Appeals Courts Vacate Half a Billion in Verdicts Against Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has successfully challenged two talc verdicts and has mitigated nearly $500 million in damages in less than a week. The largest verdict to date, the $417 million  Echevarria verdict, was reversed and a new trial has been ordered. This decision comes at the heels of J&J convincing a St. Louis appeals court to vacate a separate $72 million verdict. Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson concluded that the evidence presented during Echevaria’s trial didn’t support the large verdict.  Judge Nelson wrote that…
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California Johnson & Johnson Talc Cancer Risk Verdict

By now, most readers know that recently, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was ordered to pay $417 million to a woman from East Los Angeles who claimed that she developed terminal ovarian cancer from using J&J’s talc powder products. The verdict included $70 million in compensatory damages and $347 million in punitive damages. While this was the first such case to go to verdict against J&J in California — where hundreds of other similar cases are pending — this is not the first trial verdict nationally.…
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Developments in Depakote Litigation as Illinois Federal Jury Returns $15 Million Verdict

In the sixth case to go to trial over Depakote, a drug used to treat seizures and bipolar disorder, a federal jury in the Southern District of Illinois returned a $15 million verdict earlier this month. Earlier trials in federal courts in Ohio and Illinois resulted in defense verdicts, but a state jury in Missouri previously awarded $38 million to a group of 25 plaintiffs. This most recent trial addressed the claims of one of the lead plaintiffs in a mass action numbering over 600…
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PA Court Vacates $28 Million Verdict in Knee Replacement Case

A Pennsylvania Superior Court recently vacated a $27.6 million jury verdict against medical device manufacturer Zimmer Inc. (Zimmer), and marketing firm Public Communications, Inc. (PCI) in a case that involved Zimmer’s Gender Solutions Knee. The decision, which vacated the verdict on causation grounds, is available here. Zimmer’s Gender Solutions Knee is a knee replacement device specifically designed and manufactured for women. Zimmer hired PCI to produce a sales video featuring footage of patients who had received the Gender Solutions Knee. The plaintiff Margo Polett…
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This Week’s Life Science Headlines

        Litigation
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This Week’s Life Science Headlines

        Litigation
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This Week’s Life Science Headlines

        Litigation
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This Week’s Life Science Headlines

        Litigation
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Philadelphia Jury Returns $4 Million Verdict in Topamax Lawsuit, But Will it Stand?

A Philadelphia County jury returned a verdict in excess of $4 Million on behalf of plaintiffs who alleged that their child suffered birth defects related to his mother’s use of Topamax during pregnancy, but the complex procedural battle which occurred before the October 30th verdict suggests that the final chapter has yet to be written in this case. Plaintiffs, April and Blake Czimmer, filed suit in 2011 alleging that April took the anti-seizure medication Topamax (Topiramate) for six months during her pregnancy, and their child…
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This Week’s Life Science Headlines

        Litigation
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