Let me state the obvious: companies sell you stuff with one purpose in mind, to make money. McDonald’s doesn’t sell you quarter pounders because the company believes what you need to live a better life is to eat more quarter pounders. The NRA doesn’t advocate gun ownership because it believes…
Causation is usually simple: this happened because of that. The wheel fell off my bicycle, causing me to fall and break my arm. Legal causation is not so simple, and it can be very difficult to prove in a civil case. Legal causation or “proximate cause” involves an event (or…
Communications between pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers and physicians are highly regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but the agency, as much as it may want to be, does not have the final say in all regulation. These companies have First Amendment commercial free speech rights…
On July 1, 2016 a jury in Philadelphia sent a very loud and angry message to Johnson & Johnson. After a lengthy trial, the jury awarded a young boy who grew breasts after taking the drug Risperdal a staggering $70,000,000.00. This verdict is far and away the largest money judgment…
I have written on this site about the horrific side effects that some young men have suffered as a result of taking the antipsychotic drug Risperdal. Check out my recent post on the subject for further information. Risperdal was developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a company owned by Johnson & Johnson)…
This is the story of the lawsuit involving Austin Pledger, an autistic boy who grew large female breasts as a result of taking Johnson & Johnson’s antipsychotic drug Risperdal. In most product liability cases, injured persons bring claims based on one of three legal theories: (1) a defect in manufacturing…
Unless you do not own a television, you have likely seen the endless parade of commercials for drugs in this country. Apparently there is a medication that can fix any problem you have–hair loss, high cholesterol, even of course the dreaded erectile dysfunction. Drugs make corporations billions of dollars each…
I need to pause for a moment in discussing artificial hip litigation and draw your attention to a shocking series of articles on the Johnson & Johnson drug, Risperdal. Steven Brill has written a compelling series titled America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker. Brill makes the argument that Johnson & Johnson pushed…