Articles Posted in Products Liability

The hernia mesh lawsuits have been litigated for years.  For victims seeking settlement compensation, it has been a never-ending road.  But with the court bouncing back from COVID, two trials are on the way that could be the bridge to a class action hernia mesh settlement to finally bring victims overdue settlement compensation for the harm done to them.

Over the last decade, countless individuals who underwent hernia repair surgeries subsequently suffered pain and serious injuries caused by a defective hernia mesh implant that was used in their procedure. There are currently thousands of hernia mesh lawsuits currently pending across the country and they have been consolidated into three separate class action MDLs.

Progress in all the hernia mesh class action MDLs got interrupted by the pandemic and resulting court closures. Now things are opening back up and it is shaping up to be an action-packed summer on the hernia mesh litigation front. In this post, we will look at the current status of each of the 3 separate hernia mesh MDLs and what to expect this summer as the first round of bellwether test trials get underway.

Does a product manufacturer has a nondelegable duty to design a safe product or can they kick that can down to the end-user?

Said differently, can a product manufacturer shift the responsibility for making safety choices to the end-user of that product?

Okay, this is looking a little bit like a push poll, right?  I’m trying to lead you to the answer that I want.  So maybe the question, phrased least generously to the plaintiff, is does a manufacturer have an obligation to install optional safety equipment?

Juul is facing lawsuits on multiple fronts. Our lawyers are focusing on vaping injury and vaping addition cases in young people who plaintiffs’ lawyers argue were targeted by Juul.

There is a vaping crisis in the country that snuck up on everyone.  There are stories every week about the growing number of vaping-related illnesses and injuries appearing at hospitals. According to a recent Washington Post article, there are now 18 reported deaths related to a mysterious vaping illness, along with over 1,000 other possible cases of vaping-related injuries.  It may well be that many of these specific cases have little to do with Juul.  But this crisis has everyone taking a close look at Juul.

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We have been getting a lot of calls from Atrium C-Qur hernia mesh victims.  These poor people have a lot of questions and concerns and we try to lay some of those out for you here.

The C-Qur hernia mesh products are a line of polypropylene surgical implants manufactured by Atrium Medical Corp.  The C-Qur hernia mesh products were one of several types of implant devices used in hernia repair surgery between 2006 and 2015.  Hernia repair is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the U.S. each year.

What are Hernia Mesh & Patch Devices?

Years ago, we were involved in gadolinium MRI lawsuits involving nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), which is a fibrosing disorder of the skin and joints that occurs with victims with advanced renal insufficiency.

The cases settled for millions of dollars because NSF is just an absolutely awful disease.  Now there is a new set of gadolinium MRI lawsuits alleging that gadolinium is toxic and harming patients.

What is Gadolinium?

In Troubles with Jeep Liberty

Jeep Liberty is a cool-looking vehicle that has been off the market for the last three years. You never know all the reasoning behind why these decisions are made. But these vehicles, many of which were made in Egypt and Venezuela, have had many problems that owners were still experiencing in 2017.

The big recall Chrysler announced in 2007 was for over 800,000 Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicles because of the potential loss of steering control. This recall occurred after Chrysler received 111 complaints about this problem. Chrysler admitted three reports of injuries from auto accidents because of the defect. In the complaints that have been made, the ball joint failed, dropping the vehicle’s front end onto one or both of the front tires.

On Friday, June 21st, Maryland’s ban on the sale of “hazardous” baby bumper pads will go into effect.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has said that they intend the ban to help educate parents about safe sleep practices for babies. The ban applies to crib bumpers that are made of non-mesh type material, and are intended to rest directly above the mattress, along the length of the interior sides of the crib.

Violations for selling crib bumper pads to Maryland consumers involve warnings or a fine of up to $500 per item shipped or sold. I don’t think anyone was selling them here, anyway. I think just gets the word out of the risks of these pads and that is a good thing.

In mass tort cases, plaintiffs’ lawyers love MDLs. The hope for many lawyers who have mass tort cases is that they can sign up the client, let the MDL steering committee (a selected group of lawyers that take the lead on the cases) do the heavy lifting, and then join into the larger settlement. This is true when you have an enormous volume of cases that are settling for a small- or mid-sized amount of money. Because working these cases up individually is hard work with a limited payoff.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers instinctive love of MDLs dies quickly when they have a substantial case that they want to push forward as opposed to waiting for the sometimes torpid MDL to move forward. This is true when you have an outlier case that you think has great value than other cases.

This takes us to Davis v. Biomet Orthopedics. Biomet is one of the manufacturers of the much-maligned metal-on-metal hip implants. These hip implants have two components made of metal. When the patient’s leg moves, the metal parts grind away at each other. This causes metal bits to shave off and to fall into the surrounding tissue, and sometimes into the patient’s bloodstream. The plaintiff, in this case, alleges that she was harmed by a defective prosthetic Biomet hip implant.
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We have the technology to essentially create bone. Just extremely cool. Drug and medical device companies come up with some unbelievable stuff that have really changed the world. Most of these companies are doing great work. Admittedly, I just focus on the negative. But it is worth nothing that most of these companies have changed the world and decreased human suffering. That is a great thing.

But…. there is a but. Bone grafts, as cool as they are, have to be done right, or the cure will be worse than the original problem. Medtronic is a company that, in my opinion, has a history of taking shortcuts that hurt patients. Most prolifically in recent years was the way they botched their defibrillator leads. The cases would have been worth billions but the Supreme Court completely bailed them out with an awful preemption ruling. Continue reading

According to reports submitted to the U.S FDA, in the past year, Monster Energy Drinks has been linked to the deaths of five people. Each of the five people, and a sixth person in 2009, were reported to have consumed Monster drinks prior to their death. According to the FDA, no conclusions are drawn until an investigation is completed, making these mere allegations.

The parents of a 14-year-old girl, who died after consuming two Monster drinks, have named Monster Beverage Corp in a lawsuit filed last week in California. The suit alleges that the drinks led to caffeine toxicity, causing cardiac arrhythmia, and resulted in the girl’s death.

Monster is the largest U.S. energy drink maker by sales volume and claims that over the past sixteen years, they have sold over 8 billion energy drinks worldwide, which have been safely consumed. Monster claims to be unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks, which includes not being responsible for the death of the 14-year-old girl.