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Products liability – Cigarettes – Chapter 93A
Where a jury returned a verdict against a defendant tobacco company, the damages should be trebled under G.L.c. 93A.
Products liability – Choice of law – Learned intermediary doctrine
Where four plaintiffs have brought suit over a surgical implant, the law of the place of injury should apply to each of their cases.
Products liability – Surgical stapler
Where a defendant manufacturer of a surgical stapler has moved for summary judgment, that motion should be allowed because the plaintiffs cannot prove causation.
Woman lost fingers to ‘defective’ ping-pong table, suit says
A product liability suit that recently landed in federal court alleges a Berkley woman lost her fingers as a result of attempting to put away a folding ping-pong table during […]
Products liability – Surgical device – Alternative design
Where the defendant manufacturer of surgical staplers has moved for summary judgment, that motion should be allowed to the extent that the plaintiff’s design defect claim is based on the defendant’s quality controls but otherwise denied, as a reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant failed to adopt a safer alternative design.
Subrogation suit over house fire bounced on summary judgment
A U.S. magistrate judge has determined that an insurance company could not bring a subrogation claim against the manufacturer of a bathroom fan under the theory that a design defect caused a fire in an insured’s home.
Products liability – Expert – Ceiling fan
Where a plaintiff Insurance Company has brought a subrogation action following a fire that allegedly started in a bathroom ceiling fan manufactured and sold by the defendant, summary judgment should be awarded to the defendant because the opinion of the plaintiff’s expert is not based on valid cognitive testing, nor is it undergirded by any specific, generally accepted scientific principles.
Products liability – Ohio law
Where the defendant manufacturer in a suit over a medical device has moved to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claim for negligent misrepresentation under Ohio law, that motion should be denied because the negligent misrepresentation claim is abrogated by the Ohio Products Liability Act to the extent it seeks compensatory damages, but it is not abrogated insofar as it seeks only economic loss damages.
Products liability – Express warranty
Where a putative class action has been brought claiming defects in the transmissions of certain vehicles, a count for breach of express warranty must be dismissed because the defendant manufacturer did not have an opportunity to repair or replace the allegedly defective parts.
MDL plaintiffs stuck with $430K in copying costs
A federal judge has decided that plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation over claims that the anti-nausea drug Zofran caused birth defects must pay GlaxoSmithKline $429,000 for costs incurred by the defendant in obtaining copies of medical records relevant to each plaintiff’s case.
Products liability – Bills of costs
Where a defendant that prevailed in a products liability suit has submitted a bill of costs seeking $577,803.95, that request should be granted in the total amount of $453,989.18.
Products liability – Arkansas law – Manufacturing defect
Where a defendant manufacturer has moved to dismiss three of the counts asserted by a plaintiff, that motion should be allowed because the plaintiff has not adequately pleaded a manufacturing defect under applicable Arkansas law.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
