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Locks Law Firm Partner Attorney Karl Friedrichs wrote an aritcle of interest titled, "Same Product, Different Liability Law in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey," about how different states have different laws in place regarding the litigation of product liability cases.

Read the article

Dogs and other domesticated animals can be wonderful pets, irreplaceable companions, and beloved members of families. Many pet owners have so much love for their pets that they are no longer able to think of them as animals capable of harming people. As a result, these owners sometimes fail to take proper precautions to protect those who enter onto their property against attack. Unfortunately, such failures too often result in serious injury and, in the most tragic cases, wrongful death.

On September 9, 2011, an Advisory Committee of the FDA studying drug safety will meet to conduct a review of bisphosphonates. These drugs include Fosamax, which was approved in 1995 and prescribed for osteoporosis and Pagets disease of the bone. Some doctors have prescribed it for osteopenia. Studies have linked Fosamax with osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and femur (thigh bone) fractures. The FDA is considering drug holidays because of the risks of long-term use. Merck sells Fosamax and it will make a presentation to the Advisory Committee. Partner, Jim Pettit, is handling the firms Fosamax cases, and is filing them in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mass Tort Judge Carol Higbee is managing all the Fosamax cases in the state.

Natural gas provides heat and energy throughout the country but gas can be exceptionally dangerous either through its explosive powers or through its products of incomplete combustion--primarily carbon monoxide. Gas which is distributed through aging pipelines in many areas of the country can erupt with explosive force and destroy lives and buildings in seconds. Nationally, over 83,000 miles of distribution lines are untreated to prevent corrosion and are aging. Many of these mains are located in urban or heavily populated areas.

As reported in todays New York Times Smith Kline Beecham (now Glaxo) utilized the services of professional medical ghostwriters Scientific Therapeutics Information located in Springfield, New Jersey to develop a timeline, outline and content for a medical textbook. The 269 page text, Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care used to teach doctors how to treat psychiatric disorders with drugs has as its official authors two prominent medical authors. But an acknowledgment in the preface of the book for an unrestricted educational grant from SKB raised the investigative ire of lawyers suing Glaxo for damages related to its anti-depressant blockbuster drug Paxil.

On September 15, 2010, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York granted conditional certification in a Fair Labor Standards Act action brought by Locks Law Firm against Alcoa, Inc. on behalf of certain present and former employees of Alcoas Massena West plant in Massena, New York.

The Court also appointed Andrew P. Bell, a partner of Locks Law Firm and lead counsel in this action, as a Collective Action Counsel. On September 23, 2010 and as authorized and directed by the Court, Locks Law Firm mailed out Notices and Consents to the 263 present and former employees of Alcoas Massena West facility affected by this action.

The hits just keep coming for drug giant J&J who recently issued recalls for some its most popular and profitable products like Childrens Tylenol, and just last week, its Acuvue contact lenses had to be pulled from the Asian and European markets. Yesterday, J&Js DePuy Orthopedic division recalled the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur, a method intended to preserve more bone.

Further to my June 24 blog and as reported in the The Boston Globe, Harvard Medical School has joined the ranks of medical educational facilities that have enacted new, tough conflict-of interest rules affecting the payment of educators and others by Big Pharma and Medical Device manufacturers. Under its new policy professors at Harvard Medical School will no longer be able to accept gifts, travel, or meals from such companies, nor will they be able to take industry money to speak about drugs or devices.

Lawyers who bring claims for persons hurt by defective medical devices and drugs have long known that both industries provide significant funds---to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars---to finance continuing legal education for doctors. We also know that pharmaceutical and medical device companies sponsor educational programs for doctors that highlight their products with paid though leaders ---physicians hand-picked by industry---as presenters at these programs. But some doctors and medical schools are finally saying enough is enough---no more industry money.

Partners Jonathan Miller and Michael Galpern were recently interviewed by Trial magazine of the American Association for Justice for their role in the recent Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery victory. The full text of the article is found below:

March 4, 2010
New Jersey residents can sue foreign companies in state court, high court rules

Carmel Sileo

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a foreign manufacturer can be sued in New Jersey state court for selling dangerous products there. In affirming an intermediate court decision, the states highest court held that a foreign manufacturer that places a defective product in the stream of commerce through a distribution scheme that targets a national market, which includes New Jersey, may be subject to the in personam jurisdiction of a New Jersey court in a product liability action. (Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery, 2010 WL 343563 (N.J. Feb. 2, 2010).)