Articles Posted in Product Liability

TriStar electric pressure cookers have a design flaw that sometimes allows the device to pressurize without the locked lid. This defect causes the lid to explode when opened and projects scalding hot liquids over anyone nearby.

Users have suffered severe burns and facial disfigurement due to the lid defect.  These injuries are awful to deal with and they did not have to happen.

Our firm is seeking new product liability cases from anyone seriously injured by a faulty TriStar pressure cooker device. Users who suffered burns or other injuries from their TriStar instant pressure cooker may be entitled to financial compensation.

Bellwether trials are like “test” cases used is big mass torts such as class action MDLs involving hundreds or even thousands of individual plaintiffs. To understand what a bellwether trial is, you need to understand how modern mass tort litigation works.

Understanding Mass Torts

In mass tort litigation, there is a very large group of plaintiffs (anywhere from a few dozen to a few thousand) all of whom have filed lawsuits involving identical tort claims. The most common example is in the pharmaceutical context where thousands of people are injured by a defective drug (e.g., Ozempic) and they all file identical lawsuits around the same time.

As you care for your little one, you should be mindful of everyday items in your home that can risk their safety. Just because an item was made for babies does not mean it is entirely safe. Cribs and strollers can still be a safety risk to your baby. However, this means if you use them, use them safely.

1. Strollers

Your baby’s stroller can be a significant risk to their safety. A Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report estimates 13,400 reported cases of stroller-related injuries that required a visit to the emergency room. Many of these injuries were caused by a fall or strangulation (two injuries every hour).  An average of two children die yearly from stroller-related accidents. Many stroller-related injuries or deaths occur when infants are left to sleep while the stroller’s back is in the recline position.

Last week, the FDA announced Abbott’s recall of its Dragonfly OpStar Imaging Catheter on May 26, 2022. Abbott recalled the device because some parts of it may break off and remain in the body. The FDA reported that this defect may cause severe injuries, including ischemia, infections, embolisms, thrombosis, and death.

What is a catheter?

 A catheter is a flexible tube that healthcare providers insert into a narrow opening in the body. They are used in various medical procedures, including:

According to a new public warning from the FDA, certain leadless pacemakers made by Medtronic have a defect that may cause them to poke holes in the heart resulting in life-threatening complications.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently posted a new warning regarding a potentially fatal defect in the Medtronic Micra leadless pacemaker devices. The November 17 warning advises doctors about new findings which show that patients with the Medtronic leadless pacemaker implanted have displayed a significantly higher risk of cardiac perforation and potentially deadly complications.

Transvenous vs. Leadless Pacemakers

It’s the peak of the summer beach season, but if you drop by your local retailer to pick up some sunscreen, you will likely see a lot of empty shelf space. Why? Because independent consumer product testing recently discovered that a number of major sunscreen products contained hazardous levels of benzene. Benzene is a notorious and well-known human carcinogen that is very harmful to the human body.

In response to this discovery, manufacturers and major retailers have started pulling sunscreen spray, lotion, and other products from their shelves. Now plaintiffs’ lawyers around the country are evaluating whether contaminated sunscreen lawsuits could be the next big mass tort.

Valisure Finds Dangerous Levels of Benzene in Sunscreen Products

Medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific has issued an emergency safety recall of its Vici Venous stent devices because a defect in the stents causes them to migrate once inside the body.

If you had a Vici Venous stent surgically implanted and it subsequently migrated inside your body, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our medical device lawyers are currently new Vici Venous stent cases against Boston Scientific.

• Bard PowerPort lawsuits in 2023 focus on vascular injuries

In June 2019, AbbVie’s AndroGel testosterone lawsuits settled for $775 million. (Our lawyers are still taking testosterone lawsuits in 2022.  Just no longer involving this testosterone supplement.)

Lawsuits had been filed claiming that the makers of Androgel, AbbVie, failed to warn thousands of men about the potential side effects of the drug. These side-effects include heart attacks, blood clots, stroke, and even sudden death in extraordinary cases. As the litigation wheels start turning here, AbbVie is trying to gum them up with objections to slow down the process.  You could say everything is going according to plan…

What Is AndroGel?

Androgel is a form of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). The purpose of testosterone is to increase levels of testosterone in the blood of humans.  So TRT is a process to supplement our naturally occurring levels of testosterone. Why?  Because some men have low testosterone production (and some just want more).

AndroGel is a synthetic testosterone gel formulation.   The gel formulation was developed to give transdermal delivery of testosterone continuously for 24 hours.

Androgel Lawsuits

If you are reading this you probably already know this. But let’s recap.  There were about 7,000 lawsuits against AbbVie percolating around the federal court system.

The various suits alleged that the makers of Androgel, AbbVie, neglected to warn thousands of men about the serious side effects of the “Low-T” treatment drug.

This drug has certainly been a big hit, understandably so considering that it promises men physical enhancement to counteract the forces of aging. But thousands of lawsuits -allege that low-T drugs can lead to heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or other injuries, prompting men across the U.S. to sue AbbVie and the other manufacturers for not being adequately warned of the risks.

That really is what this is about.  No one — at least not many people — was calling for a low-T recall.  The risk might outweigh the benefit for some although probably not many of us.  It is about giving patients and doctors a choice. Tell us what can happen and let us make the call.  They are giving this warning now.  They should have given it to us before.  That is what these lawsuits were about.

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