Drug & Device News

$2.5M Awarded in Risperdal Suit

A jury has awarded $2.5 million to the plaintiff in the first of roughly 1,250 Risperdal mass-tort cases in Philadelphia's courts. The jury found defendant Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. negligent in having failed to warn of the potential for Risperdal to cause gynecomastia, a condition in which males grow enlarged breasts. The plaintiff in the case, Austin Pledger, took Risperdal for autism. Pledger had used Risperdal beginning in 2002, but stopped after the FDA provided a new warning label in 2006 outlining the risks associated with gynecomastia.

Missing Price Data Leads to Decertification of Class

A federal judge has decertified a class of consumers who alleged they were misled into believing that taking the herbal supplement Cobra Sexual Energy would boost their virility. The class action, filed in 2013, alleged that the product, made of plant products with names like yohimbe and horny goat weed, is “little more than aggressively advertised snake oil.” On June 19, 2014, former U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins certified a class consisting of consumers who bought the product in California after Aug. 14, 2009. After Collins was appointed to California's Second District Court of Appeal, the case was transferred to U.S. District Judge Andr' Birotte, who found on Feb. 20 of this year that the plaintiff had failed to prove a reliable way to measure damages for the class. In particular, he failed to come up with an average retail price with which to calculate refunds based on sales data from the product's manufacturer, the judge found.

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No Connection Between Treatment and Fatal Infections

A doctor who treated a patient for skin rashes was not to blame for a fatal infection months later, a jury found on Nov. 24, 2014. Slaughter v. Burbridg, No. 2013-1167-4 (170th District Court, McLennan County, TX, 11/24/14).

Harold Hutchinson went to Dr. Michael Burbridge for rashes. The doctor prescribed the antibiotic Bactrim twice over a three-month period. Hutchinson was then diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a disorder that causes severe skin necrosis. The resulting lesions became septic and he died five months later. The defense dermatology expert testified that there was no link between Hutchinson's condition and any antibiotics prescribed by Burbridge, arguing the doses would have been too small and too long before the first appearance of his Stevens-Johnson symptoms.

$2.5M Awarded in Risperdal Suit

A jury has awarded $2.5 million to the plaintiff in the first of roughly 1,250 Risperdal mass-tort cases in Philadelphia's courts. The jury found defendant Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. negligent in having failed to warn of the potential for Risperdal to cause gynecomastia, a condition in which males grow enlarged breasts. The plaintiff in the case, Austin Pledger, took Risperdal for autism. Pledger had used Risperdal beginning in 2002, but stopped after the FDA provided a new warning label in 2006 outlining the risks associated with gynecomastia.

Missing Price Data Leads to Decertification of Class

A federal judge has decertified a class of consumers who alleged they were misled into believing that taking the herbal supplement Cobra Sexual Energy would boost their virility. The class action, filed in 2013, alleged that the product, made of plant products with names like yohimbe and horny goat weed, is “little more than aggressively advertised snake oil.” On June 19, 2014, former U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins certified a class consisting of consumers who bought the product in California after Aug. 14, 2009. After Collins was appointed to California's Second District Court of Appeal, the case was transferred to U.S. District Judge Andr' Birotte, who found on Feb. 20 of this year that the plaintiff had failed to prove a reliable way to measure damages for the class. In particular, he failed to come up with an average retail price with which to calculate refunds based on sales data from the product's manufacturer, the judge found.

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