Recent News
Jury Awards Damages to Metal on Metal Hip Victims
Last month, a Texas jury awarded more than $1 billion in damages to plaintiffs who claimed they suffered injuries after receiving DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants. Metal-on-metal hip implants, such as the DePuy Pinnacle implants, are surgical devices used during hip replacement surgery that have been claimed to be more durable and provide a greater…
FDA Warning: Rare but Serious Allergic Reactions from Skin Antiseptic
On February 2, 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning regarding reports of rare but serious allergic reactions on the skin of individuals who have used over-the-counter (OTC) products containing chlorhexidine gluconate. The FDA has requested that manufacturers, which produce antiseptic containing the ingredient, issue a warning detailing the risk on the…
Duodenoscope Manufacturer Chose Not to Warn of Risks
UPDATE: On January 17, 2017, the United States Food and Drug Administration updated safety information regarding the Pentax ED-3490TK video duodenoscope. Within this update, the FDA warned consumers that the device had the capacity to crack—making the transfer of fluids and bacteria to the device possible. Similar to other duodenoscope devices, the Pentax device can…
Study Suggests IVC Filter Use Offers No Benefit to Trauma Patients
A Journal of the American Medical Association study released in September, 2016, suggests that IVC filters do not provide benefits to trauma patients. Physicians began using inferior vena cava (IVC) filters as an alternative preventative treatment for patients who could not take blood thinners. The devices are intended to temporarily to block dangerous blood clots—known…
Xarelto®: A Year in Review
In November, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced that the first of the Xarelto® bellwether trials, stemming from the Xarelto® multidistrict litigation, would begin in February, 2017. Since that announcement, there have been many updates in the ongoing legal battle against Xarelto® manufacturer Bayer AG and distributer Janssen Pharmaceuticals….
Jury Awards $70 Million to Victim of Talcum Powder
On October 27, 2016, a jury awarded a California woman more than $70 million in a lawsuit filed against talcum powder manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. This decision brings the total awards for three ovarian cancer victims in talcum powder lawsuits in 2016 to nearly $200 million. Nearly 2,000 additional suits have been filed claiming primarily…
Families Claim that Manufacturer Should Have Warned of Zofran Risks
The FDA approved Zofran, an antiemetic medication manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to prevent nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemo therapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Although Zofran was approved for distribution only for chemotherapy and radiation patients, GSK promoted the drug as an effective means to fight the same symptoms in pregnant women. Over the…
New Risk Associated with PPI Drugs
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a class of medication used to treat a number of common abdominal conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, stomach and duodenal ulcers, heartburn and erosive esophagitis. Consumer brand PPIs include Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec. Yet, a recent study, which includes data from nearly 200,000 patients treated through the Department of…
A History of Talcum Powder
Over the past year, two different juries have awarded compensatory as well as punitive damages to plaintiffs who filed talcum powder lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson. More than 1,000 additional lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson claiming that the manufacturer knew of the link between the product’s use and the development of ovarian…
The Fight Against Power Morcellators
Power morcellators are surgical devices that grind uterine fibroids into fragments for removal through small incisions in the abdomen. Unfortunately, there are no reliable methods to determine, prior to surgery, whether a fibroid contains hidden uterine cancer. The inability to rule out cancer prior to using the morcellator makes the laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy using a…