In this post, we will provide a status update on what’s happening in the Atrium C-Qur hernia mesh litigation.
The Atrium hernia mesh MDL (Atrium Medical Corp. C-Qur Mesh Products Liability Litigation) has over 2,500 cases consolidated in the U.S. District Court for New Hampshire. This is the smallest of the three hernia mesh MDLs that are currently pending around the country.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has been conducting a study on polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350), the active ingredient in MiraLAX, and its effect on a child’s brain. The study came about after reports that children have been experiencing behavioral problems after taking MiraLAX.
This is just crazy. It what appears to be a rerun of a rerun, the FDA has once again updated its recall list of valsartan-containing products. If you are currently taking Valsartan, you must check that list to see your medication may or may not be on it. If you are unaware of the previous valsartan recalls, please inform yourself as this will help you become more informed on how these medications may affect your overall health. You must also know about the lawsuits involving NDMA-contaminated valsartan, as it shows what kind of hardships people might experience after taking these tainted drugs.
The FDA added valsartan-containing products under the brand name RemedyRepack to its recall list. Their tests determined that the valsartan brand contained N-nitrodimethylamine (NDMA), which is considered a carcinogen by both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the FDA. The pharmaceutical companies Prinston and Solco distribute this brand. Both Prinston and Solco are involved in class action lawsuits throughout the United States that involve their distribution of already recalled valsartan-containing products. This updated recall list highlights the extent of how many valsartan-containing products are contaminated.
If you have a Ethicon Physicomesh lawsuit, here are 8 things you want to know.
The Physiomesh was introduced in 2010 and had an absorbable film coating on each side of the mesh. It was designed to minimize inflammation and incorporate the patch into the body. Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, manufactured the Physiomesh.
On September 11th, James Jones, a Missouri man, filed an MDL class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. This Valsartan lawsuit was filed against several manufacturers of the drug Valsartan, which is used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure.
What does this mean? It means that the Valsartan cases are now moving forward very quickly.
In a few short months, we could have a full-blown MDL class action lawsuit with thousands of potential plaintiffs.
Yesterday, I wrote an article noting a Danish study that concluded that there were no long-term cancer risks associated with NDMA-contaminated valsartan tablets. While NDMA might not have long-term cancer risk effects, it is not the only impurity found in valsartan.
On September 13, Health Canada announced that another impurity, N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), was found in valsartan that was manufactured by Zeijiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals (ZHP) in China.
The FDA also discovered NDEA in some ZHP-manufactured valsartan through testing. According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), NDEA has been found in valsartan made by ZHP since they changed its manufacturing process in 2012. NDEA, like NDMA, is classified as a possible human carcinogen.
The date code range is the first 6 numbers of the serial number
The recall previously announced for the Series 503 Flushmate III Pressure Assist Flushing System has been expanded, affecting approximately an additional 351,000 systems. This post discusses this recall and talks about how the jury is still out on whether a product is effective and safe even if is has been on the market for many years as these products were. Continue reading
The lawsuits involving Pradaxa have been proceeding along. We think these are high value cases that will ultimately settle for a lot of money. It is not surprising to see Xarelto, Pradaxa’s little brother, also in the sites of injury and wrongful death lawsuits.
Xarelto Problems Increase
Xarelto, a relatively new anticoagulant in the same class of medications as Pradaxa, has been climbing the charts when it comes to adverse reports and even deaths. With a reported increase of 240% in the use of Xarelto after just a year and a half on the market, the problems associated with the increased numbers seem to be comparable. With 968 adverse events having already been reported in 2013, which includes 72 deaths, the numbers are way up from the 750 adverse events reported in all of 2012, which included 58 deaths.
Stryker Hip Settlements Coming?
A New Jersey state court judge has selected a group of 10 Stryker Rejuvenate hip replacement lawsuits for early mediation, in order to discuss the potential for reaching settlement agreements during the early stages of litigation.
With over 300 complaints already filed throughout the New Jersey state court system, and even more expected in the coming months, Stryker Rejuvenate cases were centralized earlier this year as part of a Multi-County Litigation or MCL. An MCL consolidates the cases for discovery purposes as there are some witnesses and evidence that will be common to all of these Stryker hip lawsuits.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys had known for some time that there were problems with DePuy’s ASR hip replacement because we generally pay attention to adverse reports and we hear from potential plaintiffs long before we even know there will be grounds for a suit in the first place.
But what put the whole thing into overdrive was the recall itself after J&J, who really owns DePuy, looked at the whole thing and said, we need to get out now while we can because (1) people are getting hurt (which I do think they care about to varying degrees), and (2) our legal liability is going to be through the roof if we don’t do something. There are now nearly 7,800 suits and DePuy is going to be paying – I predict, anyway – a ton of money on these claims. So they wanted to cut their losses.
With the first MDL trial around the corner, DePuy wants to keep the recall out of evidence. Why? Because it is pretty much game, set, match for the idea that the ASR metal-on-metal replacement was awful.
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