April 25, 2018 – Los Angeles, CA – After a two-week trial, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $2.2 million to a paralegal who was subjected to sexual harassment at the hands of a senior attorney while they both worked for Fidelity National Financial Inc. On Friday, April 13, the jury awarded $250,000 for …
Article Co-Authored by ASST Partner Elise Sanguinetti on California’s Legislative Efforts Confronting Forced Arbitration
The January 2017 issue of the American Association of Justice’s Trial magazine is devoted to forced arbitration clauses. Forced arbitration clauses, which are becoming more and more common and are typically hidden in the fine print of contracts, deprive consumers of important fundamental rights – including the right to a trial. Unfortunately, most people do not know about …
Court grants preliminary approval of class action settlement with the City of Los Angeles
The Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles has preliminarily approved the proposed settlement of two class actions involving curb ramps and curb cuts that provide access to sidewalks and other pedestrian pathways located in the City of Los Angeles. The lawsuits that will be resolved by the proposed …
Class Action Against Integral Senior Living
A class action is currently pending in Los Angeles Superior Court against Integral Senior Living for its failure to provide duty free meal breaks to its medical technicians. The claims allege that the employees had a right to the breaks without being required to perform certain duties during the breaks.
DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implants
DePuy began marketing its Pinnacle hip implant system in the early 2000s as an alternative to other hip implants. The implant is a metal on metal device claimed to be longer lasting and ideal for younger and more active patients. The metal on metal system has been found to have far more complications and adverse side effects than non-metal on metal devices. The metal on metal system often fails sooner than non-metal on metal systems. It also has caused serious side effects due to the metal components. Specifically, the grinding of metal parts causes the metal to enter into the body and blood system causing metal toxicity, which can cause severe pain, weakness, fatigue, numbness, shortness of breath and other debilitating conditions. Often a replacement of the Pinnacle system is required to help resolve these side effects.
Birth Control and Vision Loss – Mirena/Depo Provera
Mirena and Depo Provera have all been linked to the conditions pseudo tumor cerebri and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). All three of the forms of birth control use hormones that increase a woman’s risk of these serious conditions.
Mirena
Mirena is an intrauterine device used as a form of birth control and is typically implanted for a five year period. Bayer, the manufacturer of Mirena, marketed it as birth control that freed women from worrying about pregnancy for years allowing for more intimacy with their partners. What Bayer failed to mention was the very serious side effects of Mirena. Mirena has been known to migrate once placed into a woman’s body. As a result of the migration it can puncture internal organs and become embedded in the uterus. This can cause serious injuries including infertility, permanent organ damage and need for emergency surgery to remove the device.
Xarelto, Eliquis and Pradaxa (Blood Thinning Agents)
Xaraleto, Eliquis and Pradaxa are blood thinning drugs that were approved recently by the FDA. They are used to treat and prevent blood clots as well as lower the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation or a-fib. Prior to these drugs being brought to market, patients often used Coumadin (warfarin) as a blood thinning agent. Xarelto, Elquis and Pradaxa are marketed as a more convenient blood thinner than Coumadin because the patient is not tied to regular blood monitoring.
Avelox, Cipro and Levaquin (Fluoroquinolones)
Avelox, Cipro and Levaquin, also known as fluoroquinolones, are anti-biotics prescribed for various bacterial infections. Doctors often prescribe them for urinary tract infections, sinus infections and respiratory infections. While these prescription drugs may fight infection, they often are used as a first line defense when other antibiotics with less severe side effects are available. In August 2013, a warning was added to the labeling of fluoroquinolones. This warning included the dangers of the development of neuropathy as a result of ingestion. Neuropathy symptoms include pain, tingling and numbness and typically is irreversible. The manufacturers of fluoroquinolones failed to advise consumers of the potential for developing neuropathy and many patients have been battling neuropathy for years without knowing the cause.
Essure
Essure was first brought to market in November 2002 by Bayer HealthCare as an alternative to permanent sterilization in women. It was marketed as less invasive than other forms of permanent sterilization. The recovery time is less and the procedure is completed in the patient’s doctor’s office in as little as ten minutes.
