Articles Posted in Legal News

It’s the peak of the summer beach season, but if you drop by your local retailer to pick up some sunscreen you will likely see a lot of empty shelf space. Why? Because independent consumer product testing recently discovered that a number of major sunscreen products contained hazardous levels of benzene. Benzene is a notorious and well-known human carcinogen that is very harmful to the human body.

In response to this discovery, manufacturers and major retailers have started pulling sunscreen spray, lotion, and other products from their shelves. Now plaintiffs lawyers around the country are evaluating whether contaminated sunscreen could be the next big mass tort.

Valisure Finds Dangerous Levels of Benzene in Sunscreen Products

On May 28, 2021, 3M won their first trial in the 3M earplug lawsuits.  The jury found that an Ohio Army veteran’s tinnitus was not caused by 3M’s negligence in selling and distributing the Combat Arms earplugs.

So we are now 1-1.  On April 30, 2021, 3M earplug verdict enjoyed a huge win: $7.1 million for three plaintiffs.  The jury kicked in $2.1 million in punitive damages.  Why?  They didn’t just find 3M negligent in manufacturing the Combat Arms earplugs.  The jury thought 3M need to learn a lesson for what it did to these victims.

So we have one win and one loss.  Our lawyers still believe in these cases.  Call our 3M earplug lawyers today at 800-553-8082 or contact us online for a free 3M earplug lawsuit consultation.

Medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific has issued an emergency safety recall of its Vici Venous stent devices because a defect in the stents causes them to migrate once inside the body. If you had a Vici Venous stent surgically implanted and it subsequently migrated inside your body, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our medical device lawyers are currently new Vici Venous stent cases against Boston Scientific.

About the Vici Venous Stent

Venous stents are small tubs of metal mesh that are surgically implanted inside a vein to help expand the walls of the vein and keep them open to allow blood circulation. The stent effectively functions like a reinforcing scaffold or frame that prevents the vein from closing. Stents are typically placed in larger veins. Venous stents are commonly used for the treatment of chronic blood clots (deep vein thrombosis) and similar conditions that cause the veins to narrow or compress.

Right now, there are thousands of lawsuits pending in courts across the country related to defective hernia mesh implants. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits are individuals who had a defective hernia mesh implanted during surgery causing them to suffer serious post-surgical complications and injuries.

The hernia mesh lawsuits involve multiple hernia mesh products made by 3 medical device companies who are now defendants in the litigation: Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary), C.R. Bard (now part of Beckton Dickinson), and Atrium Medical Corp. The alleged defects and the product liability claims being asserted against all these defendants are similar enough to talk about them collectively.

As of Spring 2021, we have yet to see a trial or jury verdict in any of these hernia mesh cases. Bellwether trials are coming up this summer which should give us our first taste of how these cases might play out. In the meantime, however, we can certainly speculate on how much these cases could be worth. This post will offer a reasonable estimate of how much hernia mesh individual hernia mesh claims might be worth in the final settlement.

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.

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?

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.

Window tints laws require a significant amount of light to be transmitted in car windows. Once pulled over, a police officer may check to see if your car’s window tints are legal or not. You may ask yourself how police officers can do that. In addition to knowing how to check for too much tint, you must know the window tint laws in both Maryland and D.C.

How do the police determine if a window has too much tint?

The only way to determine if there is an actual violation of the statute is for the officer, after stopping the vehicle, to conduct a test utilizing a “two-piece window tint meter.” When observing a vehicle without the benefit of such a device there is no definitive way to determine if the window tint on a car is in violation of the statute other than by eyeballing it.

What is the legal tint in Maryland?

In Maryland, legal tint varies by vehicle. All windows in passenger cars, convertibles, and station wagons are required to have at least 35% light transmittance. These cars are also not allowed to have red, yellow, amber, and reflective window tint.

When I get sick, I assume an antibiotic will solve my problems.  I’m slightly allergic to amoxicillin. Zithromax, Z-Pak (Z-Pac, I’ve seen both), Zmax, or any similar antibiotic to treat bacterial infections is my drug of choice for ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, traveler’s diarrhea, or other intestinal infections.

There are risks with any drug.  You have been told that time and time again. But if you are like me, you just want to feel better and you have a history with antibiotics of doing just that.

A new study underscores that maybe we should slow our roll in racing to get Zithromax.  Because the study suggests that the potential side effects are more than just theoretical and can increase the risk of heart problems and death.  This gets my attention. Because I’d rather be sick than dead.

Elmiron vision loss lawsuits are being filed at an increasing rate. Anyone that has been using the drug Elmiron to treat bladder conditions should be aware of the growing tide of concerns regarding the long-term side effects of this popular drug for interstitial cystitis.

After an initial wave of reports linking the use of Elmiron to serious vision impairment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently stepped in and required the manufacturer of Elmiron to add a  new warning label.

The new warning label alerts doctors and patients that Elmiron may cause a rare eye disease called pigmentary maculopathy that can cause vision impairment or blindness. The new warning label comes just as Elmiron vision loss lawsuits are already being filed across the country. Ultimately, when an Elmiron class action settlement is reached down the road, I predict a strong, unambiguous black box warning of the side effects that include vision loss.