Judge Wilken Gives Preliminary Approval to Partial Settlements

Last Friday, Judge Wilken gave preliminary approval to two separate settlement agreements related to the O’Bannon and Keller cases. The agreement related to the O’Bannon case was for $40 Million and involved EA Sports. The agreement related to the Keller case was for $20 Million and involved the NCAA.

The NCAA slyly tried to argue in front of Judge Wilken that their agreement in the Keller case should result in a majority of the claims in the O’Bannon case being tossed because the agreement in Keller released them in the O’Bannon case. Judge Wilken disagreed.

It is expected that a decision in the O’Bannon case, a bench trial in front of Judge Wilken that lasted three weeks in June, will be coming in the next few weeks.

For more information, click in the links below:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-24/ncaa-judge-gives-early-nod-to-60-million-ncaa-ea-settlements.html

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/07/judge_to_approve_ncaa_video_ga.html

Risperdal Lawsuits on the Rise

Risperidone, sold under the brand name Risperdal, has recently come under major legal scrutiny and been the subject of Risperdal lawsuits over the issue of male breast growth. The drug, manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, is a prescription drug classified as an anti-psychotic. It was designed to treat schizophrenia without the sedating effects on the patient that so many older anti psychotic drugs caused.

Like other drugs designed to treat maladies of the brain, the drug was found to be helpful against several other disorders, and it was subsequently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat bipolar disorder, as well as aggression and irritability associated with autism.

However, Risperdal has been found to cause a number of serious side effects. This allegedly includes a condition called gynecomastia, or male breast growth. The condition is obviously an emotionally scarring disability, and can be very stigmatizing. Additionally, Risperdal is associated with weight gain and diabetes, which may initially camouflage gynecomastia.

Lawsuits over Risperdal side effects have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Pennsylvania state court. It is yet to be determined if there will be a Federal court MDL created. For more information on MDL’s, please see my previous blog posts. Over 360 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of plaintiffs who have been injured by Risperdal.

The Risperdal Gynecomastia MDL is In re: Risperdal Litigation, Case No. 100300296, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C., is currently investigating Risperdal injury claims. If you or a loved one were injured as a result of taking Risperdal, please contact Booth Samuels at 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com.

J&J Staple Accessory Kit Recall

Johnson and Johnson has recalled more than 157,000 surgical stapler devices and accessories used in hemorrhoids treatment procedures due to potential malfunctions that pose a serious safety risk. The recall is a Class 1 recall, the most serious classification of recalls. Class 1 recalls are only issued when a defective medical device is likely to cause serious health problems or death. 

These products are commonly referred to as “Staple Accessory Kits” or “Internal Hemorrhoid Staples”. They are manufactured by J&J's Ethicon Endo-Surgery division. 

The recalled products are:

Transtar Circular Stapler Procedure Set

Proximate HCS Hemorrhoidal Circular Stapler and Accessories

Proximate PPH Hemorrhoidal Circular Stapler and Accessories

The FDA issued a recall based on issues related to the firing of the device which may result in incomplete staple formation. An incomplete staple formation is similar to when you attempt to staple too many pieces of paper together and the staple does not puncture through all of the pieces and does not fasten correctly.

Failure of an incomplete staple formation can result in severe pain, sphincter dysfunction, rectal wall damage, sepsis, bleeding, occlusion of the rectal canal, and splitting of rectal wall staple line and bleeding.

The affected products were manufactured and distributed between April 2011 and July 2012.

J&J said its Proximate HCS hemorrhoidal circular stapler and accessories with product code "PPH01" have been discontinued in the U.S. However, the Proximate PPH stapler remains available.

Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C. is currently investigating “Staple Accessory Kit” injury claims. If you or a loved one were injured as a result of this product, please contact Booth Samuels at    1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com.