A Drug Liability Case Reaches Adolescence

Tom Moylan — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:19:44 GMT

I’m not sure what the longest-running drug liability case is, but I suspect that the case of Mary Gunderson is right up there.

Mary Gunderson gave birth to her second son in 1993 and was given Parlodel to inhibit lactation since she wasn’t going to breast feed. Parlodel was made by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp., now Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. After some back-and-forth with the FDA, the Sandoz withdrew the drug.

A few days later, Mary developed a severe h

Ring the bell if you get a big verdict: Ring ring to the tune of $24M

Bryan Redding — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:20:12 GMT

This is just another in a growing list of multi-million dollar asbestos verdicts that have been awarded this year, and in fact, in just the last couple months. This time its a doctor winning the award, which might explain some of the size of the award. Anyway, on to the nitty gritty... Dr. Stephen E. Guildre, 50, was awarded the $24.2M on April 25 by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury. I don't know the exact nature of the exposure yet, but Honeywell was the only defe

Preemption: The Paris Hilton of Pharmaceutical Litigation?

Shane Dilworth — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:55:46 GMT

That’s hot!

The expression just makes my skin crawl, but for some reason, she’s always in the news and gracing the pages of celebrity gossip rags and blogs.

Who owes what to whom? A NY judge finds that asbestos-product distributors owe duty to spouse

Bryan Redding — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:24:35 GMT

I'm working on a story out of New York's Erie County Supreme Court right now. Judge Lane has has held that a spouse has presented triable issues as to whether two of her husband's employers distributed asbestos-containing products. Ho, hum, right?

But what makes this worthy of a blog post, as far as I'm concerned, is what Judge Lane says about duty in strict products liability cases. In his opinion, Judge Lane holds that the two employers owed a duty to their employe

Drug Defense Attorneys Earned A Cold One Today

Shane Dilworth — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:03:02 GMT

Two rulings within the past 24 hours should have attorneys representing prescription drug makers popping open something cold whether it be some champagne or a cola-cicco.

Sorry for the cheesy pun, but I couldn’t resist.

A month ago, the momentum appeared to be going against parents who claim vaccines or the preservative thimerosal caused their children’s autism, but that seems to have shifted with the government’s recent concession that a child’s autism was the result of vaccines.

This is the government’s November statement in the case of 9-year-old Hannah Poling of Atlanta:

Although the foundation of today’s Internet was built as a government project more than 40 years ago, relatively few people were using it at the beginning of the 1990s. Then Vice President Al Gore spoke glowingly of the promise of the “information superhighway,” which would improve the conduct of science and scholarship, provide an engine for economic growth, and most importantly, give people access to mountains of

Lead Pigment Design Defect Argued In Maryland Lead Industry Case

James Cordrey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:56:41 GMT

The issue of whether or not lead pigment is defective be design because it containse lead, or whether it is not defective because, by definition, it contains lead is pending before the Maryland high court.

The issue of design defect as it relates to lead pigment also surfaced in the Thomas case in Wisconsin.

In Maryland, the Maryland Court of Appeals will need to rule on defective design, as well as on whether the trial and intermediate appellate courts committed reversib

Lawsuit Alleges Lead Poisoning From Herbal Remedies

James Cordrey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:49:11 GMT

An Iowa woman has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that she was severely poisoned by ayurvedic herbal remedies which she took on the advice of a "doctor" of ayurvedic medicine.

The complaint alleges that Frances Gaskell had a blood lead level of 102 micrograms per deciliter _ the CDC action level is on 10.

To make matters worse, she was pregnant and gave birth to a child which had a blood lead level of 60 at birth.

The irony is that the "doctor&

Should Justice Scalia Just Stay Home March 27?

Tom Moylan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:42:32 GMT

Ya cudda knocked me over with a feather, as the cliché goes, when the U.S. Supreme Court on March 3 split 4-4 on in the Warner-Lambert v. Kent Michigan drug preemption case. So fast (just a week after arguments)! So . . . split!

Many observers thought this case was going to be pharma’s first Supreme Court win: the drug preemption theory was ripe and a Republican-appointed, and a presumably pro-business, anti-tort court, was seated. The recusal of Chief Justice

Former Mechanic wins $840,000 verdict against Ford

Lisa M. Schaeffer — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:47:38 GMT

In what is being considered the first asbestos brake pad verdict in Australia, the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Feb. 19 awarded Antonino Lo Presti an $840,000 verdict against Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd. The court found that Ford’s negligence was a cause of Lo Presti’s asbestosis.

Preemption Got Ya Down? Well, HRT Verdicts Are Up

Shane Dilworth — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:09:50 GMT

With so much focus on preemption recently, it seems like one of the only things that can make a plaintiff’s lawyer happy right now is news of a big verdict.

As reported in the March issue of Mealey’s Litigation Report: Hormone Replacement Therapy, t

Senate Votes To Get the Lead Out

James Cordrey — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:54:05 GMT

The U.S. Senate is looking to get the lead out of toys and make companies pay hefty fines for failing to comply.

On March 5 the Senate passed S.2045, which would set fines up to $20 million for companies which sell toys containing lead.

The Senate's version of the bill is considerably more strict than the House version, so the days ahead will be quite interesting. The differences will need to be hammered out before anything would be sent to the President.

Clock Ticking On Steven Thomas Appeal

James Cordrey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:45:51 GMT

Although Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard J. Sankovitz denied Steven Thomas' motion for new trial with an oral ruling Jan. 31, the official, appeable order was only issued March 5, sources said. Therefore, the clock has just started ticking on the appellate process.

Thomas' attorneys, who contended there were evidentiary errors at trial which warranted a new proceeding, have said they plan to appeal.

On Nov. 5 a jury found that although Thomas ingested white lead ca

Your MUNI or Your Life???

Reggie Rodriguez — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:49:22 GMT

San Francisco's Municipal Railway (a.k.a. the MUNI) provides not only "transit service within the city and county of San Francisco 24 hours a day, 7 days a week" but also numerous bases for potential legal actions. It's a veritable legal clinic, offering case studies in personal injury, possible ADA violations, and criminal assault—in just the last month alone. Innocent pedestrians, riders, and even bus driver

And This Time They Mean It About The Preemption Thing!

Tom Moylan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:12:53 GMT

Reading the Supreme Court’s latest medical device preemption ruling in Riegel v. Medtronic was déjà vu all over again. Suddenly, it was 1996 and the ruling was Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr. The Supreme Court had given medical device manufacturers a silver bullet to fire at device liability lawsuits. And, brother, was it used! Device cases started dropping like bad guys in a B Western. Then state and federal trial courts started to parse Lohr, then state and federal appeals courts

Paint Companies Urge Dismissal of Maryland Industry Case

James Cordrey — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:12:55 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The former makers of lead paint and pigment being sued in a Maryland court on Feb. 11 filed a response brief in a second appeal by a family alleging injuries from exposure to lead, arguing that the court should dismiss the appeal for lack of a final appealable judgment.

The case, Renee Kennedy, et al. v. Lasting Paint Inc., et al. (No. 88, Md. App., September Term 2007; See April 2005 Issue), was originally styled as Smith v. LIA.

Sources: Lead Class Action Forming Against TY Inc.

James Cordrey — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:06:11 GMT

Sources have been reporting for the last week that a class action is forming against toy maker TY Inc. for allegedly not taking off the market items containing lead.

Accutane Judicial Grudge Match: Advantage, Higbee

Tom Moylan — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:49:52 GMT

Subscribers of Mealey’s Emerging Drugs & Devices were the first to learn yesterday that New Jersey's state Accutane court upheld a jury's $2.6 million inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) verdict.

The problem with news bulletins is their inherent size limitations. There isn’t enough room to show the Big Picture — at least until the full story gets published on Feb. 22.

But in b

Nevada Judge Denies Wyeth's Request For New Prempro Trial, Will Consider Damages Feb. 14

Shane Dilworth — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:59:45 GMT

In a rare occurence in hormone replacement therapy litigation, a judge has rejected Wyeth's post-trial request for a new trial. Not only that, the case involved the biggest verdict in the litigation's history: $134.5 million for three breast cancer survivors.

To date, each plaintiff's verdict in hormone replacement therapy litigation has been in excess of $1 million, but has also been reversed by judges in Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County .

It Ain't Rocket Science, It's Discovery

Tom Moylan — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:10:36 GMT

The Seroquel MDL court seems to be telling defendant AstraZeneca that discovery ain’t rocket science in a series of recent actions, as reported in the Feb. 7 Mealey’s Emerging Drugs and Devices.

In one inst

Rhode Island Attorney General Appeals Contempt Findings

James Cordrey — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:03:46 GMT

Sources report today that Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has filed a brief in Providence County Superior Court appealing two contempt of court findings issued by Judge Michael A. Silverstein, who presided over the state's two trials against the former makers of lead paint.

Judge Silverstein issued the findings during the second trial for comments Lynch made to reporters in which Lynch described defense attorneys as "those who would spin and twist the facts.&q

Thomas Denied New Trial

James Cordrey — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:05:54 GMT

On Friday, Feb. 1, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Richard Sankovitz officially handed down the order denying Steven Thomas a new trial. The oral ruling, as expected, came on Jan. 31.

Most sources expect an appeal by Thomas.

Rhode Island Lead Paint Appeal Briefs Mounting

James Cordrey — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:19:26 GMT

Sherwin-Williams filed its appeal brief with the Rhode Island Supreme Court on Jan. 31, in which it contends violation of the Separation of Powers Doctrine, Constitutional error and trial error.

There has also been a steady flow of amicus briefs from the Pacific Legal Foundation, joint amici Heartland Institute and the National Paint and Coatings Association, the New England Legal Foundation and the US Chamber of Commerce.

Seven Amici including the Coalition for Litigatio

Judge Finds Couple's Paxil Warning Claims Preempted

Shane Dilworth — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:09:45 GMT

A federal judge in California on Jan. 31 awarded summary judgment to SmithKline Beecham Corp., doing business as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in a case involving the February 1997 death of a 13-year-old boy who died as a result of injuries he sustained from a suicide attempt allegedly caused by his use of Paxil. The judge found that the plaintiffs' claims were preempted by Food and Drug Administration regulations.

Before I go on, I'm guessing you are just dying to find out

Twenty-Nine State Attorneys General Walk Into A Bar.

Tom Moylan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:16:47 GMT

While I was reporting in Mealey’s Emerging Drugs & Devices about the Supreme Court granting certiorari in one drug preemption case and the respondent filing a brief in a different high court case, a little-noticed event in the drug preemption juggernaut quietly took place: the entry Jan. 14 of a new player, 29 state attorneys general.

That’s interesting on three counts. First, the AGs come down against preemp

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