#1 What to Expect in Zantac Cancer Lawsuits for 2021 and BeyondWest Palm Beach, FL As 2020 draws to a close, the toll of death and injury from Zantac-related cancers continues to rise, as do the number of Zantac cancer lawsuits. Meanwhile, In Re: Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability Litigation, the multidistrict litigation into which many of the individual lawsuits have been consolidated, grinds on without much apparent news.
#2 Bayer Essure Settlement a Victory for Thousands of Essure Victims and E-SistersSanta Clara, CA On the ”Essure Problems” Facebook Page, which was started in 2011, Angie Firmalino advises about 44,000 women, called E-sisters, not to discuss their settlement as it comes with a confidentiality agreement that includes “restrictions about discussing your settlement online… discussing your settlement will jeopardize it.” Ms. Firmalino, who started the group, is referring to the $1.6 billion Bayer is paying to thousands of women who said they have suffered severe, long-term health problems from Bayer’s Essure birth control implant.
#3 Abdominal Mesh “Like a Chunk of Iron in my Stomach”Harrisburg, PA Kelly and John are just two of more than one million hernia repair surgeries performed yearly in the U.S., and 90 percent use surgical mesh. Recent reports indicate that one out of every three patients have suffered common mesh complications, some of which led to surgical mesh lawsuits.
#4 Walmart Howls at California Labor Law FinesSan Jose, CA “This case is about Walmart’s practice of routinely violating the California Labor Code.” The first sentence of plaintiff’s’ brief to the Ninth Circuit in Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. neatly sums up the workers’ argument. Walmart, on the other hand, argues that this is all very unfair, the alleged violations of law (if they happened) were inadvertent -- mere technicalities anyway, and certainly did not merit a $102 million judgment.
#5 Navy Federal to Settle Overdraft Fees Lawsuit for $16 MillionAlexandria, VA The Eastern District of Virginia appears poised to approve a proposed settlement in a class action bank overdraft fees lawsuit originally filed against Navy Federal Credit Union in 2019. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, checking account customers at Navy Federal who were overcharged will have a common fund of $16 million to divide among themselves. The settlement is notable because class members need not file claims to receive compensation. The settlement fund will be automatically allocated among them according to a distribution plan set out in the agreement.
#7 C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh Trial Gets the Green LightSanta Clara, CA Federal hernia mesh lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard are proceeding with the first bellwhether trial scheduled for January 2021 (it was postponed due to COVID), despite numerous efforts by the medical device maker to have the case dismissed. This trial may well indicate the future of hernia mesh litigation and significantly impact up to 10,000 pending hernia mesh cases.
#8 "Nightmares from Chantix Drove Me Crazy"Flint, MI Posted on the Chantix website is a litany of side effects: one of the most common is abnormal dreams. But scroll down and in smaller print the popular smoking cessation drug also lists "nightmares". Harriet didn't read the small print and neither did anyone tell her that she would have nightmares so bad she would be afraid to go to sleep, and she would sink into depression.
