Lawsuit Information Center Blog

February 4, 2021

Belviq Cancer Lawsuits

Last February, just before the coronavirus shutdowns put everything on pause, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Drug Safety Communication for the weight-loss drug Belviq. According to the FDA, studies show that Belviq increases the risk of certain types of cancers. In response to the FDA safety announcement for Belviq, Easai Inc. agreed to voluntarily withdraw the drug from the market. It now appears that Belviq is destined to suffer the same disastrous fate as many other prescription weight control drugs.

What is Belviq?

Belviq is the brand name for Lorcaserin, a new type of hormone appetite suppressant medication developed for the treatment of obesity. It was originally developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals and later manufactured and sold by Japanese-based pharmaceutical company Eisai.

January 21, 2021

Penumbra Investor Class Action on JET 7 Ultra Flex Catheter

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

There are reports that Penumbra’s JET 7 7 Ultra Flex Catheter has a defect that can cause serious injury or death. As a result, the medical device manufacturer recalled it inDecember 2020. One month later, one of Penumbra’s investors filed a class-action suit, alleging that it concealed information on the catheter’s defects. Can we expect injury and wrongful death lawsuits to be filed in connection with this recall? Let’s talk about this recall and what we might expect moving forward.

What Is the JET 7 Reperfusion Catheter?

The JET 7 Reperfusion Catheter with Xtra Flex Technology is a medical device intended to remove stroke patients’ blood clots and restore blood flow. It works by sucking the blood clot from the affected artery. The catheter’s manufacturer, Penumbra, introduced it to the U.S. market in July 2019. By the end of the year, this device accounted for over 30 percent of Penumbra’s total revenue.

January 11, 2021

Zantac Lawsuits – 2021 New Claims Update

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Zantac cancer lawsuits are heating up. Discovery is moving forward surprisingly quickly given the pandemic and it may not be long before trials are being scheduled.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers are pushing like crazy for Zantac victims, including our law firm. Our lawyers are moving quickly and we have already signed up scores of plaintiffs for the Zantac cancer lawsuits. If you have cancer and were taking Zantac, don’t delay. We are at the point where there are statute of limitations concerns. Call us today at 800-553-8082 or get a free online claim evaluation.

On April 1, 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested the removal of all Zantac and generic ranitidine products from the market, after discovering that levels of NDMA in the drug could increase with time and exposure to high temperatures.

January 7, 2021

3M Earplugs Class ActionTrial in April

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

We are getting closer to a day cynics said would never arrive: a bellwether jury trial in the 3M Earplug lawsuits.

3M, whose lawyers expected to get out on summary judgment, must be surprised by this update. (3M sounded pretty confident these lawsuits would never see a courtroom.) Veterans who called our law firm inquiring as to whether this litigation was a scam will be shocked. I suspect even some plaintiffs’ attorneys are surprised the Combat Arms earplugs case will soon be decided by a jury.

The first federal bellwether trial involving 3M’s dual-ended combat earplugs begins in April 2021. It will focus on three cases.

January 7, 2021

How Much Do Mass Tort Leads Cost?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

From the mass tort work our lawyers do, we form opinions about the value of various class action type lawsuits, most involving pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices.

Our law firm makes virtually the same effort in all these cases. We tell lawyers and victims what we know about the litigation on our blogs and websites. That is the only “marketing” that we do.

But, clearly, different cases have different potential values. How do we compare the expected trial or settlement value of different mass torts?

December 17, 2020

$2 Billion Verdict in Missouri Motivates J&J to Settle Talcum Powder Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The talcum powder lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson have been going on for years. The lawsuits allege that prolonged use of talcum powder (or “talc”), which is the active ingredient in products such as Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, can cause ovarian cancer in some women. Since the first studies linking talcum powder to cancer were made public, thousands of product liability lawsuits have been filed against J&J. The talcum powder lawsuits in federal courts have been consolidated into a class action MDL.

The latest big news is the announcement that J&J was paying $100 million to settle a large group of over 1,000 talcum powder cases in the MDL. This announcement marked a dramatic shift in J&J’s position on talcum powder claims. J&J had steadfastly refused to admit that there was anything wrong with talcum powder and the company had aggressively defended all claims.

So what prompted this change of heart? One of the primary motivating factors for J&J was a $2 billion dollar verdict awarded over the summer to 22 women in a Missouri talcum powder lawsuit. That is the kind of thing that wakes up a Fortune 500 giant like Johnson & Johnson.

December 11, 2020

Baseball-related Verdicts and Settlements

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Years, ago, I wrote a blog about a frivolous Little League baseball lawsuit. Going through that old post in 2020, I realized no one really cared seven years later. (in fact, I started to post the old post at the end of the piece but decided it was truly worthless.

But settlement and verdicts in baseball-related personal injury lawsuits does seem of interest to many of us who spend our winters indoors playing baseball and out spring, summer, and fall out on the baseball field.

Baseball-Related Verdicts and Settlements

December 11, 2020

Zantac Class Action in Federal Court – Where Are We Now?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The last 2 years have been pretty bad for the popular heartburn drug Zantac after testing revealed that it contained significantly high levels of the carcinogen N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). This led to Zantac being pulled off the shelves of major retailers and eventually a nationwide FDA recall.

Hundreds of individuals have now filed lawsuits against Zantac’s manufacturers. The suits alleged that taking Zantac caused the plaintiffs to develop certain types of cancer. Hundreds more Zantac cancer lawsuits are expected to be filed.

The source of all the trouble is NDMA which was in Zantac. NDMA a cancerous poison metabolizes into carcinogens like formaldehyde.

December 6, 2020

Liver-Related Malpractice Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A number of cancers arise in the liver or biliary system. Unlike many cancers, liver cancer (and liver disease) appear to be on the rise. From 1999 to 2016, annual deaths from liver cancer doubled to 11,073. Liver cancer is now the fastest increasing cause of cancer death in the United States.

Why? it is a good question. The tragedy is that liver cancer is often preventable. Approximately 71 percent of liver cancer diagnoses in the U.S. can be attributable to preventable risk factors. Some of these deaths are also caused by malpractice. You need to diagnose and treat liver cancer quickly to have the best chance of curing it.

Liver Cancer Examples

November 25, 2020

Paragard and the History of IUDs and Product Liability in the U.S.

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Yesterday, I wrote about the rising Paragard litigation and the possibility of a class-action lawsuit. Today, I’m writing about the history of IUDs for birth control.

The Paragard IUD is the most recent intrauterine contraceptive device to find itself embattled in a wave of product liability lawsuits in the U.S. Like so many of its predecessors in the IUD market, the Paragard turned out to have a hidden defect that caused serious health problems in many users.

The recently discovered issue with the Paragard is that the device frequently breaks apart when doctors attempt to remove it, causing fractured shards of plastic to poke around inside the uterus. This defect has already prompted a wave of Paragard IUD lawsuits around the country.