Last month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized all federally filed Zoloft birth defect lawsuits before Judge Cynthia M. Rufe in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. At that time, nearly 100 lawsuits were centralized to the court on behalf of children who were born with birth defects from Zoloft prescribed to their mother’s during pregnancy, and the number is expected to grow.

Earlier this month, Judge Rufe issued a pretrial order scheduling the initial status conference of the MDL for July 12, at which time, attorneys for each side will “suggest procedures that will facilitate the expeditious, economical and just resolution of this litigation,” the order said. More Zoloft Birth Defect MDL Conference Scheduled

Plaintiffs Patricia and Drennan Mayfield have filed a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize and consolidate all federally filed da Vinci Surgical System product liability lawsuits. The plaintiffs request the MDL be centralized to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi under federal Judge Carlton Wayne Reeves. They chose the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as an alternate venue, as that is where da Vinci maker Intuitive Surgical is based.

There are currently four lawsuits filed against the da Vinci surgical device in district courts in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and New York, and experts expect that number to grow. These lawsuits  allege that design defects and improper training has caused patients to suffer internal injury, and that the manufacturer has failed to provide adequate warnings regarding the risks of complications with the da Vinci surgical device. More Plaintiffs Request da Vinci Surgical Robot Lawsuit Consolidation

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty, who is overseeing the Actos Products Liability multidistrict litigation in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ,has issued a direct filing order for all new Actos lawsuits, which will allow new plaintiffs to join the MDL directly instead of filing Actos lawsuits in local courts and having to wait for it to be transferred to the Lafayette federal court.

As many as 10,000 lawsuits could be filed against Takeda Pharmaceuticals over allegations that the type 2 diabetes drug Actos has patients to develop bladder cancer, Bloomberg reported. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that long-term or high dose Actos users face a 40 percent increase in developing bladder cancer. Health Canada has also issued a warning concerning the drug, and the drug is currently banned in Germany and France. More Federal Judge Expedites Actos Lawsuit Filing Procedures

A Otero County District Court jury has awarded a $3.2 million verdict against Pioneer Healthcare for the family of Henry Frazier who suffered and died from 16-facility acquired infections and what experts called 34 “appalling” injuries, including a stage 4 gaping bedsore that spread across his buttocks and into his scrotum, the Denver Post reported. An expert witness hired by the plaintiffs said that her review of the nursing home charts found that “the care provided to Mr. Frazier fell far below the standard of nursing care and wound care.”

Even though Stage 4 bedsores are considered by national safety panels to be extreme events, inline with amputation of the wrong limb or patients electrocution, the state’s review of the Frazier case led to no penalties, citations, or consequences. More Jury Awards $3.2 Million in Colorado Nursing Home Death

Skechers has agreed to pay $50 million to settle allegations made by the Federal Trade Commission and 44 states attorneys general that the shoe company made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding their rocker-bottom shoes, including that wearers would lose more weight and gain more muscle tone than they could with regular fitness shoes, the LA Times reports federal investigators as saying.

David Vladeck, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Affairs said “Unfortunately, for the millions of people who bought Skechers toning shoes, the only thing that got a workout was their wallet.” He also said that “when comparing its toning footwear to standard fitness shoes, Skechers put its foot in its mouth by making unproven claims that its toning footwear strengthened muscles, increases weight loss, reduces body fat and improves circulation and aerobic conditioning.” More Skechers to Pay $50 Million in Toning Shoe Lawsuit

According to a whistleblower lawsuit transferred to U.S. District Court in St. Louis last week, RehabCare Group Inc paid a Missouri nursing home some $10 million in kickbacks for access to Medicaid and Medicare residents for physical therapy. The U.S. Department of Justice joined the lawsuit last year.

Health Systems Inc., which owns the nursing home, and its affiliate Rehab Systems were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to government investigators, RehabCare formed an illegal business arrangement with Health Systems and Rehab Systems which included a one-time payment of more than a half million dollars, as well as continuous payments of 30 percent of therapy services. For this, the lawsuit claims, RehabCare was given a five-year therapy service contract for nursing home residents. More RehabCare Accused of Nursing Home Kickback Scheme

Seven Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judges heard arguments on Wednesday to reverse a dismissal by two Common Pleas Court judges of a lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson over allegations that it inappropriately profited from the antipsychotic drug Risperdal, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Previously, Judge Howland Abramson dismissed a count made by the state that it could sue J&J subsidiary, and Risperdal maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals, as a “provider” under the fraud laws of Medicaid. Then, Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson dismissed the lawsuit after a week of testimony ruling that PA did not have enough evidence for the case to continue. More PA Judges Hear Appeals in Risperdal Dismissal

The 2011 whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Takeda medical reviewer Helen Ge against the pharmaceutical company, which alleges that Takeda downplayed the number negative events associated with the type 2 diabetes drug Actos, including bladder cancer and heart failure, that it reported to the FDA.

The whistleblower lawsuit, which was unsealed earlier this year, further alleges a financial connection between Takeda and Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Steven Nissen, who authored a meta-analysis that showed Avandia, also a type 2 diabetes drug, was more dangerous than Actos. The lawsuit also alleges that Nissen was the principal investigator for the Actos phase 2 PERISCOPE trial, and that the trial used technologies invented by Nissen as part of the trial. For this, the suit claims, “payment Nissen received from Takeda through Cleveland Clinic Foundation was estimated to be $8 million to $10 million” for this participation in PERISCOPE, while Cleveland Clinic garnered over $13 million in revenue from Takeda for the Nissen invented imaging technologies. More Actos Whistleblower Lawsuit Implicates Cleveland Clinic Researcher

A lawsuit has been filed by a former altar boy against the Archdiocese of Chicago alleging that between 1983 and 1984, a priest sexually abused him on multiple occasions.

The plaintiff, now 40, alleges that a priest who was ordained in 1935, began to sexually abuse him in December 1983, when he ordered him into the rectory for punishment for mistakes he made while serving as an altar boy. According to the lawsuit, the boy was given a writing assignment, however, while in the rectory, the priest coerced him into pulling down his pants. The plaintiff alleges the priest then hit him with a wooden paddle and touched his genitals, all the while telling the boys that his actions would cleanse the boys of his mistakes. More Former Altar Boy Files Lawsuit against Archdiocese of Chicago over Priest Sex Abuse

Over the past decade, at least 10 lawsuits have been filed over injuries or deaths sustained by failing tree limbs in New York City’s Central Park. Millions of dollars in damages have been paid to plaintiffs and their families, and news reports suggest even more payouts are expected.

The problem, according to the New York Times, is that the city has experienced severe cutbacks in monies allotted to the city’s tree care and safety programs, forcing pruning work to be delayed. Safety and inspection work is routinely being performed by general park workers, who have not received the special training in the science of tree care and risk management. More Central Park’s Killer Trees Spawn Lawsuits