The January issue of Vanity Fair has a long, important article about the dangers of the birth control device, NuvaRing, manufactured by Merck. The article tells the story of two women—one killed and one permanently injured—by NuvaRing. But, my best friend's sister died last year from pulmonary embolisms caused by NuvaRing, so I do not need this article to humanize this regulatory and personal disaster.

The article provides very useful information for consumers and non-lawyers about the regulatory and legal framework in which harmful drugs are introduced to market and in which attorneys struggle to seek justice for those who have been injured or killed by those drugs. If you are interested in understanding from a very real-world situation what "agency capture" or "mass tort" litigation looks like, this article is a must-read.

For the rest of you, please, ask every woman you know whether she is using Nuvaring and share this article with her. 

While it is hard to find an exemplary pull quote from this long and excellent article, this quote demonstrates the extent to which drug companies will go to obscure science in search of ever-expanding profits. 

In September 2001, as the F.D.A. was considering the approval of the completed application, court documents submitted by the plaintiffs claim, Organon scientists had become concerned with “the burst release” and what they called “out-of-spec results” in “large-scale NuvaRing batches.” One member of the regulatory-affairs team e-mailed a colleague, “This is a very serious issue, in that FDA is very sensitive to the ‘burst release’ phenomenon and release in general. Going to FDA to change these specifications is absolutely the LAST thing we should consider, i.e., that’s the worse possible scenario.”

I am angry all over again. 

Yesterday, David Bryant, Jasper Ward (both of Jones Ward), and I filed a class action complaint in the Western District of Kentucky alleging that General Motor's Chevrolet Cruze has a defect that spreads sickly-sweet antifreeze vapors into the passenger compartment of the car. I encourage you to read more about the case or view the class action complaint. 

If you own a 2011 model year or newer Chevrolet Cruze and want to find an attorney in your state to review your case, go to consumeradvocates.org and click on the "Find an Attorney" tab. 

A state court in Pennsylvania ruled today that plaintiffs could proceed with their state law "failure to warn" claims against the manufacturer of generic Reglan (marketed as "metoclopramide"). The manufacturer was trying to have the state law claims thrown out, arguing that the claims were preempted by federal law. Huge win for plaintiffs. 

Metoclopramide is known to cause tardive dyskinesia in up to 29% patients who take it for a long period of time. We are currently representing a woman who suffers from the devastating effects of tardive dyskinesia after over a decade of using metoclopramide. Elderly people and women are more likely to suffer from metoclopramide-related tardive dyskinesia. 

Great story this morning on Morning Edition that I will link here for all of you Dittoheads that refuse to listen to NPR. It describes the frequency and additional severity of burns from overturned cups of instant soup (Cup Noodle) that occur because of the defective design of the cup (narrow base/tall cup).  

If you eat instant soup or have children, please listen to this story and buy soup from the companies that use containers that are less spill-prone. The super-hot water and sticky noodles are extremely dangerous.