Products Liability BlawgYour state-of-the-art resource for products liability law(Untitled)- March 12, 2003 Ephedra Under Fire in California. On Monday, eight Northern California county district attorneys and a city attorney of San Diego filed a civil lawsuit against Cytodyne Technologies Inc. and its corporate officer, Robert Chinery. The suit accuses them of unfair business practices and making misleading statements about the effectiveness of the dietary supplement, Xenadrine, which contains ephedra. The suit seeks to end deceptive advertising and asks for civil...http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/11.html#a45 (Untitled)- March 12, 2003 Pfizer Close to Settling Suit Over Neurontin. Pfizer is close to settling a whistleblower lawsuit brought by Dr. David Franklin, a medical liaison hired by Warner-Lambert, a company that it acquired in 2000. In the suit, Dr. Franklin alleged that the company illegally marketed Neurontin, an epilepsy drug, for uses for which it was not approved. As reported in The New York Times.http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/11.html#a44 (Untitled)- March 12, 2003 Highly Questionable Practices. Joseph F. Rice, a well-known class action lawyer, has agreed to accept a $20 million "fee" from the parent of a company that he is suing on behalf of workers exposed to asbestos. This "fee" will be in addition to the fee that he collects from his clients for settling their claims against the same company. In other words, he is being paid by the plaintiffs, whom he represents, and the defendants, whom he is suing. Hmmm. Mr....http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/11.html#a43 (Untitled)- March 12, 2003 If it Sounds Too Good to be True. . . Rexall Sundown, Inc agreed to repay consumers up to $12 million to settle charges of deceptive advertising by the Federal Trade Commission. The company claimed that its dietary supplement, Cellasene, could erase your cellulite and give you "smoother-feeling legs and a firmer-looking appearance of your skin after just eight weeks." The settlement will become final upon approval by a federal judge in Miami and completion..http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/11.html#a42 (Untitled)- March 11, 2003 The Fat Lady is About to Sing. Closing arguments occurred today in an Illinois class action lawsuit against Phillip Morris brought by smokers who alleged that they were deceived by labelling on "light" cigarettes. The plaintiffs seek $7.1 billion (yes, that's with a "b") in compensatory damages and twice that amount in punitive damages. As reported by Reuters in The Washington Post.http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/10.html#a41 (Untitled)- March 11, 2003 Asbestos Workers Can Recover for Fear of Cancer Only. The United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today that workers exposed to asbestos who have asbestosis can recover damages for the fear of cancer if they can document their fears about their health, even though they may never develop cancer. The six retired railroad workers who brought the lawsuit had obtained a $5.8 million dollar verdict against Norfolk & Western Railway Company in the trial court, which was reduced.http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/10.html#a40 (Untitled)- March 10, 2003 American University Law Professor Hanging Onto Job By a Thread. In December, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals upheld a one year suspension of American University law professor Mark Hager from the practice of law and found that he engaged in "conflicts of interest, dishonesty" and "improper conduct" during his representation in 1997 of two women in a class action products liability lawsuit against Warner-Lambert, the maker of Nix lice shampoo. The...http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/09.html#a39 (Untitled)- March 9, 2003 FDA Proposes Standards for Supplements. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration proposed rules for labelling on dietary supplements. As reported in The Associated Press.http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/09.html#a38 (Untitled)- March 9, 2003 No Big Surprise. A study released Saturday has scientifically proven what we already knew --- that a combination of eating fast food and watching television can cause obesity. As reported by The Associated Press. We may not have seen the end of lawsuits against food manufacturers seeking to hold them liable for allegedly making people obese. Despite suffering a defeat earlier this year when a New York City federal judge dismissed a class action...http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/09.html#a37 (Untitled)- March 8, 2003 Cell Phone Class Action Lawsuits Dismissed. A federal judge dismissed five class action lawsuits against cell phone manufacturers that sought to require them to provide headsets to protect users from radiation emitted by the devices. The federal judge reportedly dismissed the suits on the grounds that they are pre-empted by federal standards regulating cell phones. As reported by The Associated Press in The New York Times.http://radio.weblogs.com/0119806/2003/03/07.html#a36 |