At present, more than 1,700 women have sued the manufacturers of NuvaRing, a prescription contraceptive device. NuvaRing was manufactured originally by Organon USA, Inc., a company which was subsequently acquired by Merck & Co., and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October of 2001. The…
Dram shop liability is a legal theory that establishes that bars, taverns, liquor stores, and other businesses that sell alcoholic beverages can be held liable for damages caused by their patrons. These laws are aimed to prevent bars, taverns, and retail stores from selling alcohol to minors and to individuals…
Deaths caused by drunk drivers rose 4.6% last year. A total of 10,322 people were killed in drunken driving automobile crashes. During the holiday season alone, 830 people died as a result of drunken driving collisions. Because the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers increased for the first time…
Last month, the Georgia Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, reversed a decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals in favor of Thelma and Sheldon Johnson, the parents of a teenage boy who died two weeks after he was treated by a physician in an Albany, GA emergency room. The…
A new study by the Triple A (AAA) Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that one in four motorists report having recently had a drowsy episode while driving, meaning they were either too fatigued to drive, or fell asleep. According to AAA, motorists ages 19 to 24 were the most likely…
The United States Department of Justice announced that it recovered $4.9 billion in settlements and judgments in civil cases that involved fraud against the Government during fiscal year 2012. It was also reported that since January 2009, total recoveries under the False Claims Act totaled $13.3 billion, the largest four…
A recent study published in Journal of Patient Safety suggests that current estimates of the number of fatal mistakes made by physicians in the United States are far too low. The study found that twice as many patients, between 210,000 and 440,000 patients per year, suffer from preventable medical harm…
A Class I recall was recently issued for Stryker Spine’s OASYS Midline Occiput Plate warning patients and physicians that the device is at risk for fracture. According to the FDA, the recall affects products that were distributed from April 23, 2010 through February 12, 2013. The OASYS Midline Occiput Plate…
Stryker Corporation has issued a voluntary recall of yet another product used in orthopedic surgeries. In July of 2012, Stryker recalled its Rejuvenate and ABG II modular-neck hip stems used in conjunction with hip replacement surgeries. More recently, Stryker Corporation has acknowledged defects with its ShapeMatch Cutting Guides used to…
DePuy Orthopedics has issued a Class I recall of the DePuy LPS Lower Extremity Dovetail Intercalary Component due to the potential for fracture of the female component when exposed to normal physiologic loads while walking. The DePuy LPS Lower Extremity Dovetail Intercalary Component was manufactured and distributed from February 2007…