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On February 5-6, 2015, Judge Joseph Goodwin held status conferences in the Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, and Johnson & Johnson multidistrict litigation mesh cases.  Judge Goodwin had previously urged C.R. Bard to settle its vaginal mesh (TVM) cases.

Judge Goodwin has previously told Bard: “I can’t imagine a corporation facing potentially billions of dollars in verdicts wouldn’t find it advisable to try to achieve a settlement for a much lesser sum.”

Judge Goodwin required all Defendants to bring in house counsel to the conference in attempt to bring resolution to these cases.  While American Medical Systems has already settled its cases for at least 1.3 billion dollars, women across the country are patiently waiting for Bard, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson to make serious settlement offers.

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          Travelers Insurance Finally Agrees to Pay Asbestos Victims

               Ten years after reneging on a settlement agreement with asbestos victims, Travelers Insurance has finally agreed to fund the settlement. On January 5, 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied their latest motion for a rehearing and further review by the Circuit Court, ending a “fiendishly complex case”.

               The litigation began in 2001, when a group of asbestos victim’s law firms filed lawsuits in Hawaii, West Virginia and Massachusetts state courts over Travelers unfair settlement practices. After the cases were removed to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Travelers settled following a mediation with Governor Mario Cuomo. The company agreed to pay the Statutory Settlement Claimants $ 360 million, in addition to payments for Common Law and Hawaii victims.

               When other insurance companies attempted to intervene in the litigation, Travelers used that as an excuse to renege. The Plaintiff’s firms refused to give up and the case went from Bankruptcy Court to the District Court, U.S. Court of Appeals (twice), and the United States Supreme Court (twice). Thankfully thousands of asbestos victims will now get the compensation they deserve with millions of dollars of interest added to the settlements. Continue reading

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The majority of vaginal mesh cases filed in the United States are consolidated in the Southern District of West Virginia in front of the Honorable Joseph Goodwin. The majority of these cases are filed against Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard, and American Medical Systems. The Naumes Law Group is accepting clients who have been harmed by mesh implanted for pelvic organ prolapse (POP Kits), and stress urinary incontinence (Slings).

Many victims have recently been asking the same two questions related to vaginal mesh implants and the litigation.

The first question is “my doctor told me that my mesh isn’t the mesh that’s on TV.”   Let a Naumes Law Group attorney investigate your claim at no cost to you. We can obtain the implant log and sticker page from your doctor and determine if it is the type of vaginal mesh that is the subject of this litigation.

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In a recent case (Bala v. PATH) the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled that railroad workers are subject to discipline for “excessive absenteeism” for non-work related injuries despite getting a note from their treating physician. This decision narrows the scope of the Federal Rail Safety Act Subsection c (2) as it pertains to non-work related absences.

Prior to this ruling, the Department of Labor prohibited railroads from disciplining employees for staying out of work, if they were following their treating physician’s treatment plan. The Court of Appeals has now limited this FRSA protection to work related injuries.

This ruling could have serious implications for Rail Safety, if sick workers continue to work to avoid being disciplined. A seriously ill worker creates a potential safety hazard for himself, fellow employees and the public by coming to work against the advice of his doctor. Safety, not the cause of the impairment should be the focus of the FRSA.

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At some point or other we all get injured. Some injuries will be more serious than others, and, some injuries will be our fault. Personal injury (PI) involves incidents were an individual is injured because of another persons fault. Popular examples include automobile accidents, medical malpractice, and slip and fall. But personal injuries come in a variety of forms.

Although the cases often vary factually, they fall under an area of law known as tort law. Theories of recovery for personal injury will be negligence, strict liability, or intentional wrongdoing (Intentional Tort). (Here, we focus on negligence.) In a negligence case a plaintiff can win an award if he can proves he was injured, and can show the defendant

 

  • had a duty;
  • breached that duty;
  • the breach in fact caused an injury; and
  • the breach was the proximate cause of the injury.

 

What happens soon after an injury is important to ensure you secure recovery.

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Although it sounds unsightly, it is true. Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a medical condition that occurs when your organ drops out of place in your belly and exerts pressure against the vagina. Some of the organs involved in case of prolapse include are bladder, urethra, uterus, vagina, small bowel, and rectum. It is more common in older women and can occur as result of weakened pelvic muscles due to childbirth, hysterectomy, and menopause.

Doctors now have a technique whereby a transvaginal mesh (TVM) implant is inserted through the vagina to permanently fix POP. While inserting a the mesh through the abdomen is possible, placement of the mesh through the vagina is easier and less invasive.

It does however have its own risks including the product (mesh) being defective, or faulty manufacture recommended surgical technique. The results of surgery gone wrong include serious infection and injury and scarring to vaginal tissue and nearby organs.

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Government contract awards can pay big money and be lucrative. But so can the cost of defrauding them. The jury of a Marshall, Texas court found defendant Trinity Industries, a leading guardrail manufacturer, liable for misrepresentation and fraudulent behavior. The suit brought by competitor Josh Harman on behalf of the state government claimed Trinity Industries fraudulently misrepresented safety modification Trinity Industries made to its guardrail design. Josh Harman claims states were receiving guardrails different than what was expected.

The intended design the government believed they were receiving was to ribbon out when impacted head-on by a vehicle. Unfortunately for many crash victims, the guardrail given by Trinity Industries and installed along roads from East to West “locked up” and cut through the vehicle injuring passengers and even severing limbs. The delivered design, ET-Plus, is only different from the intended design by one inch. At the head of the guardrail is a piece of metal that upon impact was intended to shrink five inches. However, for a $2 per head savings, approximately $50,000 per year for the mammoth Trinity Industries, internal email communications show Trinity industries reduced the shrinking distance by one inch to four inches.

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In July of 2012 Stryker Orthopedics announced a recall of its Stryker Rejuvenate and Stryker ABG II hip implant products. The announcement came as a result of a gradual wearing away and corrosion of the company’s Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII hip replacement products that caused tissue damage, metallosis, and necrosis. Fortunately enough the patients implanted with the defective medical devices will be compensated now that plaintiff attorneys and Styker have reached a settlement agreement.

The settlement agreement reached on November 3, 2014, and executed in New Jersey, provides compensation for nearly 3,000 injured patients. The settlements took nearly four months to negotiate, and was overseen by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Brian R. Martinotti of Bergen County.

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Medical Overview

Mesothelioma is a caner caused by asbestos. It is an aggressive type of cancer. One way Mesothelioma is classified is by the location it takes hold in an individual’s body. Three areas the cancer targets include the abdomen (Peritoneal Mesothelioma), the chest (Pleural Mesothelioma), and the heart (Pericardial Mesothelioma). The most common sites of mesothelioma are the chest and abdomen; the least common occurs in the heart.

Although there is not one survival rate for all patients, survival rate among mesothelioma patients is not high. Patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma (abdomen) typically have ten months to survive from the onset of the caner, while patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma (chest) generally have only 17 months.

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Airbags are generally thought to protect drivers and passengers. However, when an airbag or car manufacturer defectively designs, manufacturers, or installs the life saving component, what is intended to prevent injury can become the real killer.

Take the example of Guddi Rathore. Guddi Rathore was killed when a defective airbag in her 2001 Honda Accord  exploded after a minor fender bender. Upon defective deployment, the airbag violently deployed and projected debris and metal particles lacerating her neck and arteries. Another incident occurred only this month in Orlando, Florida. Like Rathore, Hien Tran was killed when defective airbag deployment also sent shrapnel into her neck. Tran bled to death.

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