Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

November 17, 2008

Paxil Test Case Fails Statute of Limitations

One of Philadelphia’s bellwether cases in litigation over whether the maker of the drug Paxil failed to warn about an increased risk of suicide from its drug has been dismissed following a Common Pleas Court judge’s decision to grant summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds.

Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline survived summary judgment in March when defendant GlaxoSmithKline argued that the doctrine of federal pre-emption precluded the plaintiffs from pursuing their state products liability claim.

While Judge Tereshko, coordinating judge of the Complex Litigation Center, denied summary judgment on the grounds of federal pre-emption in March, Tereshko granted summary judgment on the grounds regarding Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations.

The judge’s order dismissed all of plaintiffs claims of wrongful death, survival, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, strict liability under the Maryland Products Liability Act, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, loss of consortium and punitive damages.

November 16, 2008

J&J Units Must Pay $16.6 Million for Fentanyl Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Two units of Johnson & Johnson must pay $16.6 million to the family of a Chicago-area woman who died after using a Duragesic pain-patch, a state jury found, dealing the company its fourth defeat in as many trials since 2006.

The woman aged 38, died in February 2004 because the patch she was wearing delivered a fatal dose of the narcotic fentanyl, the device’s main ingredient.

The Duragesic-brand patch is made by Alza Corp., a Mountain View, California, company owned by New Brunswick, New Jersey- based Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of medical devices. The product was distributed by another Johnson & Johnson unit, Janssen Pharmaceutica. The jury deliberated for less than two days.

November 15, 2008

34 S.F. Police Officers Sue For Age Discrimination

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Thirty-four veteran San Francisco police officers alleged in their lawsuit that the SFPD was passing them over for promotion to inspector because of their ages.

The officers, who have been on a waiting list since they passed an inspector’s exam in 1998, were stymied by “unchecked age bias that pervades the culture of the department,” according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Instead of promoting longtime officers to a position that offers more responsibilities and higher pay, the Police Department began to assign some of its sergeants last year to inspectors’ jobs at its investigations bureau. The sergeants are younger and less qualified and have never taken an inspector’s exam, the suit said.

November 14, 2008

Consumer Product Safety Commission Investigates Rhino UTV

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Yamaha Rhino, was a hit in the off-road-vehicle market, promising to go “almost anywhere” with an “amazingly high level of comfort and ease.” Now, federal safety regulators are investigating the vehicle following reports of some 30 deaths involving it, including those of two young girls last month.

Yamaha faces more than 200 lawsuits in state and federal courts, many alleging the Rhino’s design is unsafe. Yamaha has settled some but recently beefed up its defense and says it may start to fight rather than settle.

Yamaha stands behind the design of the Rhino, a two-seat vehicle that looks a little like a cross between a golf cart and all-terrain vehicle. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said its investigation of the utility terrain vehicle, or UTV, was prompted by the number of accident reports and the lawsuits.

Many injury claims, Yamaha said, result from improper operation, modifications such as removing the protective “roll cage,” or failure to use a helmet and seat belt.

Read earlier post.

November 13, 2008

Nevada Medical Malpractice Crisis

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A 59-year-old man lumbers through a junkyard he helps manage; he bumps into a desk and the man is almost blind in his right eye and has trouble with depth perception and peripheral vision.

This unfortunate man blames a doctor for a botched retina reattachment operation in August 2007. But lawyers tell him it is economically unfeasible to litigate his complicated case, or that time limitations are an issue.

For that, he blames medical malpractice reforms of the 2004 Nevada Legislature.

“With this new malpractice law in place, I cannot even get a lawyer to go after who is responsible for what happened,” the Las Vegas resident said. “There is hardly any protection for the consumer any more. Now everything is in favor of doctors.”

Voters overwhelmingly approved Question 3 in 2004. Physicians called it the “Keep Our Doctors In Nevada” initiative.

November 12, 2008

Nigerian Pharmacists Sue UTMB Over Discrimination

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Four pharmacists at the University of Texas Medical Branch filed suit claiming that the medical institution is discriminating against them because of their nationalities.

The pharmacists claim that their superiors used their Nigerian origins as a reason to overlook them for raises, compensation and promotion, despite each individual’s education and professional work histories.

The plaintiffs complained that their discrimination was on the basis of their national origin; also stating that the plaintiffs are American citizens.

The complaint said the Pharmacy Department gave the plaintiffs 1 percent raises while their colleagues received two percent raises.

November 11, 2008

J&J Units Must Pay $13 Million Over Pain-Patch Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Florida jury decided that Johnson & Johnson must pay more than $13 million to the family of a woman who died from an overdose of painkillers delivered by a patch made by the companies.

Janssen Pharmaceutica Products and Alza, the subsidiaries, were responsible for the woman’s death. The Johnson & Johnson units have lost all three cases to go to trial so far over the patches.

The New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson lost the first two cases as juries in Texas and Florida ordered the company to pay a total of $6.2 million to the families of former users who died of painkiller overdoses.

Read about earlier report:

November 10, 2008

Coal Fired Power Plant and Residents Settle Law Suit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A group of Maryland residents whose drinking water was contaminated with coal ash reached a multimillion-dollar settlement of its class action lawsuit against Constellation Energy Group.

The deal, estimated at $45 million, gives about 600 residents living near a sand and gravel mine financial compensation and environmental remediation.

For 12 years Constellation worked with a contractor to dump billions of tons of waste ash from its Brandon Shores coal-fired power plant into an unlined former gravel mine pit. County tests found that 23 wells in the area tested positive for metals such as arsenic, cadmium and thallium, all components of waste ash from smokestacks, also called “fly ash.”

A suit was filed in November 2007 in Baltimore Circuit Court to make Constellation pay unspecified damages for personal injuries and loss of property values.

November 9, 2008

Boston Plans Tougher Regulations on Tobacco

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Boston Public Health Commission is proposing some of the nation’s strictest smoking regulations; banning the sale of cigarettes at drugstores and on college campuses, and shutting down the city’s 10 cigar and hookah bars by 2013.

The commission said, the goal is to discourage young people from buying tobacco products, to keep a harmful product out of stores that promote health, and to protect employees who are exposed to secondhand smoke.

The Board of Health will vote on the regulations on Nov. 13. If approved they will take effect within 60 days.

“Should tobacco be treated as any other consumer good? No,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Board of Health. “We do not sell guns everywhere, we do not sell alcohol everywhere and we do not need to be selling tobacco everywhere. They are all dangerous products, and they all require regulation.”

November 8, 2008

Colorado Diocese Settles $4M Sex Abuse Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Catholic Diocese and the Marianist religious order have agreed to pay $4 million to settle the claims of 23 men who said they were sexually abused when they attended a Catholic high school in Pueblo.

The agreement involved alleged abuse at Roncalli High School between 1966 and 1971.

Lawsuits were filed on behalf of the former students who allege a former Brother lured them at the school and asked them to participate in an experiment about trust. He then placed a cloth soaked in ether, a compound used for anesthesia, over their mouths, then sexually abused them as they lay helpless.