Hundreds of thousands of lawsuits over the allegedly defective earplugs are pending.
On March 25, a federal jury awarded $50 million to a United States Army Veteran who blamed his hearing damage on combat earplugs 3M Company sold to the military.
Luke Vilsmeyer claimed he had suffered permanent hearing loss and severe tinnitus after using the company’s Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2, mostly during training drills, from 2006 to 2017.
The device can break and perforate internal organs
When you purchase birth control, you should be able to trust that it’s safe for use. Unfortunately, that’s not
always the case, as the attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers can confirm.
One form of birth control that has been making headlines in recent months is a copper IUD called Paragard that has been around for decades. In fact, the Paragard website touts that the device is the only IUD on the market that has had U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for more than 30 years.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are among the worst injuries that people can suffer. TBIs can cause permanent impairment and in the most severe cases death. TBIs are especially devastating and tragic when they involve children.
A recent study concluded that TBIs in children and teenagers in the United States are most often linked to common consumer 
products such as floors and furniture, as well as various sports activities.
In fact, the researchers found that about 72% of emergency department visits involving children with TBI’s can be attributed to common household products.
Floors, Beds, Stairs and Other Common Objects Attributed to Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children
According to the study, these are the top ten items, as well as activities, that contribute to nonfatal traumatic brain injuries in children under the age of 19: Continue reading
Bayer will pay more than $10 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits that allege that the company’s popular glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup causes cancer, Bayer announced on June 24.
The German pharmaceutical and chemical company will pay approximately $10 billion to settle existing lawsuits and $1.25 billion to settle any future lawsuits, according to a company press release.
“First and foremost, the Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end,” Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said in the statement.
“The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of health care and food,” he said. “It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”
Bayer said the settlement will resolve approximately 75% of current Roundup litigation involving a total of about 125,000 filed and unfiled claims.
Individuals participating in the settlement must dismiss their cases or agree not to file.
The company didn’t admit liability or wrongdoing in the settlement. Continue reading
Injuries stemming from dangerous and defective e-cigarettes, also known as “vaping pens,” have been mounting nationally. In Massachusetts, meanwhile, the state attorney general is suing a number of e-cigarette manufacturers for allegedly marketing their products to teens under 18, which is against the law in the commonwealth.
In fact, it is teenagers and young adults who are bearing the brunt of these injuries, which include burns, scarring, dental and facial injuries caused when the devices explode. Massachusetts product liability attorneys have opined in previous litigation that the devices are prone to explosion, thanks to unsafe lithium batteries.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to consumers in late 2017, indicating that while occurrences of exploding vapes “appear rare,” they have proven extremely dangerous. While causes are not yet fully clear, the agency noted there is evidence that battery-related issues may lead or contribute to these instances.
And yet, the agency does not tally the number of incidents, nor does it regulate their sales. Continue reading
Courts are increasingly siding with victims when it comes to long-delayed diagnosis of serious or fatal injury resulting from the use of dangerous or defective products.
A lawsuit filed by former NFL football players against helmet maker Riddell has been revived after players took their case to an Appellate Court in the wake of a lower court’s dismissal of the claim as untimely. The players are contending that multiple concussions while wearing the helmets have left them with varying symptoms, including headaches, memory loss, mood swings and blurred vision. The players also allege an increased risk of developing long-term, life-threatening brain injuries, including Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Riddell argued similar allegations made in a lawsuit against the National Football League in 2012 means the players had knowledge of the alleged damages and associated liability for years, and so failed to make a claim in a timely manner. The lower court agreed. However, the iconic helmet maker is facing a slew of other liability lawsuits, which have made it difficult for the company to find a buyer, the New York Post reported.
Meanwhile, Reuters News Service reports a New York Appeals Court has voted to revive a lawsuit against a coke oven manufacturer, which alleges Honeywell’s industrial steel ovens contributed to cancer diagnoses among steel workers.
Such cases are becoming more common as consumers gain better understanding of the fact that focus on profits and a lax regulatory environment have allowed some of the nation’s largest companies to make billions of dollars at the long-term cost of the health and welfare of employees and the public. Recent high-profile examples include lawsuits against Purdue Pharma over the opioid epidemic and lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson, alleging the company has long known its iconic baby powder is tainted with asbestos.
Cancers and many other health conditions are, in fact, caused by environmental factors, including workplace exposure to dangerous or harmful chemicals or the use of dangerous consumer products.
Johnson & Johnson’s stock continues to falter as the company begins defending itself at trial against a lawsuit by the state of Oklahoma, which alleges the company made billions in profits while contributing to the opioid deaths of more than 4,000 state residents over the last decade.
It’s the first trial to pit a state attorney general’s office against an opioid maker in an attempt to recover the billions of dollars spent on healthcare, criminal justice, and emergency medical services. Nearly 50,000 people a year are dying from opioid overdoses in the United States; that’s more people than die from either traffic accidents or gun violence. Attorneys for Oklahoma called it the worst manmade health crisis in the nation’s history.
Purdue Pharma and Teva, two of the nation’s largest supplier of opioids, have already reached multi-million dollar settlements with the state. Johnson & Johnson was the only opioid maker to take the case to trial. Court watchers expect the company to lose badly, before settling the case during the appeals process. Neva settled for $85 million, while Purdue Pharma agreed in March to pay Oklahoma $270 million.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week issued an order to immediately halt the sale and distribution of pelvic mesh product for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse.
Boston Scientific and Coloplast are the only two companies in the U.S. still selling mesh to treat pelvic prolapse. The FDA order immediately prohibits the sale of Boston Scientific’s Uphold Lite and Xenform mesh products, as well as Coloplast’s Restorelle DirectFix.
Our medical device injury attorneys have been watching the issue closely as tens of thousands of women have been seriously injured by mesh implantation. Still, Boston Scientific and Coloplast have continued to market and sell the product 7 years after the FDA issued an emergency order mandating device makers prove their products are safer and more effective than traditional surgical repair.
In a landmark decision the Connecticut Supreme Court this week reinstated a lawsuit filed by Sandy Hook school-shooting victims against Remington, one of the nation’s largest gun manufacturers.
Families of nine victims and one survivor of the Newton, Connecticut school shooting sued Remington Outdoor Co. Inc. and other defendants, including a gun wholesaler and a local retailer, alleging wrongful marketing and unethical advertising under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). In the narrow 4-3 ruling, justices dismissed a case against the defendants based on negligent entrustment.
Some are hailing the decision as a landmark victory against gun violence. Since passage of the The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) (15 U.S.C. §§ 7901 through 7903,) gunmakers have enjoyed near complete immunity for liability over gun violence. With certain specific exceptions, the PLCAA immunizes firearms manufacturers, distributors, and dealers from civil liability for crimes committed by third parties using their weapons.
Our Massachusetts product liability attorneys note this claim illustrates the many ways in which a product liability lawsuit can hold manufacturers accountable. However, this particular lawsuit has a narrow, treacherous pathway to success as Remington will almost certainly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which must decide whether to allow state consumer law to trump federal protections in place to protect gunmakers.
The increasing number of dangerous, defective and deadly products being marketed to the American consumer continues to have a significant impact on our health and welfare.
Property casualty insurance advisors continue to add exclusions even as they push corporations to increase coverage for product liability, noting adequate product liability insurance is not just for manufacturers. Under the law, any entity involved in the supply chain of a defective product, including suppliers, retailers and distributors, can be held liable for injury.
All makers and sellers of products sold to U.S. consumers, whether they be artificial hips or baby cribs, have an obligation under the law to ensure their products are safe when used as intended and are recalled in a timely fashion if they prove dangerous or defective. Common assertions in a Massachusetts product liability claim include dangerous design or poor manufacturing, lack of proper warnings, and breach of expressed or implied warranty.
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