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Mass Torts
Settlement fund approved for Angiotech in vena cava filter litigation, with Texas authorities in charge
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia judge has approved the creation of a qualified settlement fund for one medical device company named as a defendant in complex litigation related to damage for inferior vena cava filters, with Texas-based companies set to supervise the funds.
Mass Torts
Pa. Attorney General's Office announces $38.8M settlement with JUUL Labs over youth marketing claims
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has announced a $38.8 million settlement with JUUL Labs, Inc. in association with claims the company violated Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and jeopardized the health of Pennsylvanians, specifically youth that JUUL targeted with their high nicotine-content products.
Mass Torts
Member: ALI 'aligning' with courts that accept pro-plaintiff lawyer theory of liability
PHILADELPHIA – When it reconvenes this week, members of the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute are expected to discuss and further revise the group’s proposed guidelines on the topic of medical monitoring, a practice which critics say may expand damage recoveries in tort cases.
Mass Torts
Union Railroad Company sued over exposures alleged to have contributed to former employee’s cancer
PITTSBURGH - A West Mifflin man is suing the Union Railroad Company alleging the railroad is liable for injuries resulting from exposure to toxic substances while working for the company.
Mass Torts
Pittsburgh woman seeks $200K Xarelto settlement after husband dies from internal bleeding
PITTSBURGH – A $200,000 settlement petition has been filed in state court by the widow of a 68-year-old man who allegedly died from internal bleeding as a result of taking the blood-thinner medication Xarelto.
Mass Torts
Pa. opioid lawsuits plod along as companies demand 'critical information to defend themselves'
MEDIA (Legal Newsline) - Drug distributors facing about 50 opioid lawsuits in Pennsylvania have asked the judge overseeing the litigation to order sanctions against plaintiffs for repeatedly refusing to honor deadlines to turn over evidence including information about how state and local governments have handled the opioid crisis they blame on the drug industry.
Mass Torts
Pa. Supreme Court disregards SCOTUS ruling, decides jurisdiction applies in pelvic mesh injury case
HARRISBURG – A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the concept of specific jurisdiction in 2017 did not guide the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, when it affirmed a $12.85 million damages award in a pelvic mesh injury matter against a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.
Mass Torts
New try for Pa. lawyer DQ'd from Lancaster County toxic tort lawsuits
PITTSBURGH – The lawyer who was disqualified from the troubled toxic tort litigation he tried to lead in Lancaster County is trying his hand at a new one in Allegheny.
Mass Torts
Client who sued Hagens Berman over failed Thalidomide case settles
PHILADELPHIA – With the case set to press on after a harsh ruling from the judge hearing it, the law firm Hagens Berman has reached a settlement with a disgruntled former client.
Mass Torts
J&J to face pelvic mesh lawsuit in Philadelphia, under Pa. laws
PHILADELPHIA – Four of 15 claims in a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over its pelvic mesh product will proceed.
Mass Torts
Women's inferior vena cava filter litigation transferred to Philadelphia federal court from Dallas
PHILADELPHIA – A federal court in Philadelphia will now be the venue for a woman’s inferior vena cava filter litigation, after a motion to effectuate such a transfer went unopposed in a similar federal court in Dallas, Texas.
Mass Torts
Bayer pays $1.6 billion to settle U.S. injury claims against Essure birth control device
PHILADELPHIA – Bayer Pharmaceuticals announced Thursday that it agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle almost all litigation in the United States based upon claims that its Essure birth control tool injured women who used it.
Mass Torts
Superior Court affirms win for J&J over Pa. woman's pelvic mesh implant injuries
HARRISBURG – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that testimony from a plaintiff’s physician did not cause a Philadelphia jury to wrongly find in favor of a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, in a pelvic mesh personal injury case decided last year.
Mass Torts
Superior Court vacates jury verdict for defendant in Philadelphia asbestos trial
A lower court’s denial of a post-trial motion in a case over a mesothelioma diagnosis was vacated and remanded for a new trial on March 24.
Mass Torts
Contradicting testimony from corporate rep keeps asbestos lawsuit alive against Fisher Scientific
A company accused of supplying laboratory equipment that included mesothelioma was denied its motion for summary judgment in the Western District of Pennsylvania on March 27.
Mass Torts
Florida judge finds 'pattern of blatant disregard' from Philly-area plaintiffs in Abilify litigation
PENSACOLA, Fla. – All Philadelphia-area plaintiffs attached to a lawsuit against Bristol Myers-Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical in connection with prescription medication Abilify have been dismissed from the suit, after allegedly defying court orders and failing to provide basic information about their claims.
Mass Torts
Business groups hope Pennsylvania Supreme Court breaks from pro-plaintiffs string of decisions
HARRISBURG – In the lead-up to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania hearing arguments on Hammons v. Ethicon, Inc. next week, an amicus brief attached to six organizations representing tort reform and business interests in the state says recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings governing personal jurisdiction are being ignored.
Mass Torts
School District of Philadelphia argues teachers union oversteps its authority in its asbestos lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA – The School District of Philadelphia believes that a lawsuit filed against it by the city’s public school teachers union alleging it mishandled reports of asbestos in its school buildings is an overstep of authority, and should be dismissed with prejudice.
Mass Torts
Philadelphia teacher who threatened asbestos lawsuit against School District gets $850K settlement
PHILADELPHIA – A former local public school teacher whose plight called greater public attention to the issue of asbestos in Philadelphia schools has reached a financial settlement with the district.
Mass Torts
Should Indiana woman be allowed to use Pennsylvania courts to sue New Jersey company? Supreme Court to decide
HARRISBURG – The future of both pelvic mesh lawsuits and the concept of personal jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have the potential to be greatly impacted by arguments and a forthcoming decision in the Hammons v. Ethicon case, set to be argued before the state Supreme Court next week on March 10.