What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2020-Dec-07
Human Gut Microbiome Species Impacted By Glyphosate: Study
On November 14, newly published scientific papers were made available, which illustrated that 54 percent of the species in the core human gut microbiome might be impacted by glyphosate, the main ingredient of the weedkiller Roundup.
According to the research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers from the University of Turku in Finland said that they used a new bioinformatics method and determined that half of the core human gut microbiome are “potentially sensitive” to glyphosate.
Gut flora or gut microbiota are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, and fungi, that are believed to impact immune functions and other important processes. The researchers noted that the intake of glyphosate might severely affect the composition of the human gut microbiome, which can contribute to a range of diseases.
The researchers concluded that further empirical studies would be required to determine the actual impact of glyphosate on the human gut microbiota and other organisms.
Last month, a study was published in the journal Chemosphere, indicating that glyphosate meets at least 8 key characteristics (KCs) of an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), which interferes with the hormonal system and causes cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.
Glyphosate is classified as a probable carcinogen, and its presence in the weedkiller Roundup has raised concerns of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and other cancers among its users.
IARC, considered to be the apex in the field of cancer research, classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” According to IARC, Roundup is made up of other ingredients that are toxic in themselves, and are also known to increase the toxicity of glyphosate. Monsanto has known this for many years but still refuses to study the link between cancer and Roundup.
Monsanto has a brief history of legal troubles and Glyphosate is just another herbicide of the company to attract lawsuits. Plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed numerous lawsuits. A plaintiff from one of the Roundup lawsuits claims that she worked as a grower’s assistant on a crop field in New York from 1994 to 1998 where Roundup was regularly sprayed indoors and outdoors resulting in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2012. She eventually quit the job and is currently seeking reasonable compensation and punitive damages in court.
In 2001, environmental and consumer rights campaigners' filed a lawsuit against the company as it presented Roundup as biodegradable and left the soil clean after use. Whereas, the European Union identified it as dangerous for the environment and toxic for aquatic organisms.
Bayer, the manufacturer of the controversial weedkiller, Roundup, is facing approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims. The lawsuits are presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria under MDL No. 2741 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Methods Used To Screen Talc For Asbestos Inadequate: Study
Last week, an analysis was published in the journal Environmental Health Insights, stating that a lack of regulation and inadequate screening of talc-containing cosmetic products in the U.S. has resulted in asbestos contamination.
The research was carried on a small sample of powder-based cosmetic products, including blush, eye shadow, foundation, and other products. The analysis was done using transmission electron microscopy, which revealed that 3 of 21 powder-based cosmetic products were contaminated with amphibole asbestos. Nearly 15% of products contained asbestos, and out of the three tested products, one is specifically marketed for use by children.
The study aimed to assess asbestos contamination in talc-based products, to draw attention to outdated screening methods, and to raise awareness of the potential hazard in cosmetics. The researchers concluded that the contamination demonstrates the necessity to revise the cosmetics policy and to regulate the screening methods for asbestos.
Exposure to asbestos is linked to several complications, including asbestosis, lung and ovarian cancer, and mesothelioma. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires cosmetic products to be safe, yet there is no specification on how inhalation exposure should be assessed, which has resulted in contamination with small amounts of asbestos.
The lawsuits over talc-based products are growing in numbers, each alleging that the users were exposed to talc and asbestos particles present in the products, which resulted in ovarian cancer and other injuries.
Johnson's Baby Powder, one of the most popular products containing talcum powder, is linked to increasing a woman's risk of ovarian cancer if she uses it regularly in the genital area. In a few cases, the cancer tissue was studied using an electron microscope and was found to have talc in it, which supported the claim that the cancer was caused by the body powder and increases the talc-related cancer risk.
Allegations include that the company knew about the risks of asbestos exposure from the company’s talc-based products causes ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, yet failed to warn the public. Lawsuits also claim J&J hid the fact that talcum powder contains asbestos.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the pharmaceutical giant, is currently facing more than 20,000 Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits and has been paying in millions to resolve them. Earlier this year, the company stopped selling its talcum-based products in the U.S. and Canada, claiming declined consumer demand and misinformation about the safety of the products.
3 Years Of Probation For Ex-Insys Manager Over Opioid Crisis
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in Hartford, Connecticut, at a hearing held via videoconference, sentenced a former Insys Therapeutics Inc. sales manager to three years of probation for his role in paying doctors kickbacks for opioid prescriptions.
The former sales manager for Insys managed sales representatives in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The prosecutors claimed that the manager received inflated quarterly bonuses for engaging in a kickback scheme related to subscriptions for Subsys and were seeking a substantial prison term.
Subsys, a fentanyl-based spray, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2012 for cancer patients. Fentanyl is an opioid used as a pain medication and is about 100 times more powerful and addictive than morphine. The prosecutors noted that the doctors are required to enroll in an FDA program and complete training programs to prescribe it.
The former employee avoided jail term and is sentenced to probation for assisting the company's business practice of conducting misleading educational events that helped funnel money to health care providers for prescribing its drug Subsys.
Judge Arterton noted that the former employee was given the period of probation because he had taken responsibility for his actions, cooperated with prosecutors, and had overcome his struggle with opioid addiction.
Opioids are on the market for ages and have been used basically for pain relief for post-surgical pain, cancer-related pain, chronic or persistent pain. Opioids when used in proper dosage and along with a combination of other pain treatments, work in relieving pain successfully, unless there is a misuse or abuse of the drug.
Companies manufacturing opioids convinced the medical community that these medications were not addictive and were purely beneficial. This belief raised the number of prescriptions and sales unwarrantedly, resulting in a mass misuse of these drugs, to the extent that this was identified by the FDA as a public issue and named it an opioid crisis.
First Bard Hernia Mesh Bellwether Jury Trial Rescheduled To April 2021
The first bellwether jury trial of Bard hernia mesh lawsuit has been rescheduled to begin on April 19, 2021, by the U.S. District Judge considering the ongoing pandemic.
Currently, there are more than 8,000 product liability litigations against C.R. Bard over its products such as Bard Ventralight, Bard Ventralex, Bard Perfix, Bard 3DMax, and other similar mesh systems. Each lawsuit alleges the company of selling defective products in the market, which has resulted in plaintiffs suffering from painful and debilitating complications.
The mesh products named in the lawsuits contain polypropylene material, which can easily break, shrink or wear off. This often leads to device migration, organ perforation, infection, and several other complications. Lawsuits allege the defective design of the hernia mesh often required the patients to undergo additional correction surgeries.
Plaintiffs allege that the design of polypropylene mesh is faulty that results in severe abdominal pain, infections, adhesions, erosion, and other complications. It further requires additional surgery to get rid of the malfunctioned hernia patch.
U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus is presiding over all hernia mesh lawsuits pending throughout the federal court system centralized in the Southern District of Ohio for coordinated discovery and a common outcome for all the trials.
Trials were originally expected to begin in May 2020, but the increasing COVID-19 pandemic risk in the United States resulted in the revision of the trial dates to September 29, 2020, followed by another delay to January 2021. As per the November 23rd case management order, Judge Sargus has rescheduled the first bellwether jury trial to April 19, 2021, following the two final pretrial conferences slated for March 24 and April 1.
The judge has even urged the parties to use technology wherever possible to avoid the exposure of COVID-19. He has also advised the parties to use electronic courtroom technology for the presentation of evidence.