Product Liability

Audi Ordered to Pay $124.5 Million for Seat-Back Failure

March 10, 2016 | Ed Manzke

Co-authored by Cassidy Carroll of The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

Recently, a Texas jury ordered Audi to pay $124.5 million to an 11-year-old boy who was left brain-damaged, partially paralyzed and blinded in his right eye in a 2012 rear-end collision. The verdict is in response to Audi equipping their 2005 Audi A4 with a seat back that was too weak to withstand a rear-end crash.

At the trial, the parents of the boy argued that, despite wearing seatbelts, the inadequate seat back caused the front seat collapse resulting in the driver, the boy’s father, sliding backward and hitting his head on his son’s head in the back seat. The accident occurred when their car was rear-ended after they stopped for a school bus.

Johnson & Johnson Must Pay $72 Million For Talcum Powder Linked to Ovarian Cancer

March 7, 2016 | Ed Manzke

Co-authored by Cassidy Carroll of The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

A little over a week ago, the Missouri Circuit Court announced that, Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health-care products must pay $72 million to the family of a woman claiming the company’s talcum powder caused her fatal ovarian cancer. For the first time, monetary compensation was awarded in response to Johnson & Johnson’s failure to warn consumers of the cancer-causing potential of its talcum-based products decades ago.

Currently, Johnson & Johnson is facing 1,200 lawsuits claiming that studies on talcum-based products, such as Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower products, have shown a link between talcum and ovarian cancer. In 2013, a North Dakota federal jury found that the use of Johnson & Johnson’s talcum-based body powder contributed to a woman’s developing ovarian cancer, but awarded no damages.

FDA Recalls Dietary Supplements Due to Dangerous Undeclared Ingredient

October 30, 2015 | Ed Manzke

Co-authored by Jacob Exline of The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

On August 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported a recall of 13 different dietary supplements produced by Novacare, LLC due to an undeclared ingredient, salicylic acid, which is harmful to consumers if swallowed. The FDA performed a sample analysis, found the salicylic acid, and subsequently marked the products as unapproved new drugs. The Novacare products are used to aid in weight loss and are taken orally in capsule form. While the products have not yet been reported to have caused any injuries, they should be immediately returned to the Utah-based company.

Salicylic acid is a drug used to treat skin problems such as pimples. However, if swallowed, it is toxic and harmful to consumers. Salicylic acid can cause nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal irritation, loss of hearing, and sweating as well as severe reactions of blurred vision, mental confusion, cerebral edema and cardiorespiratory arrest (which could be life-threatening). The FDA states that those who are allergic, elderly, have a history of stomach problems, or consume three or more alcoholic drinks a day have a higher risk of toxicity.