Category — Products

Jan. 2, 2012 – In June 2009, Plaintiff Danna Blankenship and her infant daughter, both Virginia residents, were involved in an automobile accident in Botetourt County, Virginia which is located in the territory covered by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Virginia.  Plaintiff filed suit against the child safety seat manufacturer and the manufacturer of the child safety seat insert in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Blankenship v. Graco Children’s Products, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115816 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 6, 2011).  Though the accident occurred in Virginia, [Read more →]

Nov. 23, 2011 – As reported in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, on November 14 an Abingdon federal jury returned a defense verdict in a $50-million product defect case alleging that an eight-year-old girl suffered severe brain damage in a 2009 automobile accident as a result of an allegedly defective child safety seat.  The case, which was tried before Judge James Jones, is Musick v. Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc., 1:11cv05 (W.D. Va.).

Although the defense verdict itself is noteworthy and one that will certainly catch the eye of the plaintiff and defense bars alike, the case is also notable due to several interesting rulings made during the nine-month course of the proceedings.   [Read more →]

Nov. 2, 2011 – The Suffolk Circuit Court recently sustained a demurrer filed by defendant Venture Supply, Inc., a company that sold drywall from China that was used to construct Plaintiffs’ residence.  Seeman v. Oxfordshire, LLC, CL 10-936 (Cir. Ct. City of Suffolk Oct. 12, 2011).  [Read more →]

Oct. 22, 2011 – [This post comes to us from the Troutman Sanders Tobacco Team.  We thought it might be of interest to our readers.]

In August, we reported that the FDA will begin in October inspecting the facilities of all U.S.-based tobacco product manufacturers subject to the FDA’s authority.  Troutman Sanders has for years been assisting clients in a variety of industries with product liability audits.  These audits can be an invaluable tool for the tobacco industry as it prepares for FDA inspections. [Read more →]

Oct. 5, 2011 - We all know hunting carries with it some inherent risks.  Buddies may accidentally shoot you.  And sometimes, the animals fight back.  A recent Complaint filed in the Roanoke Division of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Virginia, however, describes an entirely different and unfortunate hazard that allegedly befell the plaintiff/hunter. [Read more →]

Sept. 29, 2011 - One interesting decision caught our eye this week because it is not every day that a United States chemical manufacturer is sued for personal injuries under the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”) or the Alien Torture Statute (“ATS”):  Aziz v. Alcolac, Inc., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 19227 (4th Cir. Sept. 19, 2011).  The TVPA allows civil recovery against “an individual who engages in torture or extrajudicial killing.”  Id. at *7.  [Read more →]

 [These posts come to us from the Troutman Sanders Tobacco Team.  We thought they might be of interest to our readers.]

Second Warnings Suit Filed Against FDA by Big Tobacco 

September 13, 2011 – In early July, we reported that the four leading tobacco companies were threatening legal action against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the nine new graphic cigarette health warnings that must appear on each cigarette package beginning in September 2012.  This threat became a reality last month, when five tobacco companies – R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth Brands, Liggett Group, and Santa Fe Natural – filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against FDA, claiming that the final regulation specifying the new warnings (the “Rule”) violates the First Amendment as applied to Plaintiffs and was promulgated in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).  [Read more →]

Aug. 1, 2011 -    Four Loko is a great example of a product that disproves the time-honored saying, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”  Its manufacturer, Phusion Projects, attempted to capitalize on a classic gap in the market.  For years bartenders had been mixing the energy drink Red Bull with vodka, and consumers had emulated the practice by buying the drink’s component parts and doing the grunt-work themselves.  So Phusion stepped in and provided a combination energy drink and alcoholic beverage readily available in convenience stores. [Read more →]

July 23, 2011 -   On July 21, the Montana Supreme Court upheld an $850,000 verdict in favor of the parents of an 18-year-old man who was pitching in an American Legion baseball game when he was struck in the head by a batted ball that was hit using a Louisville Slugger aluminum bat.  Patch v. Hillerich & Bradsby Co., 2011 Mont. LEXIS 214 (Mont. July 21, 2011).  Brandon Patch died as a result of his injuries, and his parents sued the manufacturer of the bat in strict products liability, alleging design defect and failure to warn claims. [Read more →]

[This post comes to us from Diane Romza-Kutz and Seth Erickson of Troutman Sanders' Life Sciences Practice Team.  We thought it might be of interest to our readers.]

July 16, 2011 -  On June 14, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) issued new regulations for sunscreens currently sold over-the-counter (“OTC”) (i.e., without a prescription). The new regulations, which become effective June 18, 2012, establish labeling and testing requirements for OTC sunscreen products containing specific ingredients, or combinations of ingredients, and marketed without an approved application under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “Act”). [Read more →]