North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer Blog

Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) and PFAS Litigation Update

Published on: June 5, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

A while back I published a blog post discussing the potential health problems associated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Specifically, I discussed how it contained several chemicals (PFAS) that could potentially harm humans.

At the time of that blog post, some major litigation concerning AFFF had just begun. But a few years have now passed and we might have a potential settlement involving many of the litigants. Before I get to the settlement, let me provide some background information to better put things in perspective.

How Is AFFF Potentially Harmful?

Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water Litigation Update

Published on: May 12, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

In a previous blog post, I mentioned how the Camp Lejeune litigation was starting to pick up. Specifically, the court scheduled a status conference to discuss pre-trial matters like protecting evidence and identifying witnesses. Even though we’re still in the early stages of litigation, a few things have happened since then that I’d like to discuss.

An Overview of the Camp Lejeune Lawsuits

The water at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Camp Lejeune) is safe to drink and use. But it wasn’t always this way, especially during the decades before 1987. During that time, the water at Camp Lejeune contained various chemicals which could result in serious health problems.

Important Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water Hearing April 5

Published on: April 3, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

Litigation relating to personal injuries from the Camp Lejeune water contamination is beginning to ramp up. In fact, a status conference hearing has been scheduled for April 5, 2023 in one of the cases. But before we discuss what will happen during that conference, let’s take a quick look at how we got here.

Before the Camp Lejeune Lawsuits

If you’ve been keeping up with the Camp Lejeune water contamination news stories, you’ll recall that President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CLJA) into law in August of last year. The law states that eligible individuals may sue the federal government to recover damages due to exposure to contaminated water from Camp Lejeune.

Johnson & Johnson’s Attempt to Avoid Baby Powder Payouts Fails on Appeal

Published on: February 7, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

To most people, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is a respected company and the maker of popular consumer products. However, J&J has taken quite a hit lately with both its reputation and finances.

Specifically, J&J has been accused of causing cancer in thousands of individuals due to the alleged presence of asbestos in its baby powder products. As a result, tens of thousands of plaintiffs have sued J&J, with notable results amounting to billions of dollars.

Even though J&J has successfully survived or settled many of these cases, it only takes a handful of plaintiff wins to cause serious financial damage to the company. Because of this, J&J employed a sneaky and ambitious plan called Project Plato.

Strattice “Pig Skin” Hernia Mesh: A Product and Litigation Overview

Published on: February 2, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

Hernias are a common health problem for adults. How they’re treated often depends on an individual’s overall health and how the hernia affects their daily life. When medical treatment is needed, surgery making use of a special mesh is the common recommendation. But some of these meshes have caused problems for some patients. One such surgical mesh in particular has been the Strattice Reconstructive Tissue Matrix (Strattice mesh). To understand the issue with the Strattice mesh, let’s first get some background information.

What Is a Hernia and How Is it Treated?

A hernia is a medical condition where there’s a hole or weakness in a wall of tissue, such as fascia or muscle. Because of this hole or weakness, an internal organ or fatty tissue will protrude or push through and into a part of the body where it shouldn’t be. This can cause pain, organ dysfunction (through a loss of blood supply or obstruction in the organ), swelling and/or a visible bulge at the site of the hernia.

Important Ways You Can Jump Start Your Hernia Mesh Case

Published on: January 27, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

Clients approach their defective product cases in different ways. Some call me with an injury caused by a medical device and say, essentially, “figure it out.” I have no problem with a client taking this position. Others keep detailed notes and meticulous records and send me a package of documents that can be several inches thick. I never require a client to do this initial “leg work,” but it can often jump start a case against the device manufacturer. If you are inclined to be more involved in the process, at least early on, I have noted some important tasks below you can accomplish to launch your hernia mesh case.

Let’s start with two assumptions: (1) you had hernia mesh implanted in your body in the past, and (2) you have suffered injury because of the hernia mesh. Where do you go from there?

Identify Your Product

Where to Learn More About CPAP Lawsuits

Published on: January 25, 2023 | By Clay Hodges

For the past year or so, I’ve written extensively about the Philips Respironics (Philips) CPAP, BiPAP and ventilator FDA recalls. Hundreds of CPAP lawsuits have been filed against Philips. The primary problem comes from the foam material Philips uses to reduce the sound and vibration from these machines.

What’s Wrong With the Foam?

These machines use polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) foam that can break down into little bits and enter a user’s airway. The foam can also break down by off-gassing harmful chemicals that the user inhales. These can potentially cause health problems for users, such as:

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination: How It Happened and Its Health Effects

Published on: December 2, 2022 | By Clay Hodges

It’s been a few months since President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CLJA) into law. I’ve written several posts discussing this new law, but none of those posts have gone into detail about how and why the drinking water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune caused so much harm to so many individuals for so long. Camp Lejeune water contamination, sadly, occurred for decades, and it’s important to understand how it happened and how it hurt people. In this blog post, we’ll examine:

How the water got contaminated
What chemicals or toxins contaminated the water

Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water: Filing an Administrative Claim

Published on: October 20, 2022 | By Clay Hodges

In today’s blog post, we’re going to go dig a little deeper into Camp Lejeune claims arising from the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CLJA). I’ve written about this remarkable legislation on several occasions, from when it was just a bill to after it got signed into law by President Biden in August 2022.

If you read those blog posts, you’ll recall that before you can file a lawsuit to recover damages for your exposure to the contaminated water, you have to first file an administrative claim with the appropriate federal agency as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2675. Only if this administrative claim gets denied can you sue the federal government. Read on to learn more about this requirement and what it entails.

Where Do I File This Administrative Claim?

MDL Created for Exactech Hip, Knee and Ankle Implant Litigation

Published on: October 18, 2022 | By Clay Hodges

Exactech Inc. (Exactech) has been having some legal troubles lately involving its hip, knee, and ankle implants. Some patients receiving these implants have suffered complications from the implant they allege are the fault of Exactech. There have been recalls for the affected products, but this hasn’t been enough to fully compensate the affected patients.

As you might expect, many of these patients have sued Exactech. Because there are a lot of cases with similar facts and issues (and they are also in the early stages of litigation), many of these cases have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation, or MDL.

One of the more recent updates in this litigation involves transferring many cases to a single federal district to centralize the legal proceedings. To better explain what this means, let’s first review what an MDL is.

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I was involved in a case for the faulty hip replacements. Clay Hodges represented me. I can't say enough about how much he has helped me. Clay was able to win multiple settlements on my behalf with most of them being the maximum amount able to be awarded. Matt J.

Clay, thank you sir for making a disheartening experience at least palatable, you and your staff were honest, caring and understanding through the entire process of my wife’s hip replacements, while monetary settlements never make the pain and suffering end, it sometimes is the only way people can fight back to right a wrong. J. V.

We are absolutely pleased with how Clay Hodges handled my husband’s hip replacement claim. He always kept us informed of the progress. And, his work resulted in a settlement which we are extremely pleased. Thank you, Clay! Carol L. & Norm L.