medical malpractice

Week Adjourned: 9.29.17 – Herbalife, Snap-On Logistics, Medical Malpractice

Top Class Action Lawsuits

Not the Great Pyramid? Now here’s something with huge potential: Herbalife is facing a potential consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleging it operates as a pyramid scheme to bait consumers with the “promise of riches.” The Herbalife lawsuit, filed in Miami by eight former Herbalife distributors, also names 44 top Herbalife distributors as defendants.

The allegations center on Herbalife’s “Circle of Success” event cycle. These events allegedly consist of a series of expensive seminars held across the US. The seminars are allegedly a sales tool used by Herbalife representatives and inner circle top distributors, to create enthusiasm among the network’s hundreds of thousands of members and to convince them that success depends on attending as many of the “Circle of Success” events as possible.

According to the complaint, these events are systematic and scripted in nature, divided into separate tiers of semi-local Success Training Seminars, semi-annual Leadership Development Weekends, and “Extravaganza” and “January Spectacular” events run by Herbalife itself.

It’s quite the story. Allegedly, attendees are frequently required to travel in order to attend the events, for which ticket prices range between $30 and $200 per person. Further, once at the events, attendees are incentivized to make thousands of dollars in product purchases to achieve VIP status and other perks.

“With these acts, defendants have collectively persuaded hundreds of thousands of victims to invest substantial sums into attending events which are held out as the secret to becoming financially successful in a fraudulent scheme to which defendants know financial success is not possible,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for conducting a racketeering enterprise, for deceptive and unfair trade practices under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and for unjust enrichment and negligent misrepresentation.

The lawsuit also claims separate violations of wire fraud, stating that the defendants’ acts of wire fraud are related because they share the same or similar purpose and target the same victims and have the same result: “hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from the plaintiff class into the coffers of Herbalife and its top few President’s Team distributors.”

The lawsuit is seeking certification of a class consisting of all people who purchased tickets and attended at least two “Circle of Success” events from 2009 to the present “in pursuit of Herbalife’s business opportunity.” The lawsuit states that this could involve hundreds of thousands plaintiffs.

Named plaintiffs Jeff and Patricia Rodgers, Michael and Jennifer Lavigne, Cody Pyle, Jennifer Ribalta, and Izaar and Felix Valdez, describe their losses as ranging from a few thousand dollars to over $100,000.

The defendants include Los Angeles-based Herbalife Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiaries Herbalife International Inc. and Herbalife International of America Inc. Individual named defendants include top distributors, current and former members of the company’s board of directors, and members of its so-called President’s Team.

The case is Rodgers et al. v. Herbalife Ltd. et al., case number 1:17-cv-23429, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Top Settlements

Snap Judgment? Here’s a good news story –well – a happy ending at least. A $15 million settlement has been awarded to a manufacturing plant supervisor injured while at work and later demoted, then fired.

The plaintiff, 50-year old Cesar Astorga, alleged defamation, discrimination, and violations of California labor law against the defendant, Snap-On Logistics, a power tool manufacturer.

The trial took three weeks and the jury just a day and a half to reach its verdict. According to court documents, the plaintiff had worked for 15 years with the defendant as a supervisory employee.

The back story is that during the course of Astorga’s employment he suffered work-related injuries which required multiple surgeries and leaves of absence. The injuries were to both knees caused by falling off a scissor lift, and which were later aggravated when a 100-pound motor fell on top of him. He has had seven total knee surgeries (4 right-knee surgeries, 3 left-knee surgeries) to treat ongoing pain. From the beginning of 2002 through mid-2003, plaintiff was absent from work a total of nine and a half months. His next period of leaves of absence occurred from the beginning of April 2009 through February 2011, totaling 13 and a half months, according to court reports.

At one point, Snap-On provided Astorga with a golf cart so he could get around the 100,000 plus square foot facility. However, the defendant changed its policy in the 2009-2011 timeframe and told the plaintiff it no longer allowed employees to return to work with doctor-imposed work restrictions.

Astorga was demoted from his supervisor position during his most recent leave of absence, and fired on April 21, 2011. His medical bills, which were paid by Snap-On, exceeded $275,000.

Malpractice Win. Victory for the family who filed a medical malpractice lawsuit. They’ve been awarded a $3.2 million verdict by the jury hearing their case – the circumstances surrounding the death of a husband and father who died after receiving a vein implant designed to stop blood clots. The lawsuit claimed medical malpractice against three doctors at Mercy Suburban Hospital in Montgomery County, PA.

The Montgomery County jury reached their verdict after finding the doctors and Mercy Suburban Hospital negligent in their care of Ernest Lucchesi, who collapsed while refereeing a lacrosse game, was rushed to hospital and received the implant but later died.

The jury took seven hours to reach their verdict, after hearing evidence over the course of the nine day trial, which included, according to the Lucchesi family’s lawyer, two of the doctors admitting negligence: one before trial and one during trial. The third doctor took the stand to defend himself however, the jury didn’t like his excuses and assigned the majority of the negligence to him, the family attorney said.

According to the Lucchesi family’s pretrial memorandum, the doctors at Mercy implanted the vein filter in Lucchesi six months before he died. When Lucchesi was admitted to the emergency room, Bolden failed to note that the filter had migrated to his atrial valve, court papers said. He died three days after his discharge from Mercy.

The jury found Dr. John J. Flanagan 44 percent negligent, Dr. Hugh Lipshutz 31 percent negligent and Dr. David Bolden 25 percent negligent. The award was broken down into $1.5 million for wrongful death and just over $1.7 million under the Survival Act.

Ok – That’s a wrap for this week. See you at the bar!

Week Adjourned: 6.26.15 – NFL Sunday, Beck’s Beer, Colonoscopy Med Mal

Top Class Action Lawsuits

Fans of Sunday Night Football are making an end run at the NFL and DirecTV, having filed an antitrust class action lawsuit, over the bundling of games in the NFL Sunday Ticket package. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Sunday Ticket subscribers should not be forced to pay several hundred dollars for the NFL’s entire spectrum of out-of-market games just so they can follow one team or see an individual game.

Filed in California by Thomas Abrahamian, the NFL Sunday lawsuit states: “The league and DirecTV offer NFL Sunday Ticket only as all-or-nothing….Purchasers of NFL Sunday Ticket must buy all out-of-market games for all teams even if they are only interested in watching the games of a particular team. Likewise, consumers must buy the complete season of games and may not purchase individual games.”

“A Cleveland Browns fan living in California cannot watch the Browns play, except occasional games on network television, unless he purchases the entire package of League games from NFL Sunday Ticket,” according to the complaint. The lawsuit is Case 2:15-cv-04606-BRO-JEM.

Top Settlements

I’ll Drink to That! A settlement has been reached in a consumer fraud class action lawsuit pending against Beck’s Beer. The lawsuit alleges that the beer is produced in St. Louis and brewed with water from Missouri, not imported from Germany, as customers may have been led to believe.

Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Beck’s, ‘tricked’ consumers into thinking Beck’s was a German beer, according to the lawsuit. The beer used to be brewed in Germany by its German owners until 2002 when it was sold to Belgium’s Interbrew, which then merged with Brazil’s AmBev, to become InBev, which in turn acquired Anheuser-Busch. Production of Beck’s moved to St. Louis in 2012, according to the lawsuit.

According to the Beck’s settlement terms, eligible class members are entitled to a refund of up to $50. Settlement class members include customers who purchased Beck’s beer, including Beck’s Dark and Beck’s Light, since May 2011. The settlement has yet to receive final approval but if approved, class members can fill out an online form to claim a refund. Beck’s drinkers can get 10 cents back for every individual bottle purchased; 50 cents for a six-pack or $1.75 per 20-pack.

Refunds will be capped at $50 for claims backed by a valid proof of purchase. Consumers who didn’t keep receipts are entitled to no more than $12. Full terms will be made public upon final approval of the settlement.

Additionally, under the settlement terms, Anheuser-Busch agreed to make labeling adjustments. A statement on the bottle saying it’s made in the USA will become more visible. The green boxes in which the bottles are packaged will also say the beer is made in the USA. So much for “who reads the packaging anyway?”

Patient Privates Undergo “Review” During Colonoscopy… You can’t make this stuff up! An unidentified patient in Virginia has been awarded $500,000 by a jury hearing his medical malpractice lawsuit which claims his anesthesiologist made defamatory comments while he was under sedation for a colonoscopy. The award includes $200,000 in punitive damages.

The unidentified plaintiff, referred to as DB, had left his smart phone on record so he could ensure he got his doctor’s post-surgical instructions, according to the Washington Post. (What ever happened to the patient consult?) However, during the procedure his trousers were placed under him, (Why?) which resulted in the inadvertent recording, court papers indicate.

When DB listened to the recording on his way home from the surgery, he discovered Dr. Tiffany Ingham mocking and disparaging him. Among the comments was a referral to a rash on the plaintiff’s penis, which Ingham incorrectly suggested indicated syphilis and tuberculosis. Nice.

The jury awarded $50,000 in compensatory damages for defamation for the doctor’s remarks about each of these diseases, and another $200,000 for overall medical malpractice. Ingham also allegedly said she was going to note in the man’s chart that he had hemorrhoids, which he didn’t.

DB also sued a gastroenterologist, Soloman Shah, who, while present for the procedure, did not directly participate in most of the commentary by Ingham. Smart…That portion of the case was dismissed.

And it’s off to the rodeo!

That’s a wrap folks…See you at the Bar!

Week Adjourned: 8.19.11

Top Class Actions

Vita Coco a bit Loco with their Health Claims? A consumer fraud class action lawsuit was filed this week, against All Market Inc., the manufacturer of Vita Coco Coconut Water, over allegations that you ain’t getting what you pay for.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit alleges that Vita Coco products are falsely marketed as “super-hydrating,” “nutrient-packed,” “mega-electrolyte,” “life-enhancing,” and healthy “super-water” that should be regularly consumed to help maintain optimal hydration. In reality, Vita Coco products are no more hydrating than a standard sports drink and, for some Vita Coco products, do not even contain the levels of electrolytes indicated on their nutritional labels.

According to a recent independent study, certain Vita Coco products have nearly 50% less sodium and significantly less magnesium than advertised.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs state that consumers are paying a premium for a product that simply does not live up to its health claims, and that Vita Coco products do not deliver on their nutritional promises. Well, if the products lived up to the advertising they should be putting that stuff in the tap water!

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of purchasers of Vita Coco products between August 10, 2007 and the present.

Top Settlements

Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits Continue to Rise. These two asbestos settlements total $51 million. Separate verdicts totaling $32 million and more than $19 million were awarded on August 17 in cases involving individuals who contracted asbestos mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos.

In the case of Ronald Dummitt and Doris Kay Dummitt v. A.W. Chesterton, et al., a jury found Crane Co. and Elliott Turbomachinery Co., responsible for the asbestos exposure that led to a U.S. Navy boiler tender’s diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma, an incurable form of cancer.

In returning its verdict, the jury determined that Crane and Elliott acted with a reckless disregard for the safety of others in failing to warn. The jury apportioned 99 percent responsibility to Crane and 1 percent responsibility to Elliott. The award included $16 million in past pain and suffering and $16 million in future pain and suffering to Mr. Dummitt.

In the case of David Konstantin and Ruby Konstantin v. 630 Third Avenue Associates, et al., the jury found Tishman Liquidating Corporation, formerly known as Tishman Realty & Construction, Co., Inc., responsible for Mr. Konstantin developing mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis, one of the rarest forms of cancer in the world. Like all cases of mesothelioma, this form of the disease is not curable.

The jury found Tishman 76 percent liable and to have acted with reckless disregard for the safety of others. The jury awarded Mr. Konstantin $7 million for past pain and suffering, and $12 million for future pain and suffering. The verdict amount also included $64,832 for past lost wages, and $485,325 for future lost wages.

If ever there were an Argument for Being your own Health Advocate… this would probably be it. A man admitted to Temple University Hospital for three severe hypoglycemic episodes over two days, episodes that left him with permanent brain damage—by the way—has been awarded $19 million in settlement of his medical malpractice lawsuit.

The short version of his terrifying story is that after having been released from hospital without a diagnosis or explanation as to why he was suffering from hypoglycemia, Ronald S. Campbell was admitted and subsequently discharged again—and for the last time—at 1:04 am. The middle of the night—or the wee hours of the morning. Whichever you prefer to call it, Campbell’s lawyers argued, rightly, that it was a time when his family would probably be asleep (you think?) and that hospital staff knew that and that Campbell’s family would therefore not able to monitor his condition.

In their defense, the hospital said it met the standard of care in restoring Campbell’s blood sugar to a stable level and noted that he had been previously noncompliant with insulin instructions. Yes—but since when do you discharge people in the middle of the night—and without figuring out what was going on? This whole situation may have been preventable… but instead he has brain damage.

OK. That’s it for this week. See you at the Bar—pool bar most likely.

Week Adjourned: 4.8.11

Top Class Actions

HAMPered Loan Modifications? It seems there’s no end in sight to the mortgage crisis—with new twists and victims appearing regularly. In fact, you could argue that it’s spawned a whole spin-off industry of fraud, and related legal actions. For example, this week, Saxon Mortgage Inc, the mortgage service division of Morgan Stanley, was hit with a potential class action lawsuit over allegations that the company uses the Homeowners Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to attract customers into making “trial” payments on loans it has no intention of ever permanently modifying.

Filed in Northern California, the suit alleges a pattern of misconduct by Saxon which involves collecting trial payments, delaying the processing of loan modifications, and then denying the application altogether for demonstrably false reasons. Where do you start?

The suit’s lead plaintiff, a small business owner in San Francisco, Marie Gaudin, had, like millions of Americans, fallen on hard times as a result of the recession and approached Saxon for a loan modification on her home. Long story short, she was directed to Saxon’s “Home Preservation Department” and subsequently asked to provide extensive documentation of her financial condition, which she did. She received a written agreement from them that appeared to promise a permanent HAMP loan modification after she made three “trial” payments as proof she could handle the loan repayments. But—Saxon didn’t honor its agreement. Are we surprised?

The suit claims that Saxon delayed the processing of the HAMP loan modification, while Gaudin continued to make trial payments, which were duly noted as received in correspondence from Saxon. Nevertheless, Saxon denied her a permanent HAMP modification. According to the suit Saxon claimed that Gaudin had failed to make payments or comply with document requests. They also allegedly claimed that she did not make payments, while in the same letter actually acknowledged that she was current on all payments (do they not read their own correspondence before it goes out?). Saxon also claimed that the U.S. Treasury Department was involved in reviewing HAMP applications. Who gets paid to think this stuff up?

Not surprisingly, the suit alleges that Saxon’s breach of contract, rescission and restitution, and deceptive debt collection practices violated California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Rosenthal Act), and fraudulent, unlawful, and unfair business practices under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).

Top Settlements

Goodyear Discrimination Suit Settles. Here’s a good news story—we like those. A jury in Cumberland, NC recently awarded Lashanda Shaw $450,000 as settlement of her wrongful termination suit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s Fayetteville plant this week.

Court documents reportedly state that Shaw was fired for making a complaint about racial and sexual discrimination in the workplace. She filed her suit in 2009. When she finally got to court the trial took five weeks with the jury unanimously agreed on the compensatory damages. I’ll bet she’s sleeping better now.

May be Justice—but at What Cost? A 79-year old woman in Scranton, PA was awarded $550K this week as settlement of her medical malpractice case. But here’s the downside—Irene Doherty filed the suit because she suffered a 23-month delay in the diagnosis of her lung cancer. The verdict was returned against radiologist Earl Detrick, who practiced in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, PA, prior to retiring.

Ms. Doherty’s lawyers argued that Detrick failed to properly report to Doherty or her physician his conclusions regarding a computerized tomography (CT) scan of her chest. That’s helpful. It turns out that that scan revealed a mass in Doherty’s right lung that required medical follow-up—but it wasn’t brought to Ms. Doherty’s attention until nearly two years later when she underwent a subsequent CT scan of her chest. The second scan revealed a much larger cancerous mass. So, in the 23 months between CT scans, the mass had doubled in size, and was inoperable. Worse, the cancer had spread to Doherty’s lymph nodes. Frankly, I find this astonishing—how does this kind of oversight happen?

Needless to say, Doherty’s suffering and physical deterioration due to her lung cancer could have been prevented had the radiologist done his job—which was to report the results of the January 2007 CT scan as soon as he saw them. And that’s exactly what her lawyers argued. If nothing else Doherty’s case emphasizes the importance of being your own advocate when it comes to healthcare. Don’t get me started…

Ok. That’s it for this week. See you at the bar.

Week Adjourned: 9.3.10

Top Class Actions

Dishonorable Disbursements? Prudential Financial is facing a potential class action brought by the families of six dead soldiers who allege that the life insurance company is profiteering from the deceased soldiers’ policies with various bookkeeping maneuvers. Specifically, the suit accuses the company of misrepresenting the way beneficiaries could collect lump-sum payouts, and that the company profits from this. Read on.

The lawsuit was filed by parents of soldiers who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, El Salvador and after returning to the U.S. They live in Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas. They are claiming that Prudential holds the money in a $200 billion general account which earns five percent to six percent in interest, and that beneficiaries claims are only paid into an “Alliance” account when a beneficiary requests it. The company then pays the claim out at the lower interest rate keeping the difference in interest earned. One attorney for the plaintiffs estimates that the lost interest could amount to as much as $20,000 to $30,000 for families who let the money sit in Prudential’s accounts. That’s certainly worth pursuing.

If the suit is granted class action status, tens of thousands of beneficiaries who received payments under group life insurance policies for military members and veterans created by Congress and administered by Prudential may be affected.

Top Settlements

Frown Lines for Allergan. Big news on the pharmaceutical front this week. Allergan Therapeutic Inc—you may have heard of them—they make Botox—has agreed to plead Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 9.3.10”

Week Adjourned: 6.18.10

Top Class Actions

Corexit Surely Didn’t Correct It. Up until yesterday, I was thinking that at some point in the distant future the BP oil spill may begin a positive chapter, the toxic gusher will finally be capped and the clean-up will begin to make a meaningful impact—we may even be fortunate enough to see the return of some species that are currently threatened with extinction—including the fishermen.

Then, I saw this: a class action lawsuit filed yesterday, alleging that BP and Nalco Holding Company intentionally sprayed “Corexit 9500” dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico with full knowledge of its dangerous toxicity. The suit alleges that the dispersant was sprayed entirely to lessen BP’s financial exposure and cleanup efforts relating to the oil spill.

Then I thought to myself ‘Wasn’t BP was on the verge of collecting an award for its environmental achievement just days before this disaster occurred? How could any ethically responsible corporate citizen engage in this activity with any kind of knowledge of the dangers?’ Of course the key point here is ethics…or the complete lack of them.

According to a press release about the suit, “When administered the dispersant, Corexit 9500, attaches to the oil causing both the oil and the chemical to sink below the surface of the water eventually settling to the sea floor. Studies have demonstrated this process will permanently alter the biosystem and food chain in the Gulf.” (See the above vid from msnbc where Dr. Seth Forman talks about the potential impact on Corexit on the rest of us.)

But it gets worse, if that’s even possible. “This chemical has been banned in the UK for over a decade,” the press release states. “Corexit is four times as toxic as the oil itself. Oil is toxic at 11 ppm, but Corexit is toxic at only 2.61 ppm. Corexit was banned from use in the United Kingdom because it did not pass the ‘Rocky Shore Test’ which Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 6.18.10”

Week Adjourned: 3.5.10

Top Class Actions

New Wash Setting: Extra Sure Beyond Any Doubt Clean. What would you do if your washing machine took eight hours to do one load? Just to put that in perspective, you could to fly to Europe in the same time it would take to wash your sheets—depending on where you live. Ummm…doing the laundry or flying to Paris—that’s a tough one.

But you could only fly to Paris if you could trust that your washer would do the job properly in your absence, and Ms. Riva, who filed a class action against Sears recently, was not feeling the love.

No doubt.

Among the litany of problems both she and her machine were experiencing on washday—or would that be wash week—were a high-pitched squeaking noise, the machine stopping mid-cycle for no apparent reason, and then displaying the rather cryptic message, in washing machine secret code, “F1 or F51″—your guess is as good as anybody’s as to what that means.

Ms. Riva paid $1000 roughly for her new washer in 2006, and Sears issued a recall of the instrument panel in that particular model some time after that. But she didn’t find out about the recall until after she’d paid to have the panel replaced, by Sears, who didn’t mention the recall, but charged her for the replacement because the washer was no longer under warranty.

You know, I’d be suing too. If she wins, maybe she can take a trip to Paris and do her laundry.

Top Settlements

Medical Malpractice in the News… This is a rather tragic cautionary tale about a 47-year old woman who Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 3.5.10”