Plaintiffs had hoped that reasonableness demanded an exception for latent diseases, but the court disagreed. Ultimately, and unfairly, I think this may be the correct ruling. The cardinal canon before all others in statutory construction is "that courts must presume that a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there." There is no latent exposure exception in the statute.

We have not been able to track down a copy of the opinion but we have been told by a reader that the judge also ruled that CERCLA § 9658 took precedence over the North Carolina statute which will keep these cases alive. Still, anything that limits plaintiffs' claims in any way is not a good thing.

Besides the litigation efforts, Plaintiffs are also appealing to Congress to provide survivors with medical care and hospice for their contamination-related illnesses. The cost of such a plan has been estimated at nearly $4 billion.

Pradaxa Lawsuit Update: May, 2012

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:39:38 -0500

The number of federal Pradaxa lawsuits filed against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has risen to 18 after 8 more lawsuits were filed. The claims in these lawsuits are quite simple: Boehringer Ingelheim should have known that the risks of Pradaxa included life threatening bleeds and warn doctors accordingly.

I say "warn doctors" because that is the most accurate way to state the legal standard. But it is a little more complicated than just warning doctors. As part of Boehringer Ingelheim's marketing of Pradaxa, it send out direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns that were designed to influence patients to go to their doctors to request Pradaxa. Plaintiffs allege in the Pradaxa lawsuits that in the course of these direct to consumer advertisements, Boehringer Ingelheim exaggerated how great of a product Pradaxa was in preventing stroke and systemic embolism, but didn't tell patients what they need to know; there is no way to reverse the anticoagulation effects of Pradaxa, and that this irreversibility could have permanently disabling, life-threatening and fatal consequences.

Compound in Teflon May Cause Cancer

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:41:38 -0500

There is a growing concern there there is a compound in Teflon® that may cause cancer. No one is filing any lawsuits about this, at least not yet. Science has to dig a lot deeper into all of this. The purpose of this post is just to give you an overview of the concern about the possible.

Teflon® is the brand name for DuPont's product, has been used as a non-stick coating surface for pans and cookware, as well as in other products such as fabric protectors since the 1940's. Teflon® is the brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a man-made chemical. C8, otherwise known as Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), is another man-made chemical that is used during the manufacturing of Teflon® and other flurotelormers. C8 is not present in significant amounts in the end product, as it is burned off during the manufacturing process of Teflon®.

Defective DePuy Hips: The Empire (Johnson & Johnson) Strikes Back

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:15:29 -0500

DuPuy's Weak Defense of Its Hips

Remember that March 13 British medical journal article in The Lancet a few months back? We blogged about it here. The Cliffs Notes version is that The Lancet believes that metal-on-metal hip replacements are terrible, defective products and should not be used. Ever. They based this conclusion on a British National Joint Registry that tracks the patient outcome for these devices. The failure rates are too high—an average of 6.2% over five years, and even higher for women and larger implants. The safer alternative is ceramic hip implants.

There was another report around the same time by the British Medical Journal, How safe are metal-on-metal hip implants? (Read the box on page 4—How commercialism trumped safety). The article noted that the FDA considers all hip implants to be high risk medical devices, meaning that new products cannot be fast-tracked to the marketplace. This article reported on the same hazards as The Lancet, in particular, toxic metal debris releasing into the body.

Amanda Bynes Car Accident

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:02:40 -0500

Amanda Bynes Struggles on Road

Amanda Bynes, a pretty, young actress who has started in such things as [I really have no idea], was involved in a car accident, following a recent DWI arrest following another accident she had with a police car.

The big news is the concern that it was a hit and run accident. Bynes allegedly swiped a car last Friday night and just kept going. Bynes just kep on driving until she reached a gas station here, ostensibly, she "realized" she hit someone. The big clue: the driver of the vehicle was chasing her along with six police cars.

Who knows how much of this is true. But when you are high profile person and you get a DWI charge, you can pretty much assume all future facts are going to be construed against you. Or not. Apparently, the police are willing to pretend that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Which is for the best. The world, we can all agree, makes more sense when rich, beautiful and famous people are treating differently than the rest of us.

I'll now take questions from you, the home viewer:

Why are you writing about this nonsense? I thought this was a serious legal blog trying to present real information to lawyer and consumers. This is pathetic. Joe Smith, Baltimore, Maryland

Well, thanks Joe for the kind words. We are trying to provide real information to real people. No doubt. But understand this: People love celebrities. And they love hearing about things like Amanda Bynes car accident. (In fact, they may even Google "Amanda Bynes car accident".) So as pathetic as it is, I blog about it so that when I'm putting up that real information intended to help lawyers and or consumers, someone is actually reading it. (Sadly, this effort is likely to fail her. I didn't realize until three-fourths of the way through this post that this is old news.)

Pradaxa Wrongful Death Lawsuits

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:29:48 -0500

In a newspaper with the hefty title of "New Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation and Acute Coronary Syndromes: ESC Working Group on Thrombosis-Task Force on Anticoagulants in Heart Disease Position Paper," researchers are pointing to more concerns with Pradaxa that will fuel future Pradaxa injury and wrongful death lawsuits: reports of a high rate of dyspepsia and gastrointestinal bleeding, which increases the risk of myocardial infarction.

Pradaxa has been reported to cause serious and fatal injuries such as brain hemorrhaging, heart attacks and other cardiac injuries, and GI, kidney and internal bleeding. This is a "who's who" list of what can cause people to die prematurely.

The first of the Pradaxa wrongful death lawsuits have been filed. These are not class action lawsuits—right now they are individual lawsuits filed by individual victims and their families. Most lawyers expect that these cases will be grouped together in a Pradaxa class-action like lawsuit, known as multidistrict litigation (MDL). The goal will be to streamline discovery and perhaps create opportunities for early Pradaxa settlements.

Our firm is handling Pradaxa wrongful death lawsuits. If you have lost someone you love, call 800-553-8082 to discuss your potential claim or get a free online consultation. You can find the most recent Pradaxa lawsuit update here.

Saving Statute Does Not Thwart Dismissal

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:17:19 -0500

Plaintiffs' lawyers lose yet another "savings statue" case in Nevada. Malpractice lawyers just file too many cases way too late. This is a dangerous practice in any personal injury case because there are too many things that can go wrong filing a lawsuit at the last minute. But the problem is particularly pronounced in medical malpractice cases.

In Wheble v. Grzeda, the plaintiffs filed a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit without attaching an expert affidavit as required by Nevada law (and Maryland). Plaintiffs then filed a new complaint after the statute of limitations had passed reasserting the dismissed claims.

Kugel Mesh Settlements

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:35:12 -0500

About 2,600 Kugel hernia mesh lawsuits have reached a settlement.

At a hearing last Thursday, the lawyers for C.R. Bard told the MDL judge that of the 3,400 to 4,000 cases in inventory, there has been a settlement with over 100 plaintiffs' law firms. The remaining lawsuits - many of which are very serious injury cases - will continue to proceed towards trial although the conventional wisdom is that most of these cases will also eventually reach a settlement. But cases that are set for trial are subject to an expedited discovery schedule. The court underscored the obvious: these cases are costly to try so if a settlement can be achieved now, that is a good thing.

$21 Million Verdict Affirmed: Preemption Defense Fails

Fri, 04 May 2012 12:30:18 -0500

Plaintiffs have taken a lot of hits on preemption lately, particularly with generic drugs. But we got a win this week when the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a $ 21 million generic drug injury verdict.

Plaintiff in this case developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) from the use of generic Clinoril, a prescription drug that treats shoulder pain. Awful case, the woman spent seventy days in a hospital and suffered a ton of life long injuries.

The drug company - Mutual Pharmaceutical - argued that plaintiff's design defect claim is preempted by federal law. Defendants have had a lot of success with preemption claims of late. But the court found that Congress has not sought to preempts design defect claims against generic drug manufacturers.

Lawsuit Involving Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft

Fri, 04 May 2012 12:20:02 -0500

Medtronic’s Infuse Bone Graft may cause cancer, nerve damage, ectopic bone growth, and other complications that are leading to serious injury and wrongful death lawsuits.

You care read more about the genesis of these suit here.

Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit: Update #3,503

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:57:55 -0500

C.R. Bard will - hopefully - be forced to defend its vaginal mesh implants to a federal jury next year.

Next year? Yes, regrettably, the wheels of justice move slowly in personal injury cases generally, but particularly in mass tort case like the vaginal mesh implant lawsuits. But the judge overseeing the federal lawsuits has set February 5, 2013 as the trial date for the first of about 600 federal lawsuits alleging that Bard’s Avaulta device caused organ damage.

Bard, however, is not the only defendant; the whole industry got these products wrong because they were out chasing a few bucks.

Ultimately, I would bet a lot of money that there will be a global settlement in these cases before this bellwether trial in February. Bard is going to stick out its chest for a while, but I don't think it wants a trial in these cases.

For more information on these lawsuits, click here.

Appeal in Darvon Lawsuits

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:13:51 -0500

There is a hot issue in the Darvocet/Darvon/propoxyphene lawsuits as whether suits involving Darvon are preempted by federal law because it is a generic drug. The MDL judge overseeing these cases let Darvon off the mat, finding that all claims against it against generic drug makers of the generic equivalent of Darvon are either preempted under PLIVA v. Mensing (and that the claims that were not preempted were defective).

Plaintiff have now appealed this decision to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

You can read more about Darvocet/Darvon/propoxyphene lawsuits here.

Actos Update: Heightened Canadian Warnings

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:10:02 -0500

Canada Makes Move on Actos

Actos is a type-2 diabetes drug with an astonishing relationship to bladder cancer. Some studies suggest that Actos users are 22% more likely to develop bladder cancer. There are also claims that the drug may cause heart failure. The drug even carries a black box warning—the highest level of warning imposed by the FDA. The Japanese manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is up against more than 196 federal Actos lawsuits. Bloomberg estimates that the company may face 10,000 lawsuits in the U.S. alone.

Actos recalls have been in effect in Germany and France. Now, Health Canada (Canada’s equivalent to the FDA) is one step closer to an Actos recall: it now requires a warning about the bladder cancer risk. That decision was issued on April 19, 2012, only halfway through Takeda’s ten-year study of the drug. Initial data from the study shows that using Actos for over a year increases the risks of developing bladder cancer.

$29 Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed Over the Death of a Daughter

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:11:00 -0500

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the Delmarva area, or anyone anywhere for that matter, that doesn't recognize the names Yeardley Love or George Huguely.

In case you've had your head in the sand and haven't heard these names, the story here is tragic. Yeardley Love was a popular and beautiful University of Virginia lacrosse player, whose was killed in an awful and vicious manner. Love's former boyfriend, George Huguely, was convicted of her death and is currently awaiting sentencing.

It is being reported that Yeardley Love's family has filed a lawsuit against George Huguely, and is asking for $29.45 million dollars in compensatory damages, with another $1 million being sought in punitive damages. The lawsuit states that Huguely "acted with such indifference to Love that his conduct constituted an utter disregard of caution amounting to a complete neglect of safety for Love." Moreover, the suit said that Huguely "was aware, or should have been aware' that Love was severely injured after the physical altercation that would result in her death." The suit names Love's sisters as beneficiaries of her estate.

Now obviously, the probability that they would ever see a penny from a verdict in this suit is pretty low...I'm even going to go out on a limb and say zero (Ronald Goldman's family is still waiting for a payout in their lawsuit). But, if a hefty verdict against Huguely is what the family seeks in order to move on, then so be it. I can't say it is what I think I would do. But how can anyone pretend to be able to put themselves in the shoes of those parents?

Regardless of the outcome, this was a senseless and tragic death, and one can only hope that somebody, somewhere has learned from this case.