Daniel Fisher News
Muddled science and plaintiff experts created the $10 billion talc tort
Talc litigation has its roots in what some scientists described as a basic misunderstanding, one that highly paid plaintiff experts transformed into a mass tort that will cost Johnson & Johnson and many other companies more than $10 billion to resolve.
Fired over George Floyd Facebook post, lawyer can sue rival firm for sharing
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - A lawyer who said a rival firm got him fired by sharing a controversial Facebook post about the George Floyd killing with his supervisors gets a second chance at suing for tortious interference, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled.
Woman who can't remember how she fell can't sue, Nebraska court rules
LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - A department store was entitled to summary judgment against a woman who came up with multiple explanations for why she fell in a doorway but ultimately said she couldn’t recall what happened, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled.
Opioid judge slams 'insulting' suggestion he's pressuring defendants to settle
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The federal judge who has presided over more than $26 billion in opioid settlements and once threatened companies with bankruptcy if they tried to fight the claims against them in court attacked lawyers for a pharmacy benefit manager for suggesting he is trying to coerce a new class of defendants into settling.
Court: Man who used welding torch to open explosive drum caused his own death
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - A woman who sued the manufacturer of brake-cleaning fluid over the death of her husband after he was killed trying to cut into a 55-gallon drum of the stuff with a welding torch has no case, an Indiana appeals court ruled.
Ruling leaves lemon law attorneys ruing rejection of $60K settlement offer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers for a man who rejected Hyundai’s offer to pay $60,500 over a supposedly defective car can’t collect nearly $100,000 in fees after negotiating a much lower settlement on the eve of trial, a California appeals court ruled.
No HIPAA violation for reporting airman's meth use, court rules
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - A former Air Force airman who told a social worker he was suicidal, drank a fifth of vodka a day and had used methamphetamines has no case against a hospital for disclosing his drug use to a superior officer, an Arkansas court ruled.
Delaware judge speaks for Ohio courts, allows asbestos case to move forward
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A company that made equipment to grind automobile brakes must face trial in Delaware on claims it failed to warn mechanics about the risk of inhaling asbestos fibers, a judge ruled, after determining Ohio law applied to the case and the state’s highest court would have allowed it to proceed.
Nebraska avoids lawsuit over fatal dam failure on Niobara River
LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - A law passed in 2005 protects the State of Nebraska against a lawsuit by a woman whose husband was killed after a dam built in the 1920s failed, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled, upholding sovereign immunity against claims the state could have done more to prevent the tragedy.
Man wins $5,000 for eating crab-stuffed fish he thought was hash browns
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims he had a severe allergic reaction from eating crab-stuffed cod he thought was hash browns will have to live with $5,000 in damages, not the $50,000 he was seeking, after a Missouri appeals court upheld a jury verdict finding him 90% at fault for his own injuries.
Merck must pay Dr. Scholl's talc lawsuit costs, despite selling in 2014
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Merck is stuck with mounting costs from lawsuits over Dr. Scholl’s foot powder, which plaintiff lawyers claim can cause cancer, even though it sold the division containing that business to Bayer for $14 billion nearly a decade ago, a Delaware judge ruled.
Conservative justice cries 'tyranny' as Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects medical records fee
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Wisconsin law prohibits hospitals from charging a fee for electronic medical records, the state’s highest court ruled, drawing a fierce dissent from conservative justices who invoked John Locke to accuse their liberal colleagues of a “remarkable misconception of democracy” and upholding “tyranny.”
Court allows plaintiff to have wife/witness at deposition, as emotional support
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims he needs his wife present at a deposition to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder will probably get his wish even though she could be a witness in his lawsuit against the hospital he accuses of causing his PTSD.
No appeal for left-handed woman who accused martial-arts gym of discrimination
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who says a mixed-martial arts training gym discriminated against her for complaining about a comment one of the instructors made about left-handed people has no further avenue for appeal after a district court rejected her claim, Maryland's highest court ruled.
Worker fired after texting all-caps F-bomb to boss loses wrongful termination lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - A meatpacking plant worker who texted a profane insult to his boss but later claimed he meant it for a friend can’t sue for age discrimination and wrongful dismissal, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled, affirming the burden-shifting framework for proving workplace discrimination.
Amerisource Bergen attacks 'profoundly flawed' DOJ opioid lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Amerisource Bergen asked a federal judge to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit accusing it of filling hundreds of thousands of suspicious opioid orders, saying the government is seeking billions of dollars in fines for violating “hopelessly vague” rules it refuses to identify with any specificity.
Plaintiff lawyers say talc kills. So how do they represent future victims?
If the experts who testify for plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder are to believed, the ubiquitous product is a slow-acting toxin that even in tiny doses can cause ovarian and other cancers.
Los Angeles city attorney loses lawsuit over typhus infection from homeless encampment
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A Los Angeles deputy city attorney who says she contracted typhus from the trash-infested homeless encampments around City Hall can’t sue the city for failing to maintain cleaner conditions, an appeals court ruled.
Johnson & Johnson renews effort to settle talc claims with $8.9 billion bankruptcy plan
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Days after a federal appeals court ended Johnson & Johnson’s first attempt to resolve litigation over talcum powder through the bankruptcy of a specially formed subsidiary, the healthcare-products giant tried again, this time announcing a $8.9 billion tentative settlement agreement with lawyers representing more than 60,000 plaintiffs.
Calif. cities can collect soda taxes despite state law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - California cities can collect sales taxes on soda and sugar-sweetened drinks despite a state law that would have penalized them by cutting them off from all sales taxes, an appeals court ruled, upholding a trial court decision declaring the law unenforceable.