Emerging Issues Archive
Asbestos News Roundup: 1.12.12
January 12th, 2012. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Houston, TX: Union Pacific is facing more asbestos lawsuits filed by several trackmen who worked for the company. The trackmen allege that they developed asbestos-related lung diseases as a result of workplace exposure to asbestos-containing products.
Howard Taylor, Will S. Donald, Harrold Gregory, Dale E. Haynes and Rennie L. Hance filed suit. Details of the complaints state that Taylor was employed by Union Pacific from 1968 until 2002, Donald was employed from 1976 to 2002, Gregory was employed from 1978 until 1984, Haynes was employed by Union Pacific from 1980 until 1990 and Hance was employed by the defendant from 1969 until 1998.
The lawsuits claim Union Pacific is negligent under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act for using asbestos-containing materials for decades after becoming aware of hazardous nature of the materials; for failing to inspect equipment for the presence of asbestos-containing material; and for failing to remove asbestos-containing material from its equipment.
The trackmen also claim that Union Pacific is negligent in that it failed to warn them of the presence of asbestos-containing materia; failed to warn of the synergistic effect between smoking and asbestos exposure; failed to properly train employees; failed to provide proper respirators; failed to conduct air monitoring; failed to provide comprehensive asbestos medical examinations; failed to medically monitor the plaintiffs; and finally, that the company violated its own policies regarding the materials.
The plaintiffs are asking for an award of damages for medical expenses, mental anguish, Read the rest of this entry »
Channeling Picasso for Oscillo Flu Relief Fraud?
January 11th, 2012. By AbiK
Picasso must be rolling in his grave at Château de Vauvenargues. That is, if he’s seen the latest round of homeopathic ‘remedy’, Oscillo, flu symptom relief ads. Yes, the same Oscillo that found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit last August for fraudulent marketing—something about its being “nothing more than a sugar pill.”
Well, those Oscillo (or Oscillococcinum) marketers over at Boiron, which has its US headquarters not far out of Philly, must’ve taken a field trip when the Picasso exhibit was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art—and in a flash of creative genius someone said, “that Picasso right there…it’s the embodiment of the being…completely ensnared by flu…just feel the incoherence begging for clarity!” Ah yes, the germ of an ad campaign, right then and there. Just add water.
That’s the ad at left. You can see it has an illustration of a woman, clearly a bit discombobulated a’la Picasso, that’s meant to show how she’s suffering from flu symptoms. Woe is she, indeed.
But then, she takes homeopathic Oscillo and before you know it, everything is clear, a gentle breeze flows through her hair and she smiles as she takes in the great outdoors around her, lake and all.
There’s this little splotch of text, however, under the “after” picture. It reads,
“Time-accelerated dramatization.”
Hmm.
Are they for real? I hope someone (namely the art and copy team on this) had a good laugh. Sure it’s there as a legal disclaimer, but it’s a cartoon folks. I’m thinking we, as readers of the ad, would first have to believe that some parallel cartoon reality actually existed—like in Mary Poppins when they all hop into the sidewalk drawing—in order to expect cartoon-like results in our normal reality. Tracking with me?
But the American public is not that stupid.
Nor is it foolish when it comes to reading package labels. Here’s what the Oscillococcinum one has on its back (forgive the resolution):
Active Ingredient: Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum 200CK HPUS; Inactive ingredients: sucrose, lactose.
Now, if you whip out your Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, you’ll find that the active ingredient is extract of duck liver and heart. The 200CK means that its gone through a series of 200 dilutions—with each one equating a 1:100 dilution. If you do the math, the level of “active ingredient” would seem to get rather miniscule, leaving almost…nothing. (In fact, the court filing for the Oscillo class action states that, given the dilution, “At this purported ratio, the probability of getting 1 molecule of the active ingredient of Oscillo in a regular dosage is approximately equal to winning the Powerball every week for nearly an entire year.” Someone has a sense of humor!)
For those who missed basic nutrition class, the inactive ingredients, sucrose and lactose are sugars.
Nothing—or almost nothing—and sugar is, well, sugar. Which is the basis for the Oscillo false marketing class action lawsuit.
I suppose Boiron deserves some kudos for creativity—on both fronts, product development and advertising. But that’ll only go so far to “reduce the duration and severity of flu symptoms” including body aches, headache, fever, chills and fatigue. And exactly how far is what the class action will determine now.
Public Citizen Slams Chamber of Commerce re Frivolous Lawsuits
January 9th, 2012. By AbiK
The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform recently issued the results of its “Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of 2011″ poll. According to FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org, the list showcases “the most egregious examples of frivolous and abusive litigation from around the country”.
The list, however, is not compiled for the sake of humor. It’s compiled as part of the US Chamber of Commerce’s agenda to ultimately curtail consumers’ access to the courts—in order to alleviate the impact that ‘frivolous’ lawsuits have on “businesses, families, and everyday Americans through lost time, money and job growth.”
Sounds good, right? Until you take a look at the list—as Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Research Director, Taylor Lincoln did—and realize that it includes a bunch of lawsuits that never went anywhere and probably never stood a chance in hell of being taken seriously in the first place.
And, if you’re going to compile a list of “most egregious” lawsuits, then you really ought to be able to measure just how egregious they are—in terms of time and cost. But oddly, many of these lawsuits, as Lincoln points out, were dismissed or withdrawn. In fact, 80% of the lawsuits on the list were dismissed or withdrawn.
To be clear, many of the lawsuits were approaching the absurd. LawyersandSettlements.com certainly deemed a number of them so when we reported on them (see how we covered some of the lawsuits that made the list: 8 Questions for Quack who filed Chuck E. Cheese Gambling Lawsuit, Steven Miner, Kathryn Miner…Meet Lisa Steinberg, White Castle 290 lb Craver Files Lawsuit to Sit, Movie Madness: Lawsuit Says “Drive” didn’t Drive Enough).
But—and here’s the beef of the Public Citizen article—if you’re going to showcase lawsuits such as these and use them as the basis for your argument to handcuff the consumers’ right to seek justice, you need to come up with something better to base your argument on.
One-off lawsuits that are rapidly dismissed or withdrawn do not quite compare in impact with those of a larger scale that drag on for years (e.g., Bank of America lawsuits alone have probably cost this country more than any of us could fathom—and they continue because, for some reason, a slap on the wrist just doesn’t seem to deter recidivist fraudulent behavior.)
Indeed, as Lincoln then points out, the type of litigation that is clogging—or abusing—the courts and costing both businesses and “everyday Americans” is corporate fraud such as what we’ve seen with major banks and mortgage foreclosure practices.
And it’s time for the US Chamber of Commerce to take a look at that.
Week Adjourned: 1.6.12
January 6th, 2012. By LucyC
Top Class Actions
Pay your staff overtime? Just do it! A former employee of the San Francisco NikeTown Store has filed a wages and overtime class action complaint against Nike alleging that the sporting goods manufacturer failed to compensate him for overtime, meals and rest breaks as well as any additional shifts he worked. The lawsuit has two (2) potential classes: “All employees of Defendants who worked as Sales Associates, or any other non-exempt job position, who were subject to Defendants’ policy of searching Defendants’ employees upon exiting one of Defendants’ store locations in California from December 28, 2007, to the date of filing this Complaint.” This group is hereinafter referred to as the “California Class.” This period of time is hereinafter referred to as the “California Class Period.”
And, “All employees of Defendants who worked as Sales Associates, or any other non-exempt job position, who were subject to Defendants’ policy of searching Defendants’ employees upon exiting one of Defendants’ store locations in the United States of America from December 28, 2008, to the date of filing this Complaint.” This group is hereinafter referred to as the “Nationwide Class.” This period of time is hereinafter referred to as the “Nationwide Class Period.”
The employment lawsuit was filed by Webster Proctor, on behalf of himself and behalf of others similarly situated. According to the complaint, Proctor was employed by Nike from approximately April 2010 until approximately May 2011. During that time he alleges in the lawsuit that he generally worked four (4) 8-hour shifts per week and was deprived of pay for all the hours he worked, meal and rest breaks, and proper overtime pay.
Specifically, the wages and hour class action lawsuit alleges: failure to compensate employees for all hours worked; failure to pay overtime; failure to provide meal and rest periods; failure to furnish accurate wage statements; failure to maintain employee time records; and unfair competition.
Top Settlements
Is it snake oil? An unfair business practices lawsuit against dietary supplement distributors Iovate Health Sciences Inc., and Iovate Health Sciences USA Inc., look certain to be settled as the companies have agreed to pay $1.5 million in civil penalties and costs. This is reportedly the second largest multidistrict attorney dietary supplement settlement of its kind in California.
The lawsuit was brought by the District Attorney’s Office in Santa Cruz, Napa, Alameda, Marin, Monterey,
Hair Restoration Society Issues Statement on Propecia Sexual Dysfunction
December 16th, 2011. By AbiK
We were waiting for this one. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)—yes, there is such an organization—issued a press release earlier this week to state its position on the claims of Propecia sexual dysfunction that have been swirling around.
The ISHRS aims to quell concerns over reported Propecia side effects—namely those regarding sexual dysfunction, loss of sexual interest, and claims of infertility—by stating that there have been “no evidence-based data substantiating the link between finasteride and persistent sexual side effects after discontinued use of the drug in numerous, double blinded, placebo controlled studies conducted evaluating the use of Propecia 1mg for hair loss.”
Additionally, the ISHRS states that anecdotal reports of adverse events (as in erectile dysfunction) “should not define the safety and effectiveness of this drug”. Such a statement is reminiscent of that line about a disease being “rare” until you’re the one affected by it. True, some random report from a guy on Propecia having sexual difficulties is not perhaps indicative of a large-scale problem or cause for alarm. Unfortunately, though, the anecdotal reports are more than just a few one-off’s, and they are a cause of concern for the men who report them.
Propecia Erectile Dysfunction AERS Reports
According to drugcite.com–a website that aggregates data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), there have been 363 adverse events reported to the FDA for Finasteride (Propecia and Proscar). Of note, the most common reported Finasteride adverse event is erectile dysfunction.
The numbers seem low at first glance, but hair loss and sexual dysfunction don’t tend to be topics that anyone really wants to “come out” about and certainly not call attention to. And that raises the question of underreporting—could it be that due to the nature of the side effects not too many men really want to come forward and first, admit there is a problem to themselves, and then take it a step further and officially report it?
Given the upward trend of AERS reports from 2009 to 2011, one can only surmise that as more information regarding Propecia sexual side effects has hit the mainstream media—for example, the recent story in Men’s Health magazine—perhaps the stigma of talking about it has been reduced a bit (“see honey, it’s not me—it’s that hair loss drug I’ve been on…“).
Propecia, Sexual Dysfunction and the Middle-Aged Man?
Of note, the ISHRS release mentions that sexual dysfunction can be hard (no pun there) to assess—after all, there are numerous factors that can contribute to such problems: “nicotine, alcohol, prescription medications, stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression”. And, according the the release which quotes a 2006 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, incidence of erectile dysfunction in middle-aged or older men in the general population can be as high as 49%.
That make sense—except when you look at the anecdotal reports from Propecia users (some of which are on LawyersandSettlements.com) and see that the victims can be rather young—in their 20′s and 30′s, some even as young as 19. So not quite in that “middle-aged or older” group.
According to AmericanHairLoss.org, “Approximately twenty five percent of men who suffer with male pattern baldness begin the painful process before they reach the age of twenty-one.” The ISHRS itself states on its site that “Hair loss in men is likely to occur primarily between late teen-age years and age 40-50″—if so, it would appear that the statistic of E.D. occurring in potentially 49% of middle-aged or older men is somewhat irrelevant.
Anecdotal Propecia AERS Reports Lead to Task Force
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the ISHRS press release is the announcement that the organization has formed a task force to review the anecdotal reports of sexual dysfunction among certain Propecia users. While it’s certainly the responsible thing to do, it also somehow validates that there is growing concern over the drug’s potential for harmful side effects.
According to the release, the ISHRS has also reached out to “dermatologists, hair loss physicians, urologists, endocrinologists and sexual medicine specialists” to be a part of the task force and share their data and experiences with finasteride in a “fact-based manner”.
Undoubtedly there will be more to come—Propecia lawsuits included.
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