Two denture adhesive cream mass torts filed at Phila. Common Pleas Court

Attorneys from the Philadelphia law firm Kline & Specter joined lawyers from San Francisco-based Levin Simes LLP in jointly filing two denture adhesive cream mass tort claims at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court April 24.

The plaintiffs in the separate lawsuits, one of who resides in Pennsylvania and the other from Iowa, allege injuries caused by their respective use of the product Fixodent.

The first civil action was filed on behalf of 60-year-old Perry, Iowa resident Teri Covert, who started using Fixodent in 1999.

The lawsuit claims that the product caused Covert to develop various physical injuries, including, but not limited to, neuropathy, myelopathy, zinc toxicity, extensive nerve damage, numbness, tingling, tremors, cramps, paralysis, inability to talk, loss of balance, kidney and liver failure, bone marrow depletion, anemia, abdominal pain, nausea, lethargy, severe physical pain and other neurological disorders.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are involved with the manufacture and distribution of the denture adhesive cream.

They are The Procter & Gamble Company and various subsidiaries as well as the Rite Aid Corporation.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligence, strict liability for design defect and failure to warn, breach of implied warranties, gross negligence and malice, common law fraud, and violations of Pennsylvania’s Consumer Protection Act.

The second lawsuit, which includes the same defendants, minus Rite Aid, contains the same alleged violations.

That lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lewistown, Pa. resident Melba Mertz, who is 83 years old.

The complaint, which also contains a loss of consortium count, states that Mertz used Fixodent from approximately 1981 to 2008.

As a result of the product’s use, the complaint alleges, Mertz suffered many of the same injuries as those suffered by Covert in the first lawsuit.

Both women have also suffered financial losses due to medical expenses and each have suffered emotional harm, their lawsuits state.

Each plaintiff seeks relief as set forth in the master denture adhesive cream litigation at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court.

 

The case ID numbers are 120402817 and 120402834.