The human hip is a marvel of bioengineering. It allows for a 360-degree range of motion due to its “ball-in-socket” design. But as we age, this hip joint can sometimes fail. When it does, it may require a total hip replacement. Hip replacements often use a variety of exotic metal…
North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer Blog
Nicotine Addiction in Children: The Legacy of Vaping, E-Cigs, and JUUL
These days the e-cigarette headlines mostly involve people who have suffered serious and even mysterious illnesses as a result of vaping devices. And maybe that is as it should be. But for me, one of the more devastating aspects of this e-cigarette nightmare is that today millions of school-age children…
Zantac: Overview of Recall and Lawsuits Due to Cancer-Causing NDMA
Many of us suffer from heartburn, and one of the most popular ways to treat it is by taking Zantac. Until recently, Zantac was considered a very safe medication and was available without a prescription. Given how well it worked, along with its affordable price and the perception of safety,…
Weight Gain Can Make You the Victim of a Defective Medical Device
Here is a strange cause and effect: if you don’t keep your weight at healthy levels, you may unwittingly become a victim to a negligent manufacturer selling a defective medical device. Which ultimately means your weight gain may one day lead you to me and to becoming a plaintiff in…
Should I Automatically Get Revision Surgery If My Artificial Hip is Recalled?
I get this question fairly often, and it’s a good one. It usually goes something like this: a person had a total hip replacement several years ago. A few years pass. Then out of the blue the individual receives a letter from the artificial hip manufacturer or from the implanting…
Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Lawsuits: Bellwether Trials Scheduled
Judge Catherine Blake, who is overseeing the Smith & Nephew Birmingham hip multi-district litigation in Baltimore, Maryland, recently issued an order setting out the bellwether trial schedule for the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) cases. Just to recap: there are two tracks of cases in the Smith & Nephew Birmingham hip…
Help! I Don’t Like My Product Liability Settlement Offer!
I get these calls fairly often. The caller will explain that her lawyer just called out of the blue with an offer to settle an artificial hip or prescription drug case. The person believes the offer is too low. Well, is it? That’s a complex question, and it may be,…
Why Won’t Companies Settle Valid Product Failure Claims?
Most of us pay our bills on time. If we break a neighbor’s rake, we promptly purchase a replacement. If our child dumps fruit punch on a friend’s carpet, we pay to have it cleaned. In fact, we don’t really think about these unwritten rules often; it’s just the right…
Vaping, E-cigarettes, JUUL: Addiction, Illness Lead to Litigation
Like many parents, vaping and e-cigarettes caught my wife and me by complete surprise. Two years ago we asked our oldest child how many kids he knew in his high school who were vaping. He said, “it will be much faster to list the kids who aren’t vaping.” We were…
Roundup Lawsuits: Conflicting Reports of $8 Billion U.S. Settlement Offer
Last week news media outlets reported that Bayer AG and Monsanto had offered to settle United States Roundup cases for an amount up to $8,000,000,000. That’s eight billion dollars. If true, it would be welcome news, or at least a good start, as there are currently over 18,000 cases filed…