Boston product liability attorney

October 14, 2017

Study: DePuy Attune Knee System Has “Unusually High” Early Failure Rate

A recent study conducted by nine prominent orthopaedic surgeons and published in The Journal of Knee Surgery revealed the Attune Total Knee Arthroplasty System had an unusually high rate of failure, prompting calls for further research. The study came on the heels of the first (of what may be many) product liability lawsuits filed against Attune manufacturer DePuy Synthe, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The company promises the knee replacement devices, approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s 510(k) fast-track process in 2010, will improve range of motion and give patients a stable knee replacement for years to come. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports successful knee replacements can last up to 20 years or more. Over the last several months, however, the firm has filed several dozen reports with the FDA that document early failures resulting in destabilization of the knee replacement and painful revision surgeries.

The recent study analyzed the high failure rate, and attributed much of it to the “debonding of the tibial implant-cement interface.” In layman’s terms, surgeons found that the adhesive being used to bond the implant and keep it in place is inadequate. This results in a loosening of one of its components, destabilizing the entire knee.

March 4, 2017

Product Recall After Metal Fragments Found in Smokeless Tobacco

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Some products are dangerous even when manufactured correctly. For example, when a mining company buys a stick of dynamite and a blasting cap, there is no question that this product is capable of exploding and causing serious damage or loss of life, even when used correctly. If the product wasn’t capable of exploding, it would not be of any value to the mining company, so they wouldn’t buy it.

The same could be said about a chainsaw. While it won’t explode if manufactured correctly, it is definitely dangerous and capable of inflicting serious injury or death. If it wasn’t, it would not be able to make quick work of a log or tree as it was designed to do. In other words, some products are inherently dangerous, and as long as it was not unreasonably dangerous, defectively designed, or the company did not adequately warn consumers of the proper way to the use the item safely, the company may not be liable for any personal injuries. Continue reading

January 31, 2017

Taking Another Look at Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) Risks

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A recent article from INSC Magazine analyzes testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs and what has happened with them over the last couple of decades. This is important because most of the information men get about the testosterone replacement hormone products comes commercials and magazine advertisements. Much of this promotional material seriously downplays the very real risks associated with taking testosterone hormone in an attempt to reverse the normal signs of male aging.

As the article notes, very much is still misunderstood about what it means to have a low testosterone level and whether men who have these lower than average testosterone levels should be taking testosterone replacement therapy products. The reason we are using the term products here is because that is what they really are. The drug companies have manufactured testosterone replacement therapy drugs in many forms, such as pills, injections, sublingual films, stick deodorant, skin creams, hand gels and many more market-driven drug delivery devices. Continue reading

July 10, 2016

$70M Verdict for Male Risperdal Patient Who Grew Breasts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $70 million to a male teen whose use of antipsychotic drug Risperdal caused him to grow breasts.

The verdict was handed down in a state court in Pennsylvania, after jurors concluded the drug-making giant failed to disclose that its product could cause gynecomastia, the unnatural growth of large mammary glands in males. Not only that, jurors concluded, but the company actively and with intent destroyed, falsified or hid records that pointed to this fact.

This $70 million damage award interestingly only includes compensatory damages, as opposed to punitive damages. It also is significantly more than the $2.5 million awarded to an Alabama teen in 2015 who developed size 46 DD breasts. Continue reading