Defective Products Legal News Articles & Interviews

Newark, NJ A proposed class action filed in a New Jersey federal court accuses Dutch manufacturer Royal Philips of knowing for months that its CPAP sleep machines posed a serious health hazard but “unreasonably delayed” the recall. Philips also faces a securities class action lawsuit—and remember the COVID-19 ventilator debacle? That too was Philips.

Columbus, OH It took the jury only hours to come back with a resounding victory for C.R. Bard in first bellwether surgical mesh lawsuit in the Multidistrict Litigation consolidated in the Southern District of Ohio. On September 8, the jury in Johns v. C.R. Bard, et al found in the defendants’ favor on all of Steven Johns' claims against them. No damages were awarded to Johns.

Charleston, SC A Maryland woman in August filed a PFAS lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina claiming she developed breast cancer as a result of drinking water contaminated with firefighting foam chemicals for years.

St Louis, MO Philips CPAP sleep machine recall has caused a rude awakening for thousands of users who rely on the sleep machine to get them through the night – alive. Meanwhile, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will discuss next month the future of sleep machine lawsuits throughout the federal court system.

Santa Clara, CA Philips “regretfully” told its investors of a foam problem with certain sleep and respiratory care products, including DreamStation CPAP Machines, but consumers weren’t told of the serious problem until the recall—issued 49 days after investors knew. Consequently, CPAP sleep machine lawsuits alleging failure to warn are mounting.

Columbus, OH More than 8,000 hernia mesh patients and their attorneys who filed Ethicon physiomesh complaints are likely watching closely C.R. Bard’s first bellwether trial, which is expected to last five weeks and two days.

San Francisco, CAThe Northern District of California has ordered current and future plaintiffs in the Monsanto glyphosate multidistrict litigation (MDL) who have not already reached a settlement with Monsanto to participate in a program that has been overseen by Special Master Ken Feinberg since 2019. The Order has apparently prompted Bayer AG, Monsanto’s corporate parent, to increase the settlement reserve fund by $4.5 billion.

Shreveport, LA  In a toxic tort lawsuit filed in the Western District of Louisiana, Michael Hensgens alleges that low-level exposure to Paraquat over the years he worked as a Paraquat distributor caused his Parkinson’s disease. Hensgens v. Syngenta will likely be consolidated for pretrial motions with the growing body of Paraquat litigation in the Southern District of Illinois.

Augusta, ME Maine is the first state to ban polyfluoroalkyl substances – toxic chemicals that are used in firefighting foam and many other products. PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’, has been linked to water contamination, which has led to many serious health issues and PFAS lawsuits nationwide.

Washington, DC The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently reported that the price tag to clean up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from nearly 700 military bases nationwide will probably exceed -- and cost taxpayers-- $2.1 billion. According to the Department of Defense (DOD) that price is up from $1.1 billion last year.