Last week on Civil Action Radio guest host, Attorney Roberta Ashkin of the Ashkin Law Office, was joined by the trial lawyer team that won the nationally publicized verdict in the first Federal Fentanyl Patch case. Roberta is a frequent guest and commentator on The Legal Broadcast Network and her commentary on legal issues and areas of interest to trial lawyers can be found exclusively on LBN channels and podcasts.

The 25 minute podcast featured Attorney Jim Orr of Dallas, TX and a partner in Heygood, Orr, Reyes & Bartolomei, and Attorney Ike Gulas of Birmingham, AL and a partner in the firm of Gulas & Stuckey. This podcast is a bit longer then our typical 15 minute editions but this case has been reported in virtually every major national publication and legal magazine and this interview with two key members of the trial team will give you an inside glimpse into the facts and issues that brought this verdict in for the plaintiffs.
 

 Jim Orr focuses his practice on complex business litigation and personal injury matters and over the course of his career he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of civil litigation matters and has tried over 60 cases to verdict. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been voted several times by his peers one of the "Super Lawyers" in the State of Texas. Also representing the client for Heygood, Orr, Reyes and Bartolomei in this case were Attorney Angel Reyes and Charles Miller as part of the trial team and you can find their bio's and more information about the firm by clicking the link above.

 Ike Gulas has built an impressive reputation in mass tort litigation and class action suits brought against the pharmaceutical manufacturers of Rezulin, Fen-Phen, Serzone and Baycol. His firm is known through out the south as one of the premier mass tort trial firms and this verdict in a difficult federal case will only further cement that reputation.  

The podcast discusses the $5.5 million wrongful death verdict against two subsidiaries, Janssen Pharmaceutical Products, LP and ALZA Corp, both subsidiaries of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, in the nations first federal court trial involving the patch form of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl, also known and sold under the name "Duragesic patch".  In this particular case the plaintiffs were the estate of the late Adam Hendelson who died on December 17, 2003 as a result of the leakage of the patch which put fatal levels of fentanyl into his system, killing him at home.

This is a significant verdict and fascinating case that will be of interest to trial lawyers nationally and settlement professionals who have clients that work in pharmaceutical litigation.

You can listen to the entire podcast by clicking here. 

In a front page story today the New York Times exposed a little known, but long practiced, policy by which anemia drugs are marketed to doctors, oncologists and other medical professionals through a series of payments, sales incentives and other inducements.

You can read the entire NY Times article by clicking this link.

As you know the Civil Action Center and LBN have been following this story closely for the last 2 months and will continue to report on these developments, particularly with the long awaited hearing tomorrow at the FDA on the safety issues surrounding this particular class of drugs who are marketed under names such as Procit, Epogen and Aranesp. The two major manufacturers of these drugs are Johnson & Johnson through their Ortho subsidiary and by Amgen.

Today Attorney Jan Schlichtmann had as his guest on Civil Action Radio nationally renown trial lawyer Roberta Ashkin of New York, NY., discussing the NY Times article, the marketing abuses and also the ESA trust which has been formed to begin the process of discovering what injuries might have occurred due to the over use of this class of injectable anemia treatments.

You can listen to the entire podcast by clicking here.

This is going to be a major and continuing story so subscribe to our RSS feed or podcasts to stay abreast of this information.  

In the resumption of the weekly radio podcasts of Civil Action Radio Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and co-host Mark Wahlstrom bring you a podcast on the issue of pre-emption and a recent announcement from the Texas State Court that has consolidated the Vioxx cases there.

You can read an excellent summary provided by the Houston Chronicle by clicking here.

Jan takes up the issue of preemption, as it relates to these cases and the ruling by Judge Randy Wilson, and his opinion that these preemption cases, based this time on an FDA regulation written in 2004, creates the ability to toss the 888 vioxx cases pending in his court.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here, or you can just click on the Itunes icon down on our right blog page line that looks like this happy little purple peg figure, to listen to this edition of Civil Action Radio. 

In an intriguing interview from the Mass Torts Made Perfect Conference, Civil Action Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and nationally renown trial lawyer Rick Kuykendall of Mobile, AL sit down and discuss the current state of mass tort litigation.

In a wide ranging interview they talk about the newest innovation in Mass Tort cases, the ESA Trust, which is designed to work with victims who were injured by Procrit, Epogen or Aranesp anemia drugs in beginning the discovery process of finding out what harm these drugs may have caused, and eventually in working with the companies responsible for these injuries.

Further on in the video the discussion turns to the political realm, how tort reform and federal action have worked to some degree to impede access to courts, but how trial lawyers continue to work passionately to protect the rights of all citizens and maintain the access to justice that makes America the great nation it is. This is a superb podcast and not to be missed.  

In the first of our many videos from the Mass Torts Made Perfect Conference, Civil Action Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and Attorney John O'Quinn discuss a wide range of topics. Attorney O'Quinn is currently in the news as the Attorney for Vergie Arthur, the mother of the late Anna Nichole Smith, but to trial lawyers nationwide John O'Quinn is a legendary trial lawyer who has taken on the biggest and toughest cases in a continuous fight for justice.

In this interview Jan and Attorney O'Quinn discuss the recent Procrit, Aranesp and Epogin drug warnings and the looming potential of another major drug injury, as well as some of the securities litigation and other cases John O'Quinn has in process. Also, there is a fascinating discussion of the impact of "tort reform" and the attack on the rights of common citizens to access the courts and to have their cases heard by a jury of their peers. A great video that is being featured on Civil Action Channel and here on LBN.

In a feature story in today's Danvers Herald, Attorney Jan Schlichtmann of the Civil Action Center was profiled.

The story, written by Bella Travalagini, is available online by clicking this link.  

 In a comprehensive review of the recent activities and projects of the Civil Action Center she discusses the Danversport Explosion Trust, the Shade Tree Trust project that was profiled in AP last week, the launching of the Civil Action Center web site, more news on the Wilmington Trust and ground water case, as well as the looming Whistleblower case on Procrit that will be a national story shortly.

The Danvers Herald has done some really excellent reporting on these issues and I encourage you to read the links we have posted, as well as check out the paper on a daily basis if you live in that area.  

Attorney Jan Schlichtmann of the Civil Action Center and The Legal Broadcast Network was featured this evening on CBS Channel 4 and Channel 5 in Boston, MA regarding the ground breaking Shade Tree Trust.

The story goes into greater detail about the issue of slow gas leaks both in Massachusetts and across the country choking off older shade trees and killing them as a result of oxygen depletion in the soil.

You can access the story by clicking the channel 5  or Channel 4 news link below.

The featured video on Channel 5 in Boston is available by clicking here.

Another featured story on CBS Channel 4 in Boston is available by clicking here.

Keep up to date on this story by reading the Civil Action Center blog, available by clicking here.