Philadelphia Injury Lawyer Blog

In a victory for Philadelphia breast cancer patients, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a $2.75 million jury award to an Arkansas woman who claimed hormone replacement drugs caused her breast cancer. Donna Scroggin was diagnosed with breast cancer after taking hormone replacement drugs widely-prescribed to ease menopause symptoms. On Scroggin's behalf, personal injury product liability attorneys sued drug makers Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Upjohn Co., both now subsidiaries of Pfzier Inc., claiming that hormone replacement drugs they manufactured were responsible for Scroggin's breast cancer.

The jury agreed, awarding Scroggin $2.75 million in compensatory damages and $27 million in punitive damages. On appeal, the punitive damage award was struck down by a federal judge who ordered a partial retrial solely to address punitive damages. In a victory for Philadelphia cancer victims, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to limit the partial retrial to punitive damages, rejecting the drug company's argument that the retrial should review all aspects of the cause, including the court's finding that hormone replacement drugs contributed to Scroggin's cancer.

After taking hormone replacement drugs for 15 years, Scroggin eventually lost both breasts to mastectomy after the discovery of cancerous lumps. More than 6 million women in Philadelphia and across the U.S. have been prescribed hormone replacement drugs to relieve menopause symptoms that can include night sweats, hot flashes and mood swings. Prescribed for decades, hormone replacement therapy was standard medical treatment for menopausal symptoms until 2002 when researchers discovered a 26% higher incidence of cancer among women taking the drugs. Scroggin's successful product liability suit sets the stage for more than 8,000 personal injury lawsuits related to menopause drugs that have been filed against drug maker Wyeth to date.

Philadelphia women who develop cancer after taking hormone replacement drugs are urged to consult a knowledgeable Philadelphia product liability attorney about their rights.

Concerned about the potential personal injury risk posed by millions of cadmium-laced Shrek Forever After promotional glasses sold in their stores, McDonald's in Philadelphia and across the U.S. have started offering $3 refunds to Philadelphia consumers to return the glasses. Sold by McDonald's stores for $2, more than 7 million of the colorfully-painted glasses have been purchased by Philadelphia and other American consumers since going on sale May 21.

Last Friday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the voluntary recall of 12 million defective product Shrek glasses when painted designs were found to contain the toxic substance cadmium which has the potential to cause injuries to children. This week, the burger giant started offering $3 refunds. Philadelphia consumers can return the defective glasses to any McDonald's.

A known carcinogen, cadmium has been implicated in several recalls of metal jewelry since the first of the year. In January, laboratory tests ordered by the Associated Press revealed the potential personal injury risk of cadmium-tainted products made in China. Christmas-themed and best friends charm bracelets marketed to young children were found to contain up to 90% cadmium. More recently, Miley Cyrus jewelry marketed to teens and young women was recalled when it was found to contain cadmium.

Used in the production of batteries, metal coatings and plastics, cadmium can also be used in paint to produce the colors red and yellow. Long-term exposure to cadmium is known to cause cancer, bone softening, severe kidney problems and may hinder brain development in young children. The McDonald's recall is the first cadmium incident involving American-made products. The glasses were made by Arc International at its New Jersey plant. Previous cadmium recalls have involved Chinese-manufactured consumer products. The CPSC is currently developing consumer product standards to limit the use of toxic metals in U.S. consumer products.

Kitchen accidents are a common occurrence in Philadelphia. But when dinner is over and you plunk that last dish into the dishwasher and press the start button, most Philadelphians think they've gotten safely through another meal. Unfortunately, a new recall indicates that turning on the dishwasher could just be the start of your problems.

Today, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys warned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of 1.7 million Maytag dishwashers sold in Philadelphia and across the United States. Maytag-manufactured dishwashers have been implicated in 12 reported electrical failures that have caused fires resulting in significant property damage. While no serious Philadelphia personal injuries have been reported, the potential for disaster exists. Many Philadelphians turn on their dishwashers on their way to bed. Should a fire break out while a family is sleeping, smoke inhalation and flames could cause severe personal injury and even death, say concerned Philadelphia personal injury lawyers.

The recall applies to Maytag dishwashers sold under the following brand names: Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, Admiral, Magic Chef and Performa; as well as Crosley brand dishwashers with plastic tubs. The recalled dishwashers were sold at Philadelphia and other U.S. appliance and department stores between February 2006 and April 2010. Maytag is a division of appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp.

Philadelphia product liability lawyers advise Philadelphia consumers to immediately stop using recalled dishwashers and disconnect the appliance from its power source by turning off the circuit breaker or fuse that governs the dishwasher. Philadelphia consumers can call their local Maytag service center to schedule a free in-home repair. Whirlpool is also offering affected Philadelphia consumers rebates toward the purchase of a new Maytag dishwasher. To find out if your dishwasher is among those recalled serial numbers of the defective dishwashers are posted on the CPSC website.

If you have suffered damage or personal injury from a defective product, ask a Philadelphia personal injury attorney to review your case.

When pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson recalled a laundry list of the most popular children's liquid pain and allergy medicines on April 30, frightened Philadelphia parents were told that generic substitutes for children's Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl were safe to use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reassured Philadelphia parents that the drug recall affected only over-the-counter children's medicines manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare for Johnson & Johnson. The federal agency said Philadelphia parents could safely substitute generic alternatives sold by pharmacies, grocery stores and discount chains for the recalled brand-name drugs. Apparently, the FDA was wrong.

This week, Perrigo, the country's largest maker of generic drugs, received a warning from the FDA citing significant manufacturing violations. Metal shavings, one of the dangerous contaminants found in recalled children's Tylenol and Benadryl, were discovered in ibuprofen tablets produced at Perrigo's Michigan plant. Fortunately, this time the defective drug was recalled before reaching consumers. Perrigo supplies generic equivalent drugs to many of the nation's biggest pharmacy chains, including Walgreens and CVS. While the FDA's warning letter did not specifically mention children's medicines, parents and Philadelphia personal injury attorneys are understandably concerned that contaminants found in one of the company's products may also be contained in other medicines manufactured at the firm's Michigan plant.

Consumer advocates are pushing the FDA to institute stricter pre-market quality control measures to insure that defective medicines do not reach consumers. Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hear testimony by Johnson & Johnson and FDA officials on what is becoming a disturbingly more frequent problem. The House committee is expected to investigate the cause of drug manufacturing defects and evaluate the response of federal regulators.

Yesterday, Wal-Marts in Philadelphia and across the country started clearing their shelves of Miley Cyrus brand jewelry. The metal necklaces and bracelets were found to contain high levels of the toxic substance cadmium in laboratory tests performed for the Associated Press. A joint statement issued by Wal-Mart, Cyrus and jewelry designer Max Azria said that although the jewelry was not marketed specifically to children, precautions were being taken because young fans of the Hanna Montana pop star could purchase the jewelry or receive it as a gift. While cadmium jewelry is not known to be toxic when worn, it presents a significant personal injury danger if sucked on or bitten, common behaviors in young children and a common nervous habit among elementary and middle school-aged children.

This is the latest of several cadmium scares to worry Philadelphia parents since January when the Associated Press first exposed the potential personal injury risk associated with children's jewelry manufactured in China. Laboratory tests have revealed high levels of the toxic metal cadmium in the metal chains and charms of children's jewelry made in China for sale in Philadelphia and across the U.S. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently began testing for cadmium and has recalled several children's jewelry products sold at Wal-Mart, Claire's and other retailers. Some recalled jewelry, including a popular Best Friends charm bracelet sold exclusively at Claire's, was found to be 91% cadmium.

A known carcinogen, extended exposure to cadmium can cause serious personal injuries in young children, including kidney failure, brain development problems and bone damage. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys recommend parents remove suspicious metal jewelry from their children's possession. If your child becomes ill or you notice behavioral changes, seek medical attention and contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

From a Philadelphia Injury Lawyer perspective, injuries to children can be very devastating. A child's toy dart game that was sold between September 2005 and January 2009 by Family Dollar stores caused the death of two children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in issuing a recent warning on its website. Two young boys, a 9-year-old in Chicago and a 10-year-old in Milwaukee, suffocated to death while playing with the Auto Fire target set. In separate incidents, both boys were asphyxiated when the colorful 1-inch darts lodged in their throats. The darts were designed to be shot from plastic toy guns at a target board. In issuing a recall of 1.8 million Auto Fire dart-gun toys, the Consumer Product Safety Commission urged Philadelphia parents to immediately discard the toys.

With summer coming, children will soon be out of school which means more time for play. When parents purchase toys for their children they should be able to anticipate a summer full of fun, not tragedy. Philadelphia parents who purchase age-appropriate toys should be able to rely on manufacturers' and distributors' packaging and marketing. Toys marked as appropriate for children of a certain age should not present a personal injury risk or possibility of wrongful death to children in that age group and older who play with them.

Tragically, too often hazardous toys are not removed from the market until after several children suffer serious personal injuries or die. Often Philadelphia personal injury lawyers ring the first warning bell when they pursue legal damages for victims injured by a toy or for their families when a child dies. Money talks. When corporations refuse to act on consumer complaints about their products, the cost of personal injury lawsuits often gains their attention and forces them to initiate proper safety measures.

A pain pump designed to alleviate pain may be the cause of serious chronic pain suffered by athletes and active adults in Philadelphia and across the country, charges a defective product liability lawsuit. Implanted in the knee by orthopedic surgeons to control pain following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery, pain pumps manufactured by Breg, Inc., a California medical device maker, were never approved for use in knees or joints by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), despite being marketed for that purpose. Philadelphia surgeons estimate that thousands of orthopedic surgeons across the country have used Berg and similar pain pumps in joint surgery with most patients achieving full recovery. However, for a number of knee surgery patients, recovery has been illusive. These former women athletes report chronic, constant joint pain that limits their ability to walk comfortably or sleep through the night without being awakened by severe pain.

Last November the FDA issued a warning to doctors citing 35 reports of chondrolysis and intimating a possible association with pain pumps used in orthopedic surgery. The most severe cases of cartilage destruction occurred in shoulder surgeries. In all 35 incidents, healthy young adults experienced debilitating cartilage destruction in the joint following orthopedic surgery and implantation of a pain pump. While the FDA noted that the cause of chondrolysis had not been proven, the agency did specify that pain pump medical devices had not been approved for use in joints.

Five Midwestern women in their 20s, former college athletes, have filed personal injury lawsuits against Berg, charging the pain pump manufacturer with product liability and medical malpractice issues, including misleading marketing. One Ohio orthopedic surgeon who uses pain pumps told a reporter that doctors don't commonly read FDA approvals but rely on sales representatives for product information.

If you have had a pain pump implanted during joint surgery and suffer chronic pain, talk to an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney about your rights.

Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, Edith Pearce recently negotiated a million dollar settlement for the victim of a dangerous and defective machine that caused a severe injury to his hand. The case involved a 16-year old boy at that time, who was temporarily placed by his employer, a staffing company, to work at a sheet metal forming facility outside Philadelphia. The facility had been cited previously by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, of the U.S. Department of Labor for safety violations within the plant. While temporarily working at the facility on a machine used to bend sheets of metal, the boy's glove and hand were drawn into the rollers causing severe injury to his hand. The matter become quite complex as there was a dispute as to whom, if anyone was in control of the premises and who, if anyone, could be considered Plaintiff’s employer at the time of the accident. Also, since the Plaintiff was under 18 years old and considered a child, there were additional violations of the child labor laws.

Edith Pearce, a well-known Philadelphia injury attorney sued both the temporary agency for placing the Plaintiff at the dangerous factory without any training and the owner of the dangerous machine. Through discovery, Edith obtained records showing that the machine had been cited by OSHA for various safety violations. Because Edith specializes in the Philadelphia area as both a personal injury lawyer and an employment lawyer, she was able to understand all the claims and pursue a large settlement. Not only was a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation settlement obtained earlier for over $100,000, but Edith negotiated a settlement with the owners of the property and the machine for $975,000, making the total settlement over a million dollars.