Tort Claim for Medication Pump Preempted

No Tolling in Untimely HRT Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 20, 2012
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court dismisses as time-barred this suit filed by a 64-year-old woman who alleges she developed breast cancer from defendant pharmaceutical companies’ hormone-replacement therapy products Prempro and Provera; plaintiff sued more than two years after she developed breast cancer. Plaintiff is presently before this court after being dropped from Multi-District Litigation, refilling [...]

Fatal Van Fire Case Reinstated

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2012
Tags: Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Products Liability, Supreme Court of Virginia

A products liability suit arising from a fire in a 2001 Ford Windstar van that killed a three-year-old girl and alleges Ford failed to warn about the dangerous condition of “key-off dash area electrical fires,” is reinstated by the Supreme Court of Virginia, who says plaintiff can introduce evidence of four of seven other allegedly [...]

New Trial for Closing Argument Errors

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 11, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court sets aside a $212 million award, reduced to $12.35 million, in this suit alleging a Fredericksburg-area man suffered severe nerve damage from BOTOX® used to treat a hand tremor condition; the court says the combination of the lawyer’s closing argument and his hand gestures, as revealed by courtroom security video, [...]

Richmond federal judge overturns Botox® verdict

By Peter Vieth
Published: June 7, 2012
Tags: Federal Courts, Judge Robert E. Payne, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Products Liability

Hand gestures by a plaintiff’s lawyer in closing argument led to a Richmond judge’s decision to overturn a verdict worth more than $12 million. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne said courtroom security video helped him decide that a trial that produced a $212-million verdict against a Botox® manufacturer was unfair. Payne vacated the 2011 [...]

No ‘Fraudulent Joinder’ in Auto Accident Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In plaintiff’s suit alleging severe and permanent injuries after she swerved in her 1995 Mazda Miata to avoid an object in the road and the vehicle turned over because the vehicle allegedly failed to provide “reasonable occupant protection in the event of a rollover accident,” the Roanoke U.S. District Court remands the case to state [...]

Plaintiff fell from platform while attempting to extinguish fire – Confidential Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 16, 2012
Tags: Personal Injury, Products Liability, Wise County Circuit Court

Plaintiff was a 56-year-old heavy equipment operator. He had approximately 30 years of experience operating large bulldozers. On the night of the incident, plaintiff was pushing shot at a coal mine with a Caterpillar D10T bulldozer, when the bulldozer caught fire. Plaintiff trammed the machine to a level area and turned it off. Plaintiff went [...]

Court Denies Costs for Defense Win

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 6, 2012
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this unsuccessful products liability suit against the manufacturer of a child safety seat, the Abingdon U.S. District Court exercises its discretion to deny defendant’s request for costs under Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1). Defendant seeks $51,237, representing court reporter fees and fees for subpoenas, printing and photocopies, among other things. Plaintiff makes specific objections [...]

No New Trial in Car-Seat Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this products liability suit filed by the family of a young girl who suffered permanent brain injury and who alleged the child struck her head on the front edge of defectively designed car seat, the Abingdon U.S. District Court denies plaintiff’s motion for a new trial after the jury delivered a verdict for defendant. [...]

Supplier Can’t Pull in Manufacturer

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 16, 2012
Tags: Judge Raymond A. Jackson, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this products liability suit alleging injury from use of a defective shower chair, a Newport News U.S. District Court accepts a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismisses for lack of personal jurisdiction defendant medical supply company’s third-party complaint filed against two Florida defendants for breach of warranty and equitable indemnity. The 4th Circuit has articulated [...]