Product Liability

September 19, 2014

Report: DePuy Pinnacle First Texas Bellwether Trial

The first federal bellwether trial against Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy subsidiary for its allegedly defective Pinnacle Hip Implant has been underway for the past 3 weeks in Dallas, Texas.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas oversaw jury selection on September 2 and over the past three weeks there has been a parade of company executives, paid doctor consultants and defense experts subjected to withering cross examination by the plaintiffs team of lawyers.

DePuy Orthopedics Inc., is facing the first bellwether trial over allegations that the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip was defectively designed and caused metallosis. According to the plaintiff Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli, the cobalt-and-chromium alloy caused an infection that resulted in the artificial hips to be removed.

September 13, 2014

California Xarelto Hemorrhage Lawsuit Over Inadequate Warnings

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Recently Shirley Boynton from California filed a product liability lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary claiming that she almost died from uncontrollable hemorrhaging after using the new anticoagulant medication Xarelto.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Boynton alleges that she suffered permanent injuries as a result inadequate Xarelto hemorrhage warnings provided to patients and doctors.

Xarelto: Dangerous and Defective Allegations

September 10, 2014

Dallas Jury Crushes Boston Scientific Mesh Case $73 Million Verdict

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Boston Scientific was crushed in its vaginal mesh debacle, when a Texas state jury ordered the device manufacturer to pay $73 million to a woman who developed chronic pain and injury from the company’s vaginal mesh implant. This was the first award against the device maker over its incontinence slings.

Earlier this week, the Dallas jury found Boston Scientific liable for Martha Salazar’s personal injuries, they found that the company’s Obtryx sling was defectively designed and that the company acted with gross negligence in the sale and marketing of the products. The Texas jury awarded her about $23 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages in a two week trial.

Boston Scientific Exposed to Over 20,000 Lawsuits

September 6, 2014

Cook Celect, Gunther Tulip IVC Filters Lawsuit Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

There are at least 27 Cook Celect IVC filter or Cook Gunther Tulip IVC filter lawsuits filed nationally in different U.S. District Courts. The plaintiffs have similar allegations that the medical devices were defectively designed and caused patients to be injured after receiving the filters.

What is the Cook Celect?

Cook Medical manufactures the Celect Vena Cava Filter. It was approved in 2008 under the FDA 510(k) approval process. This process is a short cut to getting approval for medical devices.

September 5, 2014

J&J Ethicon Hammered for $3.27M in Trans Vaginal Mesh Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A federal jury in West Virginia today hammered Johnson and Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary over its transvaginal mesh device. The jury awarded $3.27 million to Jo Huskey over its defective Gynecare TVT Obturator, or TVT-O, transvaginal mesh device. This is one of 33,000 product liability injury lawsuits that claim Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc unit sold defective transvaginal mesh devices.

Federal Jury Verdict

After a two-week trial, jurors found Ethicon liable for selling defective mesh devices and failing to warn patients and their doctors that they were at risk from serious side effects including pain, erosion, perforation and infection.

August 30, 2014

Boston Scientific Wins 2nd Trans Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to a Massachusetts jury, Boston Scientific’s vaginal-mesh sling was not defectively designed and the company properly warned about its health risks. This verdict marks a second victory for the company in two state trials over the vaginal mesh inserts.

Jurors in state court in Woburn, Massachusetts, cleared Boston Scientific of any liability for Maria Cardenas’s injuries. Cardenas, had the Boston Scientific’s Obtryx sling implanted to fix urinary incontinence problems. According to Cardenas, the sling caused her pain and she was forced to have it removed surgically.

Transvaginal Mesh and Sling Defects

August 28, 2014

Uncontrollable Bleeding Side Effects with Xarelto

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Xarelto is a popular blood-thinning drug or anticoagulant made by Bayer Health Care and Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson). Xarelto, Pradaxa and Eliquis, are the new generation of anticoagulants that have been advertised as requiring less testing and monitoring than coumadin for stroke prevention.

Common problem with Anticoagulants

Unfortunately, like all anticoagulants, Xarelto has an internal bleeding risk for which there is currently no effective antidote. Thousands of adverse event reports regarding bleeding side effects, including reports of deadly complications, have been filed with the FDA over this blockbuster medication.

August 13, 2014

New York Xarelto Uncontrollable Bleeding Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Texas woman is the latest to sue Bayer and Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical companies, claiming that the anticoagulant Xarelto has inadequate warnings about the bleeding risk associated with the drug. Jeanne Jeffcoat filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, she claimed that Xarelto caused life-threatening bleeding event that left her permanently injured.

There are many defective drug product liability lawsuits filed nationwide over bleeding and hemorrhage side effects of Xarelto.

Xarelto Aggressive Marketing

August 12, 2014

Actos Bladder Cancer Questions and Answers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

There are several thousand lawsuits filed by folks both in state and federal courts by patients who took the prescription drug pioglitazone, sold as brand name Actos and later developed bladder cancer. Doctors prescribe Actos to treat patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Takeda Actos Bladder Cancer Verdict

On April 7, 2014, a federal jury in Louisiana found Takeda failed to adequately warn about bladder cancer risks of Actos. Jurors also found that executives of Takeda acted with wanton and reckless disregard for patient safety and awarded a total of $9 billion in punitive damages.

August 11, 2014

Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Lawsuits Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

For those patients who have been implanted with either a Stryker Rejuvenate or ABG II artificial hipmetal implant, I have an important update to share regarding the status of the defective hip product liability lawsuits and the Stryker hip litigation in general.

What is Stryker Rejuvenate Hip?

The Stryker Rejuvenate is a modular metal based hip replacement, and was recalled from the market in July 2012, after the company indicated that it is subject to fretting, corroding and finally failing shortly after it is implanted.