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Several blood-pressure medications containing Valsartan are being recalled. The recent announcements are the latest in a rash of dangerous and defective drugs and medical products to be recalled in 2018.

Pharmacy Times reports Teva Pharmaceuticals has issued a voluntary recall in the United States of all lots of amlodipine/valsartan tablets and
amlodipine valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide combination tablets. The action comes after similar recalls have been announced by other manufacturers, after an active ingredient was found to be tainted with a known carcinogen.

Impurities found in Mylan’s valsartan API is known as N-nitroso-diethylamine (NDEA), which has been classified as a probable human carcinogen. Miami Herald reports Mylan recalled 15 lots of the blood pressure and heart attack medication, which is used as the active ingredient in a variety of medications sold be various manufacturers.

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Lawyers for Civil Justice reported this month that nearly half of all cases pending before federal district court judges involve Multidistrict Litigation (MDLs) — more than 124,000 cases at the end of 2017.

About 90 percent of MDL cases involve product liability claims, which means, according to the study, that consolidated product liability cases – such as those alleging defects in drugs or medical devices – account for about 42 percent of the civil caseload before federal district judges.  The 18 largest MDLs contain 107,000 individual cases pending before just 15 federal judges, according to the report.

Multi-district litigation is a special federal legal procedure in the U.S. federal court system, which is designed to speed up the litigation process by combining many similar cases. The MDL statute is 28 U.S.C. § 1407 in the United States Code. Section 1407. Most MDLs involve a few dozen to a few hundred cases. The notable exception is MDL No. 875, based in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which is the largest and longest-lasting MDL. It was created in 1991 by the JPML to manage all asbestos personal injury and wrongful death cases in the federal courts. As of 2011, over 121,000 cases had been transferred into MDL No. 875, and over 108,000 cases had been settled, dismissed, or remanded, leaving about 13,000 pending.

This month’s $289 million jury award in a product- liability lawsuit against Monsanto is a historic and important victory for consumers that will likely have a watershed impact on billions of similar claims pending across the nation.

In this case, plaintiff was awarded $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages after developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As CBS News reported, a California jury found the former school groundskeeper’s repeated use of Monsanto’s popular RoundUp product, a glyphosate-based weedkiller, was a substantial factor in causing plaintiff’s rare cancer.

It was the first of thousands of similar lawsuits Monsanto faces across the country. Plaintiff took a job as pest control manager for a Bay-area school district in 2012, where he sprayed the weedkiller 20 to 30 times per year. Jurors deliberated for three days following the eight-week trial.

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Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals has been in the news recently, as the company’s subsidiaries have resolved pending claims against them… and not in the company’s favor. One subsidiary, Ethicon, may pay as much as $4 billion in damages to settle lawsuits from defective hip implants. Another, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, has had two multi-million jury verdicts against the company based on Topamax birth defects, and will be required to provide compensation of around $11 million to one family and just over $4 million to another.

For those who were taking Topamax during pregnancy and whose child was born with a birth injury such as a cleft palate, a heart or lung defect, a penile defect called hypospadias, malformed limbs or spina bifida, it is important to have claims evaluated to determine if you too have a legal right to damages. Our personal injury lawyers in Massachusetts can conduct case evaluations for families who may be affected by Topamax.
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Hip replacement is known to be a risky surgery, which can cause serious complications for patients, including fatality. The hip replacement process is one of the most invasive surgeries and is often performed on the elderly who have weaker structures and immune systems. Despite the high risk of surgery, many patients will continue to pursue the treatment, either to improve their quality of life, or out of necessity. Fortunately, for those pursuing hip replacement, new studies show that the number of deaths has been cut in half due to improvements in surgical procedures.

Despite improvements in the surgical process, many victims will continue to suffer because of defective hip implants. Our Massachusetts defective hip implant attorneys are dedicated to helping victims and their families protect their rights. We aggressively pursue legal action against medical device companies that have been responsible for the injuries caused by defective hip implants. Our legal team is also committed to staying abreast of the mired of issues related to hip replacement surgery.
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