Articles Posted in Personal Injury

According to recent court documents, Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of DePuy Orthopaedics, is exposed to more than 4,000 lawsuits over the DePuy Pinnacle hip device. The 4,000 plus plaintiffs, allege that the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal design is defective and prone to premature failure and metallosis caused by the release of metal trash as the metal components grind against each other.

DePuy ASR and Pinnacle Federal MDL

The DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary is exposed to two separate gigantic multidistrict litigations, known as MDLs. The Depuy ASR lawsuits are centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits are centralized in the U.S. District for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas division.

All federal Tylenol liver failure lawsuits are going to be centralized in federal multidistrict litigation (MDL). The MDL has been established for lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts before Judge Stengel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued a Transfer Order on April 1, consolidating all Tylenol product liability lawsuits. Injured plaintiffs have claimed that they suffered liver damage and liver failure due to the side effects of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.

Tylenol Allegations

According to plaintiff, Michelle Zarick, she complained of excessive vaginal bleeding and her doctor recommended hysterectomy. One option: robot surgery, described by her gynecologist as “the latest, greatest” technique available.

Zarick was told that with robotic surgery there would be less pain and bleeding. Five weeks later, Zarick felt something pop and saw her intestine protruding from her vagina. Now, four years later, the 41-year-old Zarick has a hip-to-hip scar from corrective surgery, constipation from damaged rectal muscles and a diminished sex life.

Zarick, filed suit in December against Intuitive in regard to her hysterectomy. “It forever changed my life for the worse.”

As a Dallas Bladder Cancer Attorney and Texas product liability lawyer, I am providing this trial update for folks injured by the use of Actos. The first Actos bladder cancer trial began this week in the Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County. Thousands of Actos product liability lawsuits have been filed by Actos diabetes drug users who developed bladder cancer after using the medication.

What’s the Problem with Actos?

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Actos, is named in more than 3,000 Actos cancer lawsuits. The plaintiffs allege that the drug maker failed to adequately warn consumers and the doctors about the potential increased risk of bladder cancer associated with long-term use of the diabetic drug.

As a Texas Mirena IUD Perforation and Injury Attorney, Dr Shezad Malik is reviewing potential Mirena lawsuits involving patients who were implanted with the intrauterine device (IUD) Mirena® but had to have the device surgically removed after it perforated the uterine lining.

Recently an Arkansas woman filed a product liability lawsuit that claims her Mirena intrauterine device perforated her uterus and was found free in her pelvis, causing severe injury.

Susan Harp, 29, filed the Mirena lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Harp alleges that Bayer Healthcare failed to adequately warn women or their doctors about the risk of the contraceptive implant puncturing vital organs and failing to protect against pregnancy.

As most readers of this blog knows, I have been following the first DePuy ASR trial that is underway in Los Angeles California closely and providing important information regarding the progress. Thomas Schmalzried MD, the lead surgeon-designer for Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy metal-on-metal hip implants testified that he wouldn’t have sold the device if he knew it would have a failure rate of 20 percent or more.

The orthopedic surgeon testified in state court in Los Angeles at the first of 10,000 lawsuits to go to trial over ASR hips. J&J recalled the DePuy ASR model of metal on metal hips world wide in August 2010, and stated that 12 percent failed within five years, requiring replacement, or revision surgery. J7J has sold 33,000 hips in the United States prior to the recall.

Schmalzried, was asked about an internal DePuy study in 2011 showing 35.8 percent failed within 4.57 years, requiring revisions. “I would not have put the product on the market” Schmalzried said. That rate of revision was “higher than some products that were in the marketplace at the time” the ASR was introduced in the U.S. in 2005.

As a Dallas Nuvaring Pulmonary Embolism attorney, I have written extensively over the past several years about the alleged injuries from oral contraceptive pills and the Nuvaring birth control device. Recently it was announced that the first NuvaRing personal injury and defective product liability case in the United States has been scheduled for trial on May 6 in New Jersey state court. The lawsuit filed by Erika Medina in 2009, is the first of nine claims that will go to trial on May 6.

What is Nuvaring?

NuvaRing is a birth control device manufactured by Merck’s and its subsidiaries. Nuvaring releases a combination of female hormones through a plastic ring that is inserted into the vagina once a month.

As a Dallas Ethicon Surgical Mesh Attorney and Texas medical doctor, Dr Shezad Malik provides this timely update for women would have suffered injuries and complications as a result of Surgical Mesh. An Ethicon Gyncare surgical mesh defective product liability trial is currently underway in New Jersey State Court. The jury is hearing that Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary knew about a high rate of vaginal mesh injury and failure problems with its Gynecare Prolift vaginal mesh before the product was introduced to the market. And according to the plaintiff, Ethicon sold the product without providing adequate warnings for consumers or the medical doctors.

Linda Gross, filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and she received an Ethicon Gynecare Prolift implant in July 2006. Gross developed severe complications that required 18 corrective surgeries.

Plaintiff allegations against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon

As a Texas medical doctor and Dallas product liability, defective drug injury and wrongful death attorney I am providing this timely update for folks who have been injured by the use of Nuvaring contraceptive devices.

Take Home Message

Women who use combined contraceptive transdermal patches are at an increased risk of venous thrombosis about eight times that of non-users of hormonal contraception. Vaginal rings increased the risk of venous thrombosis 6.5 times compared with non-use of hormonal contraception.

As a Dallas Personal Injury and Product Liability Attorney, we are providing this timely news regarding the alleged bone fracture injuries from the use of a commonly prescribed medication, Nexium. More than 500 plaintiffs have filed a product liability and personal injury lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The plaintiffs allege that they suffered Nexium induced bone fractures and bone problems.

What is Nexium?

AstraZeneca’s drug Nexium (esomeprazole) is one of the most popular drugs in the world, generating nearly $6 billion in sales in 2012. Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium) is approved for treatment of acid reflux. It is a class of medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which also includes Prevacid, Protonix, and Prilosec.