Personal Injury Legal News Articles & Interviews

Philadelphia, PA: The FDA has finally ordered the last two medical device companies selling transvaginal mesh products to pull them from the market. The agency said it is “committed to patient safety” but hundreds of thousands of women –victims of surgical mesh--would disagree. And the lawsuits are still pouring in.

Oakland, CA The jury in Pilliod v. Monsanto Co, the third Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit to go to trial, awarded Alva and Alberta Pilliod $55 Million in compensatory damages and a staggering $1 billion each (that’s $2 billion) in punitive damages for their Roundup-linked cancers. This is reportedly the largest award personal injury award this year and the eighth largest in US history. Although the punitive portion of the award will likely to be reduced under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the trend in jury sentiment is clear.

Oakland, CA Pilliod v. Monsanto Co., the latest a Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit to go to trial, has focused squarely on the quality of the scientific evidence. Relying on expert testimony, counsel for Alberta and Alva Pilliod has accused Monsanto of outright fraud in securing regulatory approval for Roundup. Counsel for Monsanto has tried to undermine expert Charles Benbrook’s testimony by questioning his credentials.

Philadelphia, PA: Back in the late 1980s merchant mariners began filing asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits against ship owner and manufacturing defendants in the Northern District of Ohio. Most of the claims languished in the court system – until April 9, 2019 when a U.S. District Court Appeals for the Third Circuit reinstated two lawsuits filed by the estates of two merchant marines.

San Francisco, CA On March 27, a jury in Hardeman v. Monsanto Co., a Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit awarded Edwin Hardeman more than $80 million. A third trial, Pilliod v. Monsanto Co. is well under way. Allegations have flown about untoward jury influence, and U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria has begun to push the parties’ attorneys toward settlement. Things are now moving very fast in the world of Monsanto glyphosate lawsuits.

Industry, CA: Simon Chu and Charley Loh, part-owners and former executives of Chinese appliance manufacturer Gree Electric Appliances and a company that imported, distributed, and sold China-manufactured dehumidifiers to retailers, allegedly knew the dehumidifiers caught fire but failed to report and recall (too expensive) the defects for at least six months. According to the indictment, the two men “deliberately” withheld information about the defective dehumidifiers.

San Antonio, TX On March 8, 2019, Joe William Contreras, along with 17 other service members filed a 3M Combat Arms defective earplug lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. According to the Complaint, Contreras and the other plaintiffs suffer from hearing loss because 3M Company and its predecessor sold millions of dollars’ worth of Combat Arms earplugs to the military without disclosing design flaws that rendered the product useless.

San Francisco, CA On March 19, the jury in Hardeman v. Monsanto Co. unanimously found that RoundUp was a substantial factor in causing Edward Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This first phase of Hardeman’s Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit focused solely on scientific facts relevant to causation. The second phase will determine corporate liability, based on alleged corporate misconduct by company representatives. Monsanto and its corporate parent, Bayer AG of Germany face more than 11,000 Monsanto glyphosate lawsuits over alleged RoundUp cancer.

Oakland, CA On March 13, a jury in California Superior Court awarded Terry Leavitt and her husband $29.4 million in the first Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder lawsuit to go to trial in 2019. Ms. Leavitt linked her mesothelioma diagnosis to her use of asbestos-contaminated J&J baby powder and Shower-to-Shower talcum powder. The verdict includes $22 million for pain and suffering, $5 million in compensatory damages, nearly $1.3 million for her medical costs and $1.2 million for lost wages.

Charleston, WV As the nation’s largest mass tort product liability lawsuit winds to a close, those who have suffered from surgical mesh complications and their attorneys are pausing to take stock. Not everyone is happy.