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One trillion dollars. That’s how much the country spent on the opioid epidemic between 2001 and 2017, according to a report released by the nonprofit institute Altarum, a consulting group focused on improving public health. The cost of the crisis trickles both up and down and impacts corporations, governments and […]

The next hearing session of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is scheduled for November 30, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. Eight matters are set for oral argument to consider motions to transfer each to one centralized district for coordinated pretrial proceedings. The matters include trending issues such […]

In April of 2016, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a panel who determines whether to coordinate federal court lawsuits into multidistrict litigation (MDL), centralized lawsuits involving men who developed melanoma after ingesting Viagra. This MDL was established in San Francisco federal court before Judge Seeborg and styled as In […]

On August 29, 2016, Stryker issued a voluntary recall of certain lots of Stryker LFit Anatomic Cobalt Chromium V40 femoral heads, a prosthetic hip replacement device, manufactured before March 2011. This recall included over 40,000 defective hips. Stryker cited to “higher than expected” complaints about the failure of the femoral […]

Lawsuits have been filed against Stryker since 2013 alleging that its line of TMZF hip replacement stems are a danger when combined with metal femoral heads. However, patients who have received this potentially dangerous combination of products are just now being notified. Oddly enough, Stryker is not the one doing […]

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML” or “The Panel”) is a body of seven federal district judges who manage multidistrict litigation, meeting on a bimonthly basis to consider requests to establish MDLs. The Panel has the authority to determine whether civil actions pending in two or more federal […]

In April of 2016, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation determined that coordination of federal court lawsuits involving men who developed melanoma after taking Viagra was appropriate. MDL No. 2691, styled In Re:  Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) Products Liability Litigation Viagra, was then established before Judge Seeborg, a federal court judge, […]

Miami Beach was the place to be for mass tort lawyers last week, with two drug and medical device conferences as well as a critical hearing before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (also known as the “JPML”). The Judicial Panel, a group of federal judges that meets every two […]

This Simple Question Can Be Challenging for a Surgeon One of the most challenging decisions a surgeon can make when revising a patient with a Stryker Accolade TMZF stem that has failed due to metal wear disease (corrosion and fretting) is whether to leave a well-ingrown stem in place. This […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is concerned that women are not as knowledgeable as they should be about the risks associated with permanent Essure birth control. The agency now recommends a black-box warning for the product along with a new patient checklist. The New FDA Guidance on Essure Birth Control The […]