Articles archived from The Legal Examiner.
The FDA has expanded Dupixent's use to additional pediatric patients while continuing to review reports of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Researchers, regulators, and attorneys are closely watching developments involving the widely prescribed medication.
The appellate ruling rejected key defense arguments from Abbott Laboratories and could influence future NEC baby formula lawsuits involving premature infants and cow’s milk-based formula products.
A recent Illinois NEC baby formula verdict is adding to ongoing litigation involving claims that certain preterm formulas increased the risk of NEC in premature infants.
We are pleased to report that the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has now created and assigned MDL 3026
Military service members thought they were protecting themselves with 3M Dual-Ended Combat Arms Ear Plugs. Unfortunately, the devices offered no protection when worn as instructed by the company.
Promising weight-loss drug Belviq has been pulled off the U.S. market due to the potential risk of cancer. At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drug manufacturer Eisai Inc. has voluntarily withdrawn and discontinued sales of Belviq (lorcaserin). The FDA took…
Childers, Schlueter & Smith is pleased to announce Ashley Spires recently joined our team. Prior to joining the firm, Ashley was a partner with a National civil litigation defense firm where she successfully litigated and tried cases in defense of nurses, doctors, medical practices, product…
Though no longer trending at the top of the news, the devastating consequences of defective hernia mesh continue to impact thousands of people in the United States on a daily basis. Hernia mesh is the net-like medical sheet used in over one million hernia repairs…
Recently, I blogged about Johnson & Johnson’s Oct. 18 recall of nearly 33,000 bottles of its baby powder, which came alongside a disclosure that a government-funded test detected traces of cancer-causing asbestos particles in a sample of the powder. The contaminated sample came from Baby…
On Nov. 4, I blogged about the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) public statement announcing the detection of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in preliminary tests of the heartburn medication ranitidine, which is most often sold under the brand name Zantac. NDMA is a chemical agent categorized as…
On Oct. 19, the FDA announced J&J’s recall of nearly 33,000 bottles of its 22-oz Baby Powder. This came alongside a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) disclosure that a government test detected traces of cancer-causing asbestos particles in a sample of J&J Baby Powder. The recall…
On Sep. 13, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public statement announcing that low levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) were detected in preliminary tests of the popular heartburn medication ranitidine, which is most often sold under the brand name Zantac. NDMA is a chemical…
Recently, I have been covering ongoing updates regarding the outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, or EVALI, as an alarming number of U.S. vape users fall ill. While the illness case count confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was just…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) ongoing investigation of vaping-related lung disease is expanding by the day, with the number of reported cases and deaths rapidly rising in the U.S. In fact, there have now been 1,299 confirmed vaping-related lung disease cases and…
On Sep. 19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced the eighth U.S. death linked to vaping-related lung disease as a Missouri man in his forties. This came just four days after California’s Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency announced the seventh death on…
On Sep. 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to JUUL Labs Inc., which dominates the U.S. e-cigarette market with their vaping products. According to the letter, JUUL has been engaging in illegal and deceitful marketing tactics by making unproven…
On Sep. 3, 2019 Sixteen (16) health, environmental, farmer, and farmworker organizations released a joint statement calling for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove glyphosate from the U.S. marketplace due to an abundance of evidence linking it to a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s
On Aug. 10, 2018, a California state jury unanimously found that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused plaintiff Dewayne “Lee” Johnson to develop a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). The jury also found that Monsanto failed to appropriately warn Roundup users of thi
Previously, I blogged about the Nov. 28, 2018 recall of Stryker’s Tritanium posterior lumbar (PL) cage. The cage was recalled after reports of cage fractures occurring during and after surgical implantation, putting patients at-risk for a number of medical complications. The surgical technique is b
On July 18, 2019 a California judge announced a tentative ruling saying she will reduce the $2 billion award against Bayer AG, which was awarded to a couple who both developed NHL cancer after using Bayer’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup on their properties for decades.…
On June 26, Bayer AG announced new steps it is taking to resolve the thousands of lawsuits linked to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup. Today there are over 14,000 pending lawsuits against Bayer-owned Monsanto alleging Roundup caused heavily exposed users cancer. More specifically, the
Previously, I discussed the thousands of lawsuits that have been filed against hernia surgical mesh implant manufacturers such as C.R. Bard, Johnson & Johnson, Atrium and Gore. Hernia mesh is a net-like sheet that is used in over one million hernia repairs in the United…
Roundup, which is a product of Bayer-owned Monsanto, is the most popular weed killer in the world. It is used on nearly all cotton, corn, and soy farms in the United States and on individual consumers’ personal properties. Despite the product’s worldwide popularity, however, recent…
The Stryker Wingspan Stent System is designed to open up narrow arteries in the brains of individuals who have experienced repeated strokes. When it is used on patients who do not meet the usage criteria outlined by the FDA, however, it can have life-threatening or…
We are thrilled to report a jury in Hartford, Connecticut just returned a $542,645 compensatory award to our deserving clients: $42,645 for past medical expenses and $500,000 in non-economic/pain and suffering damages. The same jury indicated punitive damages are warranted to punish Boehringer Ingel
As consumers of modern medicine, we rely on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inform us of the risks and complications associated with medical drugs and devices on the market. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. A recent Kaiser Health News investigation revealed…
Recently, a federal jury ordered Monsanto to pay $80 million to 70-year-old Edwin Hardeman, who got diagnosed with cancer after using their weed killer for 26 years. The weed killer in question, Roundup, is a glyphosate-based herbicide that Hardeman regularly used on his 56-acre property…
Recently, a federal jury in Indianapolis awarded $3 million to a woman who had serious medical complications caused by a defective inferior vena cava (IVC) filter. This verdict is noteworthy because it is the first bellwether trial to result in a win for the injured…
Today, many thousands of consumers have filed lawsuits against hernia surgical mesh implant manufacturers. Big name pharmaceutical companies like C.R. Bard, Johnson & Johnson/Ethicon, Atrium and others are the focus in these lawsuits for the debilitating medical side effects that resulted from their
Hernia surgical mesh implants are used to reduce hernia recurrence and provide support to tissue that is weakened or damaged because of a hernia. Hernias occur when an organ, intestine, or fatty tissue breaks through the wall of whatever is containing it, and can happen…
When an elderly individual suffers from a pulmonary embolism (PE), approximately one in six of them receive inferior vena cava (IVC) filters to decrease their risk of having subsequent PE. PE occurs when an artery in the lungs becomes blocked by a blood clot, which…
With thousands of reported side effects, the blood thinning drug Xarelto has been controversial since its initial approval for medical use in 2011. Nevertheless, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) submitted a Supplemental New Drug Application on Dec. 14 for Xarelto to be used as a preventative…
The FDA recently issued a warning dissuading customers from using Rhino male sexual enhancement products, which are unregulated supplements typically found for sale at gas stations and convenience stores. This warning comes after the discovery that many Rhino supplements contain unlisted ingredients
The FDA recently announced plans to overhaul its dated medical device approval system. The system, which has been in place since the 1970s, has been criticized for years due to its approval of over 95 percent of medical devices to be put on the U.S.…
In July, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a voluntary recall of multiple medications containing valsartan that were manufactured by the Chinese pharmaceutical company, Zhejiang Huahai. The recall occurred after two likely carcinogenic chemicals, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-Nitr
Beginning in July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a series of recalls for multiple medications that contain the drug valsartan after two likely carcinogenic chemicals were found in valsartan batches that had been imported to the United States from China. Often…
Today, hernia mesh manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson, Atrium, Covidien, and C.R. Bard, Inc., are the target of thousands of lawsuits because of medical complications that occurred after hernia mesh implant surgery. These infections can include extreme pain, infection, recurrence of hernia, org
We are happy to report a jury in West Virginia just returned a $250,000 compensatory award to our deserving clients. The same jury awarded $1,000,000 more in punitives to punish Boehringer Ingelheim for their wanton and willful acts in handling its blood thinner Pradaxa. Led…
Recently, I discussed a couple of reports that have come to light, potentially exposing the shortcomings of an FDA policy on “fast tracking” the approval of certain new drugs. Now, the FDA is in the middle of a large operation to remedy other policy issues…
Every time you turn on the television, you are most likely bombarded by a barrage of advertisements for prescription drugs. While you might be wary of marketer’s claims and promises as to their effect, you can at least rest assured that all have passed stringent…
In 2014, A young woman in Snellville, Georgia visited her doctor with claims of depression. Her physician prescribed lamotrigine, also marketed under the tradename Lamictal, a mood-stabilizing anticonvulsant best known for controlling seizures with those who suffer from epilepsy. While the medicatio
In the third consecutive talcum powder trial, a St. Louis City jury award plaintiff Deborah Giannecchini $2.57 million in compensatory damages and 67.5 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and the Imerys Talc America defendants for their talc-containing personal hygiene product. Per
The FDA just released more information on Invokana and Farxiga related to acute kidney failure. A topic and drug Childers, Schlueter & Smith have been investigating for a long time now. Check out our: Top 10 Things Invokana Patients Need To Know… As…
An Invokana lawsuit filed last year in Canada seeks $1 billion in damages against drug maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The lawsuit, filed in September 2015 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeks class-action status, which is expected to be determined within the next six or…
The diabetes drug Invokana was introduced to the U.S. market in March 2013 and quickly became the go-to type 2 diabetes treatment, although the safety of the medication became a point of contention relatively quickly. In May 2015, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices released…
Although federal law requires the reporting of adverse events, no reports concerning power morcellators had been received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prior to December 2013, according to The Cancer Letter. Prior to December 2013, the FDA had received no Medical Device…
According to a case management order issued by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, 40 cases will be chosen for the Xarelto bellwether pool, with each side selecting 10 cases and an additional 20 chosen randomly. According to Judge Fallon’s plan: Half of the cases will…
A medical study published in the October 2015 issue of the Annals of Surgery takes a closer look at whether trauma patients actually benefit from having inferior vena cava (IVC) filters implanted, or instead face a greater risk of life-threatening complications associated with the filters…
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have only been around since 2004, too little time for researchers to complete definitive studies on their effects on human health, but Americans polled by STAT and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health believe that the devices are harmful. This…
Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, recently entered into a settlement agreement with the Commonwealth of Kentucky over allegations surrounding the drug Risperdal. Janssen agreed to: Pay $15.5 million to the state of Kentucky Fully disclose the associated risks of Ris
IVC filters are inserted through an artery and deployed with spider-like legs designed to both catch blood clots before they find their way to the lung and cause what could potentially be a fatal pulmonary embolism, and to hold the filter in place at the…
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers, for the sixth consecutive year, announced the “Best Law Firms” rankings for 2016. Childers, Schlueter & Smith, LLC is pleased to announce it has been selected and recognized for inclusion into these rankings as a Tier 1…
A new complaint filed by Mr. and Mrs. Duffie of Georgia joins more than two dozen Bard G2 IVC filter lawsuits that have been centralized for pretrial proceedings before Arizona U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell. Atlanta injury law firm Childers, Schlueter & Smith LLC,…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently revised its May 2015 warning to now include an increased risk of bone fractures and decreased bone mineral density. Bone mineral density relates to the strength of a person’s bones. The original FDA warning stated that SGLT2…
Researchers from the University of Colorado and Northwestern University recently compared the retrievability factor of the Cook Celect IVC filter to the Reed Option filter and found that although retrieval figures between the two were similar, the perforation rate for the Cook Celect filter measured
Over the past decade, Georgia had been experiencing a decline in traffic fatalities each year. But bucking a nine-year trend, the state of Georgia saw an increase in the number of people killed in car accidents this past year, and officials think distracted driving is…
The IVC (inferior vena cava) filter is a spider-like medical device used to filter blood clots and prevent them from reaching a patient’s lungs and causing a pulmonary embolism, which could mean permanent lung damage or even death. Despite the advantages of IVC filters, they…
A comprehensive medical research bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on July 10th includes a provision designed to improve the safety monitoring of medical devices. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), was inspired by a controversial gynecological device – the…
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Motrin, Advil, and Aleve can increase the chance of heart attack or stroke as early of the first few weeks of use, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As a result, the FDA announced last week that it…
Based on the recent updates and a study concerning Invokana* for type II diabetes, there seem to be a lot of questions being asked about its use and whether it is the best option for a particular patient. Although these questions are best presented to…
Potential lawsuits are currently being considered regarding individuals who have experienced kidney or renal failure as the result of taking Invokana*, a new generation diabetes drug that has been linked to renal damage and other kidney problems. What is Invokana? Invokana is part of a…
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that although more than two dozen dietary supplements were recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approximately two-thirds were back on the market a year later, with the same banned…
Transvaginal mesh devices are surgically implanted in women to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The devices are designed to prevent internal organs from coming into contact with each other, but have resulted in numerous complications for patients, including: M
A new study released for the 2015 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) links Mirena exposure to the development of IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) also known as pseudotumor celebri (PTC). Mirena is a type of long-acting, reversible hormonal in
Prescription medications for low testosterone levels, also known as “Low T” have been heavily advertised to U.S. men in recent years, and as a result, the sale of testosterone replacement treatments have risen substantially during the last 10 years. What is Testosterone? Testosterone is a…
Our firm is proud to be a part of the Boys and Girls Club’s 2014 holiday gift program. We are helping to ensure that 50 children in need receive gifts this Holiday Season. We are also sponsoring two deserving families in need of help. We…
Purdue, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, has won dismissals in over 400 personal injury lawsuits related to the medication, has settled product liability cases involving the drug without disclosing the terms, and has defeated more than ten class actions suits brought against it over the…
Former Takata employees have charged that the Japanese airbag manufacturer conducted secret tests in 2004 on 50 airbags retrieved from scrapyards, saying that tests were performed after work hours, on weekends, and holidays during the summer of 2004 at the company’s American headquarters in Auburn…
Although many proponents of tort reform believe that fear of malpractice lawsuits prompts physicians to order unnecessary tests and indirectly drives up medical costs, a Rand Corporation study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found otherwise. The study analyzed the experienc
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is unleashing a barrage of quality-control initiatives aimed at overseas drug manufacturing, potentially empowering prosecutors who choose to target those companies with sloppy production techniques. The campaign played a large part in FDA Commissioner Margaret
Virginia Stuntebeck sued Johnson & Johnson and Bayer AG in Pennsylvania court earlier this year, alleging that she suffered severe internal bleeding stemming from use of the blood-thinning drug Xarelto. In the Xarelto lawsuit, which appears to be the first tort suit filed over the…
Our personal injury lawyers have been investigating claims on behalf of those that have had revision surgeries as a result of metal hip implant complications since the Stryker Rejuvenate modular-neck stem implant recall nearly two years ago. In July 2012, the Stryker Corporation issued a…
Anticoagulants such as Xarelto are considered by many to be among the most dangerous drugs because of the high number of serious side effects that are being reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Xarelto belongs to a class of anticoagulants called direct factor…
Xarelto, Bayer’s blood thinner formulated to prevent blood clots and lower the risk of stroke, may also cause uncontrolled bleeding that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Xarelto is an anticoagulant developed by Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s New Jersey-based unit, Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Since the drug Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes blood to pool in the storage chamber of the heart where it can clot and travel to the brain, there have been over 2,100…
Injured families and families of lost loved ones have filed lawsuits again Fresenius, the German-based manufacturer of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte, chemicals used in dialysis machines to help clean blood. The suits allege that the chemicals sharply increase the risk of cardiopulmonary arrest and sudden
A group of retired NFL players has filed a lawsuit against the league alleging that teams knowingly and illegally supplied players with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs to keep them on the field, and held back information regarding the long-term dangers associated with taking the drugs.…
A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary recently agreed to pay $5.9 million to resolve a suit brought to the company by Tim Fox, Montana’s attorney general. Fox claimed that the drug company promoted the antipsychotic drug Risperdal as safe despite knowing it may incite serious health…
A study presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry concurs with what many young men and boys already know: users of Risperdal may face as much as a 69 percent increased risk of male breast growth, or gynecomastia in…
Onfi, the brand name version of clobazam, a medication used to treat epileptic seizures, can cause serious skin reactions including Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) according to reports and the FDA. Clobazam is a benzodiazepine medication taken in combination with
It’s been almost two years since Stryker Rejuvenate hip implants and ABG II hip stems were recalled. In July 2012, the hip implant company took the product off the market after discovering their high potential of causing fretting and corrosion of the joints. But…
Earlier this year the JPML Court agreed to consolidate all of the federal lawsuits concerning the Rejuvenate and ABG II implants to one Court, with a case list of over 80 law suits, and thousands more expected to follow. As lawsuits surrounding the Stryker Hip…
Breaking News: Judge Donovan W. Frank, presiding over the Stryker Hip Implant MDL in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, ordered the formation of leadership involving a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC). Richard R. Schlueter of Childers, Schlueter & Smith has been appointed…
Yet another set of transvaginal mesh cases have been consolidated into an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, as the result of an order issued by a federal judicial panel at the beginning of…
A leading diabetes treatment drug, Actos, has been the subject of heightened interest recently due to its being implicated in an increased incidence of bladder cancer among patients taking…
A group of lawsuits that contend the diabetes drug, Actos, carries an increased risk of bladder cancer are set for an initial trial in Louisiana beginning in 2014. In December, the U.S….
The number of lawsuits involving Pradaxa internal bleeding claims has increased so dramatically that the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation created an MDL to…
The number of patients that die each year due to preventable hospital errors is equal to four full jumbo jets crashing each week. While hospitals are capable of great medical feats, they are also…
A panel of judges have recently agreed to consolidate all GranuFlo lawsuits, according a press release issued April 1, 2013. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on March 29, 2013…
Many problems have been associated with the faulty Stryker hip implant recall. According the FDA, they have received numerous reports from patients about serious side affects associated with the…
For several years as metal-on-metal devices have failed at alarming rates and a question has been repeatedly asked but not yet answered: Is there a lack of a clinical advantage with…
It is being reported by Harris Martin that the plaintiffs' involved in the first three DePuy ASR Hip Implant settlement cases that were previously set for trial in Nevada are now disputing…
The first ever DePuy ASR hip implant cases set for a jury trial in Nevada has recently settled. It was supposed to be the first courtroom battle in the Counrty of patients with the defective…
Will the FDA issue guidelines in the treatment and monitoring of patients with this device? Many Physicians and patients that our firm have spoken to consistently talk about the lack of…
The DePuy ASR hip recall initiated in August of 2010 has been a hot topic of discussion in the medical community over the last year and half. Surprisingly thousands of patients are still unaware…
Based on our experiences and conversations, the average client is usually unaware of the level of sophistication a risk management firm such as Broadspire, who has been hired by DePuy…
The evidence against metal-on-metal hip implants continues to grow. Late last month, a joint report from the BBC and the British Medical Journal indicated that recipients of large…
Ever since DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, recalled nearly 93,000 of their ASR metal-on-metal hip implant devices in August of 2010 there has been a near constant…
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