Aug
30
Texas Supreme Court Vacates $ 7.7M Vioxx Verdict; Science Standard Was Unmet
August 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Supreme Court on Aug. 26 reversed a $ 7.75 million Vioxx death verdict after ruling that the plaintiff had not met the state’s requirements for scientific reliability to prove that short-term exposure to the prescription pain drug caused a fatal heart attack (Merck & Co., Inc. v. Felicia Garza, et [...]
Aug
27
Mississippi Judge: B&W Tobacco Must Pay State At Least $ 8.1M
August 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment
PASCAGOULA, Miss. – A Mississippi Chancery Court judge has ordered Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. (B&W) to pay the state $ 8.1 million, with more likely to come, saying Aug. 24 that the company avoided millions of dollars in payments called for in a four-state settlement with the major tobacco companies by selling cigarettes under [...]
Aug
24
Panel Finds Coverage Is Barred By ‘Care, Custody, And Control’ Policy Exclusion
August 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A liability insurance policy’s “care, custody, and control” exclusion precludes all of a claimant’s property damage claims to its cattle, a Minnesota appeals panel held Aug. 22, reversing a lower court’s ruling against the insurer (Gaza Beef Inc. v. Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, No. A11-444, Minn. App.; 2011 Minn. App. Unpub. [...]
Aug
21
New York Jury Awards $ 51M In 2 Asbestos Mesothelioma Trials
August 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – A New York state jury on Aug. 17 awarded verdicts of $ 32 million and $ 19 million to two mesothelioma plaintiffs (Ronald Dummitt, et al. v. A.W. Chesterton, et al., No. 190196/2010, and David Konstantin, et al. v. 630 Third Avenue Associates, et al., No. 090134/2010, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). [...]
Aug
18
Panel Affirms Madoff Trustee’s Usage Of Net Equity Determination Method
August 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – The court-appointed liquidation trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) has properly determined that the net investment method for determining net equity for individual claimants should be used for carrying out his responsibilities under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA), and the method is legally sound under the language of [...]
Aug
16
Vioxx MDL Judge Approves $ 315.2M Common Benefit Fees
August 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment
NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana federal judge overseeing the Vioxx multidistrict litigation on Aug. 9 approved common benefit fee payments totaling $ 315.2 million to 92 plaintiff law firms (In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1657, No. 2:05-med-1657, E.D. La.). LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Daily Legal News
Aug
13
LOS ANGELES – A California jury on Aug. 9 ordered Philip Morris USA Inc. to pay $ 12.8 million to the 19-year-old son of a Marlboro smoker whose estate had earlier won $ 83 million from the company for his death from lung cancer, a source told Mealey Publications (Judy Boeken, et al v. Philip [...]
Aug
10
2nd Circuit: Use Of Retained Asset Accounts Is Not Fiduciary Breach
August 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.’s use of a “retained asset accounts” (RAA) to distribute death benefits was not a breach of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, even though MetLife allegedly earned a profit investing the funds in the RAA, because the beneficiaries received all the benefits they were entitled [...]
Aug
7
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Health Care Act Case For Lack Of Standing
August 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment
NEWARK, N.J. – A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 3 affirmed the dismissal of a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) brought by a New Jersey physician, one of his patients and a physician organization, saying that the plaintiffs failed to allege the prerequisite injury in fact [...]
Aug
4
W.Va. Federal Jury Returns Defense Verdict In HRT Breast Cancer Trial
August 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A West Virginia federal jury on July 29 found that a breast cancer patient did not prove by a preponderance of evidence that the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs Premarin, Prempro and Provera proximately caused her breast cancer (Leah Royce Hines v. Wyeth, et al., No. 2:04-690, S.D. W.Va.). LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Daily [...]