Product Liability

Published on: March 20, 2017

Xarelto Negative Side Effect Leading to Major Lawsuits

Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is commonly marketed in the United States as a blood-thinner generally prescribed to combat blood clots. Although, the serious nature of the side effects caused by Xarelto are leading to a staggering number of lawsuits.

Current and former users and their families are claiming that the risks and side effects of Xarelto were not made clear when they were prescribed the drug. Also, those who have used Xarelto are alleging that they were not properly warned about the negative effects of Xarelto prior to their usage of the drug.

Those bringing suit found that the drug caused them to suffer from harmful side effect(s) due to their consumption of the drug. Xarelto side effects may include, but are not limited to:

Published on: March 6, 2017

Most Recent Talc Lawsuit Against Johnson & Johnson Rejected by Jury

by Naumes Law

On Friday, a St. Louis jury chose to reject a woman’s claim that Johnson & Johnson baby powder played a role in her cancer diagnosis.

Nora Daniels, a 55-year-old woman from Tennessee, brought the unsuccessful claim against Johnson & Johnson. Daniels based her claim against the company around her usage of Johnson & Johnson baby powder from 1978 to 2013 in alleged connection with her cancer. Daniels stopped using the Johnson & Johnson powder product in 2013 when she was diagnosed with both ovarian and uterine cancer. As part of her treatment, she underwent a hysterectomy and was forced to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Also, Daniels made a claim that Johnson & Johnson refused to warm the public of the potential link between their product and major health concerns.

Before Friday’s decision, Johnson & Johnson had lost the previous three lawsuits brought against the company for similar types of claims regarding their talc powder products. The previous three decisions, also made by Missouri juries, awarded an overall amount just under $200 million. Last year, in those three previous judgments, plaintiffs and plaintiff’s families were awarded $55 million, $70 million and $72 million.

Published on: February 24, 2017

Major Defect Causes Recall of Boston Scientific Heart Valve

by Naumes Law

On Thursday, Boston Scientific Corporation issued a statement in which it recalled all of its Lotus Valve heart devices in Europe. This recall consists of both clinical and commercial sites. Also, the Lotus Valve has been removed from all clinical sites in the United States, where the valve is not yet approved for sale.

Overall, the recall is due to major manufacturing defects that have found to be present in the device.

The serious defects that has caused this recall are centered around a manufacturing problem that is linked to the premature release of the mechanism containing a pin that is used to implant the device into the heart in patients. The recall was made voluntary by the company. This is similar to mechanism issues that resulted in the Lotus recalls of 2014 as well as 2016.

Published on: October 31, 2016

Johnson & Johnson Hit with $70 Million Verdict in Baby Powder Ovarian Cancer Case

by Naumes Law

A Missouri jury concluded that Deborah Giannecchini’s use of Johnson & Johnson baby powder for more than 40 years caused her ovarian cancer.

This verdict follows verdicts of $72 million and $55 million in other cases. In all 3 cases, the plaintiff’s alleged that Johnson & Johnson knew that studies linked talc in its baby powder and Shower-to-Shower products to ovarian cancer in women. They further alleged that despite this knowledge, Johnson & Johnson continued to market the products to women and failed to put warning labels on their products.

Gloria Ristesund of Sioux Falls, SD was diagnosed in 2011 with cancer after continuous use of Johnson & Johnson feminine products that contained talc for over a 40-year span. In May of 2016, a St. Louis jury awarded her $55 million after talc was found in her ovarian tissue following her hysterectomy.

Published on: October 24, 2016

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms the 11th death due to recalled Takata airbag complications

by Naumes Law

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) have confirmed that another tragic death has occurred due to the Takata airbag found in the vehicle of the deceased. Overall, this is the 11^th confirmed death of an individual due to Takata airbag complications. Together with the 11 confirmed deaths in the United States are the at least five deaths worldwide and the more than 100 injuries in total caused by Takata airbags.

According to reports, the 50-year-old woman from California perished due the injuries that she sustained from her recalled Takata airbag inflator in her 2001 Honda Civic. The event occurred in Riverside County, California on September 30^th. The woman was involved in a crash which triggered the the driver-side Takata airbag inflator to rupture, ultimately leading to her fatal injuries.

The deceased’s vehicle was among the almost 315,000 Honda and Acura models from 2001-2003 that the NHTSA made it a point to specifically warn individuals about only a few months ago. In that June announcement, the NHSTA warned owners of those recalled vehicles of the “grave danger” that the Takata airbags posed to drivers. Also the recalled vehicles were at “substantially higher risk” of having the metal canister located in the the Takata airbag to rupture, which results in varying amounts of shrapnel and debris to be discharged throughout the interior of the vehicle after the Takata airbag has been deployed. According to the NHSTA, when a crash occurs the the chances of the inflator rupturing is as much as 50 percent when Takata airbags are used.

Published on: October 19, 2016

Heart stents pose potential risks and side effects that all patients must consider

by Naumes Law

In the United States, a leading health concern is coronary heart disease. Currently, this health concern is amounting to over 370,000 deaths per year. Individual’s with a coronary heart disease suffer from plaque, a waxy substance, buildup that can have a serious impact on an individual’s health. Subsequently, the buildup of unwanted plaque results in the narrowing of the individual’s arteries. This narrowing allows for the reduction of proper oxygen-rich blood flow to the individual’s heart. In order to combat this, individuals have options, one being to elect to have a heart stent procedure.

In today’s society there are hundreds of thousands individuals that have chosen to have a heart stent implanted due to health complications.

Heart stents, in the past, were primary made using bare-metal or mesh and are still presently an option. Although, for over a little more than a decade, drug-eluting stents have been manufactured, approved and used in the United Stated as well. Two popular types of drug-eluting stents being used currently are the Boston Scientific Taxus Stent and the Johnson & Johnson Cypher Stent. Regardless of the type, all of the heart stents are the subject of some criticism and documented complaints due to their potential risks and side effect(s).

Published on: August 10, 2016

Backseat Crash Test Dummies Allow for Advanced Testing Vehicle Safety

by Naumes Law

With the present day evolution of transportation vehicles coupled with the steady use of transportation services, a shift towards focusing on the backseat car passenger’s safety is of the upmost concern. Transportation services and ride sharing applications, such as Uber or Lyft, have contributed to the necessary focus and advancement in back seat passenger safety. The emphasis of backseat safety is substantially due to the overall increase of backseat passengers that are becoming more and more popular in today’s society. In order to further progress in the area of backseat safety new testing techniques and standards are being put into place.

In the forefront of these safety testing techniques is the use of crash-test dummies in the backseats of vehicles during safety testing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSA) plans to use the backseat crash-test dummies as a means of furthering backseat safety procedures and collecting valuable safety data. Previously, the NTSA only used crash-test dummies in the driver and front passenger’s sides during safety testing.

Beginning in 2019, the NTSA plans to start using the backseat safety crash-dummies and the information gathered from the backseat safety crash-dummies as a part of their overall 5-Star Safety Ratings Program. This approach will allow for a new form of gauging the vehicle’s total safety, not only on the driver and front passenger areas as in the past safety testing strategies.

Published on: August 10, 2016

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Settles with 4,000 Pradaxa Victims

by Naumes Law

In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve the blood thinner Pradaxa. Pradaxa was used by patients to prevent blood clots from forming due to the individual’s irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation). The drug was produced by German manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals as a substitute to the drug warfarin. Initially, Pradaxa was advertised as a safe blood thinner that did not require patient dietary restrictions (unlike warfarin that requires dietary restrictions as well as weekly exams) and was readily prescribed to patients by their doctors.

Although only a year after the drug was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2011, over 540 patients died from using of the drug Pradaxa, while thousands also were left suffering from negative side effects because of the drug according to the FDA data. Family members of the deceased and those who have experienced negative side effects brought lawsuits against the German manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals (Boehringer).

Side effects of Pradaxa include, but are not limited to:

Published on: August 1, 2016

Asbestos in railroad insulation and locomotive materials linked to Mesothelioma, Asbestosis and lung cancer in employees and their families

by Naumes Law

Among the hazards in choosing a career in the railroad is the presence of and exposure to asbestos, which was readily used in the 20^th century railroad companies because of its lastingness and durability. Asbestos was used in the creation of many of the train’s various components, railroad equipment and several types of insulation dating to the 1930s. Asbestos materials are released into the air as microscopic materials and are inhaled by individuals and can have detrimental impact on that individual’s health and life overall.

The practice of using asbestos in the railroad industry was consistent for decades, until Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stepped in and limited the overall used of asbestos in the production of train components in the 1970s. Although, some railroad companies chose to still use asbestos into the 1980s.

Many railroad companies allegedly knew of the risks associated with the dangers of using asbestos, yet chose not to warn their employees of such hazards associated with their occupational contact and exposure to asbestos. Exposure to asbestos has been linked to:

Published on: August 1, 2016

Is the anti-nausea drug Zofran causing birth defects? Hundreds of families and pregnant women are claiming so

by Naumes Law

A staggering number of families have made claims against the drug manufacturing company GlaxoSmithKline. These claims are centered around GlaxoSmithKline’s drug Zofran (the generic form of which is named ondansetron and is commonly used to prevent nausea, vomiting and other sicknesses in cancer patients during various cancer surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation therapy) and that Zofran factored into negative effects as a result of being prescribed and consuming the drug while pregnant, particularly in terms of various types of birth defects.

Zofran is a drug that frequently can be prescribed and used in attempts to cure morning sickness in pregnant females. Many of the women are prescribed Zofran during their first trimester (due to the large amount of nausea and overall morning sickness experienced during that specific period of their pregnancy). Furthermore, research has found that during the first trimester of the pregnancy the fetus is its most vulnerable. Thus the fetus can be negatively affected by outside elements that factor into proper human development, such as the Zofran drug taken by their pregnant mothers during pregnancy.

The FDA has recognized Zofran a Category B pregnancy medication. This recognition has been given to Zofran because a properly controlled testing of the drug’s safety is unavailable to be done on pregnant women. Although, researchers have continued to examine the effects of Zofran by observing infants, whose mothers took Zofran, after their birth. Many researchers have found an increase in negative effects among those infants, when compared to infants whose mothers did not take Zofran during pregnancy. The birth defects of Zofran include: