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A class action lawsuit has been filed against American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. The lawsuit accuses these companies of imposing anti-competitive practices in the credit card market.  The plaintiffs’ lawsuit is based on a combination of federal and state antitrust laws, state consumer protection statutes, and claims of unjust enrichment.

This week, a group of debit card users has achieved class certification in a lawsuit against American Express Co. The class, representing users from 11 states and the District of Columbia, alleges that American Express’s rules have indirectly inflated rival card costs.

What Is the American Express Lawsuit About?

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, represents a collective action on behalf of millions of consumers and entities who have used electronic payment methods other than American Express cards. The plaintiffs allege that American Express’s Anti-Steering Rules in its merchant agreements have unreasonably restrained trade and inflated prices in the credit and charge card transaction market.

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Lawsuits are being filed across the U.S. claiming that cow-milk based baby formula has caused many premature infants to develop a serious gastrointestinal infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The basis for these lawsuits is that research has long shown that cow milk is associated with NEC in premature infants, and the manufacturers of formulas such as Similac and Enfamil should have warned doctors and parents of the risks. Our firm is currently seeking NEC formula lawsuits.  Plaintiffs who bring successful baby formula NEC lawsuit could receive significant financial compensation. 

Formula Can Cause Increased Risk of NEC in Premature Infants 

Infant formula products such as Similac or Enfamil are made from cow milk and given to newborn babies as a substitute for human breast milk.  A growing body of scientific evidence has proven cow milk formulas significantly increase the risk of a life-threatening bowel infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) when given to premature infants. 

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Thousands of women have filed lawsuits alleging chemicals in their hair relaxer products caused them to develop cancer. On this page we will explain who qualifies to file a hair relaxer lawsuit. We will also look at the primary injuries being alleged by plaintiffs in the hair relaxer cases.

What are the Hair Relaxer Lawsuits About?

Recent scientific findings have unveiled a potential correlation between prolonged hair relaxer usage and elevated occurrences of uterine cancer. Uterine cancer, ranking as the fourth most prevalent cancer among women, sees around 65,000 new cases reported annually in the United States, representing about 3.5% of all cancer cases. Notably, the incidence of uterine cancer in Black women is twice as high as in White women in the country.

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This article offers current developments in the realm of asbestos and mesothelioma, encompassing legal decisions, trial outcomes, legislative changes, updates on bankruptcies linked to asbestos, and details about asbestos trust funds. If you’ve received a mesothelioma diagnosis or suspect an asbestos-related case, contact our team of asbestos lawyers for assistance.

January 2, 2024 – Bankruptcy Approved

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, ruled on Thursday that Aldrich Pump and Murray Boiler, two subsidiaries of Trane Technologies, can continue their bankruptcy process. This decision comes despite claims from asbestos plaintiffs that these companies are not actually struggling financially.

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Mesothelioma, an infrequent yet fatal cancer, solely arises due to exposure to asbestos, a material widely utilized in various industries before 1980. If an individual is diagnosed with mesothelioma, it implies direct or indirect exposure to asbestos at some point in their life.

Individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma have the right to pursue an asbestos lawsuit seeking financial compensation. Each year, numerous asbestos lawsuits are filed nationwide. Our team of national product liability lawyers actively handles asbestos cases for individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma (or their surviving family members). Contact us today at 800-322-3010.

Asbestos: A Historical Overview

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Recent studies have established that prolonged use or exposure to the industrial herbicide paraquat (Grameoxone) can lead to the development of early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Now thousands of agriculture workers are filing paraquat lawsuits alleging that they developed Parkinson’s due to occupational exposure to paraquat.

The paraquat cases have been consolidated into a “class action” MDL which should eventually results in a global settlement with payments to all claimants. This post will look at how much settlement compensation paraquat plaintiffs might reasonably expect to get.

Related Paraquat Posts

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Warfarin is an anticoagulant medication commonly used to prevent blood clots and stroke in individuals with certain medical conditions such as atrial fibrillation, heart valve replacement, and deep vein thrombosis. It works by blocking the production of certain clotting factors in the blood. Warfarin is one of the most widely prescribed anticoagulants and has been in use for over 60 years.

This page looks at Warfarin side effects and litigation that has surrounded this medication.

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The Bair Hugger warming device has been a popular medical device used in hospitals for years. It is used to keep patients warm during surgeries, which helps prevent hypothermia and other complications. However, studies have suggested that the use of Bair Hugger warming devices during joint replacement surgery may increase the risk of infection.  These studies spawned thousands of lawsuits that evolved into the Bair Hugger class action lawsuit.

What Is the Bair Hugger Warming Device?

The Bair Hugger warming device is a forced-air warming system that was first introduced in 1987. It is a portable device that blows warm air through a disposable blanket, which covers the patient during surgery. The device is designed to maintain the patient’s body temperature, which helps reduce the risk of hypothermia and other complications.

The Bair Hugger was created in the 1980s by Augustine Medical, Inc., which was later acquired by Defendant Arizant Healthcare, Inc. In 2010, Defendant 3M Company purchased Arizant, including the Bair Hugger product line. The Bair Hugger is designed to keep patients warm during surgical procedures by blowing warm, forced air over the patient. It consists of a portable forced-air temperature management unit and a disposable Bair Hugger forced-air blanket, with 25 different styles available that vary in size and coverage, including partial or full coverage of the patient’s body, and some are used underneath the patient. The manufacturer markets Bair Huggers as a warming solution that can be used for various patients, from pediatric to geriatric, and for both short and long procedures. The marketing slogan for Bair Huggers is “Everyone Deserves a Hugg™,” emphasizing its suitability for everyone.

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Our lawyers are investigating toxic baby food autism lawsuits.

What triggered our involvement in these cases was a congressional investigation last year that revealed that many popular brands of baby foods in the U.S. contain dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Scientific evidence and studies have shown that consumption of these metals during infancy and early childhood can cause neurologic damage and autism.

Product liability lawsuits are now being filed nationwide against baby food manufacturers. These baby food autism lawsuits allege that the manufacturers knowingly sold their products with unsafe levels of toxic metals and that the plaintiffs developed autism spectrum disorders from consuming them in their baby foods.

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Nexium, or esomeprazole, is a drug that is used to treat heartburn and excessive amounts of acid in the stomach. Specifically, it is used to treat duodenal and gastric ulcers, esophagitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Nexium is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that decreases the amount of acid produced in the stomach. Other drugs that are in the same class as Nexium include Prevacid and Prilosec. Approximately 15 million Americans use PPIs that are sold both as prescription and over-the-counter. Nexium sales exceed $3 billion a year.

Nexium Class Action Lawsuit Updates 

October 2023: AstraZeneca agreed to a $425 million settlement to resolve approximately 11,000 lawsuits related to Nexium and Prilosec. This settlement addresses claims that long-term use of these proton pump inhibitors led to kidney injuries, including chronic kidney disease and renal failure. The settlement was announced shortly before the first bellwether trial was scheduled to begin on October 10, 2023.

March 2023: The bellwether trial in the Nexium PPI litigation that was supposed to get started this month has now been postponed to June 5, 2023. Two additional bellwether trials will follow in July and September. No explanation for the postponement was given, but many believe that was done because the parties are close to a settlement. 

August 2022:  Defendants in the PPI MDL had moved to dismiss all failure to warn claims in the PPI class action lawsuit because they are preempted. The argument, and it is a weak one, is that because the FDA (a federal agency) approved the warning labels, state law claims cannot be brought. 

Our lawyers talked about this in the last update in June – this motion is crucial because the crux of this class action lawsuit is that you knew of this problem with kidney injuries yet you did not change their product, instructions, guidelines, or, most importantly, warn doctors of the risk. 

The Special Master in the MDL likely put this issue to bed in the Prilosec-Nexium class action lawsuit. issued a report to the MDL Judge recommending that this argument be rejected because the defendants cannot show that the FDA would have rejected proposals for stronger warnings about kidney damage. The first bellwether trial in the MDL is set for November.

June 2022: The defendants in the Nexium-Prilosec PPI class action MDL have filed motions for summary judgment in the upcoming bellwether test trials. The primary legal argument in this motion is based on a doctrine called federal preemption. The preemption doctrine holds that victims are blocked from bringing tort lawsuits under state law if there is a federal law that protects the defendants from liability. The Special Master in the MDL recently allowed both parties to submit additional briefing to address how a recently decided case on the preemption issue (In re Fosamax Alendronate Prod. Liab. Lit.) could potentially impact the issues in the Nexium-Prilosec cases. Our lawyers have read the Fosamax case (which rules in favor of defendants on a preemption argument), and in our opinion, it is not applicable to the issues in the PPI cases.

April 2022: There are around 13,500 lawsuits pending in the Nexium-Prilosec PPI class action MDL.  The first trial will be in October.  The hope is that a few trials will set settlement amounts for Nexium kidney lawsuits. But many class action lawsuits – at least lately – have had trials, and the parties still could not agree on a settlement amount for the victims.  So the judge, in this case, wants to keep the pressure on the lawyers.  So if a global settlement is not reached, the MDL Judge has identified a group of 200 cases that the parties will be preparing for trial over the next 16 months.

  • These drugs have had a troubled history.  Zantac, which was long considered a great and safe drug, has now been associated with cancer.

Problems with Nexium

Nexium is a controversial drug.  At one point, bone fracture lawsuits were all the rage because there was data suggesting Nexium, particularly the long-term use of Nexium, would cause bone fractures and breaks.  Our lawyers believed many of these lawsuits were meritorious.  But the litigation did not get very far.

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