The Link Between Hip Implants And Brain Injury

While the physical risks of all-metal hip implants have been extensively documented, scientists are only now learning more about the mental risks.

These devices contain high levels of cobalt. While this metal has not been studied as extensively as mercury, lead and some other heavy metals, researchers firmly believe that cobalt is as toxic to the brain as these other substances. The difficulty in studying the effects of all-metal hip implants on the brain has further hampered efforts, as the best way to conduct such research is to surgically remove the devices. However, doctors can use PET scans to look for early signs of brain injury.

Prominent Dr. Robert Bridges called cobalt the “new mercury” and urged device makers to use other materials.

26 May

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Understanding The Dangers Of The Ethicon Physiomesh

Posted by Gary Logsdon Law

in Defective Medical Devices

Why did the Food and Drug Administration approve the Ethicon hernia mesh, a dangerous medical device that is the subject of thousands of lawsuits and has been linked to at least three wrongful deaths?

The agency, which is supposedly a consumer safety watchdog, approved the Ethicon Physiomesh because it was “substantially similar” to the Prolift vaginal mesh, which was an existing product. Both these medical devices serve basically the same function and they are made from the same basic materials. The Ethicon hernia mesh does have a very thin protective coating, which was apparently enough to convince the FDA that the new product was safe. However, one would think that the Prolift’s history would have given the agency pause. So far, Johnson & Johnson has paid over $120 million in Prolift lawsuit settlements.

10 May

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Risperdal Plaintiff Demands New Trial

Posted by Gary Logsdon Law

in Defective Drugs

Dean Hibbs asked a Pennsylvania judge to reinstate his Risperdal lawsuit against drug maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. after a rather bizzare episode led to a mistrial declaration.

As one of the plaintiff’s medical experts was testifying in court, a juror had an emergency medical episode and the doctor stopped his testimony to help the stricken juror. Judge Kenneth Powell ruled that the jurors could not consider the expert’s testimony in an unbiased manner and ordered it stricken from the record. Without this testimony, Janssen’s lawyers argued, Mr. Hibbs failed to meet his burden of proof as a matter of law, and so Judge Powell threw out the case. In his response, Mr. Hibbs argued that he had presented sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to conclude that there was a Risperdal/gynecomastia link, and that in any case, the mistrial was improper because the judge ordered it “without conducting voir dire of the jury to determine whether they were in fact prejudiced.”

07 December

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Dallas Jury Awards $1B In Hip Implant Lawsuit

Posted by Gary Logsdon Law

in Product Liability

Johnson & Johnson must pay $1.041 billion to six California residents who experienced serious side effects from their metal-on-metal (MoM) hip implants; the jurors declared that the devices were defectively designed and that DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, failed to adequately warn consumers.

DePuy originally marketed these devices as safe and long-lasting alternatives to ceramic-on-metal (CoM) and plastic-on-metal (PoM) implants. But the plaintiffs experienced serious complications, including bone loss and tissue death. Since the verdict included only $32 million in compensatory damages, the judge will probably reduce the punitive damages award to meet punitive damages caps in Texas law. However, the message is clear, according to lead plaintiffs’ counsel Mark Lanier. Johnson & Johnson has “a really nasty part of their business they need to clean up,” he commented. DePuy stopped selling Pinnacle MoM implants in 2013, and last year, the pharmaceutical giant paid $2.5 billion to settle 7,000 actions related to the similar ASR implants, which were recalled in 2010.

07 November

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Judge Awards $2.5 Million to Gynecomastia victim that took Risperdal

Posted by Gary Logsdon Law

in Defective Drugs

A Philadelphia court jury awarded $2.5 Million to the family of an autistic boy who developed male breasts after taking the drug Risperdal beginning in 2002. This is a big setback for the large drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson who was reported to failed to warn people that taking Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, might cause gynecomastia better known as male breast development. You can find out more information about Gynecomastia and the Side Effects of Risperdal. This case is the first lawsuit that proves J&J hid the possible side affects of the drug including gynecomastia. Johnson and Johnson settled many cases years ago involving...

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The Link Between Hip Implants And Brain Injury

Understanding The Dangers Of The Ethicon Physiomesh

Risperdal Plaintiff Demands New Trial

Dallas Jury Awards $1B In Hip Implant Lawsuit

Judge Awards $2.5 Million to Gynecomastia victim that took Risperdal