Chris Placitella's Law Blog
CPR Law - Results Matter
Welcome to Chris Placitella's Legal Blog. I have dedicated my career to pursuing social justice and representing the wrongfully injured. The purpose of this blog is to provide breaking news and commentary concerning developments in mass tort law, class actions and cases affecting social justice. If you would like to contact me, please click on the contact us button or you can call me personally at (888) 375-7600.
Accutane Verdict: More Evidence that Drug Safety System is Broken
Posted by Chris in Accutane, Dangerous Drugs on February 20th, 2010
Regardless of whether you agree with the size of the verdict there can be little doubt that our system to protect us from the profit motives of big Pharma is broken.
Lawyers suing Roche Laboratories Inc. had reason to be dismayed 14 months ago when a state appeals court threw out a $2.5 million jury verdict they had won for a man who blamed the acne drug Accutane for his bowel disease. On Tuesday, the lawyers won 10 times more at the retrial. An Atlantic County jury awarded $25.16 million to Andrew McCarrell of Birmingham, Ala., after finding that Roche knew or should have known that Accutane caused inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and failed to warn prescribing physicians. It’s the largest of five victories that Accutane users have won against the drug maker, including a $13 million verdict last November for three plaintiffs. As in the other cases, McCarrell’s lawyers presented evidence that Roche never published studies to the scientific and medical community that showed that Accutane’s byproducts damage the gastrointestinal tract and lead to degeneration and erosion of the intestinal lining — a trigger for IBD.
Eli Lilly to pay 18.5 million over Zyprexa Marketing
Posted by Chris in Dangerous Drugs, Defective Products, Zyprexa on February 11th, 2010
According to a report from the Associated Press, Mississippi will receive $18.5 million from drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. as part of a settlement over claims the company promoted the anti-psychotic Zyprexa for ailments it was not federally approved to treat.
The settlement recovers money the state spent through its Division of Medicaid and the State Insurance Plan, Hood said. The company also will pay $3.7 million in legal fees for the state.
Mississippi is one of 13 states that sued over Zyprexa. Eli Lilly spokeswoman Marni Lemons said settlements have been reached in seven others – Alaska, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah and South Carolina. Suits in Montana, Minnesota, Louisiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania are still pending, she said.
The company paid a $1.4 billion settlement to the federal government in January 2009 after admitting it had promoted Zyprexa in elderly populations for treatment of dementia between 1999 and 2001.
According to the Atty. Gen. Hood, Zyprexa was approved by the Federal Drug Administration for “major psychotic problems,” but he said the company hired representatives who promoted the drug to physicians for use for any kind of depression.
“Unfortunately, the studies later found that the drug could cause diabetes so it did more harm than good,” Hood said.
Lemons said there was no scientific proof Zyprexa causes diabetes. The company has not admitted any wrongdoing in the Mississippi settlement.
Under the agreement, the company cannot make any claim about Zyprexa that is false, misleading or deceptive and the drug cannot be promoted for off-label uses, Hood said.
The settlement money will go into Mississippi’s general fund and comes at a time when the state’s revenue collections are projected to be far below estimates for the current fiscal year. Gov. Haley Barbour already has cut $437 million from the state spending plan.
This is yet another example of how improper marketing of pharmaceutical products continues to cost the public financially which has a direct affect on our tax base. The cost of healthcare should not be driven by the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical industry.
FDA cracks down on misleading drug promotions
Posted by Chris in Uncategorized on February 9th, 2010
The economic pressures that are placed upon the pharmaceutical industry as a result of competition, increased reporting requirements, research and development pressures and regulatory compliance have resulted in a very aggressive strategy by some companies when it comes to promoting their products. When a consumer reads, views or hears claims about a drugs application or efficacy the consumer is led to believe that these claims are supported and sanctioned by the FDA. Very often this is not the case.
According to a new report published in Forbes magazine, the FDA has taken a much more aggressive posture since Pres. Obama came into office. According to Forbes,Thomas Abrams, who heads up the FDA division that oversees drug marketing, freely admits it. His group sent 41 enforcement letters in 2009, up from just 21 the year before. And so far this year–just the month of January–it has dispatched another nine, with plans to continue that pace through 2010.”We’re trying to get the point across to industry that we want them to comply with the law because it affects public health,” Abrams says in an interview with Reuters. “If you don’t comply with the law, we are going to take action. We are not going to tolerate having consumers or healthcare professionals misled.”
It’s not unexpected, considering that FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has pledged to increase the agency’s enforcement presence. And she’s promised to streamline processes that slowed down regulatory action. That streamlining has already had an effect at DDMAC, Abrams said; his division has changed its procedures so that warning letters go out more quickly. “We are inspired by Dr. Hamburg’s enforcement initiative and have taken it to heart,” he told the news service. “I personally am thrilled with it.”
This updated surveillance is good news for the consumer.
$17 million verdict against Honeywell & Abex
Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on February 9th, 2010
Yesterday an Illinois jury handed down a surprising verdict against two former asbestos product manufacturers. According to the attorneys involved in the case, the verdict was returned on the novel liability theory of corporate conspiracy. Typically this means that the factfinder determined that the defendants acted in concert with one another and caused the plaintiffs injury. This is different than a typical mesothelioma product liability case where the verdict is based upon a failure to warn about a particular product manufactured or sold by the defendant.
In this case, the plaintiff,Jayne Menssen, is 65 years old, widowed, and has no children. She was exposed to asbestos from 1967-1969 when she worked as a secretary at the UNARCO plant in Bloomington, IL. The jury returned the following verdict:
$3,500,000 compensatory
$4,370,000 punitives against Abex
$10,000,000 punitives against Honeywell
Congratulations to my friends ,Lisa Corwin & Jim Wydler, who represented the plaintiff for this extraordinary result.
Why Health Care Costs Are Out of Control-Ask the Drug Companies
US judge rules nine pharmaceutical companies overcharged for drugs
by Mark Todoruk
A federal judge ruled that nine companies, including Pfizer, Merck & Co., Novartis, Teva and Mylan, illegally sought to increase market share by selling drugs to physicians at discounts to average wholesale prices, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. US District Judge Patti Saris said the drugmakers “attempted to obtain payment from public funds on behalf of [healthcare] providers by means of a materially false statement or representation” about the prices of nine drugs.
Commenting on the case, which was filed by New York City and 42 counties in the state, Saris said “there is simply no evidence that defendants believed that the prices they reported were even true list prices.” Experts testifying for the plaintiffs indicated that records show that wholesale acquisition costs reported by the drugmakers were consistently more than 50 percent above actual acquisition costs, and sometimes more than 1000 percent above.
Spokesmen for Pfizer and Merck indicated the companies are considering appealing the ruling, which is Saris’ latest decision in the nine-year litigation over average wholesale prices. Ron Rogers of Merck said the drugmaker “and other defendants in no way benefited from these rates as they do not receive reimbursement from Medicaid.”
Pfizer’s Chris Loder said the company “disputes that any pricing information provided by its Wyeth subsidiary regarding its prescription drugs caused [the plaintiffs] to overpay.” He added that “no one was misled,” as the decisions at issue in the judge’s ruling were informed choices made by the federal government with awareness of prices being paid in the market
9.5 Million Dollar Verdict in Take Home Mesothelioma Case
Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on January 27th, 2010
Today a Baltimore jury returned a verdict of $9,985,000 against ATTRANSCO on behalf of LeRoy J. Conway, Jr. and his wife, Yolanda. Leroy’s father worked for ATTRANSCO beginning in the early 1960s through the 1970s as a merchant mariner in the engine rooms of ships with steam equipment and exposed his son to asbestos when he came home from work. Leroy’s claim was for his exposure in the 1970′s. Leory was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma when he was 44 years-old and underwent the removal of his lung shortly thereafter. Congratulations to my friends and co counsel Scott Frost, Demetrios Zacharapoulos, and George Tankard of Waters & Kraus on their well deserved victory.
For more information on recent mesothelioma verdicts see http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/verdictsandsettlements.html.
Mesothelioma Plaintiff Offers Proof of RT Vanderbilt Knowledge of Asbestos in Talc
Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on January 24th, 2010
In the courts rages a major debate as to whether the talc in various products actually contains asbestos. RT Vanderbilt says no. Here is the proof submitted by one plaintiff with mesothelioma who alleges that Vanderbilt talc caused mesothelioma.
Cohen Placitella & Roth Force Numerous Asbestos Executives to Admit Knowledge of Asbestos Dangers, No Testing & No Warnings
Posted by Chris in Defective Products, Mesothelioma on January 17th, 2010
Hundreds of thousands of working men and women were unwittingly exposed to asbestos both during the course of their employment and as consumers. The law imposes on the manufacturers the duty to warn and the duty to test. Despite these obligations and extensive knowledge of the dangers posed by asbestos exposure, warnings were not provided and people as a result became sick. Tens of thousands of people have died. Recent statistics demonstrate that the incidence of asbestos related mesothelioma has not even peaked as of 2010.
In representing people who have contracted mesothelioma, we have taken the depositions of numerous asbestos company representatives as well as executives from industrial facilities where asbestos was a known contaminant. You can read these depositions and draw your own conclusions as to whether the companies acted properly under the circumstances. All you need to do is to click on this link http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/depositions.html
Consumer Report: Bacteria Found in Chicken-Be careful
Posted by Chris in Community, Defective Products on December 10th, 2009
Report: Bacteria in chicken too high
Consumer Reports latest tests, released today, of 382 whole chickens bought from more than 100 stores in 22 states, found that two-thirds harbor disease-causing bacteria—salmonella, campylobacter or both (read the full report). While one name brand, Perdue, and most air-chilled organic chickens were significantly less contaminated than Foster Farms and Tyson brand chicken, consumers still need to be extremely vigilant in handling and cooking chicken.
Holidays for the Homeless
The economic downturn has placed a strain on millions of Americans. The number of homeless and economically disadvantaged has skyrocketed. There are more homeless and needy children this year than in any time since the Great Depression. These children, innocent victims of poverty, have all the same dreams and wishes as our own children. They dream of Christmas and Hanukkah presents and all things attendant to this time of year. Without your help, these dreams are unattainable. If your circumstances permit, please consider opening your heart to help these children .
Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. was established over fifteen years ago as a vehicle to help make a difference in the lives of homeless and needy children. Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. is a non-profit corporation which distributes food and gifts of toys and clothing to as many children as we can possibly reach. Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. identifies specific children and purchases gifts and clothing for the children on an individual basis.
Over the last several years, Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. was able to provide toys and clothing to thousands of children who would otherwise have gone without. The large number of children we are able to reach is a result of our work with numerous homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters and religious organizations of all denominations. Our goal is to serve every child we can identify. We need your help and resources. With your assistance, we can help wipe away some tears and frowns and replace them with smiles of joy. Please join us in our endeavor and reach into your hearts and pockets to help this worthy cause.
You can help by adopting a shelter or family and assisting them directly or by making a donation. If you want to help directly, please call 732 747 9003 or e-mail cplacitella@cprlaw.com. If you are able to donate, your donations will be used to purchase gifts for specific children in need.
You may donate online by going to http://www.holidaysforthehomeless.com or by mailing a check to: Holidays for the Homeless, Inc. Po. Box 760 Woodbridge, NJ 07095
