Crumb Rubber Fields – An Emerging Mass Tort?

Bloomberg News recently interviewed my law partner Doug Daniels and I for an article entitled “Playing Fields and Cancer – An Emerging Mass Tort?”  The article examines whether crumb rubber synthetic playing fields could be the next mass tort considering the effects these fields have on public health and the environment.  The chances are good these fields become vulnerable to litigation, …

Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $55 Million in Talcum Powder Trial

Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a U.S. jury on Monday to pay $55 million to a woman who said that using the company’s talc-powder products for feminine hygiene caused her to develop ovarian cancer. The verdict, which J&J plans to appeal, was the second straight trial loss for the company, which is facing about 1,200 lawsuits accusing it of not …

Federal Judge Stengel Finds for Plaintiff on Evidentiary Issues in Tylenol Liver Damage Action

A Pennsylvania judge has issued a number of evidentiary findings in favor of the plaintiff in a bellwether Tylenol liver damage case, ruling in part that the plaintiff may present evidence of adverse event reports, fraud on the FDA, employee compensation, and other lawsuits. In an April 19 order, Judge Lawrence Stengel of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern …

Fresenius Settles All Granuflo Claims for $250 Million

Fresenius Medical Care agrees to pay $250 million to resolve U.S. litigation related to its GranuFlo and NaturaLyte products. Under the terms of the agreement, 97% of the plaintiffs must agree to the settlement by July 2016 to receive funding in August 2016. Insurers will pay $220M (88%) of the total settlement amount.The company intends to record a $60M charge …

3 Federal Agencies Officially Begin Researching the Danger of Crumb Rubber Fields

  Finally the government is getting involved in researching crumb rubber fields.  NBC News reports, “Three federal agencies are teaming up to investigate the safety of crumb rubber artificial turf used in playing fields and playground all across the country.” “The Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced an ‘action plan’ on …

Harvard Study Suggests Link Between E-Cigarettes and Lung Disease

E-cigarettes are coming.  Some say they are already here.  Especially if you visit an average high school parking lot after school. USA Today article on E-Cigarettes states how flavored e-cigarettes may seem like an alternative to smoking, but researchers warn that flavored e-cigarettes may not be worth the unknown long-term risks. Researchers at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of …

VOLKSWAGEN UPDATE: MORE CARS MAY BE AFFECTED

The New York Times and other media outlets are reporting that more Volkswagen cars than originally thought may be affected with the cheating emissions software. Originally, only cars and light commercial vehicles equipped with a diesel motor line known as the EA 189 had the illegal software.  However, Volkswagen said it was investigating whether some versions of another diesel motor …

HEALTH ALERT: Herbal Supplements Send Over 20,000 People Annually to the ER

Herbal supplements of all kinds continue to be in the news and not in a good way. Today, The New York Times is reporting that a new government study reveals how dietary supplements lead to more than 20,000 ER visits annually and often involved young people seeking weight loss and energy improvement. The new study was published in The New …

UPDATE: Actos Settlement Reportedly Hits 97% Threshold

Enough claimants have signed on to trigger a $2.4 billion payment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals to settle a large dose of the litigation pending against the drugmaker over the alleged negative effects of its Actos diabetes drug, lawyers for thousands of the plaintiffs have announced. On Oct. 7, Meyers & Flowers, a law firm based in St. Charles, Ill., in Chicago’s …

New Volkswagen CEO Says Emissions Scandal Could Signal the End of the Company

USA Today is reporting that Volkswagen’s new CEO, Hans Dieter Poetsch, admits how the Volkswagen emissions scandal could cripple the world’s largest automaker to the point that it is forced to shut down. Poetsch warned managers how the automaker’s diesel-emission scandal poses “an existence-threatening crisis for the company” as new details emerged about how the debacle unfolded. The New York …

ALERT: Volkswagen Says 11 Million Cars Worldwide Are Affected in Emissions Scandal

The world’s largest carmaker is in trouble. The German carmaker now admits that 11 million of its diesel cars were equipped with software that was used to circumvent emissions tests. Previously, Volkswagen had said that the problem only affected 500,000 vehicles in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that it will ask the company to recall 500,000 …

More than 96% of Claimants Opt-In to ACTOS Resolution Program

FiercePharma is reporting that Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (collectively “Takeda”), today announced that more than 96 percent of eligible claimants have opted into the ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) product liability resolution program that was announced on April 28, 2015. Takeda now is evaluating the submissions to determine whether they satisfy various criteria specified under terms …

Boston Scientific Ordered to Pay in Settlement Over Mesh

Disclaimer: Results of this case are not necessarily indicative of future cases. A Delaware jury awarded a 51-year old bank teller $100 million over physical and emotional injuries she sustained from Boston Scientific’s vaginal mesh inserts. The $100 million settlement, one of the largest jury verdicts of 2015, consists of $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive …

NEWS FLASH: Depakote Jury Reaches Verdict in Spina Bifida Case

Disclaimer: Results of this case are not necessarily indicative of future cases. A stunning development out of St. Louis where a jury awarded a 12-year-old plaintiff Maddision Schmidt $15 million in compensatory damages and $23 million in punitive damages for birth defects she suffered from her mother taking Depakote while pregnant. The verdict represents a devastating blow to Abbott Labs’ …

First Tylenol Bellwether Trial Set for June 22, 2015

The first Tylenol bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation (MDL) is fast approaching and lawyers from both sides are gearing up. The Pennsylvania trial involves whether the acetaminophen in various Tylenol products from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and its subsidiary McNeill Consumer Healthcare, caused acute liver failure. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel ordered jury selection on June 22, 2015 for Rana …

Promise I’m NOT Blowing Smoke: Competitive E-Cigarette Smoking

I promise I’m not making this up. Grown men, seemingly employed grown men, actually compete to see who has the biggest smoke plume from an e-cigarette drag. Really? It’s called “cloud chasing” or “competitive vaping” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Competitive” as if it’s a sport. Kind of like darts is a sport. Or billiards, video games, and poker. Anyway, …

E-Cigarettes Increasingly Popular with Teens

E-Cigarette use has risen sharply over the past few years, as reported by the New York Times. E-cigarette use has tripled among middle and high school students from 2013 to 2014. According to federal data released today, 13% of high school students smoke e-cigarettes. As our T&T blog has reported on in the past, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) …

Bellwether Trial Begins in St. Louis over Pfizer’s Zoloft

On Thursday, April 9, 2015, trial began in St. Louis, Missouri over Pfizer’s Zoloft, the company’s antidepressant drug, before Circuit Court Judge Margaret Neill. The Plaintiffs, Logyn Pesante and his mother Kristyn Pesante, allege that Zoloft caused Logyn Pesante to be born with multiple heart defects including TGA, or transposition of the arteries. Since birth, Logyn has undergone 25 procedures …

Dialysis GranuFlo Litigation Update

The T&T blog has reported on the Dialysis Litigation in the past as T&T represents hundreds of clients who were injured as a result of Fresenius Medical Care use of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte. Here is an update for all of our dialysis clients out there: The first bellwether trails for the Dialysis Litigation is scheduled for January 11th, 2016, with …

1st Federal Depakote Bellwether Trial Continues in St. Louis by Legal Dream Team

On March 2, 2015, a legal dream team, including John Eddie Williams, Phillip Sampson, and Tommy Fibich, assembled in federal court in the Southern District of Illinois in an attempt to expose pharmaceutical giant Abbott Labs about the dangers of taking Depakote while pregnant.  Abbott Labs marketed Depakote as an effective drug for treating epilepsy, bipolar disorders, and migraines. Unfortunately, …

Study Shows Teens Easily Purchase E-Cigarettes Over the Internet

March 2015’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics published a study entitled “Electronic Cigarette Sales to Minors via the Internet.” From February to June 2014, 11 teenagers from North Carolina ranging from 14 to 17 years old made supervised e-cigarette purchase attempts from 98 Internet e-cigarette vendors. The results are not a surprise to anyone who has used the internet to purchase …

J&J Drops Plaintiff Solicitation Discovery Bid In Mesh MDL

Johnson & Johnson has withdrawn its discovery motion to pursue its allegations that the plaintiffs’ attorneys in transvaginal mesh multidistrict litigation had engaged in illegal plaintiff solicitation and filed lawsuits without legitimate claims. U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin on Feb. 11 granted J&J’s motion to withdraw its discovery motion related to its claims of plaintiff solicitation, though it did not …

Takeda Told to Pay Punitive Damages in Actos Claims

A jury ordered Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to pay $1.3 million in punitive damages to a former teacher who argued the drugmaker’s Actos diabetes medicine caused his bladder cancer, in the company’s fifth loss in trials over the drug. Jurors in state court in Philadelphia deliberated more than two hours Friday before concluding that Osaka, Japan-based Takeda must pay the punitive …

Takeda Ordered to Pay Damages to Actos User

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. was ordered by a jury Thursday to pay more than $2.3 million in damages to a former teacher who blamed the company’s Actos diabetes drug for causing his bladder cancer. Jurors in state court in Philadelphia deliberated more than eight hours over two days before finding that Osaka, Japan-based Takeda failed to properly warn John Kristufek’s doctors …

Pa. Judge Won’t Strike Actos Verdict Against Takeda

Pennsylvania judge has declined to overturn a $2 million verdict awarded in October to a plaintiff who claimed that the Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug Actos was a significant contributor to her developing bladder cancer. In an order docketed on Friday, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Shelly Robins New rejected the company’s post-trial motions, in which they had argued that …

Calif. Dept. of Health Says Tobacco Laws Should Cover E-Cigarettes

The California Department of Public Health said Wednesday (1/29/15) that laws aimed at protecting children and the public from traditional tobacco products should be expanded so that they include e-cigarettes, just one recommendation from a new report detailing the dangers and toxicity of so-called vaping devices. The report warns that the nicotine in e-cigarettes is just as addictive as in traditional …

Studies Show Depakote During Pregnancy Linked to Autism

A Danish study found that mothers who took the anti-seizure medication Depakote during pregnancy were five times as likely to give birth to a child diagnosed with autism as mothers who did not take the drug. The study monitored over 665,000 Danish children from 1996 to 2006, 5, 500 of whom were diagnosed with autism. Of these, 508 were born …

FDA Still Not Regulating E-Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes, battery-powered devices that convert a solution of nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor that can be inhaled, or “vaped,” have the potential to wean a vast number of smokers off cigarettes. No burned tobacco leaves, no cancer-causing tar: a seemingly public health revolution in waiting. Right?  Um, not so fast. There’s the inaccurate inaccurate labeling, shoddy counterfeits and …

Actos Caused Consumer’s Bladder Cancer, Philly Jury Hears

A Philadelphia jury heard opening arguments on Wednesday in a case against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., the latest in a string of suits against the drugmaker, alleging that a retired high-school teacher developed bladder cancer after taking the diabetes drug Actos. Miller Firm LLC attorney Michael Miller told the jury that warnings issued beginning in June 2011 about the risks associated …

60 Mesh Cases to Head to Trial

After a California court of appeals upheld a $5.5 million mesh verdict against C.R. Bard in November, the U.S District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia designated 60 vaginal mesh cases as “Miniwave 1” cases. These 60 cases will be tried in federal district courts around the country.  After the Southern District of West Virginia Court’s order, these 60 …

Texas Legislature to Consider Banning E-Cigarette Sales to Minors

From The Houston Chronicle: Legislators in Texas, one of just nine states that permit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, will consider banning such sales amid concerns about growing use of the “safer” alternative to smoking among youth. Even as the Texas Medical Association and Texas Public Health Coalition plan to lobby the 2015 Legislature to regulate e-cigarettes, three bills …

Survey Finds Teens Trending Toward E-cigarettes

More teens are trying out e-cigarettes than the real thing, according to the government’s annual drug use survey. Researchers were surprised at how many 8th, 10th and 12th graders reported using electronic cigarettes this year, even as regular smoking by teens dropped to new lows. Nearly 9 percent of 8th graders said they had used an e-cigarette in the previous …

CDC Reports Tanning Bed Injuries Nearly 2,000 in 2012

Enter an indoor tanning booth today and you may find yourself with skin cancer decades down the road. But some painful consequences could be immediate. An estimated 1,957 indoor tanners landed in U.S. emergency rooms in 2012 after burning their skin or eyes, fainting or suffering other injuries, researchers from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. …

Back-to-Back Transvaginal Mesh Trial Losses Put Pressure on Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific Corp’s back-to-back losses in the first two federal trials over its transvaginal mesh devices could drive up the cost of resolving thousands of similar lawsuits, according to legal experts. On November 20th, a jury in West Virginia awarded four women $18.5 million for injuries they said were caused by the Massachusetts-based company’s Obtryx device for stress urinary incontinence, …

Eli Lilly, Takeda Win Dismissal Of Ark. Taxpayer Actos Suit

A Louisiana federal judge on Thursday threw out a proposed class action alleging that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. ripped off taxpayers by hiding the risks of their diabetes drug Actos, after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled the drug was properly prescribed by doctors. In a two-page order granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to …

Bard Can’t Avoid Its Part Of Pelvic Mesh Verdict

  A California appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a $5.5 million verdict against C.R. Bard Inc. and a gynecologist that found the two responsible for a woman’s injuries from a vaginal mesh implant in the first such case to go to trial. The panel rejected Bard’s argument that the negligence theories submitted to the jury were erroneous, finding instead that …

Takeda Ordered to Pay for Destroying Actos Files

Bloomberg is reporting that Takeda Pharmaceutical was ordered by a jury to pay $155,000 over its destruction of documents about its Actos diabetes medicine after the panel concluded the missing files blocked a man from proving his claims that the drug caused his cancer. Jurors in state court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, deliberated about three hours today before concluding Takeda …

The Health Claims Of E-Cigarettes Are Going Up In Smoke

The sales pitch of electronic cigarette manufacturers seemed too good to be true. Could nicotine addicts around the world really get their fix whilst dodging the health risks of puffing away on cancer sticks? Sadly for smokers and “vapers,” the answer is far from clear. New evidence has emerged which suggests that E-Cigarettes can be dangerous too – in some …

It’s Easy to Overdose on Tylenol, Study Warns

The rise in prescriptions and non-prescription use of painkillers in the U.S. is no secret – in the past decade, prescriptions for opioids have skyrocketed by 300%, making them the most prescribed drugs in the country. And the consequences of that spike can be deadly, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports: nearly 17,000 people die each year from …