The Recall Lawyers

Two attorneys at Jones Ward PLC have filed a class action lawsuit against Detroit automaker General Motors Company over a design defect in its 2011 model year and newer Chevrolet Cruze.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Louisville today, describes how the Cruze has a serious mechanical defect that causes antifreeze to leak from the radiator. The defect can lead to mechanical troubles and/or can cause a malodorous smell in the passenger compartment. General Motors concealed and has been unwilling or unable to fix this defect plaguing all model year 2011 or newer Chevrolet Cruzes.

Attorneys Jasper D. Ward and David G. Bryant, along with their co-counsel, filed the class action on behalf of Louisville resident John Mitchell and thousands of other similarly situated Cruze owners. Here are some of the claims from the complaint:

1. That General Motors violated various consumer protection statutes by withholding knowledge of the Antifreeze Leakage Defect and misrepresenting the safety and reliability of the Chevrolet Cruze with the intent that buyers would rely on such representations in deciding whether to purchase or lease a Chevrolet Cruze.

2. That General Motors violated various express and implied warranties.

3. That General Motors violated the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by selling automobiles that are not fit for their ordinary purpose and then failing to repair the defect.

4. That General Motors intentionally concealed the Antifreeze Leakage Defect and denied buyers information that would have been highly relevant to their purchasing decision.

The defect has led to a substantial decrease in resale value and has forced Cruze owners to expend time and money pursuing repairs. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages on behalf of the class of Cruze owners and demands that General Motors issue a recall of all Chevrolet Cruzes subject to this lawsuit to fix the defect.

If you own a 2011 model year or newer Chevrolet Cruze and want to learn more about the class action lawsuit, contact David Bryant or Jasper Ward at 502-882-6000 or send an e-mail to david@jonesward.com.

The financial fallout of the Stryker Rejuvenate hip implant recall is deepening, with the defective device costing its manufacturer another $40 million in the last three months.

Stryker Corp., based in Michigan, has now incurred a total of $230 million in charges related to the Rejuvenate and ABGII hip devices. Both were recalled in June 2012 due to unreasonably high failure rates, which have forced hundreds of patients to undergo costly and painful revision surgeries due to metallosis and other problems.

Despite the horrific problems with the Rejuvenate, the folks at Stryker are still making plenty of money. In the first three months of 2013, Stryker reported a healthy adjusted net profit of $394 million, or more than $4 million a day.

You can read more details about the financial impact of the Stryker recall by clicking here.

For hip implant manufacturers, recalling a defective metal-on-metal hip device is just a cost of doing business. Rarely does a recall create a true financial pinch. For example, Johnson & Johnson, whose DePuy subsidiary faces more than 10,000 lawsuits over the defective ASR hip implant, has taken more than $1 billion in recall-related charges so far. But the stock price of J&J continues to climb, recently reaching a new high of $85 a share. When the company's market cap is $233 billion, it doesn't hurt too much to spend one of those billions fighting a recall.

Meanwhile, patients with defective hip implants such as the ASR, the DePuy Pinnacle, the Stryker Rejuvenate, the Biomet M2A Magnum, and the Zimmer Durom continue to suffer. The lawyers at Jones Ward PLC represent people all over the country who have been injured by these metal hip implants. The makers of these devices must be held accountable. If you or a loved one have been injured by these products, call Attorney Alex Davis or send an email to alex@jonesward.com for a free case evaluation.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, charged with overseeing the safety of consumer products, approved a notice of proposed rulemaking last week to create a federal safety standard for strollers. The new regulation aims to prevent further death and injuries to young children.

The approved safety standard implements the Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Carriages and Strollers. The commission voted 3-0 to approve the publication of the new standard. If ultimately approved, the modification requires adding language in the standard to address scissoring, shearing, and pinching hazards associated with folding or foldable strollers.

CPSC believes the new language and the standard will help reduce risks associated with the majority of hazards identified by reviewing stroller incidents. The CPSC reviewed more than 1,200 incidents, including four deaths and nearly 360 injuries occurring from 2008 through 2012.

The hazard patterns identified for stroller-related incidents include:
• wheel breakage and detachment;
• parking brake and lock mechanism failures;
• hinge issues;
• structural integrity issues;
• entrapment;
• car seat attachment;
• canopy issues; and
• handlebar failures.

CPSC staff recommends that the mandatory standard for strollers become effective 18 months following publication of the final rule in the Federal Register.

The legal team at Jones Ward handles products liability lawsuits involving a variety of injuries. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

A Medronic Inc. deep brain stimulator device used to treat Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions is the subject of a recent Class I recall by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The stimulators use electrical pulses to treat neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, tremors, obsessive-compulsive disorder and dystonia.

A Class I recall is the highest level warning that the agency can enforce. The recall means that the agency believes Medtronic's deep brain stimulator device has a possible life-threatening defect. A Class I recall means that the agency has declared that the stimulator defect could cause serious health consequences or death.

According to Medtronic, the largest medical device maker in the world, the wires on the ends of the stimulators may be damages by a cap that protects the electronics at insertions. The wires can be harmed when the connections inside the cap are twisted during surgery or when the cap is removed. If the wires (or leads) are damaged, they may have to be replaced in order to be effective for treatment.

According to news reports, Metronic alerted physicians to the defect in February and has changed its manufacturing process to try to remedy the defect. The FDA is currently reviewing the manufacturing change.

The dangerous device lawyers at Jones Ward are dedicated to brining you up-to-date news about recalls and defective medical devices. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

On April 26 a Los Angeles jury awarded a plaintiff $6.5 million in a case arising from the use of Actos, a diabetes drug. The plaintiff claimed that the bladder cancer and death of her husband was due to ingesting Actos. The jury found that the Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical did not provide adequate bladder-cancer warnings to Cooper and his doctors.

Actos (pioglitazone), a prescription drug sold by Takeda, is used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It works to balance blood sugar by increasing cells' receptiveness to insulin. A similar drug is called ActoplusMet which combines metformin. Actos was responsible for $3.4 billion in sales for Takeda in 2009.

If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with bladder cancer and would like a free consultation on your potential legal rights regarding Actos please contact attorney David Bryant at (502) 882-6000 or david@jonesward.com.

The Consumer Product Safey Commission, which oversees the safety of many products, has issued two recent recalls of household items. Target is recalling nearly 150,000 of its Giada De Laurentiis-branded ceramic lasagna pans (shown right). The cream-colored pans are 9x13 inches and were sold individually and as part of a six-piece set. The bottom of the pan is stamped "Giada de Laurentiis for Target."

According to the CPSC, the pans or its handles may crack and break during normal use. Target has received at least 39 reports of cracked or broken pans that may pose a laceration hazard to consumers. Of the 39 reports, 6 reported cuts or lacerations due to the problem.

Target is asking consumers to stop using these products and return them to the store for a full refund. The pans were sold between January 2009 to October 2012 exclusively at target.

The CPSC also announced a recall of about 900 of West Elm's floor lamps (shown left). According to the agency, a failure of the lamp's joint locking mechanisms can cause the lamp to collapse and the electrical cord to spark, posing injury and shock hazards to consumers. The recall concerns the industrial Overarching model floor lamps with an iron base and arm in an antique bronze finish, one light socket and a round natural linen shade. They are approximately 78 inches tall and have a swiveling triple-jointed adjustable arm and an ON/OFF foot switch at the base.

West Elm has received 24 reports of the floor lamps failing. Although no injuries have yet been reported, 10 of the reports were for the lamps collapsing and three were for sparking cords.

West Elm is asking consumer to immediately stop using the lamps, to unplug them and return them to the store for a full refund. The lamps were sold nationwide at West Elm from December 2012 to February 2013.

The recall attorneys at Jones Ward PLC are committed to providing you with up to date recall news. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

The lawyers at Jones Ward PLC fight for the rights of people who are injured by all types of product problems, including defective automobile parts and vehicle recalls. The consequences of some of these defective car parts can be deadly for consumers. But there's another safety problem out there that is probably even deadlier: texting while driving.

The hazards of distracted driving are reaching epidemic proportions on America's roadways. Nearly one in five people who die in motor vehicle accidents are the victims of some form of distracted driving.

You can learn more about the perils of texting and drivers at this excellent Web site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Here are some numbers from the site to keep in mind:

• In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010.
• An additional 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 416,000 injured in 2010.
• In the month of June 2011, more than 196 billion text messages were sent or received in the US, up nearly 50% from June 2009.
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.

As a lawyer who represents people who are injured due to the negligence of distracted drivers, I know first-hand the terrible impact that texting can have on drivers and their families. If you or a loved one are injured due to the negligence of a distracted driver, contact me -- Alex Davis -- for a free case evaluation, or send an email to alex@jonesward.com.

Complaints have skyrocketed after owners of Chevy Cruze sedans began noticing a peculiar smell in the occupants' cabin and film on the windows anytime they ran the heat in their cars. The Cruze, GM's top selling car in 2011, suffers from a defect that allows antifreeze to leak. Anytime the heat in the cars is engaged, the antifreeze fumes blow into the cabin, producing a foul smell and film on the windows. Efforts by drivers to get GM to fix the problem have thus far failed.

GM is certainly aware of the leaking antifreeze, yet has not recalled the cars and has not found a way to correct the defect. Despite these vehicles being nearly brand-new, some Chevrolet dealers have offered a minimal credit to Cruze owners towards the purchase of another new Chevrolet vehicle. Chevy's parent company, General Motors, recognizes the obvious loss of value suffered by Cruze owners due to this defective condition.

The lawyers at Jones Ward PLC are actively investigating class action claims against General Motors related to the antifreeze leaks in the Chevy Cruze.

For more information, contact attorney David G. Bryant at david@jonesward.com

A manufacturer of prescription drugs in New Jersey is being voluntarily recalling certain lots of its products after mold was found in bags of ingredients used to make antibiotics and pain relievers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration informed doctors and hospitals that the New Jersey-based compounder, Med Prep Consulting Inc., shut down all production and shipping of its products, due to the mold problems. The drugs were packaged in infusion bags, plastic syringes and glass vials.

News media reported this week that the problem surfaced after hospital staff in Connecticut found particles floating in an intravenous medicine. A spokeswoman for the FDA, commenting on the situation, said that "giving a patient a contaminated injectable drug could result in a life-threatening infection."

This is just the latest in a string of problems with contaminated drugs, including recent problems at the New England Compounding Center, and last fall's drug recall by Ranbaxy after glass particles were found in its version of generic Lipitor.

If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective or recalled product, contact Attorney Alex Davis or send him an email at alex@jonesward.com for a free case evaluation.

Next Thursday, March 21, a panel of federal judges, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, meets in San Diego to hear arguments on whether to consolidate Mirena cases into a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

An MDL is similar to a class action in that the cases will be consolidated for pretrial purposes. However, if the cases go to trial, they will likely be tried individually.

If the panel agrees to consolidate Mirena lawsuits, it will also decide where to consolidate them. If they are consolidated, they will be under one federal judge in one federal court. We have been blogging extensively on the status of the litigation. Bayer, the manufacturer of Mirena, is opposing the consolidation, arguing that the cases are too diverse and that consolidating them will lead to the filing of "marginal" cases.

Many of the cases involve women who have been injured by Bayer's Mirena IUD (intrauterine device) when the IUD has migrated from its intended position in the uterus and perforated the uterus, cervix, or other organs within the abdominal cavity. For some women, this migration took place years after Mirena was inserted.

Bayer's label fails to warn that the IUD may spontaneously move or migrate from its position in the uterus. When it does, it often leads to perforation, which can be a severe and even life-threatening complication. Typically, when migration occurs, the IUD must be surgically removed, which also increases the risk of complications.

The hearing will be held March 21 in San Diego, California. The dangerous medical device attorneys at Jones Ward will be in attendance.

The defective medical devices lawyers at JONES WARD PLC are currently evaluating Mirena cases, involving a variety of injuries. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

Fed up with a string of safety and quality problems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched a new wave of surprise inspections at compounding pharmacies.

Some recent problems with these pharmacies include glass particles found in generic versions of Lipitor, made by an Indian company called Ranbaxy.

Ranbaxy saw its share of the U.S. market decline sharply after it recalled certain lots of Lipitor, also known as atorvastatin, in November. The recall involved contamination with tiny glass particles.

Another compounding pharmacy nightmare was the spread of a dangerous strain of meningitis linked to tainted drugs.

Here's how a story in The Washington Post describes the new FDA inspection program:

"The actions are part of a new program aimed at the multibillion-dollar compounding industry that has fallen between the regulatory cracks. The inspections were the first targeted enforcement actions against large compounders since the FDA found filthy conditions at a Massachusetts pharmacy that shipped contaminated steroid shots to 23 states. The shots caused the outbreak that has so far killed 48 people and sickened 666 others, making it the country's worst drug disaster in several decades."

The steroid problems stemmed from quality control issues at the now-infamous New England Compounding Center. But the above article in the Post shows that those problems are not isolated, and that the lightly regulated pharmacy compounding industry is in fact riddled with safety issues.

If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective pharmaceutical product, including the Ranbaxy recall or the meningitis outbreak, call Attorney Alex Davis or send an email to alex@jonesward.com for a free consultation.

One of the hottest new trends in health care includes surgical procedures conducted by robots, including those made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG), such as its "da Vinci Surgical System." Recently, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration--responsible for overseeing the safety and efficacy of prescription drugs and medical devices--has decided to look into whether these techno-surgeons are safe.

Specifically, the FDA has requested that surgeons at particular hospitals across the country list the complications they have experienced or seen with the technology. According to reports, such surgeries cause about $1.5 million each and were used in nearly 500,000 procedures last year.

The FDA submitted a surgery to the surgeons also asking which surgeries the robots might be best at or worst at to perform. Apparently, the FDA is interested in whether there a rise in incidents may be due to problems with the machines. At this point, regulators have not pinpointed a specific cause of the rise in surgical incidents. Additionally, the results of the investigation will help answer the basic question of whether robotic surgeries (which are marketed as being less invasive) are worth their costs.

The incident reports may be adverse event reports (AERs) submitted to the FDA by doctors, patients or the robot-makers themselves. AERs involving the machines include gynecological surgeries that represent about half of the procedures using Intuitive's robotic machines. The AERs include damage such as when the instruments broke off and fell into patients. They also include instances of user errors and not with the machines themselves.

Intuitive continues to publically state that its products are extremely safe, and that the benefit of the technology far outweighs the risks and costs.

For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

Just in time for spring gardening season, the manufacturer of an electric blower tool has recalled the product due to a laceration hazard.

The Expert Gardener electric blower vacuum is being yanked from Wal-Mart stores by its maker, OWT Industries Inc. A statement by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that objects that are drawn into the unit during vacuum mode can break through the plastic housing, posing a laceration hazard. More than 130,000 of the blowers are believed to be on the market.

The announcement covers model 20254EG with serial numbers BMP3010001 to BMR3311972, and model 20254EGC with serial numbers EUP3120001 to EUP3630730. The blowers are green and black in color. "Expert Gardener" and "BlowerVac 2 Speed Quiet 150 MPH Powerful 220 MPH" are printed on the side of the green motor housing and on the black plastic blower tube.

The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent people who have been injured by dozens of different types of defective products, from recalled metal hip implants to dangerous birth control pills, faulty exercise shoes, and defects with automobiles.

If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective or recalled product, contact Attorney Alex Davis for a free case evaluation.

Last month, we reported that Bayer's Mirena intrauterine system (IUD), released in 2000 and additionally indicated in 2009 for heavy menstrual bleeding, has lead to 45,000 adverse events reports to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). That number has now increased to over 47,000, according to AdverseEvents.com.

But what do those numbers really mean? Are they indicative of real problems that real women are suffering due to Mirena? FAERS is designed to encourage anyone--patients, doctors and regulated manufacturers--to report instances of any unwanted side effects, no matter how mild or severe, of a prescription drug or medical device.

FAERS operates as a database that holds information on adverse event and medication error reports submitted to the agency. The database is part of the FDA's post-marketing safety surveillance of prescription drugs and medical devices approved for use by consumers by the agency.

Once particular adverse events start adding up, the FDA may use them to identify new safety concerns for a regulated product. This may lead to the FDA asking or requiring the manufacturer for a label change to add warnings or further studies related to the adverse event. Reporting adverse events to FAERS is voluntary, but is increasingly turned to by consumers and healthcare practitioners to track and monitor new safety concerns.

Mirena's highest adverse events include device expulsion, dislocation, vaginal hemorrhage, device complication and abdominal pain.

The defective medical devices lawyers at JONES WARD PLC are currently evaluating Mirena cases. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

My 7-year-old son was sick last week, so I gave him a few doses of Triaminic to help with his cough. Good thing I was careful to keep the bottle on a high shelf. Just a few days later, the government announced a recall of Triaminic Syrups and Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups for coughs, colds and fevers.

Those two products are among 24 types of medicine included in a recall involving child-resistant caps that can fail to function properly. When that happens, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that the cap can be removed by a child, posing a risk of accidential ingestion and poisoning. These products contain acetaminophen and diphenhydramine which are required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act to be sealed with child-resistant packaging.

You can find a complete list of the recalled products at this link. If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective or recalled product, contact Attorney Alex Davis for a free case evaluation.