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While Bayer continues to settle large blocks of Roundup lawsuits, another Roundup jury trial is currently underway in California. Following a COVID delay, the trial in the case of plaintiff Donnetta Stephens has now converted to a virtual proceeding, making it one of the first “trials by zoom” in U.S. history.

This post, written on October 26, 2021, and updated on December 20, 2021, offers a snapshot of the latest Roundup lawsuit and its impact on settlement amounts in Phase Two (post-settlement) of the Roundup litigation.

[December 10, 2021 Update:  The 4th Roundup lawsuit to go trial resulted in a defense verdict for Bayer this week in the case of Donnetta Stephens v. Monsanto.  Stephens was a woman in her 70s who claimed that she used Roundup regularly in her garden for years and was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma. The trial, as we discuss below, had to be held entirely by Zoom video conferencing (one of the first-ever “Zoom trials”) because of continuing COVID restrictions in California.

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New scientific research has linked cow-milk-based infant formulas such as Similac and Enfamil to a dangerous neonatal medical condition known as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). A growing number of parents of infants who were fed with these I baby formulas and subsequently developed NEC are filing NEC formula lawsuits against the manufacturers (Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson Nutrition Co.). The lawsuits allege that Abbott and Meade had a duty to warn about the risks of NEC and their baby formula products, but deliberately failed to include any such warning while continuing to market their products as safe.

Example of a Recent NEC Infant Formula Lawsuit

The case of Grosshuhesch, et al. v. Mead Johnson Nutrition Company, et al., is one of the many Enfamil NEC infant formula lawsuits filed over the last half of 2021. The plaintiff, Abigail Grosshuhesch, brought the lawsuit on behalf of herself and on behalf of her deceased daughter, Isabella. Their Complaint was originally filed in Illinois State court against Mead Johnson Nutrition Company. On November 19, 2021, however, Mead Johnson removed the case to federal court (Southern District of Illinois).

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Last month, medical device company Philips drew national attention from the plaintiffs’ bar when it recalled over 3 million sleep apnea CPAP machines based on serious health concerns. Philips instructed users to immediately stop using the recalled devices because they could be causing them to inhale toxic chemicals.

The nature and circumstances of the recall have plaintiffs’ speculating on whether former users of the recalled devices will have viable claims in a CPAP product liability lawsuit. The success of future CPAP recall lawsuits will depend on 2 factors: (1) the extent of Philip’s liability which will be driven by what they knew and when; and (2) the scientific evidence linking the defect in the CPAP devices to specific health consequences. In this post, I focus specifically on the first factor – what did Philips know and when?

November 2021 Update:

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Sexual assault or sexual abuse victims can bring a personal injury lawsuit in civil court against the perpetrator. Sexual assault lawsuits can also be brought against third parties such as schools, employers, churches, etc., if their negligence allowed the assault or abuse to occur. In this post we will explain how civil lawsuits for sexual assault work and how the differ from criminal proceedings.

Civil Lawsuits and Damages for Sexual Assault

Sexual assault or abuse is a serious crime and perpetrators can face criminal charges and potentially go to prison or face alternative criminal sanctions. Unfortunately, assault victims do receive any type of restitution in criminal proceedings against the offender. Sexual assault victims can get financial compensation (damages) for the assault by filing a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator or responsible third parties.

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In this post, our Baltimore personal injury lawyers will discuss lawsuits involving bus accidents and taxi accidents. More bus, taxi, and MTA accidents happen in Baltimore City than in any other part of Maryland. The obvious reason for this is the urban geography and social demographics of Baltimore make bus and taxi transportation more common than in other areas. (In 2021, we are obviously seeing tons of Uber and Lyft cases.)

Bus Accident Cases in Baltimore

Bus transportation on MTA is the primary means of public transportation in Baltimore. Our subway and light rail systems are very limited which makes MTA buses the only viable option for most people in the city. Our accident lawyers have handled a number of major accident cases involving MTA buses over the years.

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Belviq lawsuits have been filed after the Belviq recall last year in response to fears it may cause cancer.

The defendants in the Belviq lawsuits, Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai, Inc., have recently filed motions to dismiss in many of these cases.

Last week we saw the first ruling in one of these motions to dismiss. Although the judge dismissed some of the plaintiff’s claims in the case, he declined to dismiss the lawsuits outright.  Plaintiff’s most significant tort claims were untouched.

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Lawyers are now jumping on NEC lawsuits that alleged baby formulas made from cow milk, such as Enfamil and Similac, pose a danger to premature infants because they greatly increase the risk of a dangerous infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).  Our attorneys are going after these potential lawsuits as well because we think they might produce large settlements and verdicts.

Over the last 12 months, numerous product liability lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturer of Similac (Abbott Laboratories, Inc.) and the maker of Enfamil (Mead Johnson Nutrition). These NEC formula lawsuits accuse the defendants of deliberately failing to warn about the risk of NEC.

Mass tort historians, if such a thing exists, will tell you that first cases filed in an eventually successful mass tort end in disaster.  One of the first infant formula NEC lawsuits was Ferry v. Mead Johnson & Co., et al. (3:20-cv-00099) which was filed in Connecticut state court and removed to the U.S. District Court for Connecticut because of diversity jurisdiction.

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If you are bringing a birth injury lawsuit, you find out pretty quickly that the birth injury lawsuit process is a complicated maze.  It is a lot to absorb.  I wrote this post to explain to you what you can expect when you file a birth injury lawsuit.

Each birth injury malpractice lawsuit involves unique facts and circumstances, but they all go through the same process in the court system. Understanding this process and what to expect during each stage can help you feel more comfortable and eliminate some of the anxiety that often comes with being a plaintiff.

Bringing a birth injury lawsuit in Maryland can be mentally and emotionally difficult for most parents.  Having a good birth injury lawyer that cares and understands what getting justice for your child is all about can make a huge difference.  This page will walk through the progression of a birth injury lawsuit from begging to end.

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In this post, we will look at the effectiveness of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) as a surgical option for the treatment of chronic back pain. ACDF is a special type of back surgery in which a spinal disc is actually removed in order to relieve nerve root pressure and eliminate chronic pain.

ACDF Surgery

ACDF SURGERY LAWYERACDF surgery involves 2 steps: (1) anterior cervical discectomy; and (2) fusion. The anterior cervical discectomy involves the surgical removal of the targeted spinal disc in the cervical region of the spine. The discectomy is “anterior” because the surgical entry point is done in the front of the neck instead of through the back of the neck like in most back surgeries.

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Bayer will pull Round-Up off the market in January 2023.  This post is about how this will impact the settlement amounts in future Roundup lawsuits that are not in the initial settlement.

Ever since its acquisition of Monsanto back in 2016, Bayer has been besieged by a growing tide of Roundup lawsuits. The lawsuits allege that prolonged exposure to the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, can cause cancer. Bayer has steadfastly defended the safety of its iconic weed killer product. But last week the company made a drastic shift when it announced that glyphosate-based Roundup will be pulled from the retail market starting January 2023.

Roundup-242x300Why leave the product on the market for another year?  It is hard to defend.  Bayer seems to desperately not want to make it seems like a recall.  I’m-not-actually-doing-this-thing-that-I’m-it-seems-like-I’m-doing.

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