Lawsuit Information Center

May 24, 2022

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb Gets Sued Over Autograph Contract

Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was sued last week by a sports memorabilia and trading card company after Lamb allegedly breach a contract with the company by failing to autograph a certain number of player cards.

The lawsuit drew some attention because sports memorabilia companies rarely sued players for this sort of thing.

Literally, since I started writing this piece, the lawsuit became moot. Yesterday afternoon the memorabilia company announced on Twitter that Lamb had fulfilled his obligations under the contract. Because often filing a lawsuit is what is needed to wake someone up who is not fulfilling their obligations. But I finished the post because it is a good story.

April 23, 2022

Reglan Lawsuit

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Reglan is a pharmaceutical drug used to combat heartburn and slow gastric emptying in diabetes patients. The question is whether tardive dyskinesia (also known as TD), a neurological disorder with symptoms including repeated involuntary movements, is connected to Reglan use.

Below is a question and answer for about the Reglan lawsuits. This will read a little odd in places because much of it was written thirteen years ago. But it has 2022 additions as well, including a discussion of the possibility of a new Reglan lawsuit over the undisclosed stroke risk.

What Is Reglan?

April 18, 2022

2nd Hernia Mesh Bellwether Trial Yields $255k Verdict

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Last week, the 2^nd bellwether test trial in the C.R. Bard hernia mesh MDL ended in a verdict for the plaintiffs awarding total damages of $255,000. This verdict marked a solid victory for the hernia mesh plaintiffs and helped reaffirm the course of the litigation after the 1^st bellwether trial resulted in a defense verdict last month. There are still over 16,000 additional plaintiffs with hernia mesh lawsuits pending in the MDL. Two additional cases had previously been selected for bellwether trials but the schedule moving forward is very uncertain.

Background on the C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

C.R. Bard (now a subsidiary of Beckton-Dickinson) was one of the leading manufacturers of hernia mesh patches and screens. A hernia mesh is essentially a very small synthetic screen material that doctors implant inside the body during hernia repair surgery. The screen helps to strengthen and reinforce the surgically repaired tissue.

March 24, 2022

Will Recall of Pfizer Blood Pressure Drug Lead to Lawsuits?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

In March 2022, Pfizer announced that it was recalling a popular blood pressure medication (Accuretic) after several lots of the drug were found to contain unsafe levels of a known carcinogen called nitrosamine.

At least for now, the recall appears to be related to isolated batches of the drug and Pfizer claims that it has no evidence of “adverse events” related to the contamination. There is still the possibility, however, that this could turn into a much wider problem and lead to a wave of product liability litigation.

In this post, we will review the details of the recall and assess the likelihood of any mass tort litigation (and we have a new 2023 update at the bottom).

March 16, 2022

Formaldehyde Poisoning Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Significant or prolonged exposure to formaldehyde has been linked to a number of adverse health conditions and recent evidence has shown that it can increase the risk of cancer. In recent years, dangerously high levels of formaldehyde have been discovered in various consumer products which has prompted product liability lawsuits against companies like Lumber Liquidators and Johnson & Johnson. In this post, we will look at formaldehyde product liability lawsuits and their settlement value.

Formaldehyde Poisoning

Formaldehyde poisoning is a disorder caused by chronic exposure and inhalation of formaldehyde fumes (usually with occupational exposure). Formaldehyde is a colorless chemical. However, it produces a strong, suffocating smell. Formaldehyde is commonly found in household products and materials used to make cabinets, furniture, and walls. Many people become exposed to the chemical through tools and equipment cleaned with it.

March 10, 2022

Royal Rangers Sex Abuse Lawsuit Settlement

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Assemblies of God recently settled a sexual assault lawsuit filed by a group of men who claimed that they were abused as children while participating in the Royal Rangers Christian youth program. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed. This case marks a continuing trend in which various religious organizations have had to settle lawsuits for clergy sex abuse occurring in one of their youth programs.

Surgimesh Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Surgimesh is a new type of hernia mesh implant made from non-woven polypropylene microfibers. The use of individual fibers of polypropylene was intended to make the Surgimesh smaller than other hernia mesh products and less prone to biocompatibility problems and other post-surgery complications. The design of the Surgimesh is therefore distinct from the design of many other hernia mesh devices that have generated thousands of product liability lawsuits in recent years (e.g., Ethicon Physiomesh, Atrium C-Qur, etc.).

A recently filed product liability lawsuit in New Mexico alleges that the Surgimesh has the same dangerous design flaws as the other polypropylene hernia mesh implants. This new Surgimesh lawsuit could potentially be the first of many and open a new front in the hernia mesh mass tort ligation.

About Surgimesh

February 11, 2022

Infant Formula Manufacturers Request MDL for NEC Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

New research has revealed that cow-milk infant formulas can increase the risk of a deadly neonatal condition called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants.

This has prompted a growing number of lawsuits against the manufacturers of infant formulas Similac (Abbott Laboratories) and Enfamil (Mead Johnson) by parents of premature infants who were fed with formula and developed NEC. The lawsuits allege that Abbott and Mead negligently failed to warn parents and doctors about the NEC risk their products posed for preemies.

There are currently around 60 NEC infant formula lawsuits pending in both state and federal courts around the country, but hundreds and possibly thousands more are expected to be filed in the near future. This has prompted both Abbott and Mead to request that all NEC lawsuits in federal courts be consolidated into a new MDL. In this post, we will look at the MDL requests and speculate on the most likely venue and what it might mean for the NEC litigation moving forward.

February 9, 2022

Montana Supreme Court Medical Malpractice Opinoin

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Montana Supreme Court decided Higgins v. Augustine yesterday. This lawsuit involved a dispute over whether a doctor had breached the standard of care during a circumcision.

The lawsuit alleged that the doctor was negligent in performing the procedure, causing the child to suffer an injury, and sought damages. The case went to trial, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the doctor. However, the plaintiff appealed the District Court’s decision to exclude specific evidence related to a witness’s expert testimony.

During the trial, the expert witness testified that the injury suffered by the child was not consistent with the use of the correct tools and suggested that the doctor may have used incorrect scissors or misused the correct scissors. However, the plaintiff had not adequately disclosed the witness’s opinion promptly, leading the defendant to move for its exclusion. The District Court agreed, and the plaintiff appealed this decision.

February 7, 2022

Knee Replacement and Implant Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Knee replacement and knee implant lawsuits allege that devices loosened or did not last as long as they should. Zimmer faced over 15,000 Biomet lawsuits over its NexGen implant. DePuy Synthes Attune Knee implant lawsuits were also a big thing. Now Exactech recall lawsuits will be getting filed in massive numbers in 2022 after a big recall.

There have been a lot of questions about hip and knee replacements in recent years. DePuy, Exactech, Stryker, and Zimmer have had – to put it mildly – concerns raised about their products. These companies would argue that the problems are mostly with patients who are having bad outcomes and blaming the insurance companies.