Access To Justice

News developments that we’re watching at Sokolove Law:

Big Award in Bias Lawsuit: Novartis AG must ante up $250 million in punitive damages after a jury found the pharma giant guilty of discriminating against thousands of former and current female employees in matters of pay, promotion, and pregnancy, reports Reuters.  Novartis must pay the money to the 5,600 women involved in the class-action lawsuit.  Lost pay and benefits as well as wage adjustments will be determined by the judge.  Earlier this week, the jury slapped Novartis with $3.3 million in compensatory damages stemming from this case.

Regulator’s Eye on Mercedes E-Class: Faulty air bags in Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars are under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Bloomberg News reports that a problem with the steering column’s module-wiring harness can prevent the air bags from inflating in frontal crashes. The defect may affect 100,000 cars from the 2005 and 2006 model years.  Regulators have taken a harder look at auto safety since the massive Toyota recall earlier this year.

Recent Car Recalls: Around 48,000 Nissan trucks and SUVs will be recalled by the company due to a suspension control link problem that could cause a bumpy ride, according to the Associated Press. The recall involves some 2010 Nissan Armadas, Frontiers, Titans, Pathfinders and X-Terras, as well as the Infiniti QX56 models. No accidents have been reported.  In other recall news, Chrysler has announced a recall of 40,000 vehicles due to a faulty ignition switch, according to the NHTSA. The NHTSA notice says the defect could allow the key to be removed before a vehicle is put in park, which could increase the risk of a crash. The recall is for 2010 Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Charger, Jeep Commander, Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram vehicles.

Mercury Turns Up in Skin Whiteners: An investigation by the Chicago Tribune has found high levels of mercury in creams used to lighten the skin or fade age spots. The newspaper said it tested 50 creams and found six of them contained toxic mercury, which was banned from skin lightening products in 1990. Severe mercury poisoning can damage organs and even cause death, according to the Tribune.

News developments that we’ll be watching at Sokolove Law:

“Smart Meters” may not be so smart after all for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The giant utility company’s three-year initiative to replace meter readers with electronic data has sparked nearly 1,000 complaints from California consumers over rising costs and excessive bill estimates and led to state senate hearings, according to the Associated Press.  The smart-meter program includes 5.5 million households in the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

London’s High Court has approved a $30 million settlement for 1,500 Britons who were injured after buying toxic leather sofas made in China, reports The Epoch Times. The settlement is thought to be the largest consumer class action in UK history. The Epoch Times writes that the sofas, made by the Chinese firms Linkwise and Eurosofa, were treated with dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a chemical used to prevent mold. Instead, some consumers developed skin burns, peeling, breathing trouble, and eye irritation after purchase.

Walmart face billions in potential damages after a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that a class action lawsuit alleging the world’s largest retailer discriminated against female workers could move forward. Reuters reports that more than 1 million women could be included in the class, which covers claims made by women who have worked at Wal-Mart since June 2001. The suit alleges that Walmart favored men over women when it came to pay and promotions.

An expanded recall has been issued by the Food and Drug Administration for about 280,000 external defibrillators used in health care facilities, public places, or in homes that may malfunction during use. Faulty components in defibrillators manufactured by Cardiac Science Corp. may fail to properly deliver a shock during efforts to rescue people in sudden cardiac arrest.  In November Cardiac Science recalled its Powerheart and CardioVive models; the FDA is now adding the Nihon Kohden and GE Responder models to the recall.

Keep those you love protected from harm.  At Sokolove Law, we’re here to help.

Nearly one million Medicare patients experienced safety incidents in hospitals – and a tenth of them died as a result — between 2006 and 2008, according to the new annual study by HealthGrades, a nonprofit healthcare ratings organization. The group used 15 common safety problems to rank the nation’s top 5 percent of hospitals. The most common problems were failure to rescue, bedsores, collapsed lungs, and sepsis. Overall, such events were associated with nearly $9 billion in excess costs.

Consolidation of about 228 federal lawsuits is being sought by attorneys for plaintiffs who may have developed a degenerative condition as a result of using certain pain pumps, writes Law 360 (subscription required). The move for MDL, or multidistrict litigation, is opposed by the pain pump makers and drug companies. A pain pump is a disposable device with a catheter or tube that is used to deliver pain relief medication to a patient’s shoulder joint after arthroscopic surgery. Plaintiffs claim they allegedly developed chrondolysis (a severe condition associated with increased pain and loss of cartilage in shoulder joint space) after using the pumps.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is evaluating clinical trial data that may suggest that patients taking Stalevo, a Parkinson’s disease medication, could potentially face an increased risk for developing prostate cancer. The FDA stressed that its review of Stalevo is ongoing and no new conclusions or recommendations about the use of this drug have been made. Patients should not stop taking their medication unless directed to do so by their healthcare professional.

Three female employees of Bank of America and its Merrill Lynch subsidiary have filed a gender discrimination lawsuit alleging that pay practices at the banks favored men, according to the Associated Press. The complaint brought by one current and two former financial advisers for the banks alleges that men received bigger bonuses and greater promotion opportunities. Bank of America denied the allegations and said it will fight the claims. The company also faces another sex discrimination suit, this one brought by female brokers who claim they got smaller retention bonuses then their male colleagues when the bank bought Merrill Lynch in 2008.

News developments that we’ll be watching at Sokolove Law:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received at least 33 complaints from Toyota Prius drivers claiming they have experienced brake failures while behind the wheel of their third-generation hybrid cars, according to a report from TheDetroitBureau.com.  Earlier this year the Associated Press reported that Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles after problems with a removable floor mat emerged that could cause gas pedals to stick and lead to an accident.

Outback Steakhouse will pay $19 million to settle a gender discrimination suit that alleged female workers there were denied jobs that led to profit-sharing management positions, says an Associated Press report.  The restaurant chain, which did not acknowledge any wrongdoing, will also appoint a new human resources executive. In addition, the AP says it will hire a consultant to monitor its compliance with the settlement and report back to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the women.

Recent Recalls

Dorel Juvenile Group yesterday voluntarily recalled about 213,000 play yards with bassinets due to a potential suffocation hazard posed by the bassinet attachments, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). No injuries have been reported. Dorel is working with the CPSC to replace the bassinets due to the potential for a metal support bar of the bassinet to come out of the fabric sleeve and create an uneven sleeping surface, posing risk of suffocation. The products were sold at major retailers as the Eddie Bauer® Complete Care Play Yard and the Safety 1st Disney Care Center™ Play Yard.

Encompass Group announced a voluntary recall of its Thermoflect brand of heat reflecting blankets and other products, reports MedPage Today. A company press release said the recall was prompted after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised it of a report of an injury to an MRI patient. The products will be relabeled to reflect incompatibility with use in “magnetic resonance (MR) environments.” The company notes there is no evidence that the Thermoflect blanket caused the injury.

Sokolove Law wishes you a healthy and happy New Year.

Last Thursday, a group of women’s rights advocates took their fight against the insurance industry to Capitol Hill.  Their mission: to end unfair insurance practices that discriminate against women.  Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center testified before the Senate Health Education and Labor Committee on Thursday, outlining for the committee the unfair practices of health insurance companies.

Here is some of the information that Greenberger provided to Congress, as reported in the National Law Journal (subscription required):

•    Women are charged as much as 48% more for men than health insurance
•    Of the more than 3500 plans studied (by a 2008 study) 60 percent did not cover maternity
•    Women are regularly denied coverage for “pre-existing conditions” such as pregnancy, or c-section.
•    In eight states, insurance companies are allowed to use a women’s status as a survivor of domestic violence to deny coverage.

California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a law that bans so-called gender rating by insurance companies which results in higher premiums being charged to women than men.  It’s an important first step, one that the feds should follow.

That said, there’s much more to be done to curb the discriminatory practices of insurance companies.  I’ll have more on that in the future.