Experienced Class Action Lawyers and Complex Litigation Attorneys
Class action lawsuits represent one of the last and most powerful means of reigning in corporate wrongdoing. Our blog presents information on current and past class actions, as well as noteworthy developments in major class action litigation throughout the United States.
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating an increasing number of consumer complaints that have surfaced alleging false health...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims on behalf of purchasers of Zurn plumbing systems that these systems...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims related to a potential Agoda class action lawsuit. Agoda.com, launched in...
Audet and Partners, LLP is investigating an increasing number of consumer complaints as part of a child booster...
Are you a Fortnite player and use an iPhone? As you may be aware, Apple Inc. has advised...
In a ruling issued on July 7, 2018, the Superior Court of California, County of Orange issued an...
In a class action brought on behalf of all federally recognized Indian tribes, the St. Croix Indians of...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigation claims by increasing numbers of consumers that a hair relaxer manufactured by...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims by increasing numbers of consumers in an RV refrigerator lawsuit that...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating the viability of aloe vera lawsuits alleging false advertising by manufacturers and distributors...
August 30, 2016 - Audet & Partners, LLP is pleased to announced that after a protracted battle over the issue...
Audet & Partners, LLP has brought a class action lawsuit against Anthem, Inc., on behalf of subscribers who...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating potential claims on behalf of condominium homeowner's associations and other property owners...
Audet & Partners, LLP has launched a Lava Ultimate lawsuit investigation stemming from claims by dentists against 3M and...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims by purchasers of Generac generators that the Generac's Guardian Series generators were...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims on behalf of small merchants and retailers seeming from fees and...
Audet & Partners, LLP has filed a class action lawsuit related to the sale of "100% Grated Parmesan Cheese"...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating potential ADT lawsuit claims on behalf of California property owners who have...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims by customers of Public Storage that the company may have engaged...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims that Volkswagen may have installed software on several diesel models as...
In a recent opinion issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Express delivery drivers have been...
Post-Surgery Bair Hugger Linked to Dangerous Infections Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims that the Bair Hugger...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that the California Labor Commission has sided with an Uber driver and held...
Join the Santa Barbara Oil Spill Class Action Lawsuit On July 7, 2015, Audet & Partners, LLP filed...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that the California Supreme Court has issued an opinion which may leave large...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims by construction workers who claim to have been discharged from work...
Auto service provider overtime pay not necessarily barred by exempt classification. Click to read opinion.
Whistleblower Protection Provided Under SEC Law Federal law mandates that, if a company is publicly traded, they must...
According to Section 327(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, a Section 327 appointment involves an attorney appointed by a...
California and federal laws generally uphold arbitration waivers in employment agreements signed by an employees. These arbitration agreements often...
In an effort to curb unscrupulous solicitors and telemarketers, the federal government passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act...
What is a Whistleblower? A whistleblower is a person, usually an employee, who reports the illegal practices or misconduct of an individual, company or even a government contractor. There can be both internal and external whistleblowers. For example, an employee could report the misconduct of a co-worker to their supervisor or they could report the company to an outside entity, such as the media, a watchdog organization or a government agency. It is important to note that a...
Class Action Lawsuits Class action lawsuits are brought when a sizable number of people (the "class") suffer similar...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a New York consumer has launched a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Rite Aid Corp. alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). In the lawsuit seeking class action certification, lead plaintiff Robert Zani has alleged that Rite Aid placed pre-recorded, unauthorized calls to the cell phones a nationwide class of consumers seeking to market its products and services including flu...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that Wells Fargo NA has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle class action claims that the bank illegally called customers on their cell phones in the process of debt collection. Lead plaintiff Lillian Franklin had brought the lawsuit against Wells Fargo in August 2014 alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California claimed that Wells Fargo had...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that C.R. Bard, Inc., a major transvaginal mesh manufacturer and defendant in transvaginal mesh lawsuits, has argued against consolidation of the mesh litigation. In a West Virginia federal court, Bard argued against consolidation in multidistrict litigation (MDL) fearing that such consolidation would paint a picture among juries that "something must be wrong" with Bard's pelvic mesh product. Arguing in favor of consolidation, attorneys representing women injured by transvaginal mesh implants have argued that...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has released its report on whistleblower complaints for Fiscal Year 2014 which ended on September 30, 2014. The Report stated that the SEC received 3,620 tips from whistleblowers in 2014, an increase from 3,238 in fiscal 2013. Perhaps most interesting is the growth in whistleblower complaints reported from outside the United States including 70 tips from the United Kingdom (up 6% from 2013), 69 tips...
Audet & Partners, LLP has obtained a favorable ruling against Apple in a lawsuit claiming that Apple violated federal law by intercepting text messages sent to former iMessage users who switched to Android or other non-Apple devices. In the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple's Motion to Dismiss claims alleging violations of the federal Wiretap Act. In so doing, Judge Koh held that although iMessage users may have given consent...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a number of major financial institutions have been sued based on allegations that they illegally conspired to artificially inflate the price of silver. Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of Nova Scotia, and HSBC Plc are alleged by experienced commodities traders to have colluded to fix the price of silver futures to ensure high returns as part of the London Silver Market Fixing Ltd. The London Market has fixed the price of physical silver...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new formal guidelines...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holding truck drivers to be employees rather than independent contractors of Affinity Logistics Corp. has been appealed to the U.S Supreme Court. In June, the Ninth Circuit held that delivery drivers had been improperly classified by Affinity as independent contractors based primarily on the degree of control that Affinity maintained over the drivers' working conditions. The Affinity case was originally filed in...
A federal court in California has looked to the Federal Arbitration Act in upholding mandatory arbitration agreements as...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a new opinion issued by a California appellate court has revived employment claims brought by a workers under the California Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA") despite the fact that the worker had signed a mandatory arbitration agreement in connection with her employment. Reyna Marie Ybarra v. Apartment and Investment Management Co., case number B245901, in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District. Ms. Ybarra had brought a lawsuit...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that Gov. Jerry Brown of California has signed into law Assembly Bill 1897 that now makes most companies with 25 or more employees strictly liable for specific violations related to compensation, workers' compensation, and occupational health and safety mandates that impact contractors. The new California law, to become effective on January 1, 2015, protects contractors by imposing statutory liability on companies in the following general areas: • Payment of wages to the contractor's...
Within California, an extensive list of employment-related legal violations may be pursued by individuals acting as "proxies" for...
In an effort to buttress profits similar to hidden charges imposed by airlines for several years, hotels and...
Audet & Partners, LLP has learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to pay out around...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a West Virginia has returned a multi-million dollar verdict on behalf of...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating class action claims raised in a Navistar lawsuit that the company’s Maxxforce...
A whistleblower lawsuit brought by former employees of Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. accuses the company of presenting fraudulent...
The Oakland Raiders franchise of the National Football League has averted a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of approximately 90 cheerleaders who worked for the team between 2010 and 2013. The class action lawsuit, which originally had been brought by lead plaintiff and Raiderette “Lacy T,” alleged that during the class period, each of the Raiderettes were paid $1,250 for an entire season which allegedly amounted to $5.00 an hour for job-related responsibilities that included rehearsals, performances,...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that Rocket Fuel, Inc. may have sold advertising inventory to customers possibly viewed more...
Audet & Partners, LLP is investigating claims that may form the basis of a class action lawsuit against...
In what is coming to be referred to as "wage theft," the New York Times is reporting on an escalating number of class action lawsuits brought on behalf of employees of major U.S. companies to recover wages lost as a result of state and federal employment law violations. Employment laws and regulations in California and other states, as well as federal law, set forth specific guidelines that must be followed by employers with regard to employee wages and working...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a new report issued by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a new class action lawsuit recently brought in the U.S. District Court...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a lawsuit has been brought in an Illinois federal court on behalf...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has filed a lawsuit in...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, is voluntarily asking...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that Quaker Oats Co. has settled a class action brought in 2010 alleging...
Audet & Partners, LLP has learned that Covidien, a medical device manufacturer that supplied material to C.R. Bard...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that a judge in Pennsylvania overseeing hundreds of Risperdal lawsuits has ruled that the...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that, in what may be the first class action lawsuit of its kind,...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that on June 23, 2014, the California Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts that, in most cases, effectively deprive employees of the right to bring class action lawsuits against their employers for legal violations in the workplace. The case, Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, No. S204032, overturned earlier opinions that had held the arbitration clauses to be unenforceable. The Court in Iskanian, however, carved out one...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that hundreds of Risperdal lawsuits now pending in Pennsylvania state courts are moving...
The Federal government has accepted a $124 million settlement from Omnicare to resolve several claims initiated by company...
As reported earlier, Audet & Partners, LLP recently settled claims brought on behalf of hundreds of women injured...
Plaintiffs in consolidated Risperdal lawsuits now pending in Pennsylvania have argued that a New Jersey statute barring punitive...
By letter dated June 10, 2014 to the Acting Secretary of the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, and...
A recent meeting of the American Urological Association ("AUA") included extensive debate by surgeons and experts about the...
A lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 30,000 Arizona prison inmates has been allowed to proceed as...
A Report released by the Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") has substantiated many of the alleged improprieties...
In the wake of mounting lawsuits against manufacturers of transvaginal mesh devices implanted in women to treat a...
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson that manufactured and marketed the antipsychotic drug Risperdal to adolescent...
Audet & Partners, LLP reports that consolidated Risperdal birth defect lawsuits now being heard in Philadelphia Court of...
In recent years, there has been a groundswell of misinformation largely designed to dissuade individual consumers from joining...
Audet and Partners, LLP is now representing several males who have been diagnosed with Gynecomastia after having taken...
Whistleblower claims, or "qui tam" lawsuits, brought under the federal False Claims Act, increased to 753 in 2013,...
In follow up to Audet & Partners, LLP previous reports on Johnson & Johnson’s alleged systematic destruction of...
Intuitive Surgical, maker of the da Vinci surgical system, announced it has received FDA clearance for its newest...
A 27-year old woman has sued Washington University School of Medicine for injuries associated with her Mirena IUD,...
Coloplast, Inc. may be considering settling a number of transvaginal mesh lawsuits against it for $16 million, Bloomberg...
New research presented at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) 2014 Annual Meeting appears to substantiate the...
A judge in Nevada has granted class action certification in the lawsuit against Payday King Carey V. Brown,...
On March 28, 2014 Bank of America was hit with another class action on behalf of a nationwide...
San Francisco MUNI bus and train drivers suing the public transit agency for overtime violations are seeking class action certification. The group of current and former train operators who have joined in the suit has already reached some 2,000+ drivers. The basis of their purported class action lawsuit is that MUNI drivers are not paid for various time spent on the job in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and related California labor laws. No Pay...
New mortgage servicer rules were enacted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), effective January 1, 2014. The...
Google has won a major victory in the privacy lawsuit involving the company’s alleged data-mining of private user...
On March 20, 2014, the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a trial court award of $1.2 billion to the...
A lawsuit in California claims Intuitive Surgical, Inc., the maker of the da Vinci Surgical System, misled shareholders...
McDonald’s is facing class action lawsuits in multiple states over wage and hour violations from potentially thousands of current and former employees. The employee lawsuits, filed to date in Michigan, New York California, are part of a nationwide movement to increase the minimum wage at the fast-food restaurant chain to $15 per hour. The New York Times reported on the campaign to raise fast-food minimum wages earlier this week, with a total of seven lawsuits having been filed...
In the Nexium pay-for-delay multidistrict litigation accusing drug companies of violating antitrust laws by agreeing to delay entry...
The United States Supreme Court has extended whistleblower protections to private contractors of public companies. The Wall Street...
Yahoo, Inc.’s attempt to halt a text spam lawsuit failed after the U.S. District Court for the Southern...
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Halliburton Co v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. last week,...
Janssen Pharmaceutical, Inc., the division of Johnson & Johnson that developed and marketed the Risperdal antipsychotic medication, has...
Thousands of lawsuits have been filed by women across the country who underwent transvaginal mesh surgeries to repair...
A federal judge in Miami has approved settlement of a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for its force-placed...
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to take up the “fraud-on-the-market” theory underpinning most securities fraud class actions,...
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune has levied criticism against doctors for appearing in a national advertisement...
Following Federal Judge Anita Brody's decision to hold off on final approval of the $764M NFL concussion settlement,...
The debate over "reverse payment" patent litigation settlements continues following the Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis...
Attorney William Audet is now offering free case reviews to former NFL players with questions concerning pending multidistrict...
Audet and Partners, LLP reports that a West Virginia magistrate overseeing multi district litigation in Ethicon v. Pelvic...
Several homeowners involved in the class-action lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase and Assurant Inc. over force-placed mortgage insurance policies have objected to the proposed $300M settlement on grounds that the settlement is unfair. JPMorgan Chase and Assurant Inc. previously agreed to a $300 million settlement to resolve the class-action lawsuit brought by millions of homeowners who claimed they were unfairly overcharged for “force-placed” mortgage insurance. Chase apparently made nearly $600 million in additional profits by earning questionable “commissions”...
A proposed class action lawsuit against J.C. Penny Co. Inc. over spam text messages will continue after a California federal judge rejected J.C. Penny’s attempt to use an offer of judgment to moot the lawsuit. Plaintiff Tracy Maier sued J.C. Penny Co. in January 2013 for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Maier had received unsolicited text messages from the retailer after signing up for J.C. Penney’s online rewards program and providing her cellphone number in...
Underreporting of da Vinci robotic surgeries may be contributing to increased incidence of injury to patients who elect the robotic procedures lacking an accurate understanding of inherent risks. Bloomberg recently published an unsettling news story recently about a 45-year old woman, Sheena Wilson, who underwent da Vinci robotic surgery for a hysterectomy believing it to be safe only to awake from the surgery with serious injuries leaving her disabled. As reported by Bloomberg, Ms. Wilson said if she...
A federal court in Pennsylvania has ruled that an Ohio-homeowner could not bring a national class action lawsuit over force-placed insurance in Pennsylvania. Plaintiff Xi Chen Lauren brought suit against an Assurant Inc. subsidiary for working with PNC Bank to force homeowners into unwanted and unnecessary homeowners insurance. Lauren accused PNC Bank and the Assurance subsidiary of colluding to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of borrowers by receiving “kickback”-style commissions on the insurance that was force-placed on...
Target Knew of Data Breach Risks Since 2007 Alleges Class Action Lawsuit Following last month’s massive data breach, Target faces a new class action lawsuit alleging the retail giant has known since 2007 that its point-of-sale system was vulnerable to a cyber attack, but chose not to take proper steps to update its systems and protect its customers. Class Action Lawsuit - Target Ignored Expert Security Warnings Back in 2007 The class action complaint, filed in the U.S....
A ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit may precipitate a flood of new class action lawsuits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The appeals court ruled that the TCPA preempts New York state law banning class actions based on statutory damages. (See Bank v. Independence Energy Grp. LLC, (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 2013). Litigation under the TCPA has grown considerably in recent years in part due to rising consumer complaints about spam text...
According to recently filed court documents, Johnson & Johnson officials systematically destroyed or lost documents relating to its vaginal mesh implants despite having been ordered to preserve that evidence. Bloomberg.com reported* the alleged document destruction in early December 2013 after court documents were filed by the attorneys representing women who have sued Johnson & Johnson over injuries associated with the transvaginal mesh devices. Destruction of critical evidence may potentially hinder the prosecution of valid transvaginal mesh claims by...
An Oregon jury awarded $100,000 to a woman who suffered injuries allegedly tied to da Vinci robotic gynecological surgery. Michelle Elsey was unaware of the seriousness of her injuries until a CT scan years later revealed that several foreign objects had been left in her pelvis after a malfunction of the da Vinci robotics during her prior surgery. Da Vinci Robotics and Medical Malpractice In 2007, Mrs. Elsey complained of pelvic pain and sought treatment from Dr. Daniel...
In its continuing effort to safeguard expenditures of taxpayer dollars, the United States Justice Department has reported a 2013 recovery of $3.8 billion in settlements and judgments resolving a myriad of whistleblower lawsuits and False Claims Act cases.* Cases involving health care fraud comprised more than one-half of the total reported recovery, or $2.6 million. The bulk of health care whistleblower and False Claims Act lawsuits involved Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Especially evident within this group of cases...
On December 8, 2013 consumer advocate Ralph Nader sent a scathing letter to Dollar General CEO Richard Dreiling. In his letter, Nader compares the salary of sales associates and cashiers ($8/hour) in Goodlettsville Tennessee, to that of the estimated living wage in the area ($9.76/hour) and then to Mr. Dreiling’s salary ($1,690/hour). Nader concluded that such disparity “ensures that [Dreiling] earn[s] more in one ten-hour workday than many of [his] ‘associates’ do in a year of work.” Nader...
Effective January 10, 2014, mortgage servicers are required to provide substantial new notice to consumers before charging any...
New mortgage servicing rules enacted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go into effect January 10, 2014 to...
Major mortgage lenders are being sued for forcing homeowners into overpriced homeowners and hazard insurance when the borrowers...
Robotic surgery has been marketed to patients as a safer way to go under-the-knife than more conventional surgeries. However, the rising number of deaths and serious injuries linked to the robotic systems is not only fueling patient lawsuits, but putting the pressure on hospitals to better train doctors in the use of these devices. The “da Vinci” Surgical System is a sophisticated robotic platform designed to allow surgeons to make fewer, smaller, and more precise incisions when performing...
JPMorgan Chase and Assurant Inc. recently agreed to a $300 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed in 2012 alleging homeowners were overcharged for controversial “forced-placed” mortgage insurance while Chase reaped millions in “kickback” style commissions that inflated the polices’ prices. What is forced-place insurance? All mortgages require borrowers to maintain adequate homeowners insurance on their properties so that the lender’s interest is protected. Typical mortgage agreements provide that if the homeowner’s policy lapses, or is deemed...
Google Glass is an exciting new technology from Google, the creator of the now-famous search engine by the...
Audet and Partners, LLP reports that a second transvaginal mesh lawsuit to be heard as part of multidistrict...
Johnson and Johnson, the manufacturers of certain defective artificial hips may be near settling with a large number...
A new whitepaper has recently been issued discussing the pros and cons of robotic surgery using the da Vinci surgical robot.* The author of the whitepaper, Hospital Administration Experts Arthur Shorr and Associates, claims to be among the nation’s leading authorities on the da Vinci surgical robot.** With regard to the benefits of the da Vinci surgical robot, Shorr explains that having a robot and using it in surgery increases a hospital’s competitive advantage.* Some of the first...
Shortly after a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case of Cisson v. C.R. Bard Inc., 11-cv-00195, U.S....
A whistleblower is usually an individual who works for a private company involved in business with the government...
Certain dialysis products such as GranuFlo and NaturaLyte carry increased risks of serious injury or even death. This...
The da Vinci surgical robot has been lauded by many because of its use in many minimally invasive procedures, including but not limited to, hysterectomies and prostatectomies. Compared to traditional open surgeries, robotically-assisted surgeries can be less invasive, which leads to an overall faster healing process and, sometimes, less discomfort. In an open prostate removal surgery, the physician would make an incision below the belly button.* Later, the surgeries began to be performed laparoscopically, where the surgeon would...
Because women have unique health considerations, in addition to those they share with men, Audet & Partners LLP...
Intuitive Surgical continues to remain the subject of much discussion because of injuries caused by the da Vinci Robotic Surgery System and its component parts. Of particular concern have been the burns and electrocutions that have seriously injured patients undergoing surgery with the assistance of the robot and its tools. Such burns have resulted in organ damage, infection, and severe bleeding, among other complications. Risk of electrocution and tissue burns are not the only ways in which patients...
Intuitive Surgical has suffered quite a bit of negative publicity recently due to the problems with its da Vinci robotic surgery system and its component parts. Indeed, Intuitive Surgical even recalled its surgical shears in recent months when it came to light that there may have been a risk of serious injury to patients undergoing robotic surgery due to the risk of electrocution and tissue burns. Additionally, there have been instances in which doctors have been inadequately prepared...
Consumers have begun to bring lawsuits against TAMKO, a roofing company that manufacturers and sells roofing tiles...
The da Vinci surgical robot has recently been the subject of much criticism due to the multitude of...
Audet and Partners, LLP, reports that the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has issued a Class...
The victims of advertising robocalls have won several recent class-action victories against companies such as Steve Madden Shoes,...
Audet and Partners, LLP has recently launched a new website as a resource for women struggling with injuries...
Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the daVinci surgical robot, has found itself in new hot water recently. In addition to the multitude of lawsuits and at least one recall of its surgical shears, the medical device company was recently investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).* Intuitive Surgical claims that it has taken the FDA investigative report very seriously and has “implemented corrective actions.”** The FDA investigation comes in the wake of a 34% increase...
A unit of Endo Health Solutions, a manufacturer of transvaginal mesh, recently agreed to pay $54.5 million to...
After previously announcing problems with the EndoWrist surgical scissors used in conjunction with the da Vinci surgical robot,...
A federal judge will soon hear the first of four test lawsuits involving Bard Avaulta vaginal mesh.* In March, the Bard Avaulta plaintiffs involved in the federal multi-district litigation in the Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) filed a motion requesting that the court either allow the three cases to be consolidated into one single trial heard by a sole jury, or in the alternative, to allow three distinct juries to hear the same evidence presented at one...
Medical checklists have been the subject of much discussion in recent years. One need only look to books such as “The Checklist Manifesto” by Dr. Atul Gawande or “Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out” by Dr. Peter Provonost and Eric Vohr. These checklists have grown in importance in light of problems with medical devices such as the da Vinci surgical robot and its component parts. In...
The da Vinci surgical robot and its components have been the subject of much criticism in recent months...
Da Vinci robot trials alleging defects in the robotic machinery manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. remain very much...
Da Vinci robot trials alleging defects in the robotic machinery manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. remain very much alive despite last week's defense verdict in a trial alleging inadequate training of a Washington State surgeon whose da Vinci surgery allegedly contributed to the death of a morbidly obese patient. As reported last week, Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot was exonerated by a Washington State jury which found that the medical device manufacturer was not...
The United States Department of Justice has announced its intent to make itself a party in a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit against the pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis.* A qui tam lawsuit is filed by a whistleblower acting on behalf of the government against an organization allegedly engaged in fraudulent conduct. In certain cases, rather than allowing a whistleblower to proceed on its behalf, the Department of Justice will intervene in the case itself. Put another way, the government will...
In recent months, there have been numerous reports of injuries caused by the da Vinci Robotic Surgery System and its component parts. Of particular concern are the burns and electrocutions that have seriously injured patients undergoing surgery with the assistance of the robot.* Such burns can result in organ damage, infection, and severe bleeding, among other complications.* There have been two principal causes of the surgical injuries. One cause has been physician error.* Physicians may electrocute a patient...
On May 8, 2013, Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of the da Vinci surgical robot, issued an urgent medical device notification and also advised the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a problem with one of the surgical robot’s instruments.* The document issued by the company warned that the Hot Shears™ Monopolar Curved Scissors may develop “micro-cracks,” which “may create a pathway for electrosurgical energy to leak to tissue during use.”* This leaked energy could potentially burn patients undergoing...
Following in the footsteps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, Judge Harold Baer, Jr. recently...
As of January 2013, 2,585 da Vinci Surgical Systems are being used in 2,025 hospitals worldwide, according to a report from Intuitive Surgical, Inc., the manufacturer of the robot.1 Last year 367,000 surgeries were performed using the robot, which compared to the 114,000 surgeries performed in 2008, provides a testament to Intuitive’s marketing success.2 While the minimal training provided by Intuitive is a continued topic of controversy, their marketing methods are also being questioned. “Many U.S. hospitals promote...
Depakote (divalproex sodium), a valproate product1 and Topamax (topiramate)2 are prescription drugs primarily prescribed for treating seizures, although both drugs are also used to treat migraine headaches, and Depakote is also used to treat bipolar disorder. Various worldwide studies have been conducted regarding the risk of birth defects associated with the use of these medications by women during pregnancy. The North American AED Pregnancy Registry was established in 1996 to study these risks, specifically focusing on Depakote and other valproate...
As lawsuits related to injuries allegedly resulting from inadequate surgeon training on the da Vinci Surgical Robot System continue to surface, Mimic Technologies, Inc., a Seattle-based company has seized the opportunity to provide surgeons with a simulator called the dV-Trainer, which allows surgeons to sharpen their robotic surgery skills in a virtual environment simulating robotic surgery. Since the FDA has yet to establish specific guidelines regarding a specific threshold of training that a surgeon must undergo prior to...
Mounting pressure from the pharmaceutical industry (Industry) has greatly influenced the drug approval process conducted by the U.S....
Given the increased use of IUDs as a form of long-term birth control, specifically the Mirena IUD, the...
One of the most serious complications associated with the Mirena IUD is perforation of the uterus or migration...
Pelvic Organ Prolapse ("POP"), aka bladder prolapse, and Stress Urinary Incontinence ("SUI") are common conditions in women. The...
As Intuitive Surgical Inc. continues to aggressively market its da Vinci surgical robot, its popularity is growing, but...
As businesses continue to capitalize on social media as an inexpensive and effective advertising tool, pharmaceutical companies are...
Over objections raised by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals*, the United States Judicial Panel ("USJP") on Multidistrict Litigation has consolidated...
The explosive pace of new technology has enabled people to connect and communicate in ways never before possible....
Text messaging is the most common form of communication used by young adults (ages 18-29) and is becoming...
Intuitive Surgical Inc. is confronting new allegations that it failed to provide adequate training for physicians using its da Vinci surgical robot, and may have encouraged less training, thereby increasing the risks to patients undergoing robotic surgery. No strict training guidelines or requirements currently exist that govern a physician use of the robot on a live patient. The amount and depth of training is currently left within the purview of individual doctors and/or hospitals. Undisclosed personnel from Wentworth-Douglass...
Related to lawsuits filed against Fresenius Medical Care in connection with its dialysis products GranuFlo and NaturaLyte, lawsuits are now being filed against the dialysis treatment center, Da Vita Healthcare, in connection with their administration of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte. GranuFlo and NaturaLyte are drugs used in hemodialysis to treat patients suffering from kidney disease and/or failure. The products were recalled by the FDA in March 2012 mandating revisisons to prescribing instructions to include the health risks connected with...
Intuitive Surgical Inc. is confronting new allegations that it failed to provide adequate training for physicians using its da Vinci surgical robot, and may have encouraged less training, thereby increasing the risks to patients undergoing robotic surgery. No strict training guidelines or requirements currently exist that govern a physician use of the robot on a live patient. The amount and depth of training is currently left within the purview of individual doctors and/or hospitals. Undisclosed personnel from Wentworth-Douglass...
While a decision on Bayer’s Motion opposing the consolidation of federal Mirena lawsuits is yet to be issued,...
Robotic hysterectomy for surgery has become more common over the past three years; however, experts are saying that...
Shares of Intuitive Surgical neared a historical high for the stock several weeks ago at $578 a share...
As recently reported, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has previously taken steps to protect consumers from text message solicitations...
In another victory for employees and privacy rights, a ruling issued this week against Finish Line, Inc. will...
The United States Supreme Court is set to decide a series of cases this year that could have...
Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals has taken a position opposing consolidation of legal actions brought against the medical device manufacturer...
The first jury verdict against Johnson and Johnson (J&J)’s Ethicon subsidiary has resulted in a powerful statement regarding...
Plaintiffs recently won a significant victory in the pending anti-trust lawsuit brought against the NCAA, Collegiate Licensing Company and EA Sports when a federal judge rejected the NCCA’s early challenge to the litigation proceeding as a class action. The lawsuit seeks damages for use by the NCAA, its sports’ marketing company and EA sports for the use of college athletes’ likenesses, images and names on television and in video games. While the ruling did not authorize certification as...
Hospitals across the U.S. are increasingly relying on robotic surgery to perform hysterectomies and other surgical procedures, including cardiovascular, gallbladder, and prostate surgeries. Intuitive Surgical Inc., which manufacturers the da Vinci Surgical System used in robotic surgery, has heavily marketed the medical device to not just hospitals but also consumers. Hospitals that invest in the daVinci robotic surgery medical device may feel economic pressure to perform enough surgeries to recoup their investment. Substantiating findings by Audet and Partners,...
In the first jury verdict to rule on whether Johnson & Johnson (J&J)’s Ethicon unit failed to properly warn of the risks of the vaginal mesh implant, Linda Gross, a 47 year-old South Dakota nurse, today was awarded $3.35 million after having required eighteen (18) surgeries to correct problems experienced after a transvaginal mesh implant. In the verdict handed down in Atlantic City, New Jersey, jurors ruled that the company failed to warn the implanting surgeon of the...
The amount of money a pharmaceutical spends on advertising its products doesn’t necessarily mean its products are safe. For example, drug giant Bayer, the maker of the Mirena IUD, has spent millions of dollars advertising its Mirena IUD contraceptive through TV and social media ads. The advertising apparently works – Mirena IUD sales reportedly topped $700 million in 2010. At the same time, women who have suffered serious complications after using the Mirena IUD including uterine perforation,...
Recently the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decertified the Domino’s Pizza Drivers class action lawsuit brought by 1,600 delivery drivers against the company for wrongfully denying them tips in violation of the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act. We are currently evaluating claims by hospitality workers, such as Domino’s Pizza delivery drivers, who have had gratuities wrongfully withheld from them. Workers may have the right to bring a class action lawsuit for violation of wage and hour laws...
If you or your child have or have had a Facebook account and a Facebook Sponsored Story featured your or your child’s name or profile picture, you or your child may be entitled to up to $10 by virtue of a new class action settlement. Given the public interest in this case, our class action law firm has provided answers to some of the most common questions about the settlement below. Sponsored Stories is one of Facebook’s advertising...
Over the past decade, the stock value of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has grown more than twenty-fold, primarily on the strength of sales of its da Vinci robotic surgical system to hospitals and medical offices. The backbone of Intuitive's marketing strategy for the da Vinci surgical robot includes a flood of stern warnings to doctors that failing to adopt higher technology practices will result in loss of patients from this point forward to doctors adopting this robotic technology. Some...
Metallosis is a health condition caused by the collection of metal particles within the soft tissues of the body. When a patient receives a metal-on-metal hip implant, the metal pieces rub together and cause these metal particles to be released into the body. Some health reports indicate that with every step, a metal hip impact produces between 100,000 and 1 million particles of debris. The immune system identifies them as foreign bodies and attacks. This causes inflammation in...
As reported by the New York Times earlier this year, Fresenius Medical Care failed to warn thousands of dialysis patients about the increased risk of cardiac arrest associated with the use of its products Granuflo and Naturalyte. Fresenius operates a number of dialysis clinics across the U.S., but it is also the leading supplier of dialysis products and equipment to other dialysis centers. In November 2011, Fresenius discovered a sharp increase in the number of patients suddenly dying...
Goodman and Amana air conditioning units are at the center of a new class action lawsuit. Apparently, the company knew its AC units were defective, but sold them anyway without warning consumers or issuing a recall. Products sold with inherent defects of this nature often violate product warranties issued by manufacturers. These warranties, by law, are intended to protect consumers when purchased products fail to perform as reasonable expected. In the case of defective central air units sold...
A recent national study suggests that nearly 75% of cell phone users that send and receive text messages have received unsolicited or "spam" text messages advertising or promoting products and/or services. Another study estimates that the number of unique commercial text messaging ad campaigns quadrupled in the first half of 2012, and that receipt of such messages increased 300% between 2011 and 2012. Consumers are protected from unsolicited commercial text messages by the Federal Act known as the...
After people were injured by "exploding toilets" the Consumer Products and Safety Commission ordered a recall of over 2.3 million Sloan Flushmate III toilets. This was a very popular toilet because of its of its powerful flush. The system, however, apparently was not strong enough to withstand the air and water pressure it created, causing the tank lid to rise and shatter the tank. There have already been over 300 flushmate problems reported involving toilets that have burst...
In recent years there has been an epidemic of valley fever in California and Arizona. Valley Fever Infection, coccidioidomycosis, is a disease caused by fungus which lives in the soil. It can be contracted by simply breathing in the dust in a contaminated area. Symptoms of valley fever include fever, aches, pains, coughing and running nose. Coalinga prison inmates and other prisoners in the San Joaquin Valley are at particularly high risk for valley fever. In 2005 inmates...
Mirena IUD, manufactured by Bayer, was approved by the FDA in 2000 as a contraceptive device recommended to women who have had at least one child. This small, t-shaped plastic device is inserted by a health care professional and can be left in place for up to five years. Among its marketing strategies for the Mirena IUD, Bayer held “Mirena Parties” for “busy moms” in connection with the social networking site Mom Central. At these gatherings, a representative...
[caption id="attachment_338" align="aligncenter" width="620"] On October 23, 2012, Audet and Partners, LLP filed a class action lawsuit against British Petroleum in Mexico City, Mexico.[/caption]Between April and July 2010, it is believed that the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig resulted in leakage of some 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In a subsequent effort to cosmetically reduce the appearance of oil on the water surface, BP covered the oil spill with 1.9 million...
The United States is recalling millions of faulty flushing mechanisms that have caused toilets to explode, creating “laceration...
(From CPSC, edited) The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named...
The United States is recalling millions of faulty flushing mechanisms that have caused toilets to explode, creating “laceration...
McDonald's, General Mills, Subway, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network could all be violating online privacy rules designed to...
Consumer advocacy groups are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate five companies– McDonald's, General Mills, Turner Broadcasting,...
“A bank has an equitable right to set off a matured debt, owed the bank by a depositor,...
NuvaRing is the trade name for a combined hormonal contraceptive vaginal ring manufactured by Merck (formerly Schering-Plough, formerly...
According to published reports: "[s]everal hospital burn lawsuits involving the “da Vinci Surgical Robot” claim that a number...
I am unable to contain myself for another minute. Let’s talk about robotic surgery. This is from How...
The surgeon who blogs as Skeptical Scalpel writes that he (she?) is unable to contain him(her)self any longer...
Open radical prostatectomy (ORP) is the reference standard for the surgical management of localized prostate cancer. With wider...
In the 11 years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first robotic surgical system for...
Following the description of consistently reproducible advantages of minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) with and without robotic assistance...
Recently, MedPageToday reported on a paper presented at the American Urological Association annual meeting: “Robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) cost 60%...
THE sleek, four-armed “da Vinci” robot has been called a breakthrough technology for procedures like prostate surgery. “Imagine,”...
Some of the newest birth control pills -- Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella -- are the subject of over...
Yasmin is the brand name for a birth control pill that is generically known as drospirenone. It is also...
Popular music stars Emilio Castillo and Stephen Kupka, collectively and professionally known as Tower of Power, by and...
Audet & Partners LLP has an Employment Litigation practice team that is ready to help those who may...
According to allegations in a recently filed class action complaint, certain Werner Attic Ladders may have dangerous defects....
Audet & Partners, LLP has created not one, but two free smartphone apps for our clients, prospective clients,...
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 home loan modifications to existing home mortgages. According to our investigation, applicants are allegedly told to let their home loan (mortgage) lapse for three months to qualify for the program. Then, when the applicants attempt to qualify for the loan mod, they are told that they...
Popular Latina music star Graciela Beltran, by and through her attorneys at Audet & Partners, LLP, a San Francisco,California-based trial...
Audet & Partners, LLP is proud to announce the release of our newest smart phone application. Audet Accident...
The law firm of Audet & Partners, LLP is proud to announce the upcoming launch of yet another...
As part of our continuing commitment to our community, we have recently launched a new informational site for people who have been the victims of vehicle accidents. This free online resource is entitled Audet Accident Law Resources, and features a growing selection of free resources for people who have been in car/vehicle accidents. In addition to links to numerous legal and insurance resources, the site also features links to first aid information, and a growing list of local...
Audet & Partners, LLP founder William M. Audet will be speaking at an upcoming legal seminar on issues related to mobile web applications. The seminar is entitled DEVELOPING APPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE DEVICES: Legal, Business And Regulatory Developments, and further information about this seminar is here at this link. Designed for attorneys, business executives in the wireless, mobile device, applications development and venture capital industries, business consultants and governmental officials, this seminar will cover numerous topics, including the following: Industry update: Where...
As attorneys, and as members of our communities, we feel that it is important that all people have access to legal resources. One issue has been that many folks simply do not know what to do, or who to contact, should they need legal help. We are not an attorney referral service, however, we do often refer cases out to other qualified lawyers and firms, if the case is not something that our firm handles. As part of our commitment to educating...
Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that it is illegal for employers to require their workers to sign mandatory arbitration agreements that prevent them from joining together to file class-action employment-related lawsuits. According to Alex Colvin of Cornell University School for Industrial and Labor Relations, 25 percent of nonunion employees are currently forced to sign mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of employment that prevents them from filing class-action lawsuits. Read more: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12506/workers_have_right_to_class-action_lawsuits_against_bosses_nlrb/
LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA’s system of hospitals and clinics warned more than 16,000 patients that their personal information was on a computer hard drive stolen in the burglary of a doctor’s home, officials said Friday. The UCLA Health System sent letters to the 16,288 patients affected, warning them of possible identity theft and giving them contact information for a data security company the system has enlisted for help. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/us/ucla-health-system-warns-about-stolen-records.html Audet and Partners, LLP is currently...
Audet & Partners, LLP is proud to announce that Attorney William M. Audet has been named “Super Lawyer" of the year for 2011. Mr. Audet was recognized for his significant work and multiple million dollar recoveries for his clients in personal injury, business and class action litigation. The award noted that Audet & Partners' top-tier status arises from the dedication and experience of founding partner William M. Audet. A copy of the reprint from Super Lawyers magazine can...
AUDET & PARTNERS, LLP filed a class action complaint against Sutter Health and Sutter Medical Foundation (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Sutter”) in Sacramento County Superior Court on December 5, 2011, for violations of the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), among other statutes. The case arises out of Sutter’s alleged failure to take adequate measures to properly protect its patients’ confidential medical information. Specifically, a desktop computer containing records regarding the medical diagnoses and/or treatment of...
SOUTHEAST TEXAS - A Southeast Texas woman is among nearly 5 million military patients whose personal information might be compromised from a theft, a theft some are just now learning about. Two months ago someone stole the electronic records from a contractor's car in San Antonio. The data includes Social Security numbers, medical records and private information. Read more: http://www.kfdm.com/articles/records-45876-stolen-security.html#ixzz1fDu7GJdw Audet and Partners, LLP is currently investigating these claims.
The anti-platelet medication, Plavix (clopidogrel), has been linked to a deadly blood disorder, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. TTP is rare blood disorder in which blood clots form throughout the body’s small blood vessels, explained NewInferno. These clots can lead to significant problems if blood vessels are blocked and blood flow becomes limited to major organs, such as the brain, kidneys, and heart. Plavix is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Read the rest of the article here: http://www.americas-watchdog.com/plavix-linked-to-life-threatening-blood-disorder/ If you or someone...
A computer containing more than 4 million patient records was stolen from Sutter Medical Foundation in mid-October. The computer contained the names, addresses and descriptions of diagnoses of patients dating back to 1995. Audet and Partners, LLP is currently investigating these claims. Please click here for the full article and visit our website for more information.
On Friday, November 18, 2011 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had pulled from the market the drug Avastin. Avastin is used for treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer, however there is no evidence the drug is safe and effective for that use. Researchers said Avastin may increase a cancer patient's risk of having a fatal reaction to treatment when it is added to chemotherapy. Please visit our website www.Audetlaw.com for additional information.
Audet & Partners, LLP, attorney William M. Audet was recently appointed as co-interim lead counsel in a class action case against Google involving allegations of invasion of privacy on behalf of the class of android users. The firm was appointed by the Federal Court in the Northern District of California. A copy of the Court’s order can be found here. For more information about the firm and its work protecting consumers, visit the firm’s website at www.audetlaw.com
Attorney William M. Audet, founding partner of Audet & Partners, LLP, a plaintiffs only litigation firm, was recently named Super Lawyer for Northern California for the third straight year. The nomination is a merit based selection process. In addition, Mr. Audet was recently recognized as a Top Attorney in Northern California for his work in Class Actions and Mass Torts. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained...
Founding Audet & Partners, LLP attorney William M. Audet has been selected to speak at the 11th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium held in New Orleans on December 12, 2011. The Symposium is sponsored by the Louisiana state Bar Association. Mr. Audet will speak on the issue of resolution of large complex mass tort cases, a topic that Mr. Audet knows all to well based on his 20 plus years in this practice of law. More about Mr....