Articles Posted in Product Liability

Elmiron is the brand name of a popular prescription drug manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Millions of people take Elmiron every day to treat chronic bladder conditions. Last year, however, a research study confirmed that prolonged use of Elmiron can cause serious damage to the retinas in the eyes. Studies have conclusively established that extended use of Elmiron at high doses has caused permanent blindness and impaired vision.

After the release of these findings linking Elmiron to eye damage, a steady stream of dangerous drug lawsuits has been filed against Janssen alleging vision loss or damage caused by Elmiron. To date, just over 100 individual Elmiron lawsuits have been filed in federal courts around the country. More of these bladder medication lawsuits have been filed in state courts.

Elmiron MDL Class Action 

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. This page provides a J&J talc power litigation update.

November 2021 Update:

In the spring of 2021, another massive jury verdict in a talcum powder case prompted J&J to pay out $100 million to settle a group of 1,000 pending talc cases (the details of this are the subject of the post below). Following this development, it seemed like a global settlement of all the talcum powder cases was on the horizon. But things have taken a turn in another direction recently.

This is the latest update on the Taxotere class action (MDL) lawsuits as of  November 23, 2021.

The second bellwether Taxotere trial in the Taxotere lawsuits started in New Orleans earlier this month.  We hoped for a different outcome.  The first Taxetere trial was a verdict for Sandofi in 2019. We were hoping this trial will turn out different and the settlement value of these Taxotere lawsuits will increase.

Second Taxotere Trial in November 2021 Ends in a Loss

This post speculates about Zantac lawsuit settlement amounts.  Yes, it is impossible to know what the average compensation payout might be in the Zantac litigation at this stage.

But projecting settlement amounts is what stock analysts and shareholders for Sanofi-Aventis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline are already doing and baking those costs into the stock price.  Plaintiffs’ Zantac lawyers can do this as well.

So this post will look at how much these Zantac lawsuits might eventually be worth based on comparisons to other mass tort settlements involving cancer.

C.R. Bard is currently defending over 8,000 hernia mesh lawsuits consolidated in a “class action” MDL in Ohio. After years of discovery, the first bellwether test trial (a case hand-picked by the defense) resulted in a loss for the plaintiffs earlier this year. The second test trial, which promises to be much more favorable to the plaintiffs, is set for January.

In an effort to prevent the 2^nd bellwether trial from going to a jury, the defense filed a motion for summary judgment in the case. Last week, the MDL judge denied the defendant’s motion which effectively ensures that the case will proceed to trial in 3 months. The outcome of the trial is expected to be very different from the first bellwether case and a big verdict could force C.R. Bard to start negotiating a global settlement of all cases.

Hernia Mesh Patch Lawsuits Against C.R. Bard

Medical device company C.R. Bard Inc. is currently defending over 12,000 lawsuits alleging that its hernia mesh devices were defective and resulted in injuries and complications for thousands of hernia surgery patients.

This post will provide a brief historical overview of the hernia mesh lawsuits against C.R. Bard and look at the current status of the Bard hernia mesh class-action MDL as of October 25, 2021.

October 28, 2021 Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Update

Our lawyers are handling Similac and Enfamil infant formula lawsuits for families whose premature babies suffered or died from necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after taking one of these formulas.

Medical research links cow milk-based infant formulas such as Similac and Enfamil to a dangerous neonatal medical condition known as necrotizing enterocolitis.  The makers of these formulas knew of the risk of NEC and did nothing to warn families and give them a choice.

If your premature baby was diagnosed with NEC after being given Similac or Enfamil formula, you may be able to bring a product liability lawsuit against the formula company and receive financial compensation for your loss.

Round 4 of the 3M earplug lawsuits bellwether trials in the 3M earplugs litigation ended in the biggest and most decisive victory for the plaintiffs to date.  Earlier this month, on October 1^st, a federal court jury in Sarasota, Florida awarded army vet Brandon Atkins an $8.2 million verdict in his defective earplugs case against 3M.  Unfortunately the next case on October 29, 2021 went to the plaintiffs with a defense verdict in Blum.

• On November 15, 2021, this verdict was topped by a $13.1 million earplug verdict.

3M Earplug Lawsuit Claims Against 3M

Hundreds of women have filed Paragard IUD lawsuits claiming that they were injured when a design defect in the popular IUD caused it to fracture during removal and leave foreign objects inside their bodies.

The Paragard lawsuits in the federal courts have been consolidated into a new Paragard MDL in the Northern District of Georgia. In this post, we will speculate on how much these Paragard lawsuits might be worth if the litigation is resolved in a global settlement with the manufacturers.

• October 2021 Paragard Class Action Update (good news)

Tasigna is a relatively new drug developed by Novartis for the treatment of leukemia. Not long after Tasigna was released in the U.S., evidence emerged indicating that Tasigna could cause a dangerous condition called atherosclerosis (narrowing of the blood arteries to the heart).

Plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that Novartis knew or should have known about this dangerous side-effect, but failed to include a warning in the prescribing information.

Users of Tasigna who suffered vascular damage from this undisclosed side-effect may be entitled to compensation for their injuries. Novartis has already been sued in a growing number of Tasigna lawsuits and a new “class-action” MDL has been created for consolidated handling of the Tasigna cases.