Lawsuit Information Center

October 16, 2022

What Is a Bellwether Trial?

Bellwether trials are like “test” cases used is big mass torts such as class action MDLs involving hundreds or even thousands of individual plaintiffs. To understand what a bellwether trial is, you need to understand how modern mass tort litigation works.

Understanding Mass Torts

In mass tort litigation, there is a very large group of plaintiffs (anywhere from a few dozen to a few thousand) all of whom have filed lawsuits involving identical tort claims. The most common example is in the pharmaceutical context where thousands of people are injured by a defective drug (e.g., Ozempic) and they all file identical lawsuits around the same time.

September 26, 2022

Update on the Atrium C-Qur Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

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 16-md-2753) 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.

As of September 2022, the number lawsuits pending in the Atrium hernia mesh class action(the smallest of the big 3 hernia mesh MDLs) increased by 17 over the last monthly period (August 15 to September 15). This brings the total number of pending cases up to 3,308.

August 14, 2022

Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard Defamation Trial

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The jury is still out this Wednesday after Memorial Day in the defamation lawsuit filed by actor Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Update: Netflix recently released a new documentary film on the Jonny Depp / Amber Heard defamation trial. The show, Depp v. Heard, features clips of testimony from the trial, mostly from Johhny and Amber themselves.

Update: Johnny Deep Wins! $15 million in punitive damages. But they awarded Heard $2 million for her counterclaim. Summary: what an utter mess.

July 17, 2022

Pennsylvania Birth Injury Verdict Overturned: Charlton v. Troy

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

In Charlton v. Troy, a Pennsylvania Superior Court nixed a $40 million verdict, ordering a new trial in a birth injury lawsuit alleging excessive traction caused a severe spinal injury.

Facts of Charlton v. Troy

The case revolves around the events that occurred during the birth of the Charlton twins. Mrs. Charlton underwent routine prenatal testing at the hospital when she was 37 and a half weeks pregnant with twins. The ultrasound revealed that “Twin B” was 25 percent smaller than “Twin A,” indicating discordant growth and some tachycardia in Twin B.

June 11, 2022

Cauda Equina Syndrome Settlements and Verdicts

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Cauda equina syndrome is a neurological disorder that stems from an injury to the nerve root bundle that exits the spinal cord.

Symptoms of CES include severe back pain, weakness or numbness in the legs, bowel or bladder dysfunction, and sexual dysfunction. If not treated promptly and adequately, CES can lead to permanent nerve damage and even paralysis.

When a patient presents with symptoms of cauda equina syndrome, healthcare professionals must recognize the condition promptly and provide appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, medical malpractice can occur when healthcare providers fail to diagnose or properly treat CES, leading to permanent nerve damage, paralysis, and other long-term injuries.

If you or a loved one has suffered from CES due to medical malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Our experienced malpractice attorneys can help you understand your legal rights and pursue justice via a medical malpractice lawsuit on your behalf.

The treatment for cauda equina syndrome is generally immediate surgical decompression. The sooner this can be achieved, the better. You usually have a 48-hour window of opportunity to reverse the symptoms. The malpractice lawsuits occur when the symptoms were there to be seen during that window but were missed, usually in the ER or by a primary care doctor, or by the surgical staff after spinal surgery.

Cauda Equina Syndrome Causes and Symptoms

CES is caused by compression of the cauda equina nerves located at the base of the spinal cord. The condition can result from a variety of underlying factors, including:

Herniated disc
Trauma to the spinal cord
Tumor or lesion on the spinal cord
Spinal stenosis
Infection or inflammation

Symptoms of cauda equina syndrome can include:

Severe back pain
Weakness or numbness in the legs
Loss of bladder or bowel control
Sexual dysfunction
Numbness in the groin or genital area
Loss of sensation in the buttocks, inner thighs, or back of the legs

June 5, 2022

Uterine Cancer

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Over 60,000 women in the U.S. get diagnosed with uterine cancer every year, making cancer of the uterus the 2^nd most common female cancer. Recently, uterine cancer has been linked to exposure to certain chemicals, putting this disease at the center of several mass torts, including hair relaxer lawsuits and Camp Lejeune toxic water lawsuits. On this page we provide a simple overview of uterine cancer from a medical standpoint and look at how it has become involved in litigation.

The Uterus

The uterus is the largest female reproductive organ. This pear-shaped organ is often called the “womb” and is where human life begins in the form of fetal development during pregnancy. The uterus is comprised of 3 separate parts: (1) fundus, (2) isthmus, and (3) cervix.

April 23, 2022

Reglan Lawsuit

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Reglan is a pharmaceutical drug used to combat heartburn and slow gastric emptying in diabetes patients. The question is whether tardive dyskinesia (also known as TD), a neurological disorder with symptoms including repeated involuntary movements, is connected to Reglan use.

Below is a question and answer for about the Reglan lawsuits. This will read a little odd in places because much of it was written thirteen years ago. But it has 2022 additions as well, including a discussion of the possibility of a new Reglan lawsuit over the undisclosed stroke risk.

What Is Reglan?

March 10, 2022

Royal Rangers Sex Abuse Lawsuit Settlement

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Assemblies of God recently settled a sexual assault lawsuit filed by a group of men who claimed that they were abused as children while participating in the Royal Rangers Christian youth program. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed. This case marks a continuing trend in which various religious organizations have had to settle lawsuits for clergy sex abuse occurring in one of their youth programs.

Infant Formula Manufacturers Request MDL for NEC Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

New research has revealed that cow-milk infant formulas can increase the risk of a deadly neonatal condition called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants.

This has prompted a growing number of lawsuits against the manufacturers of infant formulas Similac (Abbott Laboratories) and Enfamil (Mead Johnson) by parents of premature infants who were fed with formula and developed NEC. The lawsuits allege that Abbott and Mead negligently failed to warn parents and doctors about the NEC risk their products posed for preemies.

There are currently around 60 NEC infant formula lawsuits pending in both state and federal courts around the country, but hundreds and possibly thousands more are expected to be filed in the near future. This has prompted both Abbott and Mead to request that all NEC lawsuits in federal courts be consolidated into a new MDL. In this post, we will look at the MDL requests and speculate on the most likely venue and what it might mean for the NEC litigation moving forward.

February 7, 2022

Knee Replacement and Implant Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Knee replacement and knee implant lawsuits allege that devices loosened or did not last as long as they should. Zimmer faced over 15,000 Biomet lawsuits over its NexGen implant. DePuy Synthes Attune Knee implant lawsuits were also a big thing. Now Exactech recall lawsuits will be getting filed in massive numbers in 2022 after a big recall.

There have been a lot of questions about hip and knee replacements in recent years. DePuy, Exactech, Stryker, and Zimmer have had – to put it mildly – concerns raised about their products. These companies would argue that the problems are mostly with patients who are having bad outcomes and blaming the insurance companies.