Despite objections from rival plaintiff’s lawyers and others, state district judge Donald Floyd in Beaumont, Texas, has approved the settlement of a class action on behalf of consumers who own or owned recalled Firestone tires allegedly prone to tread separation. The settlement excludes anyone who has filed actual claims of personal or property injury related to the tires. Class members (other than 45 named plaintiffs who will receive $2,500 each) will get no monetary compensation, but will have the right to trade in the tires if they did not respond to the earlier recall, and Firestone has pledged another $65 million for education and safety programs. The class action lawyers, meanwhile, which include Beaumont’s Provost Umphrey, will get $19 million. See our reports of Sept. 19 and Oct. 8. (Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, “Judge Approves $149 Million Firestone Tire Settlement”, Texas Lawyer, Mar. 22).
Archive for May, 2004
Update: PPA litigation
In 2000, after a study raised concerns of a possible connection with hemorrhagic stroke, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of phenylopropanolamine (PPA), a stimulant long widely used in over-the-counter decongestants like Alka-Seltzer Plus and Contac, as well as in appetite suppressants. Lawyers rushed to file suits blaming drugmakers for strokes and other ills suffered by persons who had used the once near-ubiquitous compound (see Apr. 6-8, 2001; Oct. 28, 2003). Earlier this spring the Los Angeles Times ran a long piece summarizing (and uncritically endorsing) the plaintiffs’ case (Kevin Sack and Alicia Mundy, “A Dose of Denial”, Mar. 28). However, juries thus far have found that case considerably less persuasive: last month a Philadelphia jury returned a defense verdict in a case against Glaxo SmithKline over its Contac 12 hour medication (representing the plaintiff: the senatorially well-connected Kline and Specter). In three trials so far, that leaves the score at 0-3 in favor of the defense. (Melissa Nann, “Defense Wins Pennsylvania’s First PPA Verdict”, The Legal Intelligencer, Apr. 6). Update Jan. 21, 2006: further setbacks to litigation.