Defective Products Legal News Articles & Interviews

Queens, NY A recent awareness event held in Queens brought together dozens of women to discuss the possible link between hair relaxers and serious health issues, including reproductive cancer.  A panel of women also addressed more product label transparency, particularly warning labels regarding harmful chemicals that are found in hair straighteners.

Santa Clara, CA Although a court order has announced a stay on proceedings in the wake of Exactech’s bankruptcy announcement, the court said it will continue to accept new Exactech hip lawsuits into the MDL. U.S. District Judge Nicolas G. Garaufis, in the Eastern District of New York, has placed a stay on all litigation involving Exactech’s defective knee, hip and ankle replacement components.

Santa Clara, CA Exactech has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The medical device manufacturer will sell its assets to investors due to "unsustainable liabilities associated with knee and hip litigation related to the packaging recalls we voluntarily initiated between 2021 and 2022.” However, lawyers advise plaintiffs who have filed defective Exactech knee and hip implants not to panic because insurance and assets are available to victims in bankruptcy.

Santa Clara, CA As advocates and watchdogs with organizations like the NAACP and the Environmental Working Group, and at least one politician, create more awareness amongst Black women about serious health risks of hair straightener products, more hair relaxer lawsuits are filed. And they are insisting that the regulatory framework needs to change. 

Santa Clara, CA Just five months after a study published in 2021 showed a link between the use of hair straightener, women—and mostly Black women—diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancers began filing hair relaxer lawsuits. By 2023, the FDA proposed a ban on formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in the hair products, with an April 2024 deadline. Incredibly, April came and went and formaldehyde stayed. And the lawsuits are increasing. This October alone, 200 new cases joined the hair relaxer class action lawsuit. 

Columbus, OH Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), the parent company of BARD, has agreed to settle about 38,000 hernia mesh lawsuits. Reports indicate that the total payouts could exceed $1 Billion. The mesh lawsuits, some of which go back almost 20 years, allege that Bard designed defective mesh products, failed to adequately test them, and didn’t properly warn users about potential risks.

Philadelphia, PA Bayer’s Monsanto had a good September. A Philadelphia jury found that, although Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller was defective, it did not cause plaintiff Ryan Young's non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It determined that Young did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that Roundup was the cause of his cancer. This is the fifth Monsanto Roundup lawsuit verdict in Philadelphia and the second win for the agrochemical company since trials began here about a year ago.

Washington, DC When firefighters wear their personal protective equipment made with known PFAS chemicals, they are going beyond the call of duty. Firefighters signed up to fight fires, but they didn’t sign up to die from the carcinogenic gear they wear. PFAS health risks have been known for decades, so why can’t the federal government ban PFAS firefighting gear?

Santa Clara, CA The first Exactech knee bellwether trials in multi-district litigation are slated for July and September 2025. At least 1,670 Exactech lawsuits are involved, blaming a packaging problem that caused hip, knee, shoulder and ankle implants to degrade and fail long before their time. Some patients required replacement surgery within a few years of receiving the implant.

Santa Clara, CA Two lawmakers in March 2023 wrote a letter to the FDA, urging it to ban harmful chemicals in hair relaxers. Last month, those lawmakers sent another letter to the agency asking why the proposed ban is still not in place. If not in place this month, the FDA will have missed its date three times. The FDA has already missed two of its hair relaxer formaldehyde bans, and one lawmaker believes another delay could cause more health issues for communities of color.