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Chantix is a popular prescription drug that is used to help people quit smoking. In 2021, all .5 and 1 mg tablets of Chantix were recalled after it was discovered that they contained dangerously high levels of a known carcinogen called NDMA. A number of consumer class action lawsuits have since been filed against Pfizer alleging that consumers were defrauded by the company’s failure to warn about NDMA contamination.

About Chantix

Chantix (varenicline) is popular prescription drug used in combination with counseling and other techniques to help people quit smoking. Chantix works by reducing the physical cravings and withdraw that occur when someone with a nicotine addiction attempts to quit smoking.

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Hundreds of CPAP machine lawsuits have been filed since medical device company Philips recalled millions of sleep apnea machines after discovering that they were causing users to inhale toxic foam particles.  Our CPAP lawyers are handling these lawsuits in all 50 states.

Thousands of CPAP Lawsuits Expected

Thousands of additional CPAP recall lawsuits are expected to be filed against Philips and consolidated into a new class-action MDL.

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Within the past year, many lawsuits have been filed against Teva Pharmaceuticals. These Paragard IUD lawsuits allege that suits allege that Teva’s IUD fractures upon removal, resulting in fragments being left in the uterus. The plaintiffs claimed this caused them to undergo additional removal procedures, which would have been unnecessary had this defect not occurred.  The purpose of this page is to provide a status update on the current state of the Paragard lawsuits as of late January 2021.  Other Paragard law firms and websites are providing updates on this litigation, and I would encourage you to follow them here, here, and here.

Certainly, the biggest news in the short history of this litigation was last month when these lawsuits were centralized into an MDL in Georgia federal court.  This means there will be a class action in which all federal court cases will be consolidated in Georgia under one judge.  So if you have a federal case in California, Texas, Florida, or anywhere, it will end up.

Let’s start out by talking about some of the science behind these cases.  Usually, what fuels litigation is that studies come out and lawyers jump on these studies to bring lawsuits.  In this litigation, it might be a little bit backward.  It took a while for plaintiffs’ lawyers to pick up on the problems with Paragard.  Now a new study this year further supports the contention Paragard lawyers are making.

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Recent studies have established that prolonged use or exposure to the industrial herbicide paraquat (Grameoxone) can lead to the development of early onset Parkinson’s disease. Now thousands of agriculture workers are filing paraquat lawsuits alleging that they developed Parkinson’s as a result of occupational exposure to paraquat.

The paraquat cases have been consolidated into a “class action” MDL which should eventually results in a global settlement with payments to all claimants. This post will look at how much settlement compensation paraquat plaintiffs might reasonably expect to get.

Related Paraquat Posts

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Nexium, or esomeprazole, is a drug that is used to treat heartburn and excessive amounts of acid in the stomach. Specifically, it is used to treat duodenal and gastric ulcers, esophagitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Nexium is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that decreases the amount of acid produced in the stomach. Other drugs that are in the same class as Nexium include Prevacid and Prilosec. Approximately 15 million Americans use PPIs that are sold both as prescription and over-the-counter. Nexium sales exceed $3 billion a year.

Nexium Class Action Lawsuit Updates 

August 2022:  Defendants in the PPI MDL had moved to dismiss all failure to warn claims in the PPI class action lawsuit because they are preempted. The argument, and it is a weak one, is that because the FDA (a federal agency) approved the warning labels, state law claims cannot be brought. 

Our lawyers talked about this in the last update in June – this motion is crucial because the crux of this class action lawsuit is that you knew of this problem with kidney injuries yet you did not change their product, instructions, guidelines, or, most importantly, warn doctors of the risk. 

The Special Master in the MDL likely put this issue to bed in the Prilosec-Nexium class action lawsuit. issued a report to the MDL Judge recommending that this argument be rejected because the defendants cannot show that the FDA would have rejected proposals for stronger warnings about kidney damage. The first bellwether trial in the MDL is set for November.

June 2022: The defendants in the Nexium-Prilosec PPI class action MDL have filed motions for summary judgment in the upcoming bellwether test trials. The primary legal argument in this motion is based on a doctrine called federal preemption. The preemption doctrine holds that victims are blocked from bring tort lawsuits under state law if there is a federal law that protects the defendants from liability. The Special Master in the MDL recently allowed both parties to submit additional briefing to address how a recently decided case on the preemption issue (In re Fosamax Alendronate Prod. Liab. Lit.) could potentially impact the issues in the Nexium-Priolsec cases. Our lawyers have read the Fosamax case (which rules in favor of defendants on a preemption argument) and in our opinion it is not applicable to the issues in the PPI cases.

April 2022: There are around 13,500 lawsuits pending in the Nexium-Prilosec PPI class action MDL.  The first trial will be in October.  The hope is that a few trials will set settlement amounts for Nexium kidney lawsuits. But many class action lawsuits – at least lately – have had trials and the parties still could not agree to a settlement amount for the victims.  So the judge, in this case, wants to keep the pressure on the lawyers.  So if a global settlement is not reached, the MDL Judge has identified a group of 200 cases that the parties will be preparing for trial over the next 16 months.

  • These drugs have had a troubled history.  Zantac, which was long considered a great and safe drug, has now been associated with cancer.

Problems with Nexium

Nexium is a controversial drug.  At one point, bone fracture lawsuits were all the rage because there was data suggesting Nexium, particularly the long-term use of Nexium, would cause bone fractures and breaks.  Our lawyers believed many of these lawsuits were meritorious.  But the litigation did not get very far.

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Our lawyers are investigating toxic baby food autism lawsuits.

What triggered our involvement in these cases was a congressional investigation last year that revealed that many popular brands of baby foods in the U.S. contain dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Scientific evidence and studies have shown that consumption of these metals during infancy and early childhood can cause neurologic damage and autism.

Product liability lawsuits are now getting filed across the country against baby food manufacturers. These baby food autism lawsuits allege that the manufacturers knowingly sold their products with unsafe levels of toxic metals and that the plaintiffs developed autism spectrum disorders from consuming them in their baby foods.

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Clinical studies have conclusively shown that baby formula made from cow’s milk, such as Similac and Enfamil, is dangerous to premature infants because they significantly increase the risk of a dangerous infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Over the last year, a growing number of product liability lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturers of Similac and Enfamil by parents of premature babies who developed NEC. These NEC formula lawsuits allege that the formula makers knew their products were dangerous to preemies and deliberately failed to warn about the risk of NEC.

In this post, we will look at the current status of the infant formula NEC lawsuits against the manufacturers of Enfamil and Similac. We will look at where these NEC formula lawsuits are being filed, how many are currently pending, who the major players are on both sides (plaintiff and defendant), and other details.

UPDATES:

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From the early 1950s to the later 1980s the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina provided residents and employees with drinking water that was heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals. Extensive scientific research has revealed that the poisoned water supply at Camp Lejeune had a devastating impact on the long-term health of base residents who have suffered significantly higher rates of birth defects, cancer, and neurological conditions.

Many of the victims of the Camp Lejeune water contamination have brought civil lawsuits seeking financial settlements for their injuries. Unfortunately, a harsh law in North Carolina called a statute of repose has effectively blocked all of these victims from pursuing their claims and getting the justice they deserve. Now, however, the U.S. Congress is poised to fix this injustice by passing a new federal law that will give former Lejeune residents the ability to file water contamination lawsuits despite the law in North Carolina.

Overview of Camp Lejeune Military Base

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The surgical implant manufacturer Exactech recently announced a recall of all its Optetrak® implant systems used in total knee replacement surgeries since 2004. The recall came after the company discovered that a problem with the product packaging was causing the polyethylene insert component in the Optetrak implants to degrade not function properly. This defect is causing the Optetrak knee implant systems to prematurely fail which ultimately requires patients to undergo additional revision surgery.

Individuals who had the Optetrak system implanted and suffered premature failure due to this defect can file a product liability lawsuit against Exactech and potentially recover financial compensation for their pain and medical bills. Our firm is currently accepting Optetrak implant failure cases from patients who suffered a premature failure to their knee replacement implant and had to undergo revision surgery.

Opterak Exactech Recall Lawsuit –  June 2022 Update

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The Gardasil HPV vaccine was developed by Merck & Co. and pushed onto the market in 2006. Since then, the Gardasil vaccine has been administered to millions of adolescent girls in the U.S. Recent research has established that the Gardasil HPV vaccine can induce a host of autoimmune disorders including Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Orthostatic Intolerance (OI), and many other conditions. These women are now bringing Gardasil vaccine lawsuits against Merck.

The Gardasil HPV Vaccine

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a pervasive virus that is easily transmitted through any skin-to-skin contact. HPV is often transmitted through sexual contact and it is the most common of all STDs. HPV is so common that an estimated 75% of the adult population will contract HPV during their lifetime.  For the most part, HPV is a harmless virus. However, an extremely small percentage of untreated HPV cases in women can lead to the development of cervical cancer.

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