HB Litigation News

Tag: Medical Malpractice

Government Involvement in Medical Decisions During Outbreaks with Bryce McColskey and Sandra Cianflone

Government Involvement in Medical Decisions During Outbreaks

It’s apparently (and hopefully) on its last legs. The Covid-19 pandemic was the most recent health issue to raise questions around government’s involvement (or interference) in an individual’s control over their own medical treatment.

In their article – Government Involvement in Medical Care Decisions During Outbreaks of Disease: How Far is Too Far? – our guests wrote about the intersection of law and medicine. They reviewed medical mandates, implications brought about by the impact of advances in science and medicine, and where role of government to protect public health intersects (or collides) with personal healthcare choices. They focused is on governmental responses to the pandemic, that is, what the government can mandate in the spirit of public health, and not on the separate issue of abortion, which is a “choice” subject for another day.

How much authority do government agencies or even the courts have over a person’s healthcare decisions? People often assume the practice of medicine and the enactment and enforcement of laws are separate and independent enterprises; that they remain fixed in their respective corners. However, they wrote, after a deeper dive into history and precedent, it’s evident that the tension between individual rights and health-related mandates has existed for some time.

Listen to my interview with the authors, Bryce McCloskey and Sandra M. Cianflone with Hall Booth Smith, P.C. Bryce is based in Jacksonville, Fla., where he focuses on medical malpractice and professional liability law. Sandie is a partner in the firm’s Atlanta office where she concentrates on a variety of aspects of healthcare defense She chairs the firm’s Coronavirus Task Force and is a member of the firm’s National Trial Counsel team. She is also a valued member of the Editorial Board of Advisors of the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation.

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This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation. The Journal is a collaborative project between HB Litigation Conferences and the Fastcase legal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media, and Docket Alarm. The podcast itself is a joint effort between HB and our friends at Law Street Media. If you have comments or wish to participate in one our projects please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com.

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Tom Hagy
Litigation Enthusiast and
Host of the Emerging Litigation Podcast
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Bryce McColskeyHall Booth Smith P.C.

Bryce McColskey focuses his practice on medical malpractice, professional liability, and general liability matters.

Prior to joining Hall Booth Smith, Bryce was an Associate with another firm in Jacksonville where he focused his practice on workers’ compensation defense. Earlier in his career, he worked as a summer clerk for the University of North Florida’s Office of General Counsel and a local firm in Jacksonville.

Bryce earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida Levin College of Law where he was a member of the University of Florida Association of Law and Business and the Chester Bedell Inn of Court. Bryce earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of North Florida.

Sandra CianfloneHall Booth Smith P.C.

Sandra Cianflone is a Partner in the Atlanta office of Hall Booth Smith. Her practice primarily focuses on medical malpractice on defending hospitals, healthcare institutions, physicians, nurses and institutional employees in medical malpractice actions from inception through trial. She is part of Hall Booth Smith’s National Trial Counsel team and has litigated cases across the country.

Sandra also provides national risk management and crisis management services across the healthcare industry. These services have guided clients through tumultuous regulatory and statutory schemes by providing efficient approaches which assist with public/community relations, litigation preparation, defense alternatives, and effective case management. Ms. Cianflone is also the Chair of our Coronavirus Taskforce.

Sandra received her Juris Doctorate from Pace University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

March 28, 2023
EMR Audit Trail—What Is It? Why Do They Matter? What Should You Look For? by Haley K. Grieco and Brooke E. Reddin

The Authors

Haley GriecoHall Booth Smith

Haley K. Grieco (hgrieco@hallboothsmith.com) is a partner in the Paramus, New Jersey, office of Hall Booth Smith, where she defends physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers in a wide range of medical malpractice litigation.

Brooke ReddinHall Booth Smith

Brooke E. Reddin (breddin@hallboothsmith.com) is an associate with the firm, where she focuses her practice on healthcare, medical malpractice, and aging services litigation.

Emerging Litigation PodcastProduced by HB Litigation and Law Street Media

Interviews with leading attorneys and other subject matter experts on new twists in the law and how the law is responding to new twists in the world.

EMR Audit Trail—What Is It? Why Do They Matter? What Should You Look For?

“As the healthcare industry becomes increasingly digitized, it is imperative that attorneys appreciate the impact it may have on their clients and their practice. In medical malpractice matters, discovery requests for metadata—specifically, the production of the EMR audit trail—has steadily increased over the past few years.”

Abstract: Maintaining electronic medical records, or EMRs, is now a nearly universal best practice among medical providers from small physician practices to large hospital networks. Unlike handwritten or typed records, these digital documents carry with them much more data than meets the eye. In this article, the authors—two medical malpractice attorneys— discuss what attorneys need to know about EMRs in the litigation context and the metadata bread crumb trail they leave behind. They discuss the types of data involved, federal requirements, discovery considerations, privacy implications, and the pros and cons and risks of using these records in defending healthcare providers.

During the past ten years electronic medical records (EMR) have all but rendered obsolete handwritten medical records. Medical providers have had to learn computer systems, programs, software, hardware, and forms like never before. When hospitals, facilities, and medical offices change EMR systems, the process of learning the new system starts over. But what about the data you do not see? What lurks beneath the surface of the records that providers never see?

This article looks at EMR from the perspective of the individual seeking to understand the data retrospectively in the context of a pending litigation rather than the requirements for those developing and maintaining EMR.

Download the article now!

September 20, 2022
Telepsychiatry: Mitigating the Risks
REGISTER

Registration Includes
- Nearly 90 minutes of insights from experienced professionals.
- CLE credit: 1+ (subject to bar rules).
- For CLE questions: CLE@LitigationConference.com
- The complete Power Point presentation.
- Continued access to the complete recording for later use.
- Answers to your questions via email to the presenters or write to HB and we will be sure to contact the speakers.
Understand the risks associated with telepsychiatry and how to manage them.

Telemedicine has emerged as an important solution for healthcare in general and psychiatric medicine specifically during the current global pandemic. Remote access for sub-practices including addiction counseling have been commonly used. Our panel of psychiatric professionals who have served as expert witnesses and attorneys who counsel and represent physicians have prepared a 90-minute session to share insights with attorneys, physicians, healthcare providers, risk professionals, and more.

Agenda
- Examining procedures and best practices that exist for ensuring confidentiality in a telemedicine practice
- How do you draft a telepsychiatric consent form?
- What is the emerging standard of care for telemedicine?
- Will the standard of care for telemedicine become a national standard? (Should it?)
- Review the case law addressing telemedicine or telepsychiatry
- How do the HIPAA regulations and HITECH privacy laws impact telemedicine?
- How have the HIPAA regulations and HITECH privacy laws been relaxed during the pandemic?
- Will the relaxed HIPAA and HITECH regulations impacting telemedicine continue past the pandemic?
- Which technical platforms are preferred? Which ones to avoid?
Panelists
- Mark Levy, M.D., Medical Director at fpamed
- David Kan, M.D., UCSF Psychiatry Department and the California Society for Substance Abuse Medicine
- Ayesha Ashai, M.D., associated with fpamed
- Stephen M. Fatum, J.D., Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
- Angela W. Russell, J.D., Partner, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Meet our physician and attorney panelists.

Mark Levy MD
Medical Director
fpamed

Dr. Levy is a graduate of Columbia College (A.B. 1967) and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (M.D. 1971) in New York. He is a Physician and Surgeon licensed since 1972 by the State of California and the State of Hawaii since 2004.

He is certified in Adult Psychiatry (1981) and Forensic Psychiatry (1999, 2009) by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. In the past he has served as a Qualified Medical Examiner (“QME”) for the State of California (active status 1993-96, currently “inactive”). He is also a Psychoanalyst and a graduate of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.

He is Assistant Clinical Professor, Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco where has been on the faculty since 1977 and , among other teaching activities, he lectures in the Law and Psychiatry Fellowship. He is also on the Faculty of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and is the Founder and former Chairman and President of the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis, a community service outreach organization.

In January 2006 Dr. Levy established Forensic Psychiatric Associates Medical Corporation (fpamed.com) of which he is the medical director. In addition to consulting on a broad range of civil (and criminal) matters in which there are behavioral questions to be addressed by a forensic psychiatric expert, fpamed as a group specializes in assessing psychological injury claims of populations of litigants in mass tort or multi-plaintiff litigation.

Mark Levy founded fpamed in 2006.

More about Dr. Levy here …

David Kan MD
UCSF Psychiatry Dept. &
Calif. Society for Substance Abuse Medicine

Dr. Kan graduated from Northwestern University Medical School. He finished his General Psychiatry Residency and Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is Board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General and Forensic Psychiatry and he is Board-Certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in Addiction Medicine. He is a member of the faculty at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Kan enjoys teaching, in addition to his direct work with patients. He has won multiple awards for teaching and clinical care delivery. Dr. Kan teaches and supervises psychiatrists-in-training in his role as faculty member at UCSF. Throughout the year, he speaks at professional conferences on topics including treatment of addictive disorder.

Dr. Kan offers forensic consulting services to courts and attorneys in civil, criminal, and administrative matters. He has testified in multiple states, counties and federal court as an expert witness. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Dr. Kan is an active member of the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM). CSAM is a physician organization dedicated to improving the treatment of substance use disorders. Dr. Kan has planned conferences and spoken to many physician and non-physician groups. Dr. Kan is the current President of CSAM. Dr. Kan is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (D.F.A.S.A.M.). Dr. Kan has testified numerous times before the California Assembly and Senate on addiction treatment. Dr. Kan has testified before Congress advocating for expanding access to addiction treatment.

More about Dr. Kan here …

Ayesha Ashai MD
Associated with
fpamed

Dr. Ayesha Ashai received her BA in Psychology and Spanish from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She went on to attend medical school at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at University of Maryland and Sheppard Enoch Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where she later served as the executive chief resident. After, she completed her forensic psychiatry fellowship under the leadership of Dr. Charles Scott at University of California, Davis in Sacramento, California.

She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with added qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry. She has years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of psychiatric disorders in various settings including civil and forensic hospitals, emergency rooms, outpatient clinics, and jails. She has specialized experience in working with patients who are Muslim, those with an Indian or Pakistani background, as well as Hispanic patients. She is licensed to practice medicine in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas.

Currently, Dr. Ashai works as a telepsychiatrist in two outpatient mental health clinics in Ohio and Illinois. She also provides treatment for offenders incarcerated at the Winnebago County Jail and offenders with a serious mental illness that are released from incarceration as part of a therapeutic intervention program. In 2013, she was awarded the Dr. George U. Balis Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education for her work with medical students. She will soon be joining University of Illinois- Chicago as a volunteer clinical faculty member.

Dr. Ashai has been an independent contractor with fpamed since 2020.

More about Ayesha Ashai M.D. here …

Stephen M. Fatum
Partner
Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Stephen Fatum advises on healthcare industry-related matters for physicians, physician organizations and nonprofit entities. Stephen’s decade of in-house experience for large organizations helps him counsel clients about practical strategies to achieve their goals. His style of negotiation relies upon listening, understanding, respect, identifying common ground, appealing to collective self-interests, collaboration and creativity.

Stephen has counseled senior management and members of the boards of directors of medical groups, associations, hospitals, and health systems regarding governance structures, bylaws, operating agreements, mergers and acquisitions, reimbursement, compensation plans, joint ventures and federal and state regulatory compliance. Notably, Stephen is the former general counsel of Advocate Medical Group, S.C., which at the time was a multispecialty medical group of 270 physicians practicing in the suburbs of Chicago. Before holding this position, he served as general counsel of the Lutheran General Medical Group, S.C. He also acted as assistant general counsel of Lutheran General HealthSystem when it combined with another health system to form Advocate Health Care.

Having worked in-house as general counsel for healthcare organizations and volunteered for five years as the board chair of a large mental health agency, Stephen has worked closely with board chairs, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CSOs, CMOs, and numerous other chief executives. He understands the business perspective and multidimensional challenges and financial pressures facing physicians and executives who lead health systems, medical groups, not for profit organizations and physician organizations.

Read more about Stephen Fatum here …

On Demand Registration

Angela W. Russell
Partner
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP

Angela Russell is the regional managing partner of the Baltimore office and chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee. She has significant trial experience and has tried cases in the District of Columbia and across the state of Maryland. Her practice encompasses the defense of professional liability matters, including medical malpractice and legal malpractice actions in addition to claims against agents, brokers and other professionals. Angela regularly handles and supervises general casualty matters for insurers and self-insured entities on premises liability claims, security matters, hospitality cases and recreational defense claims. Angela is also frequently called on to handle toxic tort matters.

Angela possesses an innate ability to connect with her clients, identify their needs and communicate effectively throughout the litigation cycle. Her rapport in the courtroom is equally impressive. An aggressive litigator, Angela is adept at tapping the persistence, preparation and training she gained early on in a variety of public speaking engagements and tackling two marathons. Angela worked at prominent defense firms in Minnesota and Washington, DC, prior to joining Wilson Elser.

Professional Distinctions
Angela is the former co-chairperson of the Civil Jury Instructions Committee for the Bar Association for the District of Columbia as well as a former adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN.

Read more about Angela Russell here …
August 18, 2022
Mega Verdict Threat: Tackling Damages Early Can Mitigate Outsized Jury Awards

Mega Verdict Threat: Tackling Damages Early Can Mitigate Outsized Jury Awards

Abstract

Why have medical malpractice verdicts in recent years reached such astronomical new heights? In this article the author addresses several of the factors that drive juries to return such punishing awards, discussing the unexpected impact of tort reform, the role of life-care planners and economists in determining damages, the ramifications of litigation financing, plaintiff attorneys’ utilization of the so-called reptile theory, and the influence of how the media reports on these verdicts. The author offers practical methods for defense attorneys involved in this litigation and insights that will benefit attorneys in any type of tort matter.

Author

Sandra M. Cianflone (scianflone@hallboothsmith.com) is an attorney at law firm Hall Booth Smith, P.C., whose practice primarily focuses on medical malpractice.

About
The Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation is a co-production of HB, Fastcase, and Law Street Media. You can also hear the complementary (and complimentary) Emerging Litigation Podcast wherever podcasts appear. For questions, contact Tom Hagy, Editor in Chief, at Editor@LitigationConferences.com.

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October 26, 2021
The Mega Verdict Trend in Healthcare Litigation with Sandra Cianflone

The Mega Verdict Trend in Healthcare Litigation with Sandra Cianflone

Joining me to discuss this high-stakes litigation is Sandra M. Cianflone of Hall Booth Smith, P.C.Sandiecounsels and defends hospitals, physicians, nurses and institutional employees in a broad spectrum of catastrophic injury and medical malpractice cases. She received her Juris Doctorate from Pace University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, a collaborative project between HB Litigation Conferences and the Fastcase legal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media, Docket Alarm and, most recently, Judicata. If you have comments or wish to participate in one our projects, or want to tell me how insightful and informative Sandie is, please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com. This podcast is based on an article she wrote for the forthcoming issues of the Journal.

Note that in my introduction I have created the phrase “badly wrong,” which is, itself, badly wrong. Listen to the bitter end when Sandie and I discuss working from home, and how we really feel about family and co-workers. Feel free to scold me at the email address provided. I hope you enjoy the interview and this professional’s practical insights into defending healthcare providers.

Tom Hagy

Damage awards against physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers have been coming in bigger and bigger, with juries awarding more than $20 million in a string of cases that should send chills down the spines of defendants and counsel.

What are the factors behind this trend? Besides the severe (or even alarming) nature of the harm alleged, what is fueling these mega verdicts?

What can defense attorneys do, knowing they are facing a well-organized, well-funded plaintiffs bar?

For that matter, what can defense attorneys learn from their opponents?

What strategies can defense employ early in the life of a case?

August 12, 2021
Sandra Cianflone on Current and Emerging COVID-19 Litigation

Sandra Cianflone on COVID-19 Litigation in 2021 and Beyond

It’s now been more than 18 months since the world was besieged by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to the human toll, it disrupted our lives in ways big and small, new and old, as it raced across continents, first visiting North America in January 2020. There are an estimated 15,000 lawsuits relating to the outbreak, with some 350 filings directed toward the healthcare and medical communities. The number of insurance coverage suits is fast-approaching 1,800.

Litigation has been initiated against aging services, hospitals, and healthcare providers, with the next anticipated wave likely to surround vaccines themselves. What will be the basis of these claims? What defenses will we see? And what can healthcare providers do now in anticipation of this onslaught?

Joining me to discuss this out-of-the-blue rash of litigation is Sandra M. Cianflone of Hall Booth Smith, P.C.Sandiecounsels and defends hospitals, physicians, nurses and institutional employees in a broad spectrum of catastrophic injury and medical malpractice cases. She received her Juris Doctorate from Pace University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, a collaborative project between HB Litigation Conferences and the Fastcase legal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media, Docket Alarm and, most recently, Judicata. If you have comments or wish to participate in one our projects, or want to tell me how insightful and informative Sandie is, please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com. This podcast is based on an article she wrote for the forthcoming issues of the Journal.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and especially a brief story (after we wrap up) about Sandie’s experience delivering a baby in the Age of COVID-19. I also mangled a bit of basic Spanish, for which I am ashamed (lo siento), and was a little cavalier with some statistics, for which I am mortified. Feel free to chastise me at the email address provided. –Tom Hagy

June 3, 2021
Assessing Risk in Medical Malpractice Mediation
HB Litigation Conferences presents

Assessing Risk in
Medical Malpractice Mediation

CLE-eligible on demand webinar | Recorded 2021

Lawyers and claims professionals assess litigation outcomes all the time. The parties do not. You can help.

Understandably, parties in medical malpractice disputes do not fully appreciate the risks inherent in litigation and are not aware of how continued litigation affects their underlying interests in the dispute. For example, some parties see the outcome as a reflection of their personal character. These challenges can hamper the parties’ ability to make good decisions in litigated medical malpractice cases. Even organizations that are experienced in assessing litigation risk can make more decisions in these cases with adverse outcomes.

Hear our panel of medical malpractice and insurance attorneys and litigation experts as they share their insights on successfully guiding individuals and organizations through these disputes.

Registration Includes
- Nearly 90 minutes of insights from experienced professionals.
- CLE credit: 1+ (subject to bar rules).
- For CLE questions: CLE@LitigationConference.com
- The complete Power Point presentation.
- Continued access to the complete recording for later use.
- Answers to your questions via email to the presenters or write to HB and we will be sure to contact the speakers.
REGISTRATION

Key Points
- What are the intangible costs of medical malpractice litigation for individuals and institutions?
- How can advocates, claims professionals, and parties make better decisions in these cases?
- How are medical malpractice claims mediated?
- How can advocates use risk assessments in settlement negotiations?
- What do participants want from mediators?
Meet the speakers.

Gregory K. Wells

Gregory K. Wells is a Maryland-based personal injury lawyer and partner with Shadoan, Michael & Wells LLP. His practice focuses on Plaintiff’s medical malpractice, serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, as well as commercial and business litigation. Greg is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in the specialties of Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Product Liability and Professional Malpractice Law, and in both the “Maryland Lawyers” published by Baltimore Magazine, and “Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers” published by Law & Politics since 2007. He has also been listed in Washingtonian Magazine’s “Washington D.C.’s Top Lawyers” (in every list since 2011.) Best Lawyers in America named Greg as “Lawyer of the Year” for 2013, 2018 and 2019 in the area of Professional Malpractice.

Mike Coffey

Michael Coffey is a Partner and member of the national Complex Trial team in Tyson & Mendes’ New York and Connecticut offices. He has handled many of the largest insurance related claims and litigated matters in New York State over the past 25 years. The world’s largest companies routinely parachute in Mr. Coffey to handle complex high exposure liability and damages matters. He is also an ABOTA attorney who has personally tried over 125 jury trials for companies and syndicates in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. in cases involving all types of high-stakes insurance related and commercial matters. Mr. Coffey and his bespoke litigation team deliver legal services that ensure excellent results in mitigating exposure and containing litigation costs, either through ADR or trial by jury, if necessary.

Michele Newman

Michele Newman is Litigation Manager at Hamlin & Burton Liability Management. She began her claims career with Aetna Life & Casualty in 1985. Thereafter, Michele joined Connecticut Medical Insurance Company where she handled bodily injury and medical professional liability claims for 28 years. She graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and also holds Certifications in Claims Litigation Management, Mediation, and Negotiation. Michele is a past President for the Connecticut CLM Chapter and currently serves as a Dean for the School of Mediation at CLM’s Claims College.

Prof. John Lande

John Lande is the Isidor Loeb Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri and former director of the LLM Program in Dispute Resolution. His scholarship focuses on various aspects of dispute systems design, including publications analyzing how lawyering and mediation practices transform each other, business lawyers’ and executives’ opinions about litigation and ADR, designing court-connected mediation programs, improving the quality of mediation practice, the “vanishing trial,” and planned early dispute resolution. Among his many books and articles, John co-authored “Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Decisions,” with Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin, published by the American Bar Association in 2020.

Jeff Trueman

Jeff Trueman is a full-time mediator and arbitrator who handles a wide variety of disputes, including medical malpractice, wrongful death, nursing home, and catastrophic injury cases. Before starting his own private mediation practice, Jeff was the Director of Civil ADR for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and an attorney in private practice in Baltimore City. Jeff is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators and a Community Advisory Member of Safe Streets Baltimore (an anti-gun violence initiative). He also is an LL.M Candidate at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law.
December 5, 2020
J&J Hit with $120 Million Verdict at Mesh Trial

A Philadelphia jury returned a $120 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson after finding that a negligently designed pelvic mesh implant caused chronic pain and suffering, which left plaintiff Susan McFarland incontinent and unable to have sex for the last 10 years. McFarland alleged the implant she received in 2008 caused the product to saw through the soft tissue in her pelvis and become exposed in her vagina. She had to undergo a second surgery to remove a portion of the implant (Susan McFarland,et al. v. Ethicon Inc., et al., No. 130701577, Phila. Comm. Pls. Ct.).

This is the second of two trials. The jury in the first trial was deadlocked, unable to agree on the extent of negligence of the design of the Ethicon product. Tracie Palmer, McFarland’s attorney, added in the second trial that the vaginal mesh was on market prior to clinical studies determining its safety and efficacy.

Defense attorney Adam Spicer maintained that the chronic pain McFarland experienced could be due to other causes, including her age. He said the product had been used for years prior.

McFarland’s case is one of more than 100,000 cases brought together in the MDL, down from nearly 105,000 cases against seven manufacturers. The MDL will be closing and there will be two more waves of trial, with next wave comprising 150 cases. Final settlement conferences are scheduled for August 1 with trial set to begin August 14.

McFarland and her husband are represented by Tracie Palmer, Braden Lepisto, Shanin Specter and Lee Balefsky of Kline & Specter PC.

Ethicon is represented by Kate Skagerberg of Beck Redden LLP, Adam Spicer, Paul Rosenblatt and Jordan Walker of Butler Snow LLP, and D. Alicia Hickok, Kenneth Murphy and Melissa Merk of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.

May 13, 2019
Philadelphia Jury Hits J&J with $120M Award in Mesh Injury Case — Law360

[one-half-first][/one-half-first] [one-half]

“Jurors credited claims from Susan McFarland that the negligent design of a mesh implant she received in 2008 caused the product to saw through the soft tissue in her pelvis and become exposed in her vagina. She was eventually forced to undergo a second surgery to remove a portion of the implant.

“The pain she’s been left with as a result of the complications, she says, has prevented her from having sex with her husband for the last 10 years.

“This is the second time jurors have been asked to determine whether McFarland and her husband should be awarded damages for injuries she attributes to alleged defects in a so-called TVT-O implant she received to treat urinary stress incontinence.”

Read the complete article on Law360 here. [/one-half]

April 25, 2019
Private Calif. Plaintiffs Seemingly Enforcing FDCA, Drug & Device Law Blog Says

“Doctors treated two plaintiffs for severe psychological problems, ultimately employing defendant’s Thymatron System IV to perform electroconvulsive therapy. Plaintiffs claimed that, as a result, they suffered brain trauma, memory loss and other brain-related injuries. They filed product liability claims based, in the main, on the manufacturer’s alleged failure to report adverse events. The decision in Riera addressed summary judgment motions, ones filed by both the plaintiffs and the defendant. You don’t ordinarily see summary judgment motions by plaintiffs, and Riera is an example of why.”

Read the complete post by John J. Sullivan of Cozen O’Connor.

April 12, 2019