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lawsuits

10.15.2015

$2.5 Million Punitive Damages Award Vacated in Kentucky Product Liability Case

By Jessica Surber, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP When a person is injured because of a defective or unreasonably dangerous product, he or she may be entitled to damages such as payment of medical expenses, reimbursement of lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering. Although it is the exception rather than the rule, there is also the possibility of punitive damages in some cases. In order to qualify for a punitive damages award, a plaintiff must show particularly egregious conduct on the part of the defendant (typically, the manufacturer, distributor, or retail seller of the product). Read More

10.13.2015

Tennessee Statute of Limitations barred recovery in government case

There's an old riddle that asks, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?" We may never know the answer to that question, but it seems that, if a tree located on state property falls onto a car passing over a bridge, there is a good chance that the state's high court will eventually hear about it, especially if there is any question as to whether the injured person's lawsuit was promptly filed. As we've mentioned before, the statute of limitations is important in any lawsuit, but some cases have other time limitations and procedural requirements that must also be complied with. In cases involving governmental entities, the timing can be especially tricky. Read More

10.06.2015

Tennessee Court was proper forum for medical product injury lawsuit against maker of hip replacement

By Jessica Surber Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Product liability lawsuits proceed under the theory that manufacturers and sellers should be held accountable for injuries resulting from defects that make a product unreasonably unsafe. As with other lawsuits, a trial court must have jurisdiction (both personal and subject matter) over a defendant before it can proceed to adjudicate the issues between the parties. Sometimes, a defendant may argue that, although the court technically has jurisdiction over the case, the court should decline to exercise that jurisdiction because justice would be better served in another forum. In the recent case of Pantuso v. Wright Medical Technology, Inc., a Utah man filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, seeking to recover damages resulting from an allegedly defective hip replacement device. Although the defendant manufacturer admitted that its principal place of business was Tennessee, it filed a motion to dismiss the man's complaint on the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Read More

09.17.2015

Johnson and Johnson’s push for Risperdal sales overrode its public duty

The Huffington Post is in the midst of publishing a 15-part series that details Johnson & Johnson’s push of the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The drug was approved for sale in 1994 for patients with psychosis, but was not approved for use in adolescent or elderly patients. Skirting the Food & Drug Administration and the law became the crux of Johnson & Johnson’s aggressive marketing plan, which was designed to make Risperdal the best-selling anti-psychotic drug on the market. The series is a bombshell. Three chapters of the 15-chapter series have been published by The Huffington Post so far. Every day brings a new chapter – and more tales of how one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies pursued sales at all costs. Selling the drug to approved patient groups for FDA-approved uses wasn’t enough for Johnson & Johnson. Drug sales representatives pushed the drug onto doctors who dealt with psychiatric illnesses in children and elderly, and pushed them to prescribed the drug for symptoms such as agitation in the elderly, which is not an approved use. Read More

05.27.2014

Kentucky Police Officers Claim Qualified Immunity for Wrongful Death

In a recent case, a decedent's parents appealed the court's grant of summary judgment in favor of police officers, the police department and the City. The plaintiffs were the parents of a man who was killed in 2009 in a head-on collision with a car that was driving dangerously. Before the collision, several people called 911 to report the dangerous driver. Because of the calls, the police department asked its officers to look out for a green sedan. When the officers responded to the call they encountered a red pickup truck on Ky. 39 and were pointed towards the highway. They thought this meant the green sedan was up ahead. The red pickup pulled up and told one of the officers that the green sedan was stopped on Ky. 39 not far away. As one of the officers drove south on the highway, he saw the green sedan at the end of a driveway on the left side of the road. Traffic stopped him from seeing license plate numbers, but he saw that the driver of the sedan looked lifeless and he was worried it was a medical emergency. Read More

09.17.2013

ELPO files suit for 34 plaintiffs in KY, TN in meningitis cases

ELPO files suit for 34 KY, TN plaintiffs in meningitis cases Read More