Product Liability

April 5, 2014

J&J Loses Texas Transvaginal Mesh Incontinence Sling Lawsuit

Good news for Transvaginal mesh and sling plaintiffs and it’s more bad news for Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) Ethicon division in its ongoing vaginal mesh debacle. The company will have to pay out again, in these many cases to go to court over its allegedly defective transvaginal mesh products and urinary incontinence slings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xvv9cd07G8&feature=player_detailpage

Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of medical products, was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $1.2 million to a woman who alleged that vaginal-mesh implants to treat incontinence was defectively designed. This was the first verdict against the company over those devices.

March 30, 2014

GM Ignition Switch Cobalt Car Accident Death Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

General Motors (GM) Co., is exposed to a barrage of lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada over faulty ignition switches. According to sources, GM was served with the first wrongful-death suit involving two fatalities in a 2006 car crash. GM recalled 1.6 million vehicles in February.

Plaintiff Cobalt Death Claims

Megan Phillips, aged 17, was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt with two friends in Wisconsin when the ignition switch moved to the “accessory” position and cut power to the car. The Cobalt hit a telephone junction box and two trees and the air bags didn’t deploy. Phillips was seriously injured and her two passengers were killed.

March 29, 2014

AndroGel Testosterone Lawsuits Heading to Illinois MDL?

by Dr. Shezad Malik

More 30 AndroGel lawsuits filed in Northern District of Illinois federal court will be centralized before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly. The testosterone injury lawsuits allege that men suffered heart attacks, strokes and blood clots that were caused by side effects of the testosterone treatment.

The Executive Committee in the Northern District of Illinois on March 14, ordered that the federal cases will be assigned to Judge Kennelly for consolidated pretrial proceedings. This pre-trial consolidation is typically seen in mass tort pharmaceutical litigation. This means that nationwide federal consolidation in a multidistrict ligation (MDL) cannot be far behind and more likely than not the nationwide testosterone cases will end up in Chicago, Illinois.

March 28, 2014

General Motors Knew About Cobalt Ignition Defects for Years

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to a New York Times investigation, the engineers at General Motors knew about a dangerous and faulty ignition switch back in 2009. At a meeting on May 15, 2009, they knew that data in the black boxes of Chevrolet Cobalts confirmed a potentially fatal defect existed in thousands of cars.

According to legal documents, G.M. told the families of accident victims and other customers that it did not have enough evidence of any defect in their cars. In February, G.M. recalled 1.6 million Cobalts and other models, saying that if the switch was bumped or weighed down it could shut off the engine’s power and disable air bags.

G.M. Denied Liability Repeatedly

March 24, 2014

Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Federal MDL Trial Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to the U.S. federal court where the Stryker Rejuvenate hip lawsuits have been consolidated, the cases in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) will be ready for trial during the summer of 2015.

Stryker Rejuvenate cases, are heading to early trial dates, known as “bellwether” trials, which helps the parties determine how juries may respond to trial evidence and testimony.

March 23, 2014

Another AndroGel Heart Attack Lawsuit Filed

by Dr. Shezad Malik

AbbVie, the manufacturer of AndroGel, is exposed to another product liability lawsuit. Kimberly Dula, from Georgia claims that the company failed to warn about the heart risks from AndroGel. Dula claims that he suffered three heart attacks as a result of using the testosterone gel.

49 year old Dula filed the complaint recently in March, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. There are now several Androgel lawsuits filed throughout the U.S., claiming that the drug manufacturer failed to warn about the risk of heart attacks, strokes, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism blood clots and wrongful death.

March 22, 2014

California St. Jude Riata Injury Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The first St. Jude Riata federal bellwether trial has been scheduled for February 2015. This trial involves two filed product liability lawsuits against St. Jude. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna is presiding over the St. Jude Riata lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e0RbTdk2SUU

Defective St. Jude Riata Defibrillator Leads

March 10, 2014

California Testosterone Testim Stroke Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A 58-year-old California man who suffered injuries after using the testosterone therapy Testim has sued manufacturer Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., claiming it coordinated a massive ad campaign to aggressively promote the need for its product while failing to warn users of life-threatening side effects.

In a Feb. 26 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, plaintiff Joseph Myers alleges that after taking multiple does of Testim in 2012, he suffered a stroke, which his physicians later informed him was likely caused by the drug.

March 10, 2014

Coloplast Settles Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to confidential sources and a news report in Bloomberg, Coloplast A/S, has agreed to pay about $16 million to settle its transvaginal mesh lawsuits. Injured women who were implanted with the Danish mesh manufacturer’s vaginal-mesh inserts had filed personal injury claims against the company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0Xvv9cd07G8

The Denmark-based Coloplast agreed in January to resolve about 400 suits over the plastic mesh implants which are designed to support internal organs. The settlement is said to provide an average payment of about $40,000 for each claimant.

February 9, 2014

Low T Testosterone Androgel Voodoo Medicine?

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Ten years ago some scientists recruited several hundred volunteers and gave them Testosterone or a placebo. Those taking testosterone got stronger, compared with those taking the placebo, and they could carry a load up stairs faster.

But they also had nearly five times the number of cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes, and the study ended early.