PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Federal multidistrict litigation, a procedure intended to resolve mass-tort lawsuits fairly and efficiently, has mutated into an unethical moneymaking machine for lawyers that is badly in need of reform, a prominent plaintiff attorney says as he prepares to lobby for changes.
WASHINGTON – According to data just released by the U.S. Small Business Administration and Treasury Department, 73 Pennsylvania law firms received government loans of at least $1 million while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, including some of the state’s most influential plaintiffs’ firms.
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia man who suffered permanent brain damage after a laser probe broke off during surgery will be compensated by a medical device company for $12.75 million.
PHILADELPHIA – A lawsuit brought in a Philadelphia court says negligence on the part of Penn State University and Bright Horizons, the nation’s largest child care provider, led to alleged repeat incidents of molestation against a five year-old child by a daycare center’s former Assistant Director.
PHILADELPHIA – In stark contrast to the $8 billion punitive damages verdict reached this past fall, two Risperdal cases were dismissed through successful motions for summary judgment from Johnson & Johnson in Philadelphia courtrooms.
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia judge has struck down an attempt to recuse him from future proceedings surrounding a staggering $8 billion punitive damages verdict at the end of a recent trial surrounding anti-psychotic drug Risperdal.
PHILADELPHIA – Johnson & Johnson, which was recently hit with a staggering $8 billion punitive damages verdict at the end of a recent trial surrounding anti-psychotic drug Risperdal in Philadelphia, has filed motions to set it aside and call for a retrial – in addition to calling for the presiding judge to recuse himself from the case moving forward, alleging improper conduct like high-fives and pictures with jurors.
PHILADELPHIA – Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals have called a Philadelphia jury’s gigantic verdict of $8 billion in punitive damages against it for alleged malice connected to the marketing of anti-psychotic drug Risperdal “grossly disproportionate” and “a violation of due process” and are seeking to immediately overturn it.
PHILADELPHIA – In an unprecedented conclusion to the first-ever punitive damages trial tied to Risperdal, a 12-person jury found Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals liable for allegedly knowing and consciously disregarding the potential of the drug to cause gynecomastia to patients like plaintiff Nicholas Murray, and rendered a staggering verdict of $8 billion.
PHILADELPHIA – Cross-examination of a Johnson & Johnson doctor in the Risperdal punitive damages trial continued on Tuesday, with the physician stating that despite a number of email messages between herself and a statistician, that she played no role in the reanalysis of the drug’s data in 2015.
PHILADELPHIA – A plaintiff attorney in the punitive damages trial for Risperdal argued Friday that an independent biostatistician who reviewed the drug’s data for a reanalysis conducted in 2015, was in fact a former consultant for Johnson & Johnson who had worked on other litigation the company was involved in.
PHILADELPHIA – Testimony in the punitive damages trial for Risperdal on Thursday turned to both a statistical reanalysis of original clinical trial data as well as a 2003 article on the drug, which plaintiff counsel quoted one of its own original authors referring to as both “despicable” and “the poster boy of bad behavior.”
PHILADELPHIA – In continuing testimony taken during the first punitive damages trial surrounding anti-psychotic drug Risperdal in Philadelphia, a doctor who worked for Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals testified that the elevated prolactin levels of some boys participating in the drug’s early clinical trials were relevant, but not concerning at that time.
PHILADELPHIA – In continuing testimony taken during the first punitive damages trial surrounding anti-psychotic drug Risperdal in Philadelphia, a Johnson & Johnson senior director said that the company and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals were not responsible for attempting to “spin” information provided to the media about the medication.
PHILADELPHIA – Johnson & Johnson did not market anti-psychotic drug Risperdal off-label to pediatricians and pediatric psychologists prior to receiving Food & Drug Administration approval, according to a senior official testifying in a trial meant to determine if the pharmaceutical giant will be penalized with punitive damages.
PHILADELPHIA – Testimony in the Risperdal punitive damages trial continued Thursday with a former Food & Drug Administration commissioner who said Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals sought to promote use of Risperdal in children and adolescents, before it was given such approval – but the company maintains it was safe for that age group.
PHILADELPHIA – On the first day of a trial that could expose Johnson & Johnson to millions of dollars in punitive damages, the company moved for a mistrial after plaintiffs attorneys reminded jurors of its massive value but was denied.
PHILADELPHIA – A private Catholic school in Lower Gwynedd Township, its operators and sponsors have settled litigation brought by the parents of a seventh-grade female student who was allegedly sexually molested multiple times by one of the school’s now-former and convicted IT workers, both on and off-campus.
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia judge who presided over a case where a Lancaster woman claimed she suffered permanent injuries to her genitalia after the installation of a pelvic mesh implant manufactured by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon, Inc., is recommending the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirm the action’s $41 million verdict on appeal.
HARRISBURG – According to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, it will not hear an appeal of the first Risperdal case to be decided in the hands of a Philadelphia jury and its $2.5 million verdict for the plaintiff will stand.
