Legal News Watch - Consumer Rights Blog

Entries from June 2003

Bayer Settles 1,042 Baycol Lawsuits

June 30th, 2003 · 1 Comment

Bayer AG said it had settled 1,042 lawsuits over its recalled anti-cholesterol drug Baycol out of court, which was linked with over 100 deaths, in August 2001.
“We have settled several cases scheduled for the beginning of July in Oregon and Mississippi. As far as we know there are no other cases going to trial in […]

Tags: Baycol

Asbestos Trust Fund Gets Additional $45 Billion in Financing

June 29th, 2003 · 2 Comments

The proposed asbestos trust fund, which would eliminate all asbestos litigation and instead pay asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease, has increased in size to $153 billion. Senators agreed to the additional $45 billion in financing in an effort to win support from Democrats and increase the likelihood the trust […]

Tags: Asbestos and Mesothelioma

Investors Offered $1 Billion to Settle IPO Stock Fraud Lawsuit

June 27th, 2003 · No Comments

Some 300 companies that issued initial public stock offerings during the Internet bubble agreed to pay $1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by thousands of investors who say they were victims of fraud. The New York Times reported that, “the settlement provides a guarantee that investors who bought initial public offerings form 1998 […]

Tags: Securities Fraud

RIAA Threatens to Sue Hundreds of Digital-Music Swappers

June 26th, 2003 · 3 Comments

The Recording Industry Association of America said it plans to release a barrage of civil lawsuits against people who are illegally offering to “share” substantial amounts of copyrighted music over the Internet. The RIAA said it plans to go after the biggest offenders first by slapping them with lawsuits as early as mid-August.
The RIAA said […]

Tags: Piracy

Companies Must Notify Customers if Personal Data is Stolen

June 24th, 2003 · 1 Comment

In effort to combat identity theft, which experts say is on the rise, a new California law will require companies to notify their customers if their personal digital data, including name and social security number, driver’s license number or credit card number and password, has been stolen or acquired by an unauthorized person. Affected customers […]

Tags: Identity Theft

Xenadrine Case Draws Studies of Dietary Supplements Under Fire

June 23rd, 2003 · No Comments

Studies of dietary supplements have come under growing scrutiny ever since Cytodyne Technologies, maker of Xenadrine RFA-1, was found liable in a class-action lawsuit and ordered to pay $12 million for making exaggerated and false claims about its product’s safety and effectiveness.
The New York Times reported that Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Styn said […]

Tags: Dietary Supplements

FDA Warns Against Prescribing Paxil to Children

June 20th, 2003 · 19 Comments

The Food and Drug Administration warned against prescribing the popular anti-depressant Paxil to children for major depression because the adult drug may increase the risk of suicide or suicide thinking in this age group. The FDA’s warning came a week after British regulators warned about Paxil’s possible risk to children.
The FDA said through a statement […]

Tags: Paxil

Botox Linked to Woman’s Death

June 19th, 2003 · 61 Comments

Autopsy results indicate 43-year-old Donna Kulp died Jan. 24 from an allergic reaction to the anit-wrinkle drug Botox. Kulp went into cardiac arrest while receiving a Botox injection and died shortly after. The report lists the probable cause of death as Anaphylactic shock associated with Botox/Lidocaine injections.
“Everyone’s had an allergic reaction. This is the extreme […]

Tags: Botox

Paxil Not for Children, British Officials Warned

June 16th, 2003 · No Comments

British drug regulators warned doctors against prescribing GlaxoSmithKline’s antidepressant Paxil to children, after new research released by an independent group of scientists showed an increase in the risk of suicide or suicidal thinking among younger patients when Paxil was prescribed.
“There is an increase in the rate of self-harm and potentially suicidal behavior in this age […]

Tags: Paxil

EndoVascular Agrees to Pay $92.4M Over Defective Medical Device

June 13th, 2003 · No Comments

Medical devices manufacturer EndoVascular Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Guidant Corp., agreed to pay $92.4 million to settle federal civil and criminal charges and pleaded guilty to 10 felonies, including covering up thousands of incidents in which its product, known as the Ancure Endograft System, malfunctioned and making a false statement to the Food and […]

Tags: Uncategorized