Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

Boston Scientific will recall 29,664 iCross intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging catheter after after eight reports of catheter-tip detachment due to embrittlement of the catheter material.

The potential risks are grave: embolization of the detached material, thrombotic events, myocardial infarction, and death. If you have used this product, it would be wise to talk to your doctor but the recall should not cause you harm because, according to Boston Scientific, the recall problems would occur during the procedure, not after.

Lan Enterprises will recall 2,300 strollers due to a strangulation risk with their stollers. It is a similar story: the opening between the armrest bar/snack tray and seat bottom of the stroller is big enough for an infant to slide through and become trapped at the neck.

There are no reported injuries but are the folks designing these things spending five minutes thinking about how to build a stroller that won't strangle a child? It is crazy.

• Car seat recall
• Baby monitor recall
• Swing set recall
• Another baby crib recall

Getting ready to open your pool? Eight manufacturers will recall about 1 million drain covers for pools and in-ground spas that were incorrectly rated to handle the water flow through the covers.

What's the harm? Probably none. But these covers could pose an entrapment swimmers and hot tub users which is more than a little bit serious.

If you have a drain cover than was sold between December 2008 and April 2011 (or a Pentair Water Pool and Spa were sold between June 2009 and April 2011), you like have a defective pool drain cover. These manufacturers have issue a recall: Rising Dragon, A&A Manufacturing, AquaStar Pool Products, Color Match Pool Fittings, Custom Molded Products, Hayward Pool Products, Pentair Water Pool and Spa, and Waterway Plastics.

You can find more specific on this pool and spa drain cover recall here.

GE will recall 255,0000 food processors after concerns that the processor's safety lock that keeps the lid in place can fail during use. The food processors in this recall may cut users and, making matters worse, the product can also emit smoke or catch fire.

There have been 58 total reports of concern regarding the food processors in this recall, including 21 finger injuries. These GE products were, apparently, sold exclusively at Walmart.

You can find more information here.

In another dumb lawsuit, Oscar Mayer is facing a lawsuit about the fat content of some of its products. "Plaintiffs", and I'm using the word loosely here, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming that Oscar Mayer leads customers to believe that some of its foods are less fatty than they are by juxtaposing the percentage of total "fat free" content next to the number of calories per serving on product labels.

I'm a big fan of honest fat content labeling. I'm really trying to eat right and stay fit. I worked out this morning at 5:00 a.m. with about half of my office. (Stop. Reflect. Be impressed.) And I'm the last person in the entire world that says let's defer to the FDA, the USDA, or any other government entity. So listen to me: let's let the USDA deal with this.

STIHL will recall 2.3 million various gas powered STIHL yard trimming products. Why? There are concerns that these gas powered yard trimming products cause burn and fire risks.

The problem that led to the recall is level of ethanol is distortnig the fuel cap causing oil to spill. Spilled oil, as Martha Stewart would, say, is a bad thing.

The recall covers pretty much anything you can imagine using in your yard: trimmers, brushcutters, KombiMotors, hedge trimmers, edgers, clearing saws, pole pruners, and backpack blowers. Do you have one of these? Check your serial number and look here.

The FDA is warning parents not to feed milk or formula mixed with SimplyThick to premature babies. There are 15 reports of infants give SimplyThick who developed a "life-threatening intestinal condition." The FDA released a statement saying it is investigating reasons why SimplyThick made the premature infants so sick and strongly recommends not giving the product to babies who are younger then 37 weeks old.

I always call infants "our most vulnerable." But, prematurely born infants are really our most vulnerable . They deserve every ounce of protection we can muster for them.

Globe All Wellness, a company that makes a weight loss supplement that I'll bet does not work anyway, has been informed by the FDA that one of the company’s weight loss pills - Slim Xtreme™ Herbal Slimming Capsule 30 Capsules/Bottles - was sold by a seller that was not authorized by Globe All Wellness, LLC to sell the product contains an undeclared drug ingredient.

FDA lab analyses of this dietary supplement was found to contain undeclared Sibutramine. The FDA has not approved Sibutramine, which is supposedly an appetite suppressant.

Do yourself a favor. Hit the gym and skip these weight loss supplements.

The FDA has approved a test to help determine whether a patient has a recent Toxoplasma gondi infection. The VIDAS TOXO IgG Avidity assay is a meaningful weapon in helping doctors rule out an infection within the last four months.

This is welcome news for everyone but particularly pregnant woman who if infected with Toxoplasma may pass it on to their child which can cause a host of serious and potentially fatal consequences not just in vitro but later in the child's life.

"Toxoplasmosis can have serious and lasting health consequences for infants that acquire the infection in the womb," said Alberto Gutierrez, an FDA official in the Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety. "This test gives doctors an additional tool to determine if women with confirmed cases of toxoplasmosis acquired the infection before or during pregnancy."

This test is not going to be the only test for this infection and the FDA said it has not cleared or approved the assay for blood or plasma donor screening. But it sounds like progress in keeping our most vulnerable safe.

Indiana has passed a new law that prohibits texting while driving. Indiana is the 32nd state to prohibit texting while driving. Under the new law, effective July 1, violators face a maximum fine of $500. The law extends Indiana’s current texting ban to all drivers. Drivers under 18 are also prohibited from all cell phone use.

I was jogging yesterday close to the road. There was no sidewalk. A very young girl was texting while driving by me. I'm certain she never saw me. This is how people die.

A man was awarded $25 million by a Portsmouth, Virginia jury for his claim that he had been raped by three police officers in South Korea.

It is hard to imagine how awful that would be. Who would take $25 million in exchange for that?

I know who. Norfolk lawyer Daniel R. Warman. A person who can still work and “who can see and has all their arms and legs … that gets $25 million is perfectly ridiculous,” Warman told the Virginian-Pilot.

Interestingly, Warman had a partner in 1994 who does personal injury plaintiffs' work in medical malpractice and products liability cases. And, according to this old article, although

[H]e mostly does defense work, Warman is not enthusiastic either way about most kinds of "tort reform." He thinks the main problem with the tort system is the availability of damages for creative new torts and such intangibles as non-physical pain and suffering, which leads to incomprehensibly huge random-number verdicts. In his experience, though, he says juries have been wrong only two or three times, one of which was a case the defendant should have lost.

I would love to hear more about this. I am assuming this guy - a retired Navy Reserve captain which gets some props from me - is a good lawyer and a smart guy. But assuming there is liability - a big if in this case if you read the article - what would be the appropriate damage award for being gang raped by three men? Personally, I'm inclined to defer to the jury that heard the evidence.

The CPSC has announced a recall of 22,000 full-size and portable drop-side cribs imported by Dream on Me. These drop side cribs are being recalled because they can break, causing the drop side to fall unexpectedly, trapping and potentially suffocating an infant. There have been 69 reports of these cribs being defective.

Last year, over 2 million drop side cribs were recalled because of the risk of infants suffocating while being stuck between the railing and the crib. That recall includes models by Bona Vita, Babi Italia, Child Craft, Delta Enterprise, Evenflo, Jardine, ISSI, Million Dollar Baby and Simmons brands.

Frustrating that we can't seem to make safe cribs for our children. Real frustrating.

Dream on Me makes a real production about the recall when you go to its website. No, wait. I just went to the home page. No mention of it there. (Update: either I missed it the first time or they just changed it. Either way, try to find it. They are not exactly putting it out there.)

• Car seat recall
• Baby monitor recall
• Swing set recall
• Another baby crib recall

Does Viagra cause hearing loss? I don't know. But there maybe be come cause for concern.

According to a study published in the medical journal Laryngoscope, some doctors are concerned about the impact of Viagra - and is cousins Cialis and Levitra - on hearing.

The article reports that 47 suspected cases of rapid hearing loss have been linked to Viagra, as well as similar drugs like Cialis and Levitra. Is this just the tip of the iceberg? It may be. A stunning 223 other reported cases in the U.S. were excluded from the study because they did not have enough details. The article concludes:

There is increasing evidence that PDE-5 inhibitors may induce sensorineural hearing loss via plausible physiological mechanisms. There needs to be more awareness of this disabling side effect among healthcare professionals responsible for prescribing this drug. The average age of those affected was 57.

Continue reading " Does Viagra Cause Hearing Loss? " »

A lawsuit has been filed in New York alleging a YMCA camp counselor raped a girl during camp last July. The worst case scenario allegedly occurred: the 11 year-old girl became pregnant and contracted a sexually transmitted disease as a result. (She had a son.)

The suit ties in the YMCA and complains while it fired the employee when the rape was discovered, the YMCA should have called the police.

While this is true, I can't see how it is admissible at trial. What is going to matter at trial is whether the girl was raped and whether the YMCA is in some way responsible or vicariously liable. What happened after the crime is not going to be germane to these issues.

The New York Times reports that Toyota’s tendency to dismiss customer complaints and no uniform procedures for handling safety problems were among flaws identified today by a Toyota panel investigating the recall of more than 14 million Toyota cars and trucks because of problems that included acceleration and floor mats.

Toyota has screwed things up royally lately but give them some love for putting up the money to get what appears to be a star studded and straight up panel of heavyweights. Toyota is looking to regain what it lost and taking transparent steps like this towards that goal.

Continue reading " Toyota Panel Looks at Recalls " »

Quest Diagnostics has settled for $241 million in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed against the company over fraudulent Medi-Cal charges. The settlement was the largest in the California False Claims Act. On top of the fraudulent charges, the lawsuit also alleged Quest "paid illegal kickbacks to doctors, hospitals and clinics that sent patients their way."

Philips Healthcare has issued a recall of infant and neonatal-sized Philips FilterLine H Set and VitaLine H Set Microstream carbon dioxide (CO2) sampling lines due to bits of plastic that may become lodged in the tubes. The devices measure how much carbon dioxide has been exhaled by infants during ventilation.

The problem that led to the recall is that bits of plastic may be inhaled by the infant. These recalled C02 lines were shipped to hospitals and other healthcare providers between November 2010 and March 2011.

No problems have been reported yet, thankfully. But this is something that has to be taken seriously: inhalation of the plastic strands on the defective devices may cause respiratory compromise, which could result in serious illness or death.

I don't know what happened here. I do know that the last people on earth you want to have complications with are infants on ventilation.

Honda will recall 1,156 Honda Civic cars because of a concern that a seal in a gas line that may be misaligned, could be causing a potential fire hazard.

The recall involves 2012 model year Honda Civics made between April 21, 2011 and May 2, 2011. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that, "There is a possibility that an O-ring, which seals a connection in the fuel feed line, is misaligned. If the O-ring is misaligned, a small fuel leak may occur."

In this tough legal economy, 4,364 applicants took the February California bar examination. Approximately 42% of the applicants passed the exam.

California has a tough bar. The pass rate has floated between 33 and 40 percent for the last 10 years.

The key to passing the California bar? Not having failed it before. The pass rate for the California bar was 53% for those taking the bar for the first time. Another leading indicator? Go to an accredited law school. Only 27% of those at non-ABA accredited law schools pass the exam which makes you question the wisdom of having law schools in California that are not ABA accredited.

There is a recall for Quenby Hall Blue Stilton Cheese because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, usually in our youngest and oldest and those with compromised immune systems. Listeria infection also poses a risk to unborn children.

Blackman Industries will recall all PrimeTime brand 2 ct. and 5 ct. Premium Pig Ears and all KC Beefhide brand 20 ct. Premium Pig Ears because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Why do you care? It is just animals, right. Well, setting aside the fact that asking this question would make you a jerk, Salmonella can affect not only animals eating these pig ears, but there is also humans handling anything containing these pig ears or anything containing Salmonella.

These pig ears were sold in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. The FDA breaks it down for you here.

Nielsen-Massey Vanilla will recall lot no. 11123 of its Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste because it may contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

I wrote a blog post last month about how GEICO wanted me to indemnify them for a settlement (here is the document).

As I wrote, this is silly on a variety of levels. If this Virginia Ethics Opinion is published, it will also be an ethical violation in Virginia as it is in many other states.

American Medical News writes an article about an important topic: how doctors emotionally deal with malpractice lawsuits. Let's be honest, medical malpractice lawyers on both sides of the "v" largely ignore this issue.

Continue reading " Doctors and Malpractice: The Human Toll on Doctors " »

Should there be an Aricept recall? Public Citizen does not go as far as to say Aricept should be recalled from the market. But it does offer two compelling reasons why its high dose - 23 milligrams - should be recalled: (1) it does not work, and (2) it has serious side effects.

Aricept (donepezil) is a drug used to treat moderate or severe cases of Alzheimer’s disease.
Aricept was first approved November 25, 1996, for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease at a dose of 5 or 10 mg once a day. In 2006, Aricept was approved for severe Alzheimer’s disease at a dose of 10 mg once a day. Last year, that number was jacked up to 23 mg for moderate to severe Alzheimer’s.

Continue reading " Aricept Recall? " »

FDA advisory committees met today to discuss changes in the dosing instructions for children on the labels of medicines containing acetaminophen.

The goal is protecting young livers. Medications containing acetaminophen can be toxic to a child's liver if taken in high doses. Last year, an astonishing 270,000 overdoses of acetaminophen were reported. How many went unreported?

The label currently says says "ask a doctor" in the recommended dosage area.

I don't pretend to know the answer. But I'm glad someone is looking at this and I'm glad awareness is being raised about the concerns with acetaminophen.

A former Mississippi State University baseball player has filed a lawsuit against the school's baseball coach. The lawsuit claims the player was forced to pitch while injured.

The lawsuit adds in an allegation that to me diminishes the credibility of the lawsuit. Plaintiff claims the coach "forced" his team to practice more during the week than was allowed by NCAA regulations. First of all, you don't have to force many college kids to play baseball. And that alleged forcing has nothing to do with his injuries. The purpose of the claim is to expose an evil that has nothing to do with the lawsuit, really. Moreover, the player had a choice to pitch or not pitch. He chose to pitch.

Cases like this - rightly or wrongly - rub me the wrong way. I have a lot of clients minding their own business, driving down the street and someone comes across the double yellow line drunk and hits them. These people never had a choice. This young man had a choice and made it.

This does not let the coach off the hook. He should be fired if these allegations prove true. But allegations that deserve a lawsuit are different from allegations that should get someone fired.

What was going on and what people were writing last week.

The Georgia Court of Appeals has tossed a $459 million junk fax verdict on Wednesday, finding that the trial judge erred in concluding that defendant sent 306,000 unsolicited fax advertisements because plaintiffs did not prove the faxes had been received.

Wow, $459 million for faxes? Juries are crazy. Well, actually, this was a bench trial but let's not ruin the tort reformers narrative. I'm sure all of the tort reform folks will pretend that (1) a jury decided this, (2) this was a tort action, and (3) there is a chance this is a collectable verdict against a siding, window, and gutter installation company that was in business between 2002 to 2004.

But, look, I think these junk faxes lawsuits are a little ridiculous myself. The idea of plaintiffs - or frankly their lawyers - getting money because they got a junk fax just seems ridiculous to me. I realize there is an economic burden associated with junk faxes and these claims might not be as petty in the macro picture as their are in the micro picture. But on some human level, it is a fax, it is a cold call, let's not get so worked up about nothing.

You can read the full opinion here.

The CPSC announced that Danbar Knight Hawk will recall 18,500 Danbar Knight Hawk toy helicopters after reports that the batteries in the toy can overheat, causing a fire hazzard. The Chinese made toy helicopters were sold at toy, hobby and other stores, including mall kiosks, nationwide and online at www.UJToys.com from April 2010 through April 2011 for about $36.

There have been no injuries reported associated with the toy helicopters in this recall.

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill yesterday 30-20 that would cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases at $250,000.

One Republican, Rep. Lee Terry, agreed with me that core Republican values do not support this law because the bill is not consistent with the Commerce Clause, and the Tenth Amendment, the guarantees of equal protection and due process, and the right to a jury trial. (Actually, he just kinda says "state rights" but it sounded better that way.) "This preempts probably every (law) but California's and Texas' medical liability laws, so it is very clear that it violates states' rights," Terry said in voting against the bill.

American Tort Reform Association offers this genuinely tortured rationale of why a federal malpractice cap does not infringe on the Constitution. The funny thing is this paper cites law that you know conservatives fought tooth and nail to prevent. The bill itself also makes an effort to fight constitutional attack by putting some states' rights mumbo jumbo in the bill. Painfully transparent.

The bill also has a cute little section to dramatically decrease attorneys' fees in medical malpractice cases. This would be to discourage the six remaining lawyers still handling malpractice cases after this bill was passed.

States rights is a foundational principle... unless there is a good reason to leave it on the curb. You know other Republicans agreed with Terry but did not have the guts to follow their conviction for fear of being filleted in the primaries by someone running to their right.

Why is the House doing this? Because elections have consequences. These people were elected to do just this. They ran on this "stick it to the victim" platform. No one can be surprised.

The FDA has asked Johnson & Johnson, Biomet, Wright, Stryker, and about 20 other companies to study whether their implants unsafely raise the level of metal in the body to unsafe levels.

Arguably, the FDA is behind the 8-ball a bit. Over a year ago, the UK version of the FDA issued a medical device alert that included blood tests and imaging of metal-on-metal hip replacement patients. The FDA says that it is hard to figure out a patient's metal ion levels. Still, the FDA also says that some research shows metal-on-metal hip replacements increased metal levels in the patient's blood to the point that it effected the thyroid, nervous system, and the heart.

Ultimately, setting aside the question of imaging risks for a second, I really can't figure out why the FDA does not fall in line with the UK on this. How risky is a blood test?

There is a recall for Entenmann's donuts. Entenmann's Pop'Ems donuts and Bimbo brand 8 pack Donitas donuts have been recalled in Arizona, Utah, California, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Why the recall? Nothing major. These donuts have a uncharacteristic smell and become moldy.

Continue reading " Entenmann's Donuts Recall " »

Plaintiffs lawyers are seeking an MDL for lawsuits against Sony over PlayStation's network data breach. Plaintiff's attorney says that ff Sony had taken the appropriate precautions, "it would have been able to see suspicious traffic and shut down the network."

Really? How do you know what happened in two weeks?

It gets better. Plaintiffs' lawyers think there is real harm in the cases again Sony compared with other recent privacy and data security cases because we have actual harm. What is the harm you ask? The loss of access to the Sony PlayStation network. What exactly is the value of that loss?

Crazy.

I can't figure out why it is so difficult to separate out the peanut butter in the factory. Doctor’s CarbRite Diet Bars are being recalled because they contain peanut allergens that are not on the label. The recall applies to certain flavors of 2 oz. Doctor’s CarbRite Diet Bars and 3 oz. Universal Hi Protein bars.

The FDA lays out the specifics of which bars and which flavors that are in the recall here.

After a near fistfight over this and a number of other contentious issues, the Texas House passed Saturday a “loser pays” bill. Under this law, even a winning plaintiff can end up losing if the award is less than 80 percent of a defendant's settlement offer, the winner could owe more in legal fees than the award.

The Texans for Lawsuit Reform said that the bill provides "incentives for fair and early settlements and imposes risk on those who pursue meritless or abusive lawsuits.”

You pay expenses if you only get 79% of what the defendant offered. Texas has pretty much gone mad. I give it three years before Texans realize what they are doing.

The bill has not yet passed the Texas Senate. If it does,Governor Rick Perry will sign the bill.

Quest Diagnostics will pay a $241 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the state of California for failing to comply with regulations and overbilling for its services. The lawsuit claimed Quest over charged the state's Medicaid program for their laboratory testing services.

Quest said yesterday that it will settle the lawsuit which claimed that Quest "didn't comply" - which sounds like a nice euphemism - with California regulations, causing California's Medicaid program to overpay for lab testing services.

Telstar will recall 317,000 light bulbs amid concern that the light bulbs cause a fire hazard. Telstar has received two reports of fires from these starting due to the light bulbs.

When a light bulb catches fire, do you assume it is the light bulb? I think not. So I don't think it is unreasonable to suspect that two fires is the tip of the iceberg.

This light bulb recall involves energy-saving bulbs sold under the brand names Telstar and Electra. The bulbs were sold in two styles: spiral and the "3-Us" shape. The Telstar bulbs were sold in 20 and 23 watts with model number LB-1020 and LB-1023 printed on the packaging. The Electra bulbs were sold in 18, 20, 23, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 38 and 40 watts with model numbers LB-18, LB-20, LB-23, LB-26, LB-28, LB-30, LB-1018, LB-1020, LB-1023, LB-1026, LB-1134, LB-1136, LB-1138 and LB-1140 printed on the packaging. "CE 110V," "China" and the wattage number are printed on the bulb.

You can find more information on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

Please note our lawyers are not handling these cases. If you had a fire using one of these light bulbs, I would call the CPSC and Telstar.

A new study in the Annals of Family Medicine underscores concerns expressed a year ago by FDA officials: the heartburn drugs Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium may cause an increased risk of fractures.

Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium are heartburn drugs that control acid reflux disease and
gastro-esophageal reflux disease.

Korean research looked at 11 studies published between 1997 and 2011 and found that heartburn drugs such as Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium - proton pump inhibitors - were associated with a 29 percent increased risk of fracture. The risk of hip fractures was, in these studies, 31% higher. More frightening: the finding of a 54 percent heightened risk of vertebral fractures.

In May last year, the FDA decided that heartburn drugs should contain a warning about the risk of fracture. This warning was placed on Nexium, Dexilant, Prilosec, Zegerid, Prevacid, Protonix, and Aciphex.

Doctors are not saying that there should be a recall for these drugs. But they are saying that doctors want to keep these concerns in mind when prescribing these drugs.

Our lawyers are not currently handling heartburn medication related fracture cases, but we want to hear from you. If you have had a fracture while taking a heartburn drug, leave a comment below and share your experience.

I've written in the past about the question of what limits the collateral source rule has in determining what medical bills can go to a jury. In particular, I discussed the court's unfortunate ruling in Indiana that evidence that medical bills have been discounted can be introduced as evidence to the extent that discounted amounts can be introduced without referencing insurance.

Tort Talk says that a Pennsylvania judge addressed a related issue: whether future medical bills can be discounted because the victim has insurance. The court in this case said that the plaintiff may plead, prove and recover future medical expenses as those expenses were not shown to be "paid or payable." The rationale? There is no way to say the Defendant will have insurance in the future.

I think the fact that we are having this conversation in the first place is ridiculous. All of these efforts to introduce payments and reductions violate the collateral source rule, a rule that has withstood scrutiny for a very long time. But at least this opinion does not take the insanity any further.

The Miller & Zois Kids Foundation has a blog called the Miller & Zois Kids Blog, which focuses on a passion of ours: raising, educating, and otherwise improving the lot of our children. The early focus of the blog has been looking at educational iPad apps for children (particularly math apps) but the focus is going to be a lot broader than just iPad apps.

I'm hesitant to publicize the existence of the blog yet because we are in the process of redesigning it (much, much love to Justia who puts out the best legal blogs in the world - more on that soon). But we do have a lot of posts up so, if you get a chance, check it out. If you like it, please bookmark it, let your Twitter and Facebook friends it, the whole nine yards. And... come back often.

Del Monte has issued a recall fro 63 cases of grape tomatoes used in 63 cases of Vegetable Trays and Veg. Trio sold in Roche Bros. Supermarkets in Massachusetts.

You can find the specific UPC codes on the products at the FDA website.

Multi-Mex Distributor has issued a recall for dietary supplements that may be labeled as antibiotic drugs. These dietary supplements were sold in Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, Illinois, South Carolina, Texas and Indianapolis, to the retail stores and distributors.

You can get more information from the FDA on the specific products involved in the recall.

I've struggled to find good numbers in Maine for personal injury verdicts in personal injury cases. I found some data that indicates that the average jury verdict in Maine is a little over $27,000 in personal injury case generally and $15,000. But these statistics are 10 years-old.

Slightly more recently, Berman & Simmons reports that from October 1998 through January 2006, there were 222 personal injury verdicts in Maine in which the Plaintiff prevailed. These verdicts totaled about $45 million which comes about to an average that is approximately $200,000. What good is this data? Probably not much because the verdicts are self reporting which means lawyers eager to publish their successes - both plaintiffs' and defendants lawyers - are unduly represented.

So, ultimately, I don't have much to tell you about Maine verdicts. But you can find more information about how your case is valued here.

The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog writes about whether nursing home lawsuits are a part of the solution or a part of the problem. One thing is for sure: the answer to the question is more complex than partisans on either side believe.

Dorel Asia SRL announced a recall of about 466,700 wooden bunk beds The recall comes after 23 reports that the side rails of the bed can split and the bunk bed can collapse.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission provides the model number in the recall. These bunk beds were sold at Walmart, Kmart and Target stores and online from September 2004 through September 2009 for about $190. C

You can get more information from the CPSC here.

Kohler has announced a recall of 10,000 engines for tractor lawn mowers. Apparently, a wire connector on the lawn mower's engine can become disconnect, causing the operator's seat switch to fail.” The concern here is obvious: if the switch fails, the blades on the mower will not stop.

This recall involves Kohler Courage twin-cylinder engines sold with three brands of lawn tractors: Husqvarna, Cub Cadet, and Troy-Bilt. The tractor's engines that are subject to this recall have serial numbers with the first five digits beginning with 41028 through 41056. Serial numbers can be found on the black engine cover.

These tractors just came out on the market in February at Lowe's, Tractor Supply Company stores, and by authorized Cub Cadet dealers.

There have been a significant number of Avandia settlements and many clients are now starting to receive settlement checks.

Incredibly, there are still a lot of potential cases that would be ripe for an Avandia settlement that are still sitting out there. These cases fall into two fundamental categories: (1) people who have not considered the potential connection between their heart or liver injuries and Avandia; and (2) people that, for whatever reason, are just hesitant to bring a claim.

The latter group - people who think they have drug injury claims and just don't bring them - make up a much larger group than I think most people realize. You can break these people down into two categories too: (1) people with good reasons not to bring a claim; and (2) people with bad reasons not to bring a claim.

A good reason not to bring a claim is that you have a view of life that says essentially:

I don't believe claims against drug companies are a good idea even if the drug company was negligent and/or reckless. Too many people think lawsuits are the answer to every problem in life and I just don't want to be one of those people. You could tell me a settlement check is waiting for me at your office and I wouldn't come and pick it up. Lawyers and lawsuits are the problem in this country.

In some wrongful death cases, people do not bring claims because their husband/wife/father/mother hated lawsuits and they think that cashing a settlement check would dishonor their memory.

I don't agree with this world view, obviously, for reasons that are not worth going into here. But people smarter than I do feel exactly this way. If you think you have an Avandia claim and you feel this way, you should not be bringing a claim.

Continue reading " Avandia Settlements " »

The MDL Panel ordered a Yaz plaintiff to remain in the Yaz MDL in a recent order.

What are the facts? I have no idea. All I have seen is the order. The facts are hard to put together but it sounds like the Plaintiff is a defendant in a car accident case. I'm thinking the her Yaz side effects allegedly caused a car accident. But I have no idea.

The moral of the story, I think, is that the MDL Panel is going to keep parties in the MDL if the are making the same core factual allegations as the other Yaz lawsuits but the federal judge presiding over the Yasmin and Yaz MDL may, in his discretion, come to a different decision.

• Overview of how the Yaz MDL works
• Full overview of Yaz/Yasmin lawsuits

Chevorlet apparently sees something it is Chevy Cruzes that it does not like. Chevorlet will recall over 100,000 Chevrolet Cruze models to take a closer look to see if the steering intallation is safe. Chevy recalled just a few thousand Chevolet Cruzes last month after a customer had a steering wheel come completely detached from the steering column while driving. Incredibly, this new problem may be unrelated to the last "steering wheel is falling off" recall.

How big of a blow this will be for this very fuel efficient car that has been enjoying the fruits of $4.00 gas remains to be seen.

More than 100 denture cream lawsuits have settled for $120 million.

Plaintiffs's denture cream lawsuits allege that excessive levels of zinc can cause serious neurological disorders but the companies failed to properly warn Fixodent and Poligrip users of the risks of zinc. These 100 plus denture cream settlements are for Poligrip.

The first trial for a Fixodent lawsuit in the federal denture cream lawsuits are set to begin on June 20.

If you have a potential Fixodent or Poligrip denture cream lawsuit, call us at 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.

Honda will expand an Acura and Honda recall over concerns that replacement airbags in the cars may deploy with too much pressure, according to the Baltimore Sun. This new recall adds 833,000 cars for the model years 2001 through 2003. Honda is recalling a lot of cars looking for lots of needles in a haystack - 2,430 replacement airbags they think could be defective.

The original recall includes some 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic sedans, 2002 Odyssey minivans and 2002 and 2003 CR-V crossover vehicles. That recall also involved 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 3.2 CL vehicles.

The Legal Times asks about the legal basis for the Osama Bin Laden attack. Not mentioned: no one really cares. I'll leave it to the philosophers to argue whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm just stating the obvious fact: no one cares what the legal foundation was for this attack.

I tuned into the Daily Show last night (actually this morning on DVR) interested to hear Jon Stewart's take on Bid Laden. His guest after the skits? Lawyer hater Philip K. Howard.

I watched. I've never seen him before. He seems like a nice enough guy. (I'm always amazed when philosophical opponents that I've never seen don't have horns.) Moreover, Jon Stewart seems to like him. It is his second time back. Jon Stewart has a vote with me.

He said two things on Jon Stewart that I thought would be interesting to conservatives. First, he says government officials are shackled to a 19th century legal infrastructure that doesn't give them the autonomy to make choices. So the answer, my conservative friends, is to empower government bureaucrats to make decisions as they see fit. How is that sitting with you?

Then he says the Founding Fathers got it wrong by making it too hard to repeal a law. Wait! I thought the game plan was to venerate the Founding Fathers (two capital Fs), pretend many were not slave owners, and focus on getting right what was inside their minds 240 years ago.

I think most conservatives disagree with Philip Howard on some of the details to his "first, let's kill all the lawyers" game plan. But I credit Howard - a lawyer, by the way - for at least looking at the issue of law and our society creatively.

Simply Asia Foods has issued a recall for Thai Kitchen Noodle Carts and Simply Asia Noodle Bowls due to a milk allergen that is not on the label. These rice noodle products were put in stores in 2009. There have been no reports of milk allergen related incidents with these Simply Asia products.

Bay Valley Foods says they see Simple Asia's recall and raise them a recall of 188,181 pounds Reduced Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup. While the label of this Walmart sold food indicates, "Chicken Noodle Soup," the can may actually contain cream of chicken soup. This is an important detail to leave out if you have a milk allergen. Thankfully, there are no injuries reported with this recall either.

Turns out, not only the medical device makers are making a fortune from hip implants. The Healthcare BlueBook reportshospitals are printing money in their basement from hip replacements. A total hip or knee replacement with a three-day inpatient stay costs $14,705. Assuming the benchmark of 10% operating profit, hospitals pull in $1,500 in profit for every knee or hip replacement.