Finally, Stryker Recalls Defective Hip Implants In a somewhat tight-lipped press release and website page, Stryker Orthopaedics notes that it is voluntarily recalling two components of its metal-on-metal hip implant devices. The hip implant recall, according to Stryker, is based on post-market surveillance, which means that there have been a lot…
Patients with DePuy ASR hip implants, recalled in 2010, are making their way to trial. DePuy is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and they are defendants in a type of class action known as multidistrict litigation (MDL). There are over 6,000 lawsuits, about 4,000 in a federal Ohio court,…
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court stuck down a $5 million verdict in an Ethicon endocutter design defect case last week, finding that the trial court was not restricted to considering only one use of the device and that it correctly applied a risk-utility analysis. The case talks about product liability risk-utility…
Pat Malone writes a guest blog on Don Keenan’s Trial Blog arguing that confidential settlements undermine public safety and justice. 2013 Update: the link is now broken, but this post is still worth reading. His point is that confidential settlements make it harder for future plaintiffs to get evidence and…
In the United States alone, approximately 581,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed each year. Getting a knee replacement is a big deal: if you need a replacement, you have really run out of options with the knee problems that you are having. So knee replacement surgery is the last line…
The history of “bad cholesterol” has had a checkered past. Bayer’s cholesterol-reducing blockbuster Baycol allegedly caused over 100 deaths. Bayer paid over $1 billion to settle the Baycol cases. Now come Crestor and Zocor, two more widely prescribed prescription-strength drugs designed to lower “bad cholesterol”. Both drugs allegedly cause serious…
Almost two years ago now, Medicaid/Medicare liens became even more difficult to deal with as the law pushed to the lawyers and insurance companies the obligation of confirmation and resolution of Medicare/Medicaid liens. I’m sure betting an insurance company has yet to receive a fine for not verifying a lien…
The Maryland Daily Record has an article today by Lawyers USA writer Sylvia Hsieh on the expected wave of lawsuits involving Darvocet and Darvon. The gist of the article is that this is the next big thing: “Plaintiffs’ personal injury attorneys are gearing up to start an onslaught of litigation…
The Insurance Journal reports a rise in legal malpractice claims. Incredibly, there has been no hand wringing about increased malpractice rates for lawyers or fears that lawyers can no longer keep their practices open as their insurance rates rise. We have never had a legal malpractice claim yet our rates…
A woman injured in a car accident filed a lawsuit against Four Loko, the makers of the controversial drink that combines alcohol and caffeine. The lawsuit against Four Loco claims that the driver of the car the woman was in had Four Loko before the car accident that injured the…