I don’t drink the Kool-Aid. I distrust simple answers, group-think, zealotry. I can’t stand when people make sweeping generalizations about the absolute evil of one side and the unconditional good of the other side. I don’t usually spend much time with plaintiffs’ attorneys who think every corporate decision is an…
North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer Blog
IVC Filter: The Problems It Solved and the Problems It Caused
I have to say, this one looks a little terrifying. Check out the photo to the right. This is an IVC filter. As with most things, when you first learn what the object is and what it is intended to be used for, you should think “Brilliant! What took so…
What Costs Must Be Paid From My Product Liability Settlement?
I just spent a few days in Charleston, South Carolina. As always, I was mystified at all the different ways the hotel charged me for one room. There was of course the room charge (I was expecting that) but there were also daily parking fees, and taxes, taxes, taxes: state…
Jury Awards Astonishing $502 Million to Five Depuy Pinnacle Hip Victims
The ground moved on March 17, 2016. In a Dallas Texas courtroom a federal jury ordered Depuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson to pay five unfairly injured people $502 million dollars, including a stunning $360 million in punitive damages. The jury based this award on findings that Depuy hid critical…
Paying Your Bills While Your Product Liability Case Is Litigated
I get it. When you get injured, you almost immediately begin to worry about money. It is completely rational. If my client is a car salesperson and has severe pain after standing for more than an hour, he may worry that his failed artificial hip surgery could cause him to…
Paying Medical Bills As Part of Your Product Liability Case
“How am I supposed to pay all these medical bills?” This is usually one of the first questions I get from people injured by a failed medical device. Typically a failed device like a hip or knee causes all kinds of health problems for a person. Often a revision surgery…
Employment Issues When an Artificial Hip Fails: My Guest Post
I was asked by an employment lawyer in Arlington, Virginia to write a guest article on employment issues that often arise when a client’s artificial hip fails. My post was published today. You can check it out here: Two Key Protections When You Lose Your Job or Wages Following Artificial…
Depuy ASR Artificial Hip “Part B” Settlement for Future Injuries
Over the past several weeks we have reviewed the Depuy ASR Settlement Agreement, and recently the Part B extraordinary injury money awards that are available to qualified injured people. You can read about the Part B “Extraordinary Injury Fund” (“EIF”) here, and about Part B “Miscellaneous Injuries” here. In this…
Depuy ASR Hip: “Part B” Payments for Lost Earnings, Young Age, Etc.
In previous articles we looked at the Depuy ASR Settlement Agreement compensation framework. We examined the Part A base award here, and looked at the Part B “Extraordinary Injury Fund” (“EIF”) here. Just to recap, if you received a Depuy ASR hip in a hip replacement surgery, and it later…
Transvaginal Mesh Case Yields $13,500,000.00 Jury Verdict
Carlino et al. v. Ethicon, Inc., et al. (Pa. Comm. Pls. Ct., Philadelphia County) Product: Gynemesh TVT Jury Award: $13,500,000.00 ($3,250,000.00 in compensatory damages; $250,000.00 to husband for loss of consortium; $10,000,000.00 in punitive damages) Date of Jury Verdict: February 10, 2016 This case was brought by Sharon Carlino and…