Lawsuits you should know about

If you have purchased a lawnmower from Sears in the last fourteen years, you may be interested in some recent lawsuits filed against the company. A class action suit was filed in Scranton, Pennsylvania on October 16th against Sears and other manufacturers including Toro, Honda, Deere & Company, Kohler Co., and Electrolux Home Products, Inc for fraud. The lawsuit claims that the lawnmowers were sold with labels stating that the engines produced a high horsepower than they actually did. This includes labels listing the gross horsepower of the mower, which is theoretically the maximum horsepower, but not as accurate as the net horsepower. Other lawsuits have been filed in New Jersey, Illinois, and Texas with the same claims.

The defendants of the lawsuits were all members of the “Power Labeling Task Force” in 2001. That group met to discuss how to misrepresent horsepower to consumers as well as conceal horsepower fraud. The group suggested putting a disclaimer on the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) web page titled “Understanding Horsepower” which would mislead consumers as to horsepower issues. The group then created the labeling standard “SAE J1940” to conceal the fact that the horsepower listed on the lawnmower was less than consumers would probably get from the product. The SAE J1940 label allowed manufacturers to up the horsepower as much as 15% more than could be produced.

The class action lawsuit also claims the group decided to use standard “SAR J1995,” which allowed manufacturers to list gross horsepower on labels. The gross horsepower of the lawnmower is less than the net horsepower unless used under specific laboratory conditions, but because it seems like a more powerful number, it was believed that it could be used to deceive the consumers.

Some of the lawnmowers involved in the lawsuit were sold under the names of Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Troy Bilt, Yard-Man, Yard Machines, Bolens, White Outdoor, Lawn-Boy, Exmark, Poulan, Poulan PRO, Weed Eater and Husqvarna. If you purchased one of these brands of lawnmowers from Sears since 1994, you may want to contact a lawyer to see if your mower may be involved in the lawsuit.

Sprint-Nextel Corp. is facing a federal class-action lawsuit which was filed against them by subscribers. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking reimbursement for early termination fees (ETFs). This lawsuit comes on the heels of another ETF lawsuit case that was held in July. The judge for that lawsuit determined that Sprint-Nextel had indiscriminately charged fees in an attempt to prevent dissatisfied customers from dropping their services, which was a violation of California state law. The judge ordered Sprint-Nextel to pay $73 million in compensation to approximately 1.9 million customers.

Now, the plaintiffs of this class-action lawsuit hope to find Sprint-Nextel, the third largest provider of wireless services, in violation of federal law as well as statutory law for all 50 states. The new lawsuit claims that Sprint-Nextel has been charging inappropriate fees of between $150 and $200 since 1999 and that these fees are in violation of the Federal Communications Act in every state, not just California. The lawsuit seeks $1.2 billion in reimbursement.

Attorney Scott Bursor, who is now promoting the federal class-action suit after working on the California suit, says he intends to prove the fees violate federal law. Bursor was also involved in a class-action suit in July against Verizon Wireless in which they were ordered to pay $21 million in reimbursement for ETFs.

Matthew Sullivan, a spokesman for Sprint-Nextel, said that the federal class-action suit is “cynical and opportunistic.” The jury in the original case ruled in the favor of Sprint-Nextel, however, the judge’s ruling was against the company. Therefore, the ruling in the California case is preliminary and not final. Judge Bonnie Sabraw of the Alameda County, California Superior Court will finalize the decision within 90 days of the hearing.

In October, Sprint-Nextel issued a revised ETF policy. The $200 fee will be decreased by $10 each month starting in the seventh month of the customer’s contract. By the 15th month of the contract, the ETF will be $100, which is the lowest pro-rated fee in the cell phone industry. The new ETF policy applies to both new and existing customers.

The NuvaRing is a contraceptive vaginal ring that can be prescribed by a doctor. To prevent contraception, the ring releases a dose of progestin and estrogen over a period of three weeks. After three weeks is over, the ring is removed and the woman has a normal menstrual period.

NuvaRing is manufactured by Organon and was first used in The Netherlands in February 2001. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use by consumers in the United States on October 2, 2001 and hit the market the next summer. NuvaRing is currently used by about 1.5 million women throughout the world.

The known side effects of NuvaRing are vaginitis, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, leucorrhea, sinusitis, nausea, and weight gain. It is believed that chances of cardiovascular problems such as stroke or heart attack are higher in women who smoke, have had recent surgery, a history of cardiovascular disease, or are of an older age.
Rarer side effects from use of NuvaRing may include difficulty breathing, chest pain, coughing up blood, severe headaches, severe abdominal pains, lumps in the breast, constant fatigue, vomiting, rashes, and depression.

Other than the expected side effects, it is believed that NuvaRing causes an increased risk of blood clots because it contains etonogesterel. Some studies have shown that third generation contraceptives such as NuvaRing that contain etonogesterel (an active metabolite of the progestin desogestrel) can increase the risk of blood clots by as much as 1.5 to 2.4 times that of second generation oral contraceptives. These blood clots can cause tissue and organ damage, leading to amputation or even death. In addition to blood clots, it is believed that NuvaRing may cause stoke or myocardial infarction (heart attack) in patients using it.

Last year, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, requested that the FDA ban oral contraceptives that release desogestral due to the link to strokes and blood clots. While the packaging says a low dose of etonogestral is released, some believe that the dose, administered per day, is actually high.

This past March, a lawsuit was filed against Organon as well as the distributors and marketers of NuvaRing. The suit was filed by Robert Bozicev in Essex County, New Jersey. He is the late husband of Kelly Bozicev, whom he claims was killed due to the use of NuvaRing. In December 2007, she had a seizure and died while being transported to the hospital. Doctors determined that she died due to a massive pulmonary thromboemboli. The lawsuit states that the Organon USA, Inc., Organon Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Organon International, Inc., Akzo Nobel NV, Organon Biosciences, N.V., and Schering-Plough Corporation knew about the increased risk of blood clots, but failed to disclose it to consumers.

Since then, more than 50 other lawsuits against the manufacturers of NuvaRing have been filed. If you are using NuvaRing, you may want to consult your physician about the risks.

Lexapro is one of the brand names for the drug escitalopram. It is used to treat both depression and anxiety. It was developed by Lundbeck and Forest Laboratories in 1997 and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in spring 2001. Some of the known side effects of lexapro are nausea, constipation, drowsiness, impotence in males, fatigue, indigestion, runny nose, and sinusitis.

Thoughts of suicide may also be an adverse side effect of taking lexapro. After the FDA did an evaluation of 372 studies that involved over 100,000 patients (all of whom were taking at least one of eleven different antidepressants including lexapro), it found that there was an elevated risk of suicidal thoughts in patients between the ages of 18 and 25.

However, it may not just be those between 18 and 25 that are at risk. In March 2007, a widow of a 50 year old man filed a lawsuit against Forest Laboratories among others, saying that her husband committed suicide due to lexapro use. The multi-million dollar suit said that antidepressants were prescribed after a car crash and the victim got progressively worse until he jumped off a bridge in February 2005. Mark and Lucy Bibbee also filed a lawsuit against Forest Laboratories. They believe that taking lexapro caused both their sons to commit suicide within a 17 month of each other. By the end of 2006, there were believed to be at least 25 lawsuits filed against Forest Laboratories by the loved ones of patients who committed suicide while taking antidepressants such as lexapro.

A new study conducted by Duke University shows that antidepressants such as lexapro may also increase the chances of death in patients who suffer from heart disease. The study found that 21.4% of heart disease patients who were taking antidepressants died within a three year time frame of the follow-up as opposed to 12.5% of those that were not taking antidepressants. After making certain adjustments for demographics and cardiac risk factors, this still was an increased risk factor of 62%.

In addition, patients who take lexapro during pregnancy may be at risk for birth defects. The FDA warned doctors to advise patients taking lexapro during pregnancy that their baby may be at increased risk for congenial heart defects such as atrial septal defects and ventricular septal defects.

A study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed that taking antidepressants such as lexapro could increase the chance of a patient’s baby being born with persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns (PPHN). After this study was published in the journal, the FDA released a Public Health Advisory with the warning about PPHN. PPHN can cause heart failure, brain hemorrhage, seizures, and organ damage in newborns. Between 10 and 20% of newborns that suffer from PPHN die.

In addition to heart defects, it is believed that lexapro can also cause omphalocele, an abdominal wall defect, and craniosynostosis, which causes sutures on the head to close earlier than expected, resulting in an abnormally shaped head.

A class action lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of Kansas against Appleebee’s restaurants, its parent company DineEquity, Inc. and Weight Watchers International, Inc. claiming that their dishes featured in their Weight Watchers menu were misleading to customers. The lawsuit alleges claims under the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act and Kansas consumer protection laws.

The complaint filed stated that Applebee’s mislabeled the fat, calorie and fiber content of each dish thus causing the patron to consume more calories than advertised. In one example cited (the Cajun Lime Tilapia) the actual fat and calorie content was significantly higher than what was listed in the menu (14.3 grams of fat and 401 calories in reality versus the 6 grams of fat and 310 calories listed on the menu). The testing of this dish was completed by Analytical Labs of Boise, ID. The complaint also alleges that Weight Watchers betrayed its supporters by developing, advertising and approving a menu that is inconsistent with the Weight Watchers diet.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all US citizens who purchased items during the past four years from the Weight Watchers menu at Applebee’s restaurants. The lead plaintiff in the case is Antonio Fidelis Valiente of Bethesda, MD. In the complaint it is asserted that Mr. Valiente was a frequent patron of Applebee’s Restaurants in the Miami, Boston, Nashville, and Washington areas and dined there at least 25 times since the Weight Watchers menu was created. Mr. Valiente stated that had he known the actual nutritional makeup of the dishes he would not have eaten at the restaurants.

The lawsuit seeks class-wide damages and injunctive relief. The suit also asks that Weight Watchers and Applebee’s be required to surrender to the plaintiffs any profits were made from the sale of the menu items.

Applebee’s was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Overland Park, KS. Weight Watchers International, Inc. was founded in 1963 and has tens of thousands of employees worldwide.

Heparin is injected to prevent blood from clotting or to allow the body to naturally break down clots that have already formed. It may be used in patients suffering from such illnesses as acute coronary syndrome (such as myocardial infarction), atrial fibrillation, deep-vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and cardiopulmonary bypass. Heparin has been in use since 1916 and is one of the oldest drugs still administered widespread for clinical use.

The known side effects of heparin are heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT Syndrome) and in rarer cases, alopecia and osteoporosis. An overdose of heparin can also be life threatening. A nurse in the Czech Republic, Petr Zelenda, was convicted of killing seven patients in 2006 via an overdose of heparin. But, not all overdoses are intentional. In November 2007, actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly Buffington saw their newborn twins mistakenly given an overdose of heparin. The twins, not quite two weeks old, were given an adult dosage of heparin, which is 1,000 times stronger than that recommended for infants. It is believed that the dosage labeling was not clear and Quaid filed a lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare for $50,000. Despite the overdose, it appears that the twins will be fine. The typical treatment for a heparin overdose is protamine sulfate.

In addition to heparin overdoses, Baxter Healthcare had to recall a shipment of heparin in December 2007 due to contamination after receiving reports of adverse reactions. More recalls of heparin was made in January, February, and March 2008. Several unopened syringes in a specific shipment were found to contain a bacteria called serratia marcescens, which can be life threatening or fatal. The symptoms of using the contaminated heparin are stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, chest pain, fast heart rate, dizziness, fainting and shortness of breath, tachycardia, burning sensation, flushing and redness of the skin, sweating, thirst, headache, and restlessness. It is believed that the contaminated heparin vials came from a Scientific Protein plant in China. The Food and Drug Administration received reports of over 785 patients who were seriously injured and at least 19 dying after taking the contaminated heparin. The FDA issued a public health advisory on February 11, 2008 to inform the public of the reports received.

Currently, there have been many lawsuits filed against Baxter Healthcare due to the heparin contamination. One was by the family of a man in Missouri who died after an allergic reaction. By the end of April 2008, there were at least sixteen lawsuits against Baxter Healthcare.

If you or someone you know experienced adverse reactions after taking heparin, you should consult a lawyer to protect your legal rights as a patient and get you the compensation you deserve.

In 2005 the FDA had issued a public health advisory about safety warnings regarding the use of the Fentanyl Transdermal (Skin) Patches. The original Public Health Advisory was issued in July, 2005; an updated Public Health Advisory was issued in December, 2007.

In the Public Health Advisory titled “Important Information for the Safe Use of Fentanyl Transdermal System (Patch)” the FDA opened by stating this was being released to alert patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals of important information regarding the save use of the patch, marketed under the brand name Duragesic, as well as with the generic equivalents of this product.

The FDA stated that they have received continued reports of death and “life-threatening” side effects in patients who use the patch when it was prescribed for inappropriate reasons. Fentanyl is not designed for patients who have short term pain, pain that is not constant, or for pain following a surgical procedure, for example. It is designed for use in patients with chronic pain who are opioid-tolerant (meaning they take regular narcotic medicine for pain and are more resistant to the dangerous side effects of narcotic pain medicine).

The FDA warns that even the lowest dose Fentanyl patch available can cause dangerous side effects in patients who are not opioid-tolerant. These side effects can include respiratory issues (severe trouble breathing or very slow and shallow breathing) and even death.

In this statement the FDA indicates that doctors have been prescribing the Fentanyl patch for patients when it is not an appropriate treatment – patients with acute pain following surgery, for headaches, or other mild pain. It also states that patients are using the Fentanyl patch incorrectly – applying more than is prescribed, or applying a heat source to the patch, for example. This increases the amount of Fentanyl in the bloodstream which makes an overdose more likely.

Important safety information was highlighted by the FDA in this Advisory:

• The patch should be used only for opioid-tolerant patients with chronic pain not well controlled with other medications.
• Healthcare professionals should be aware of the signs of a Fentanyl overdose.
• Patients using the Fentanyl patch should tell their doctor of all the medicines they take.
• Patients and caregivers must be given careful and correct instructions on how to use the patch.
• Heat can increase the amount of Fentanyl in the bloodstream, leading to potentially life-threatening breathing problems and death.

In June, 2007 a $5 million plus jury verdict was awarded to the family of a Florida man who died while using the Fentanyl transdermal patch. The defendants in this case were Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries, Alza Corporation, and Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, the manufacturer of the Fentanyl transdermal patch marketed under the name Duragesic. The Texas law firm of Heygood, Orr, Reyes, Pearson & Bartolomei represented the family of the deceased in this lawsuit, brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division.

Cervical cancer is the number one leading cause of cancer deaths among women in developing countries. However, Merck & Co. developed Gardasil, a vaccine, to help prevent certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Studies show that over 80% of women younger than age 50 have been exposed to at least one strain of HPV. In preventing HPV types 16, 18, 6, and 11, it is believed that over 70% of the cases of cervical cancer may be prevented.

Gardasil is designed to prevent the first infection of HPV, so therefore should be given to girls before they become sexually active. For women who have already been sexually active, the vaccine can still protect them from other types of HPV infections even if they are already infected with one of the four main types.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have said that they believe the Gardasil vaccination is safe and the FDA approved it for use in 2006. It has been clinically tested on over 11,000 females between the ages of 9 and 26. It also does not contain mercury, thiomersal, or live or dead particles. The known side effects of the Gardasil vaccination are fainting and soreness in the area of the injection.

However, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) believes that Gardasil can have much more devastating side effects including blood clots, paralysis, seizures, Bells palsy, and Guillian-Barre syndrome. More than 3,400 complaints have been reported to the VICP of patients having taken the Gardasil vaccination then suffering these side effects. There have also been 20 deaths that are under investigation. One study shows that almost 50% of the pregnant women who had the Gardasil vaccination experienced fetal abnormalities including spontaneous abortion. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) doesn’t feel that Merck’s clinical trials proved that Gardasil was safe for use by young girls.

The FDA and CDC admitted that 9,749 reports of those taking Gardasil have been filed with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. But, there have been 16 million doses given as of the end of June 2008. The FDA and CDC said that given that amount, “by chance alone some serious adverse effects and deaths” will occur, but have nothing to do with the Gardasil vaccination.

It is the responsibility of drug manufacturers to ensure your safety when taking a medication or receiving a vaccination. If you are harmed after using a product, you may have grounds for legal action against the manufacturer. If you have taken the Gardasil vaccination and suffered any of the severe side effects listed above, contact a lawyer about your legal rights as a consumer.

Quinine is a natural plant substance found in South America that has been used for many different medial reasons for hundreds of years. It has been used to reduce fever and treat malaria, but it is also used as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory medication. Many people have used it to treat nighttime leg cramps.

Since 1969, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 665 reports of adverse side effects by patients who were using quinine. Side effects of quinine use included anemia, abnormal blood clotting or bleeding, irregular heartbeats, severe headaches, seizures, nausea, rash, visual disturbances, and liver damage. Ninety three of those reports turned into the FDA were of a patient’s death while using quinine. The FDA banned the sale of over-the-counter quinine used to prevent leg cramps in 1994 as a result of those reports.

Doctors could still write quinine prescriptions for patients with leg cramps until late 1995. At that point, the FDA said that doctors could no longer prescribe it for leg cramps. The only brand of quinine approved by the FDA to be sold on the market is Qualaquin, which is used to treat malaria. Because the FDA doesn’t see leg cramps as life threatening like malaria can be, the benefits of using quinine no longer outweigh the risks.

However, some patients who liked benefits of quinine for leg cramp treatment and continued to use it. While the FDA ordered manufacturers to stop producing the unapproved drugs as recently as December 2006, many brands were still illegally available for sale on the market.

If you or someone you know has suffered adverse side effects as a result of taking quinine, you may have a claim against the manufacturers. Consult a lawyer that is familiar with the FDA findings to see what legal rights you have as a consumer. But, before you contact a lawyer, it is recommended that you put together a timeline of your quinine use, who you purchase it from, what symptoms you suffered, other medications you were taking at the same time, and when you stopped using quinine.

Morgan Keegan is an investment banking and securities firm which is part of the larger Regions Financial Corporation. Regions serves the southern part of the United States with offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Morgan Keegan customers who invested in certain types of Regions Morgan Keegan funds may be able to join a class action lawsuit. During 2007, customers who purchased:

• Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income
• Regions Morgan Keegan High Income Fund-C
• Regions Morgan Keegan High Income Fund-A
• Regions Morgan Keegan High Income Fund-I
• Regions Morgan Keegan Strategic Income Fund
• Regions Morgan Keegan Intermediate Bond Fund-C
• Regions Morgan Keegan Intermediate Bond Fund-A
• Regions Morgan Keegan Intermediate Bond Fund-I
• Regions Morgan Keegan Multi-Sector High Income
• Regions Morgan Keegan Advantage Income

and lost money as a result of the investment may want to look into legal action against Morgan Keegan. These funds experienced losses of between 50% and 67% during 2007 when the subprime mortgage market dropped. All in all, investors lost over $1 billion dollars. Similar high-yield bond funds during the same time frame did not lose as much as these RMK funds. The lawsuit is open to investors who purchased funds from Morgan Keegan between December 2004 and October 2007.

The class action lawsuit contends that these investors lost money due to the mismanagement and fraudulent misrepresentations by some mutual fund managers. It is believed that these customers were not notified that these new investments had not been thoroughly tested and were traded in markets in which there were fewer buyers. This meant a higher risk of considerable losses for these investors – much higher than they agreed to when they agreed to purchase the RMK funds. It is believed that the fund managers gave the impression that these funds were relatively safe and stable, failing to disclose the risky aspect of investing in them. The lawsuit contends that had these investors been given the entire picture about the funds, many would not have invested in them and therefore not lost money.

To recoup loses from these funds, you may want to speak to a lawyer to see if you are eligible for this class action lawsuit. Being a part of the class action lawsuit means that you will not have to pay any legal fees, including that of the lawyers involved. Investors who lost more than $10,000 may wish to forgo the class action lawsuit and file their own individual case against the company; however, you will be responsible for paying your own legal expenses.