Consumer Protection › Products Liability › Civil Remedies

Wisconsin Lawmakers Propose Changes To Wisconsin’s Lemon Law

In Wisconsin, consumers who purchase a defective new vehicle are protected by the state’s Lemon Law. Now, state lawmakers are seeking to change the law, by reducing damage awards and giving manufacturers more time to resolve...more

Road to class certification gets bumpier

The road to class certification for an antitrust plaintiff just got bumpier. Over the past several years, the US Supreme Court has persistently chipped away at the path's once-smooth surface. The latest hazard for...more

Product Liability Annual Review -- 2012

In This Issue: Letter from Chair; Key Practice Highlights; Aviation; Consumer Products and Toxic Torts; Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Devices; Awards + Rankings; Publications; Key Contacts. Excerpt from...more

FDA Exhibits Increased Authority under Food Safety and Modernization Act

In early September of 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA“) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC“) announced an investigation into a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney infections linked...more

Toyota Agrees to Pay $1.1 Billion for Recall Case

In recent years, people all over the world watched nervously as the issue that related to defective Toyota vehicles hit the news. Congressional hearings were held in the United States and the auto manufacturer faced scrutiny...more

Trial Lawyers Fight Anti-Consumer Lobbies on Tort Reform

The American Association of Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) has launched a new campaign to educate consumers about their rights to bring civil suits to redress wrongs including medical...more

7th Circuit Provides Much Needed Clarification of Class Action “Predominance” Requirement: Butler v. Sears

This week's article covers the landmark 7th Circuit decision Butler v. Sears that provided much needed clarification of the "predominance" requirement in class action cases....more

Generic Drug Law Update -- November 2012: Expanding Liability for Ineffective Product Recalls

FDA-regulated companies may face civil liability if they fail to provide adequate notice of product recalls to their customers via information gathered in company customer databases. A group of California plaintiffs sued a...more

Federal Court Ruling Validates Industry Concerns with CPSC Database

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (“CPSC”) product safety database suffered its first successful legal challenge in a recent ruling by a Maryland federal judge. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr.’s opinion in...more

An Individualized Motor Vehicle Recall Information Database? Will OEMs and Suppliers Get the Bill?

An Overview of Proposed Amendments to Defect Notification and Early Warning Reporting Regulations Tucked away in the recently enacted 584 page "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" is a small provision...more

Propecia Sexual Side Effects Make National Headlines

This week, ABC News picked up on an issue that has been simmering just below the surface for months and causing thousands of otherwise healthy men unnecessary pain and suffering. The story was written in response to a new...more

Gianvi Lawsuits Still Available for Women Injured by Birth Control Side Effects

In April 2010, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gianvi - a generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster birth control pill Yaz - to be sold in the United States by Teva Pharmaceuticals and Barr Laboratories....more

Do I Qualify to Participate in a Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit?

Recently, the public has become aware of serious health complications suffered by women after undergoing surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with transvaginal mesh devices. According...more

Women Sue Bayer Over Yaz Birth Control Side Effects

Dangerous side effects linked to the controversial birth control pill Yaz have prompted thousands of women around the country to file lawsuits against Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the drug. Those filing the...more

Bayer to Pay At Least $142 Million to Settle First Yasmin Blood Clot Lawsuits

Bayer AG has reported that settlements of U.S. lawsuits claiming its Yasmin line of birth control pills caused blood clots have increased to approximately $142 million. The Leverkusen, Germany-based pharmaceutical giant has...more

Lawsuits for Beyaz Birth Control Side Effects

Manufactured and marketed by Bayer HealthCare, Beyaz is a widely-prescribed combination oral contraceptive similar to Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella. As its primary active ingredients, Beyaz contains drospirenone, ethinyl estradiol...more

Pradaxa Bleeding Side Effect Lawsuits on the Rise

June 27, 2012 - In less than two years on the market, Boehringer Ingelheim’s controversial anticoagulant drug Pradaxa (generic: dabigatran) has been the subject of numerous reports of injuries including severe bleeding...more

Chinese Drywall Suit Settles for $80 Million

Plaintiffs in New Orleans have settled a lawsuit for $80 million against builders, suppliers and manufacturers who sold and installed defective drywall in houses across the south, ruining metal fixtures and causing health...more

DRI Product Liability Conference Underway

This week I am attending the DRI Product Liability seminar. Yesterday's highlights included a keynote address by Hon. Anne Northup, Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Her remarks covered "The Past,...more

Limitation of Liability in a Supply Contract

In order to ensure that the terms and conditions set forth in the Supply Agreement can be enforceable, the clauses related with exclusion of limitation of liabilities needs to be observed and revised in accordance with UCTA....more

Company "Doe" Files Suit Challenging the CPSC Database

Multiple reports indicate that an unnamed company filed a suit last week, under seal, to challenge aspects of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's new public database. Readers may recall that the Consumer Product...more

Felecita Del Carmen Canas, et al v. Centerpoint Energy

Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Law on the Filed Tariff Doctrine and how it Does not Protect a Gas Utility from Tort Liability

Felecita Del Carmen Canas was burned alive in a gas explosion. She left three orphans. Millions and millions of underground pipelines transport gas from public utility companies to our homes, schools and businesses. Most of...more

On level terms: unfair terms and drafting consumer contracts

UK contract law has been re-written to benfit consumers - so what strategies should you adopt in writing terms and conditions for consumer constracts?...more

New Recalls Affecting Children

One of the many things personal injury attorneys do is fight to protect the helpless, defenseless members of our society, including children. When large manufacturers ignore their duty to exercise reasonable care in the...more

Common colonoscopy prep may cause kidney failure or death in elders

We've all gone through the unpleasant task of preparing for a colonoscopy. Drinking unpleasant liquid or popping pills for the purpose of giving the doctor a better view of our colon's contents is … anything but pleasant....more