A comprehensive collection of
our active cases.

According to allegations in the recently filed class action lawsuit, the Apple iPhone 4 has antenna problems which force users to hold the smart phone in a particular way to avoid connection problems.

A class action was recently filed against the makers of Celexa (Forest Laboratories Inc., Forest Pharmaceuticals ) for unfair competition and false advertising in which the defendants promoted Celexa for off-label use for depression in pediatric patients even though the FDA had not approved the drug as safe for any use with pediatric patients.

This class action lawsuit has settled. Please visit https://www.johnsonitunessettlement.com/ for details on the settlement.

Reglan (metoclopramide) is a drug manufactured by Baxter Healthcare Corporation. It was first approved for use in the U.S. in 1980. It is prescribed for digestive-tract problems such as reflux, delayed stomach emptying and nausea. Although doctors were warned early on that this drug could cause a serious neurological disorder, it took the Food and Drug Administration years to issue a black-box warning about this complication. (This matter has been successfully resolved by Audet & Partners, LLP. We are thus no longer able to accept new clients on this case.)

Yaz birth control allegedly increases the risk of pulmonary embolism, the medical condition in which an artery in the lung (part of the body's pulmonary system) is blocked so the blood can't get through to the lung. All combined-hormone contraceptives (including Yaz birth control pills, as well as Yasmin, Beyaz, and Ocella) increase a woman's likelihood of suffering a pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

Toyota Motor Corp is recalling about 95,700 Toyota and Scion vehicles sold in the United States because ice could accumulate on their braking systems and make it harder for drivers to slow down.

 On May 21, 2009 Nutro issued a recall on two varieties of its dry cat food; Nutro dry Natural Choice Complete Care and Nutro Max, with “Best If Used by Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010.  The recall encompasses seven flavors in numerous different packaging sizes.  These cat foods have been distributed across all 50 states, and eleven countries.

On May 1, 2009, the FDA issued a warning to users of Hydroxycut to “immediately stop” use of the product.

According to the FDA, the following companies have allegedly sold the following unapproved and/or misbranded new drugs.  If you are in possession of any of the below drugs, please contact Audet & Partners, LLP to protect your legal rights.

The law firm of Audet & Partners is investigating allegedly defective Andersen “Tilt-Wash” windows.  According to published reports, Andersen Tilt-Wash windows manufactured from 1996 to the  present by the Andersen Corp. are prone to rotting.

In March 2007 Costco began limiting money-back returns on TVs, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPods, MP3 players and cell phones to 90 days. Previously, there was no time limit except for personal computers, which was six months.  Allegedly, consumers who later attempted to return any of the above electronics items were offered less than the full retail price they had originally paid.

This case has settled.  Please see this settlement notice.  Please contact our law firm with any questions about the settlement.

Uponor / Wirsbo plumbing systems and fittings allegedly may fail prematurely causing leaks and water damage to your property. At least one expert evaluation has found that Uponor / Wirsbo fittings may have a manufacturing defect that can cause corrosion. Corrosion can result in leaks and other problems with your plumbing system.  Uponor / Wirsbo PEX plumbing systems for residential and commercial applications use crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing instead of metal piping to distribute the water.

Children born to women taking the commonly prescribed seizure medication Depakote (divalproex sodium) are more likely to have birth defects and other problems.

Class action lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturers of "Pex" pipe and "brass fittings" used in residential construction: Zurn-Pex has been sued, as has Kitec.

If you if you have purchased a flat-panel television,computer monitor, laptop computer, cell phone or digital music player (TFT-LCD) manufactured by any of the companies listed, you are urged to contact the law offices of Audet & Partners at 800.965.1461 to speak to an attorney. The call is free and there is no obligation. Act now, as delays can harm your case.

This case has settled.  For information, please visit: http://learningcurvesettlement.com/index.html.

It is no secret that Chinese manufactured toys are being recalled at a tremendous rate: One of the most recent actions concerns dozens of Fisher-Price toys that may allegedly be dangerous.  In fact, Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys, including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters, because their paint allegedly contains excessive amounts of lead. 

You may have recently heard in the news that a settlement was reached. We have come to an agreement in principal regarding many of the disputed issues, and are waiting for final approval from the judge; the court has preliminarily approved the settlement. The claims process will commence shortly. Click for details.

You may be eligible to participate in a settlement of a class action lawsuit if you purchased or received as a gift in the United States a Planet Toys, Inc. CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit (Product Nos. 1204, 1213, 1225) or CSI Forensic Lab Kit (Product No. 1203) (“Settlement Toy Products”), bought from Amazon.com, Inc.; Buy.com, Inc.; Costco Wholesale Corporation; CBS; Hammacher Schlemmer & Co., Inc.; Kmart Corporation; QVC, Inc.; Sears Roebuck and Co.; Toys “R” Us, Inc.; or Walgreen Co. (“Defendants”). Purchases for resale are not included.

Milwaukee Valve Company, Inc., d/b/a Hammond Valve Company ("Hammond") is a Wisconsin corporation with its principal place of business in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Hammond is in the business of manufacturing and selling valves which are used in many commercial and domestic applications, including valves that are used in HVAC systems for multi-family housing buildings.

On the evening of Thursday, September 9, 2010 at least four people were killed and 52 injured when a Pacific Gas & Electric gas pipeline allegedly exploded and started a fire that destroyed a San Bruno, California neighborhood.  As of Friday, investigators are still trying to determine what caused the devastating blast that left a crater in the ground and homes smoldering.

A class-action lawsuit was recently filed behalf of property owners potentially seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from JM Eagle for allegedly supplying substandard polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) pipe for potable water systems, and other applications.  The lawsuit asks the court to certify a nationwide class action on behalf of all persons or entities who installed the allegedly substandard JM Eagle pipe. The filing seeks reimbursement of all sums paid by the class members to JM Eagle, and for all other damages caused by the sale and installation of the substandard pipe.

In 2009, U.S. residential consumers subscribed to broadband services with an average and median advertised download speed of 7 Mbps to 8 Mbps, respectively, the FCC said. But the actual average speed they received was 4 Mbps and the actual median speed was 3 Mbps.This means that consumers are getting about 1/2 of the actual internet speed that they paid for.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released an “interpretative rule” with respect to so-called “home warranties.”  These “warranties” are offered to home buyers.  The home buyer pays the home warranty company a set yearly fee, and the company then pays to fix things if they break  This seems like a good deal for home buyers, but it appears that there is a widespread practice in the industry of giving "kickback" payments to real estate agents and brokers whenever they sell a “home warranty” to a home buyer.

The health care company Abbott says about 5 million containers of its Similac-brand powdered infant formulas—which includes Isomil and Go & Grow—are being recalled because of possible contamination with insect pieces or larvae. The voluntary recall affects milk- and soy-based formulas distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and some Caribbean nations. At least 12 of the recalled products were provided to families through the federal government’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) health and nutrition program. (This matter has been successfully resolved by Audet & Partners, LLP. We are thus no longer able to accept new clients on this case.)

According to a recent class action lawsuit, Zynga allegedly collected the Facebook data of its 218 million users and shared it with advertisers and data brokers in violation of federal law and Zynga's contract with Facebook. The class action seeks monetary relief for those whose data was wrongly shared, and injunctive relief to prevent continued privacy abuses. The class-action lawsuit comes on the heels of an investigation into data handling practices by The Wall Street Journal. The Journal  reported that Facebook applications were transmitting Facebook User IDs (UIDs) to advertisers and Internet tracking firms. UIDs are unique numbers assigned to each Facebook account.

A class action lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of purchasers of GAF Timberline shingles.  The filed lawsuit alleges that GAF shingles, marketed as 30 and 40 year shingles, have a high failure rate after only 4 to 6 years.

"Certainteed WeatherBoards" cement siding has been alleged to suffer from premature failure, cracking, surface flaking and crumbling.  In addition, according to online complaints, certain installations of this product are alleged to look like "water saturated cardboard" when exposed to moisture.  Other complaints allege that the product cannot handle "stress" and appears to crack prematurely as a result.

James Hardie fiber cement siding is marketed as lasting for "years."  But according to allegations in a recent class action lawsuit, it may not last that long.  In fact, according to the allegations in the complaint, the James Hardie has certain manufacturing defects.

According to allegations in a recently filed lawsuit, Sutter Health routinely charged insurers for anesthesia services that were never performed, and double-billed for services that were performed.  Even more recently, the California State Insurance Commissioner filed a motion to intervene in this lawsuit.  As a result of this lawsuit and the allegations about billing problems with Sutter Health hospitals, the law firm of Audet & Partners is interested in speaking with consumers who have had billing problems with Sutter Health Network, its affiliated providers, and other hospitals and hospital chains

LivingSocial has been sued by consumers who claim its mobile and online offers violate federal and state gift card laws.  The plaintiffs allege that LivingSocial is violating laws by printing expiration dates on its certificates and allegedly misleading consumers. The class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Seattle.

Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate), distributed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb, is the second best-selling drug in the world. Doctors commonly prescribe this anti-coagulant in combination with aspirin as a preventative measure against strokes, heart attacks, and to promote a healthy circulatory system. However, researchers have recently found that Plavix use can actually greatly increase the risk of a stroke, gastrointestinal bleeding, heart attack, and other serious conditions.

In our modern world, we disclose personal information to a myriad of government and commercial entities.  Every time you sign up for a website, or fill out an online or paper form, you are usually divulging personal information.  Twenty years ago, this was not a large problem.  But now it is. . .

Both federal and state laws apply to so-called "gift cards," "gift certificates," "vouchers," and other forms of "quasi-money." Typically, there are rules against offering gift cards that expire too quickly, and/or have complicated redemption rules.  Before these laws were put into place, merchants would sell gift cards and certificates knowing full-well that many of them would never be redeemed, or would be redeemed too late, etc..

Dropbox.com is a website service that allows users to securely store files on the internet.  It recently admitted that an update to its software code caused a "security glitch" that allowed people to log into any Dropbox account by typing in any password at all.  This problem was apparently fixed, but the law firm of Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating this matter.

Certain "MacBook Pro" laptop/notebook computers sold on or after February 2009 have had alleged problems with battery life.  According to Apple advertising and marketing materials, the batteries were supposed to last for a certain amount of time.  In reality, the battery life is often much shorter.

BP Organic shingles are supposed to last for 25 years.  According to numerous published complaints, these shingles often only last for a few years.  According to published complaints, these shingles may only last for between 2 to 12 years.

A Sutter Medical Foundation computer stolen in mid-October held information on more than 4 million patients, some dating back to 1995, including names, addresses and descriptions of diagnoses, officials at the health network said Wednesday. For the millions of patients whose health-care provider is supported by Sutter Physician Services, names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers and names of patients' health insurance plans were contained in the computer's database.

Benzene has been linked to Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), also known as acute myelogenous leukemia. AML is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults, and its incidence increases with age. Although AML is a relatively rare disease, accounting for approximately 1.2% of cancer deaths in the United States, its incidence is expected to increase as the population ages.

Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating allegations of wrongdoing connected to Bank of America “home loan modifications.” Based on information and belief, we are investigating allegations that Bank of America is mishandling such modifications to existing home mortgages. According to our investigation, applicants are allegedly told to let their home loan lapse for three months to qualify for the program. Then, when the applicants attempt to qualify, they are told that they do not qualify. Since, by definition, these are people who have had money problems, they are then unable to catch up on the loans, and eventually lose their house to foreclosure. 

According to allegations in a recently filed class action complaint, certain Werner Attic Ladders may have dangerous defects. The attic ladders that are the subject of the class action are S2208 and S2210 pull-down attic ladders. According to the allegations in the complaint, these attic ladders are sold by Lowe's Home Centers. According to the complaint, Lowe's sold approximately 600,000 of these allegedly defective ladders, nationwide, up until 2008.

Several hospital burn lawsuits involving the “da Vinci Surgical Robot” claim that a number of patients have suffered serious burns. One New York father filed a wrongful death hospital burn lawsuit after his daughter died as a result of burns caused by the robot.

NuvaRing is the trade name for a combined hormonal contraceptive vaginal ring manufactured by Merck (formerly Schering-Plough, formerly Organon), that is available by prescription. It is a flexible plastic (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) ring that releases a low dose of a progestinand estrogen over three weeks. It is considered to be a “third-generation” birth control method. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturers, distributors, and marketers of the NuvaRing birth control vaginal ring, and recent court cases are now allowing these cases to proceed.

FDA issued a Class I Recall notice for Fresenius Medical Care North America Naturalyte Liquid Acid Concentrate and Naturalyte GranuFlo (powder) Acid Concentrate. Inappropriate prescription of these products can lead to a high serum bicarbonate level in patients undergoing hemodialysis. This may contribute to metabolic alkalosis, which is a significant risk factor associated with low blood pressure, hypokalemia, hypoxemia, hypercapnia and cardiac arrhythmia, which, if not appropriately treated, may culminate in cardiopulmonary arrest. This product may cause serious adverse health consequences, including death.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced a voluntary recall of the Flushmate® III Pressure-Assist Flushing System. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Injuries have been reported, and at least one class action has already been filed.

Mirena IUD, a contraceptive device marketed by Bayer since 2000, has been linked to serious adverse side effects in women.  According to the FDA, the Mirena IUD side effects may include ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy in which the fertilized egg grows outside the uterus); intrauterine pregnancy (a pregnancy with Mirena in place); group A streptococcal sepsis; an infection called pelvic inflammatory disease; embedment of the device in the uterine wall; and perforation of the uterine wall or cervix.  The device was heavily promoted through "Mirena Parties" which misrepresented the ability of the device to improve a woman's sex life and help her "look and feel great."

The Biomet M2a Magnum metal-on-metal system has been used in hip replacements since 2004.  Serious complications including metallosis and premature prosthetic failure have resulted in lawsuits throughout the United States.

Central air conditioning units sold by Goodman and Amana since 2008 have been found to contain defective evaporator coils leading to premature rupture and leakage of Freon, causing the units to cease proper operation after brief periods of use.

Between 2005 and 2010, tens of thousands of women received implants of transvaginal mesh, primarily to address problems associates with pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. Unfortunately, it was not long before the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") began receiving reports of adverse side effects in women receiving transvaginal mesh implants. The nature of these injuries described below, alarmingly common to women receving the vaginal mesh surgery, has led to the filing of more than 8,000 lawsuits in Federal District Court, now consolidated in West Virginia.

Actos, a drug used to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes, has been shown to increase patient susceptibility to dire health consequences including heart failure and bladder cancer.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. is being investigated for breaching its warranty in connection with an electronic medical records software program sold to medical practices between 2009 and 2012.