What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Sep-09
Ford Motor Company Hit With $34M Asbestos Verdict
A couple has been awarded $8.5 million in an asbestos lawsuit, followed by another $25.5 million in punitive damages against Ford Motor Co., for making asbestos-containing auto brakes, by a California jury.
According to the court proceedings, the husband was working at gas stations in Southern California and Indiana in the late 1960s and '70s, where he conducted thousands of brake replacement jobs and safety inspections. During his occupancy, he was breathing in the asbestos-laden dust produced by the normal wear and tear of the auto brakes, which led to his mesothelioma.
The Los Angeles jury engaged in less than two hours of conversation while giving out the verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. Before that, the jury has carefully considered the trial for four weeks. The jury awarded punitive damages in a separate hearing as Ford acted with malice.
The jury found Ford 100% liable for the man's cancer as they failed to recall or place a warning on its brakes. Other employers, including Chevron and Exxon, other automakers such as Chevrolet and Chrysler, or the makers and suppliers of other auto brakes, such as Pep Boys were not held liable.
The husband was awarded $4.5 million for his past and future noneconomic damages, and his wife was awarded $4 million for loss of consortium inflicted on her by her husband's illness. The punitive damages were slammed against the defendant after the jury found that it acted with malice, oppression, or fraud towards the plaintiffs.
The plaintiff’s attorney stated after the verdict that they are satisfied with the jury’s final decision, however, the amount of money will not give back the health to the man who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Ford’s unethical practice of conducting business has deprived the man of peacefulness as his health condition would not let him live longer with his wife and family.
The risk of asbestos has been associated has been known since the early 1900s. When asbestos fibers get accumulated in the person’s lung it leads to mesothelioma. As of now, there is no cure for this form of cancer, which develops inside the person's body like a slow poison.
Workers and laborers involved in the construction industry, textiles industry, and automobile industry are at a high risk of getting exposed to asbestos. Companies should take necessary steps for the safety of these workers so that they don’t ingest asbestos unknowingly.
Initial Discovery Progresses In 3M Earplug Lawsuits
The parties involved in thousands of 3M Combat Arms Earplugs lawsuits have made considerable progress and are moving steadily ahead in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, as per the recent court records.
According to a case management order issued on August 27, Judge M. Casey Rodgers confirmed that the parties entered into a tolling agreement for certain 3M earplug claims, extending the statute of limitations, which would provide the court and manufacturer with a more accurate count of filed and unfiled claims pending nationwide. Also, the defendant is currently on track to meet the September 30 deadline to substantially complete its document production.
The Next Case Management Conferences Schedule:
September, 27, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
October 25, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
November 22, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
December 16, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
Recently, on August 9, 2019, the Federal Court passed an agenda for discussion on the Science Day event regarding issues related to the use of 3M Earplugs. Both parties involved in this suit were given 15 minutes slot on the Science Day event, where they were allowed to educate the court on the scientific and legal issues in relevance to their case. Each side was allowed to send up to three speakers to address scientific aspects of the legal actions. Discussion on topics related to the science of hearing loss, the procedure to test hearing protection devices, and testing protocols required for the 3M Combat Arms Earplugs were discussed.
The complaint against 3M has its roots in the US Army request in the year 1999 to shorten earplugs so that they could easily fit in a military carrying case. As of June 5, 2019, a total of 800 lawsuits are pending in U.S. courts against 3M. Plaintiffs involved in this case claim that 3M provided defective CAEv2 earplugs from 2003 to 2015. The common allegation by the plaintiff is that manufacturers allegedly provided faulty earplugs devices to the U.S. military, despite being aware of the hearing loss risk to American soldiers.
The 3M earplugs were inefficient in guarding the U.S. army personnel against tinnitus and hearing loss, which resulted due to high explosion noise on the battlefield. . The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has decided to centralize claims for pretrial proceedings in the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over all injury lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.
Allergan Makes Opioid Lawsuit Settlement Deal
On Friday 30, Allergan PLC made a $5 million settlement with two Ohio counties involved in the ongoing bellwether cases in multidistrict opioid litigation.
Allergan agreed to pay $1.9 million to Summit County and $3.1 million to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which would end the opioid lawsuit against the drugmaker, way before the upcoming trial on October 21. This is the second deal in the MDL after Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. made a settlement with the counties for $10 million last week.
The Dublin-headquartered drugmaker said that it doesn’t have liability for generic opioids, as those assets were sold to Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2016. It also said, since 2013, it did not actively market any opioid products. Judge Polster said that in light of the Allergan settlement, the court would not allow the cities of Akron and Cleveland to include Allergan in motions on summary judgment in any subsequent trials.
Navin Jacob, a UBS analyst, indicates that Allergan would not be able to escape such a small settlement. Especially when there are rumors of Purdue making the settlement between $650 million to $4.25 billion. While Teva is estimated to pay $140 million to $1.84 billion for their part in collective damages that have affected 702,000 lives from 1999 to 2017 alone.
In the recent report, Jacobs state that Allergan could end up paying between $186 million to $309 million to resolve the settlement.
It must be noted that Allergan has not done any promotion for opioids since 2013, as per their press release, which was issued this past Friday. The painkiller drug manufacturer also stated in the press release that Allergan understands the seriousness of the opioid overdose crisis and has had a history of supporting the safe practice for use of prescription medications. AbbVie Inc is also working on the process to acquire Allergan in a $60B deal.
Federal health officials have already alerted that opioids painkiller drugs account for nearly 70% of all drug overdoses. Approximately 3,100 deaths were caused due to opioid overdoses in 2013 and the figure has exceeded 36,000 by 2019.
Opioid lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) presided by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.
The German Government Initiates Steps To Ban Glyphosate
Germany is all set to eliminate the use of glyphosate, one of the main ingredients of Roundup weedkiller, within the next few years. The chemical was recently banned in Austria following its link to cancer.
Glyphosate was licensed through the European Union. On Wednesday, Sept. 4, the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed to ban all the license renewal requests made to the European Union for glyphosate-containing herbicides. The German government has aimed to reduce 75% use of glyphosate weedkiller by 2023, and the chemical will remain legal in the European Union, but farming policies will become greener.
The move was the result of increasing pressure faced by Merkel's government over the environment. The government faced a storm of controversy, just two years ago, when Germany’s agriculture minister voted in favor of extending the use of glyphosate-based weed killers.
Germany’s Cabinet has decided to imply a “systematic reduction strategy” to completely bring down the usage of glyphosate. With this strategy, Germany is confident of eradicating the use of this chemical by 2023. The country will start the mission of glyphosate elimination by prohibiting the use of this chemical in parks, gardens, and agricultural fields.
Austria has recently put a complete ban on the use of glyphosate and they are the first nation to do so. After which, 20 French mayors protested against their government to stop the usage of this weed killer chemical and ultimately got it banned from their municipalities. Glyphosate is restricted for use in the Czech Republic, Italy and Netherlands too.
The use of glyphosate is common in agriculture. Roundup herbicide was once considered a boon for agricultural fields. It was market king from the mid-70s until 2013 when an email sent by a senior toxicologist from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled some hidden facts about this product.
Farmers in India still have decided to continue with glyphosate usage for their crop field, despite being aware of the toxicity level. Glyphosate is effective for clearing weeds in genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops.
A decline in pollinating insect species like bees and butterflies was also seen post the usage of the chemical. The ban is part of an insect conservation program from Environment Minister Svenja Schulze.
Sanofi Taxotere Trial: Former FDA Head To Testify
Dr. David A. Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, may testify at an upcoming multidistrict litigation bellwether trial against Sanofi-Aventis US LLC over allegations that the drugmaker should have warned patients that the chemotherapy drug Taxotere can cause permanent hair loss. Sanofi markets and manufactures the anti-cancer drug, Taxotere which is used for treating cancers. This drug was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996.
A trial for a plaintiff’s lawsuit is set to begin on Sept. 16, which is considered to be the first trial of all the pending federal Taxotere cases. Sanofi’s attempt to block Kessler from testifying in an upcoming trial was denied by the Eastern District of Louisiana.
In the 11-page order filed this past Tuesday, federal Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of Louisiana did not consider Sanofi’s argument over Kessler confusing the jury by testifying. As per Sanofi, Kessler will make it definite with his testify report that Taxotere led to baldness of 11,000 plus patients which gives plaintiffs right to sue the drugmakers involved in the MDL.
Dr.Kessler in his testify report is expected to provide genuine evidence that proves causal association between Taxototere and permanent hair loss. The former FDA commissioner can also show records which states that as early as 2009, Sanofi was aware about "irreversible alopecia” caused by Taxotere, however, they failed to warn patients and their doctors about it. This led to prescription of this anti-cancer drug to thousands of patients who have been left bald even years after their cancer has been cured.
Plaintiffs have filed permanent hair-loss lawsuit against reputed pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Hospira, Actavis and McKesson apart from Sanofi. These manufacturers have been accused of not warning doctors and patients about the risk of permanent baldness which can be caused after taking Taxotere for treatment of cancer.
More than 12,000 product liability claims are filed against Taxotere manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, each raising similar allegations that the chemotherapy drug causes permanent hair loss in several women. The lawsuits are centralized in the Eastern District of Louisiana as part of a federal Multidistrict Litigation (MDL No. 2740; In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation), presided by Chief Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt.