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Moll Law Group has filed its first lawsuit against the maker of Nexium, AstraZeneca, on behalf of a Tennessee resident who suffered severe and life-threatening injuries after being prescribed and taking the drug Nexium. Filed in the Western District of Tennessee, the complaint alleges that the defendants knew or should have known that Nexium poses a serious risk of kidney injuries and that the drug maker failed to provide adequate instructions regarding the potentially life-threatening consequences that could result from the use of the drug.

The plaintiff started taking Nexium in 2003 and continued using it until 2008, when he was diagnosed with a severe and drug-induced case of Acute Interstitial Nephritis following a biopsy. As a result of his condition, he was required to undergo dialysis three times a week and is awaiting a kidney transplant.

Nexium is a type of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that is used to decrease the amount of acid that the stomach produces. This type of drug is commonly used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Originally approved under the name Losec in 1988, Nexium is a second-generation PPI drug and was intended to be an improvement on the first-generation version, commonly referred to as Prilosec.

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A former sales representative for the medical device manufacturing company Zimmer Biomet (“Zimmer”) has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that the orthopedics provider fired him as a result of the testimony he provided during a grand jury hearing against a physician who was accused of performing unnecessary knee replacement procedures. Further catapulting this story into the public eye is the fact that the sales representative, named Dominick Pistone, is the brother of Joseph Pistone, an FBI agent who served as the basis for the movie Donnie Brasco.

As a sales representative, Pistone sold Zimmer products for 25 years until the company terminated his employment in June 2015. The lawsuit also alleges that some time in 2007, Pistone learned that a physician who has not been identified by name was “performing numerous double knee replacements, well above the average . . .  primarily for financial gain and not in the best interest of the patients.”

Additionally, the complaint states that the device the unnamed doctor used in these procedures was not subject to FDA approval. The CEO of the company that formally manufactured the device, OtisMed, was sent to prison for two years, and the company was required to pay an $80 million settlement to Stryker, which had acquired OtisMed during 2009.

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In some cases, a plaintiff’s own conduct may contribute to an injury, decreasing the amount of damages awarded. In other cases, the plaintiff’s conduct may bar compensation completely. In a recent case, a boy’s family was barred from compensation after he was killed in a skateboarding accident.

Two brothers were skateboarding in a resort town when one of the brothers tragically died in a skateboarding accident. The two brothers had been riding their skateboards down a hill when one boy’s skateboard hit a small gap between the road and the concrete surrounding a manhole cover. The skateboard stopped, and the boy was thrown from the board. The boy was not wearing a helmet and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He ultimately died as a result.

The boy’s father and brother brought a wrongful death claim against several defendants, including the local water district and the local community association. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that by participating in skateboarding, the boy assumed the inherent risks of skateboarding. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant the summary judgment motion, since the claim was barred by the assumption of the risk doctrine.

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Consumers across the country should be aware of two recent events involving dangerous, contaminated, and inappropriately labeled food products. First, only a few weeks after school was dismissed for the summer season, nearly 50 different varieties of pre-packaged sandwiches have been recalled from almost 40 different school districts after reports surfaced that the sandwiches may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The company that makes the sandwiches, Let’s Do Lunch, attempted to describe the event as a minor threat due to the summer holiday, stating that any residual product can simply be discarded. The outbreak came to light after the USDA inspected the facility where the sandwiches were packaged, and tests from the inspection came back positive for Listeriosis.

The affected school districts cover 29 states across the nation and many major cities, including Sacramento, Houston, Portland, Albuquerque, and Indianapolis. The FDA initiated a recall of the affected products, which includes a complete list of the affected states and school districts. The company has expressed its intention to work closely with the school districts to ensure that any potentially affected products are pulled from distribution and not served to students.

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In some cases, the cause of an injury is clear. But in certain cases, especially when people have a long, complicated medical history, the cause of the injury can be a major point of conflict in the case. In a recent case, the defendant argued that it was not liable because a man’s preexisting conditions were the actual cause of his injury. In that case, a man tripped and fell over an unsecured metal plate in front of a grocery cart corral. He suffered injuries on his knee, arm, neck, shoulder, and face. As a result, he had to receive extensive medical care, including two spinal surgeries. The man sued the grocery store for negligence.

The store retained a medical expert. He did not examine the plaintiff before formulating an opinion and preparing his report, but he did review the man’s medical records. Based on the medical records, the defendant’s expert determined that the man had a preexisting spinal condition that existed before the fall, and an MRI he had taken after the fall did not show an “acute injury.” The store then requested that the man undergo a physical examination by the store’s expert.

The trial court denied the request, but the state’s supreme court reversed. Since the man’s physical health and the extent of the injuries he sustained at the store were directly at issue, his condition and its cause were relevant. Thus, the physical examination was directly related to the condition in controversy, and the information could not be obtained through other means. Accordingly, the man was required to submit to a physical examination by the defendant’s expert in order to consider his past physical health as well as his present and future condition and the extent of his damages.

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Recently, a group of doctors filed a lawsuit against Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot. According to their complaint, which they filed in the Northern District Court of Georgia, the device caused metal debris to travel to patients’ brains during mitral valve surgical procedures. This condition is referred to as metallic microemboli. Additionally, the complaint states that Intuitive Surgical and a number of other companies and individuals manufactured and marketed the surgical robot even though they knew that it had certain defects that could result in metallic debris reaching surgical patients’ brains.

The plaintiffs include two patients who underwent surgical procedures for mitral valve-related conditions that involved the da Vinci surgical robot. After surgery, both plaintiffs discovered that metallic debris had traveled to their brains. The injuries that the plaintiffs have suffered as a result are severe, including neurological injuries, emotional suffering, and substantial medical costs associated with diagnosing, monitoring, and treating the microemboli. The plaintiffs are seeking to certify a class action lawsuit encompassing other patients who underwent mitral valve surgeries involving Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci robot.

In May 2016, Intuitive Surgical released an Urgent Product Safety Notice informing the public that its da Vinci robotic device could create metal particulates that could travel to surgical patients’ brains. According to the company, it has not received any notices or reports indicating that patients have suffered injuries of the nature described in the safety notice.

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Medical malpractice cases are extremely complicated because they involve a highly specialized knowledge of medicine and medical care. In a recent case, a medical malpractice claim was filed against a woman’s doctors after she died while in their care. The woman went to the emergency room at a hospital to seek medical treatment. The emergency room doctor ordered tests and diagnosed the woman with an incarcerated hernia and possible bowel obstruction, and he tried to reduce the hernia.

The ER doctor then called the woman’s primary care physician, who told him to call another surgeon. The surgeon came and reduced the woman’s hernia, and the woman was admitted to the hospital. On the following morning, the woman went into septic shock and experienced cardiac arrest, for which she was resuscitated. She then went into surgery to address a perforated bowel. The woman was then given medication for her blood pressure. Subsequently, her primary care physician switched her to a different medication. Suddenly, the woman’s blood pressure dropped, and she died.

A medical malpractice claim was filed against the woman’s medical providers. The defendants wanted to exclude the testimony of the plaintiffs’ two expert witnesses. They argued that the witnesses had not sufficiently testified as to the cause of the woman’s death, as required under the Daubert case. Under the Daubert case, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, an expert’s scientific testimony must be based on reasoning or methodology that is valid and can be appropriately applied. The factors to consider are whether the theory has been or can be tested, whether it has been subjected to peer review and publication, its error rate, its maintenance and standards, and whether it is generally accepted within the scientific community.

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In a recent case, a woman filed a complaint against CVS for negligence and wantonness. The injury occurred on September 2, 2013 after the woman fell on an unknown substance in a retail store. She filed the claim on August 26, 2015. When she filed the complaint, she filed an “Affidavit of Substantial Hardship,” which indicated that she could not pay the filing fee. A few weeks later, the court granted her hardship petition and waived the fee. However, the court later reversed its earlier order and denied her hardship petition. The woman then paid the filing fee. CVS then moved to dismiss the lawsuit because the two-year statute of limitations had passed before she paid the filing fee or before her hardship petition had been granted.

The state’s supreme court held that under a state statute, a plaintiff has to pay the filing fee or have a hardship petition approved within the statute of limitations. Even though the woman filed the complaint within the statute of limitations, it was insufficient to commence an action to extend the statute of limitations. The two-year statute of limitations had passed before she paid the fee or her petition was approved. Thus, even though she filed within the time period, her complaint was not timely and was dismissed.

Statutes of Limitations in Illinois

For legal proceedings, individuals have to file claims within a specified period of time, called a “statute of limitations.” The reasoning behind these laws is that there is a reasonable period of time that defendants will be subject to claims, so evidence will still be available, and so a person with a valid claim will pursue it with diligence.

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These days, a number of futuristic toys and machines are hitting the market, including hoverboards, drones, and the infamous Segway. This last device is a two-wheeled scooter that allows the rider to stand up while riding and steer the machine, which includes a self-balancing mechanism. Although many people have enjoyed riding Segways, and the devices have become popular at many tourist attractions, they are incredibly dangerous and can lead to serious injuries or even death.

In 2010, for example, a British entrepreneur died after the Segway he was riding drove off a cliff on his estate in Britain. The entrepreneur had purchased the company less than a year before the tragic accident. At the time of the accident, he had been driving one of the off-road models of the Segway, designed to handle more rugged terrain than common urban environments. This is not the only incident of injuries associated with Segways, with hundreds of people reporting to emergency rooms with serious traumas. According to a case review of injuries associated with Segway devices released in 2010, some of the most common injuries associated with the device are facial traumas, head injuries, and broken bones.

With tens of thousands of Segways in operation in the United States, many physicians and public health experts have asked the U.S. Consumer Protection Agency to promulgate stricter safety regulations for the devices to keep riders from harm. The study also urged riders to wear helmets and other protective equipment when riding Segways, which can be particularly important if the rider is inexperienced.

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We all depend on medical professionals to take care of us while we are in the hospital. However, what we may not realize is that some hospitals can escape liability just because the hospital is operated by the state.

In a recent case, a man had surgery to reconstruct the back of his mouth at a state university hospital. He was then taken to the intensive care unit in the hospital to recover. The care required in the unit is complex because patients are often in very critical condition. Each nurse cares for two patients at most at a time. The nurses are required to closely monitor patients and carry out the orders given by the surgery team.

After the man’s surgery, his head had to be kept stable to enable blood flow. The doctors responsible for the man’s care did not write any specific orders about how to position his head or neck. On the day after the surgery, notes indicated that the man’s head should be kept “in a neutral position,” but nurses are not required to read these notes. Five days after the surgery, the man was found with his neck tilted to the right, and the staff present were told to avoid this practice. Later that day, he was again found with his head in the same position. His face and neck were very swollen, and he had to undergo additional surgery due to the swelling, which was unsuccessful.

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