The fentanyl patch wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Madison County Circuit Court on March 5 by Jason Pellazari, who claims that his mother, Betty J. Pellazari, died on March 8, 2009, after applying a pain patch the night before. The lawsuit claims that the patch itself was defective, allowing too much of the powerful fentanyl gel to enter her body.

A coroner determined that Betty Pellazari died due to fentanyl toxicity, with excessive fentanyl in her blood. The lawsuit claims she used the patch as directed and was found dead the next morning by her boyfriend.

The Mylan fentanyl patch is a generic version of the Duragesic patch, which is manufactured by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The pain patch is prescribed to patients suffering from chronic, severe pain. It is designed to slowly deliver a dose of the powerful painkiller Fentanyl, which is an opioid that is considered 100 times more powerful than heroine. If too much of the medication is delivered or if the fentanyl gen contained in the patch comes in direct contact with the skin, it can cause a fatal fentanyl patch overdose.

The fentanyl lawsuit charges Mylan with failure to warn of the risks and negligence in designing and inspecting the patches to make sure they were safe for the public. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $400,000 for loss of support and guidance and other costs.

There have been a number of reported problems with fentanyl pain patches due to manufacturing issues since the brand name medication was first introduced by Johnson & Johnson in 1994. At least six different fentanyl patch recalls have been issued by Johnson & Johnson and companies manufacturing generic versions of the patch, raising questions about whether the powerful painkiller can be safely made.

Hundreds of fentanyl pain patch overdose deaths have been associated with different versions of the patch, and dozens of pain patch lawsuits have been filed against the various manufacturers.

Out of the first four fentanyl patch wrongful death lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson to go to trial over problems with their Duragesic patch, plaintiffs have been successful in each case, with juries awarding a combined total of more than $36 million in damages.

The pharmacy malpractice lawsuit was filed by the family of Beth Hippely, who died in January 2007. According to a report in The Ledger, Hippely’s family sued Walgreens, alleging that a teenaged pharmacy technician accidentally gave her a blood thinner dosage that was ten times more powerful than she had been prescribed.

The drug, Warfarin, had been prescribed to Hippely since 2002 as part of her breast cancer treatment. The pharmacy error caused her to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage and paralysis before her death.

A Florida jury ruled in the family’s favor at trial for the wrongful death lawsuit in August 2007, awarding the $33.3 million, but Walgreen’s appealed the verdict. Last month, the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Lakeland, Florida affirmed the lower court’s decision and upheld the verdict and the award.

According to a 2006 report by the National Academies of Science’s Institute of Medicine, there are about 1.5 million medication errors every year which result in injuries. These mistakes are largely preventable and could be caused by a doctor prescribing the medication incorrectly, the pharmacy filling the wrong dosage or by nurses dispensing a different patient’s drugs.

At a hearing in San Diego on March 25, the panel will consider whether to centralize and consolidate at least four Blair chenille robe fire lawsuits that have been filed so far for pretrial litigation. If an MDL is formed, the cases will be assigned to one judge for coordinated management to avoid duplicate discovery, inconsistent rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the court, parties and witnesses. At the hearing, plaintiffs and defendants in the claims will have a chance to submit oral arguments for or against the centralization.

The Blair chenille robe recall was originally issued in April 2009 for 162,000 robes after the company received three reports of the garmets catching fire, leading to injuries. In June, after receiving six more reports of Blair robe deaths, the company and federal regulators issued another warning that the robes had been recalled. The robe recall was expanded in October to include an additional 138,000 women’s chenille full-length robes, women’s chenille jackets, women’s chenille lounge jackets and women’s chenille tops after the company continued to receive reports of robe fires and deaths. In most cases, the victims were elderly women who were cooking at the time of the fire.

The cases under consideration for consolidation include wrongful death lawsuits brought by Harold A. Ledbetter, Michelle Putini and Sharon Davis, who all represent the estates of people who died allegedly due to Blair robe fires. Another lawsuit was filed by Agnes Wise, who says she suffered severe injuries due to a Blair robe fire. All of the lawsuits include claims that the robes violated the Federal Flammable Fabric Act, and charge the manufacturer with negligence and product liability.

The clothing, made in Pakistan by A-One Textile & Towel, and was distributed by Blair through Blair Catalogs, online and from the company’s stores in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has said that the clothing did not meet federal flammability standards.

The request to consolidate the lawsuits came from Blair, LLC and Orchard Brands Corp., Blair’s parent company. The companies are seeking to have the lawsuits consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

The September 2007 death of Constance Bergey’s 2-year-old daughter, Serenity, was one of the factors in a series of nationwide Simplicity drop side crib recalls spanning 2006 through 2009. One of those Simplicity recalls, affecting one million cribs, was issued just two days after Serenity’s death.

Defective Simplicity cribs have been linked to at least 11 infant deaths, including the death of a seven-month-old baby from Kentucky as recently as September 2009.

The Simplicity drop side crib deaths, which kept occurring after federal regulators recalled the cribs, and after the company went out of business, have led the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue new child furniture safety rules that require manufacturers of cribs, high chairs, gates, strollers and other infant and toddler furniture to provide registration cards with each product and maintain a list of registered consumers. The registration would be used to alert as many consumers as possible if there is a product recall.

The settlement was approved on March 3 between Bergey, Walmart and Simplicity, but the details were kept confidential.

More than 2 million Simplicity drop side cribs have been recalled in recent years due to the failure of the crib’s plastic hardware, which can cause the drop side to detach or separate from the crib. The Simplicity recalls were issued in December 2005, June 2007, September 2007, September 2008 and July 2009.

Simplicity Inc. went out of business in 2008 in the wake of the crib recalls and infant deaths. Many of the major retailers who sold Simplicity products, such as Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart, Target, J.C. Penny and Kmart have agreed to accept returns.

Bergey’s lawsuit, which was originally scheduled to go to trial in February, is one of several baby crib lawsuits that have been filed against both Simplicity and major retailers, such as Wal-Mart, in connection with Simplicity drop side crib deaths. In addition, a number of major retailers and manufacturers have stopped selling drop side cribs due to repeated problems with drop side cribs.

The settlement in the Bergey lawsuit was reached just after the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reopened an investigation into Serenity’s death, after originally wanting to charge Bergey with manslaughter in 2008. Originally, detectives and Florida child welfare officials said that Serenity was kept in filthy conditions in a home with a history of drug use, and were concerned that her body showed signs of being dead far longer than the family reported. However, prosecutors declined to press charges against Bergey at the time.

The Botox wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Allergan, Inc., the makers of Botox, by Brandon and Jill Wells, whose daughter, Audrey, died in 2008. Also included in the lawsuit are doctors from the Riley Hospital for Children, who treated Audrey with the Botox injections to help reduce muscle spasticity associated with cerebral palsy, even though the medication is not approved by the FDA for that use.

Audrey died just days after receiving Botox, which contains small quantities of the toxin associated with the muscle paralyzing condition Botulism, when the medication spread from the injection site and caused breathing difficulties. According to a story in the South Bend Tribune, the family alleges that neither the doctors or drug makers warned them about the potentially life-threatening side effects of Botox.

Botox is approved for both cosmetic use to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in the skin and to treat medical conditions such as strabismus (crossed eyes), hyperhidrosis (excess sweating), cervical dystonia (involuntary contractions of the neck muscles) and blepharospasms (involuntary blinking of the eye). However, it also commonly used off-label at high doses to treat stiff and jerky movements associated with cerebral palsy in children.

A number of adverse event reports have been associated with side effects of Botox, where the medication spreads from the area of the injection to other parts of the body. These Botox problems have most commonly been seen among children with cerebral palsy, where the typical Botox dose is substantially larger.

Under Indiana state law, the Wellses first had to file a medical malpractice claim with the Indiana Department of Insurance (IDI). A panel of medical experts will review the case to see if it has merit. If they approve, it will move on to state or federal court.

Earlier this month, Allergan won a similar Botox lawsuit filed in California by Dee Spears, the mother of 7 year-old Kristen Spears, who also died after receiving Botox for cerebral palsy. The jury found that the girl died of cerebral palsy complications, not Botox complications.

In February 2008, the FDA issued a warning about the risks associated with use of Botox to treat cerebral palsy, after receiving a number of adverse event reports involving sudden death, breathing problems and other potentially life-threatening injuries. A “black box” Botox warning was added to the medication in August 2009, warning about the risk of botulism-like side effects, such as swallowing and breathing difficulties, that can occur if the injection spreads to other areas of the body.

More than a dozen people have filed lawsuits over Botox against Allergan, alleging that the company illegally promoted the medication for non-approved uses and failed to adequately warn about the risk of these severe and potentially life-threatening Botox injuries.

According to an FDA inspection report (pdf) released last week, raw materials used to make Byetta were not properly inspected coming into the plant, and workers in a variety of positions at the West Chester plant, near Cincinnati, Ohio, have not been properly trained to ensure quality control.

Byetta is a type 2 diabetes drug that is manufactured and distributed jointly by Amylin and Eli Lilly & Co. The drug is used to control blood sugar levels and is part of a class of medications known as incretin mimetics, which imitate natural hormones that lower blood glucose levels. The drug makers are currently seeking approval for a new long-acting formulation of the drug, which would allow users to take one injection per week, instead of the current twice-daily dosing regimen. A decision on the drug approval is expected this week.

According to the FDA’s inspection report, the plant failed to establish or follow procedures designed to prevent contamination of drug products that are supposed to be sterile. The plant also failed to test in-process materials properly for quality and purity, and did not follow up on investigations into unexplained discrepancies and failures of batches of drugs.

The inspection report follows an FDA warning issued in January about off-label promotional statements for Byetta at a conference in June.

The production issues also add to recent concerns about potential health problems with Byetta, which has been linked to a risk of kidney failure and pancreatitis. In November, the FDA issued a new warning indicating that they have received at least 78 post-marketing reports that link Byetta kidney problems, including 62 cases where the users experienced kidney failure. And in October 2007 and August 2008, the FDA issued safety alerts about reports of Byetta pancreatitis cases, including severe reports of hemorrhagic pancreatitis and necrotizing pancreatitis, which can be fatal.

Amylin and Eli Lilly also currently face a number of Byetta lawsuits involving allegations that the drug makers failed to adequately warn about the risk of pancreatitis and kidney failure.

The nurse negligence lawsuit was filed last month in St. Clair County Circuit Court by Cletus Schmittling, whose wife, Carole Schmittling, died at the hospital on February 12, 2008. The lawsuit names the hospital and nurses Josefina Nance and Cathy Allen as defendants.

Schmittling was a resident of the Memorial Convalescent Center, which is managed by the hospital, when she began to show signs of a respiratory infection, according to a story in the St. Clair Record. In early 2008, she made numerous complaints to the nursing staff about her health, but the lawsuit alleges that those complaints were ignored.

The litigation claims that Scmittling, in the span of three days, from January 24 through 26, complained that she had been coughing up blood, that she was too tired to perform physical therapy, that she felt ill and that she feared that a previous respiratory infection was returning. Nurses indicated that her blood oxygen level dropped from 97% to 92%, and that she had a temperature that ran as high as 100 degrees. Cletus Schmittling also alleges that he complained to the nurses about his wife’s health.

He accuses the nurses at the hospital of medical malpractice for ignoring his wife’s complaints and failing to report her declining condition to her doctor. The lawsuit says that Scmittling was suffering from Acute Respiratory Distress, which the nurses should have recognized and reported to her doctor.

The lawsuit charges the nurses and the hospital with negligence, and seeks compensatory damages in excess of $150,000.

The Japanese automaker currently faces at least 89 Toyota class action lawsuits sparked by recalls involving problems with Toyota gas pedals and brakes. An analysis done by the Associated Press estimates that the company’s legal bills on those cases alone could top $3 billion, and that does not include the costs of a number of individual Toyota accident personal injury lawsuits, product liability lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits that have also been filed against the company.

Toyota has recalled about 9 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles since September 2009. About 8.5 million of those vehicles were recalled due to problems with sudden acceleration, which the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) says have been involved in as many as 52 deaths. More than 400,000 additional Toyota Prius and Lexus HS250h vehicles have also been recalled due to brake problems.

The Toyota class action suits, which could represent as many as six million different Toyota owners, allege that the company misrepresented the value of its vehicles by concealing the accelerator problem from consumers and investors. The lawsuits say that, as a result, the resale value of their Toyota and Lexus vehicles has plummeted. Toyota resale values are often used as a selling point of the company’s vehicles. If the company has to pay Toyota owners even as little as $500, the cost could quickly balloon in to the billions.

Later this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will decide whether to consolidate all federal lawsuits against Toyota into a multidistrict litigation (MDL), where the cases will be centralized in one federal court for pretrial litigation.

Last month Toyota became the target of probes by both federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both federal investigators and the SEC are looking into how the company reacted to complaints about Toyota accelerator problems, and are questioning whether the company attempted to cover up or downplay the seriousness and number of incidents being reported.

The company’s woes over the gas pedal problems may not end there. Many critics have said that the Toyota acceleration problem is due to an electronics flaw, which the company has denied. It has developed fixes for the problems that included replacing floor mats and installing devices to prevent the pedal from getting physically stuck due to friction. However, the NHTSA says it has received at least 60 reports from Toyota owners who received the fixes, but are still suffering from sudden acceleration problems.

According to the National Highway Transportation Authority (NHTSA), investigators are contacting Toyota drivers who are complaining that the fix, meant to solve problems with sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, is not working. Toyota Motors Corp. officials said last week they had been made aware of the reports by U.S. authorities.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles since September 2009 due to problems with unexpected, sudden acceleration. The NHTSA says at least 52 people have been killed in crashes caused by Toyota gas pedal problems.

During the first wave of Toyota recalls in September, Toyota officials blamed the problem on thick floor mats that could jam under the pedal. However, the Japanese automaker later recalled millions more vehicles when it was discovered that, in some cases, the gas pedal itself was getting stuck without the floor mats. Consumers and some critics say they believe the problem is actually an electronics issue, but Toyota has dismissed such claims, saying that its own investigations have shown no sign that the acceleration problems are electronic in nature.

More than 60 people who received a gas pedal fix for their Toyota vehicle say that they are still experiencing unintended acceleration. However, most of the reports are unverified.

“If it appears that a remedy provided by Toyota is not addressing the problem it was intended to fix, NHTSA has the authority to order Toyota to provide a different solution,” the NHTSA said in a statement to news agencies.

The Toyota gas pedal problems have been associated with dozens of accidents and a number of serious and fatal personal injury claims. The incidents have touched off a wave of Toyota product liability lawsuits, including several wrongful death claims, and a number of Toyota class-action suits.

Later this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will decide whether to consolidate all federal lawsuits against Toyota into a multidistrict litigation (MDL), where the cases will be centralized in one federal court for pretrial litigation.

Last month Toyota became the target of probes by both federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both federal investigators and the SEC are looking into how the company reacted to complaints about Toyota accelerator problems, and are questioning whether the company attempted to cover up or downplay the seriousness and number of incidents being reported.

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielctw/ / CC BY 2.0

The case was filed over an August 2009 accident that killed off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, his wife Cleofe, their 13 year-old daughter Mahala and Cleofe’s brother, Chris Lastrella.

At the time of the crash, Saylor was driving a loaner vehicle from a dealership while his car was being repaired. The Lexus accelerated out of control, reaching speeds as high as 120 m.p.h. before slamming into another vehicle and careening off an embankment.

While the car was accelerating out-of-control, Lastrella called 9-1-1- from inside the vehicle to get help. In addition, witnesses reported that the car’s wheels burst into flames as Mark Saylor stood on the brakes in an attempt to stop the vehicle.

Following the crash, investigators determined that the floor mats were the incorrect size for the car and got jammed under the accelerator. They also found that the brakes were ineffective in slowing the car.

The Lexus wrongful death lawsuit was filed in San Diego Superior Court on Tuesday by Saylor’s family. It names Toyota Motor Corp. and other Toyota entities in the U.S., as well as El Cajon Luxury Cars, Inc. as defendants.

Approximately one month after the accident, on September 29, Toyota announced a floor mat recall impacting 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that contained a certain type of floor mat on the driver’s side that could cause the accelerator to stick.

The Japanese automaker later recalled millions more vehicles when it was discovered that, in some cases, the gas pedal itself was getting stuck without the floor mats. The Toyota gas pedal problems have been associated with dozens of accidents and a number of serious and fatal personal injury claims. The incidents have touched off a wave of Toyota product liability lawsuits, several other wrongful death claims, and a number of Toyota class-action lawsuits.

Later this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will decide whether to consolidate all federal lawsuits against Toyota into a MDL under one federal court for pretrial litigation. Unless the Saylor lawsuit is transferred to federal court, it would likely remain a separate California state lawsuit.

Chris Lastrella’s mother, Fe Lastrella, testified before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week during a hearing over the Toyota recalls. The company’s actions have been highly criticized, as documents and other evidence suggest that the company knew of the sudden acceleration problem long before the deaths and the recall.

During the hearing, Akio Toyoda, the company’s president and grandson of the company’s founder, personally apologized to Saylor’s family.

Last month Toyota became the target of probes by both federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both federal investigators and the SEC are looking into how the company reacted to complaints about Toyota accelerator problems, and are questioning whether the company attempted to cover up or downplay the seriousness and number of incidents being reported.