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On July 26, 2019 the High Court of the Republic of South Africa issued a final opinion approving the settlement of a class action which was filed on behalf of former gold miners in that country who suffer from or have suffered from either silicosis or tuberculosis as a result of their work in the mines. A copy of the opinions can be found here and here. Locks Law Firm spent considerable time and resources assisting with IT support and data analysis on the case from 2012 to 2017.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for monitoring and ensuring the safety of medicines and vaccines, blood transfusions, medical devices (such as joint replacements and surgical instruments) as well as food products and nutritional supplements.  It functions as one of the most important consumer watchdogs, and its mission is vital to the safety and health of all Americans.

Congratulations to Partner Andrew DuPont and the benzene team who obtained a $6.37 Million recovery on behalf of a man who was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at the age of 68 which was caused by exposure to benzene in solvents, paints and paint removers while working as an autobody repairman and automobile painter.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just adopted a new test for waiver of the protection of the attorney work product doctrine, but it has reaffirmed the standard test for waiver of the attorney-client privilege. BouSamra v. Excela Health, __ A.3d __, 2019 WL 2509384 (Pa., June 18, 2019) is the story of a discovery dispute about one email sent among three people. The discovery dispute arose in a hospital context, but the tests are not limited to hospitals. 

Medical malpractice, or medical negligence as it is also called, is care or treatment by a medical provider (doctor, nurse, therapist, etc.) that is found to be below the accepted standard of care and that caused harm to a patient. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, it is the burden of the patient who is alleging injury to prove that the medical provider failed to render proper care to her, and that failure was a substantial contributing cause of the injuries claimed. Establishing that the medical provider’s care fell below the standard of care can, in some cases, be fairly straightforward and is often easier to prove than the question of causation, i.e. linking the injury to the substandard care.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just issued an important decision allowing evidence of risk in medical negligence cases that may alter the way they are tried. Mitchell v. Shikora, __ A.3d __, 2019 WL 2504475, *1 (Pa., June 18, 2019) holds that “evidence of the risks and complications of a surgery may be admissible at trial.” The qualifying words, “may be,” are significant.

June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.  With events to bring awareness to the endemic of worldwide elder abuse countries provide activities and training for prevention, recognition, and treatment of elder abuse worldwide.  

BREAKING: Financial information including credit card and bank account numbers of approximately 12 million users compromised by a data breach of one of the largest blood testing providers in the country, Quest Diagnostics.

In a rousing victory for environmentalists, on May 15th the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the proposal of the Oklahoma based Williams Companies to lay a 37 mile liquid natural gas pipeline through New York harbor and the New Jersey/New York Raritan watershed.  Citing concerns related to copper and mercury contamination that would occur during construction of the pipeline, the DEC note that construction of the project would result in “violations of water quality standards” and that the project as a whole failed to meet New York State’s rigorous water quality standards.  Officials in New Jersey must also weigh in on the project in June.

Answer: all four. 20,115 and 510 are both linked to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). 20,115 is the number of deaths associated with opioid painkillers reported to the FDA between November of 2017 and August of 2018 by Endo, a manufacturer of opioids. 510, actually 510(k), is a process by which the FDA can approve a medical device for sale.