Public Citizen has challenged an attempt by Guidant Corporation to keep secret certain papers filed in litigation in Minnesota. The Public Citizen press release says that "two subsidiaries of Guidant that produce and sell controversial cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices sued the health care consulting company Aspen Health Care Metrics…
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled (applying Minnesota law) that a product manufacturer who is following specs supplied by its customer can be liable for defective design in the evidence shows that the manufacturer particpated in the design of the product. Of course, the general rule is that…
Ford Motor Company has recalled 6,700,000 vehicles that have faulty cruise control systems that can cause the vehicle to catch fire. Ford now agrees that "brake fluid might leak from the switch that deactivated the cruise control once the driver stepped on the brake. That fluid can drip onto the…
The jury in the first Vioxx trial in California has ruled in favor of Merck. Read more here.
The first of several thousand Vioxx cases in California is nearly complete. I will let you know when the verdict comes in.
Insurance Journal reports that a lawsuit has been filed against Bacardi, the manufacturer of 151 rum. The article says that "a bartender, who was not identified in the lawsuit, was pouring shots when a customer lit a menu on fire and placed it in the stream of alcohol. A bottle of Bacardi…
A jury in Texas has returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the first Duragesic pain patch case to go to trial. Plaintiffs alleged that Michaelynn Thompson "died because the Duragesic patch released too much fentanyl, a strong pain reliever, into her body." This article reports that there are 100…
Breaking news: Merck won the most recent Vioxx case in New Jersey. The jury decided Merck failred to warn of the risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx, but that failure did not cause the plaintiff’s death. The jury found no fraud or misrepresentation by Merck. Commentary to follow, as John is on the road to…
Ok, so you spend millions of dollars on Congressional elections trying to avoid responsibility for making a product that a jury may determine is defective or unreasonably dangerous and you can’t get enough votes to make it happen. What’s a Pharma to do? Go through the back door, via regulation,…
The Eastern Section of the Tennnessee Court of Appeals has affirmed a jury verdict for the plaintiff in a case involving the design of a seat back in a Ford Escort. The case is Potter v. Ford Motor Co., No. E2005-01578-COA-R3-CV; it was decided on June 21, 2006. The opinion…