Dangerous Drug Alert: Dietary Supplements Can Cause Liver Damage

The New York Times reported that a new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that dietary supplements cause 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries. The $32 billion dietary supplement industry is largely unregulated and operates on an “honor system” where most manufacturers do not study the drugs for safety before selling them to consumers.  According to the NYT article about 0.3 percent of supplements sold in the U.S. have been studied closely enough to determine their side effects. As a result, health care providers and the public know little about their ingredients and injuries they can cause. Green tea extract, a supplement commonly labeled as a fat burner, can have high concentrations of catechins (a type of antioxidant) that can be toxic to the liver.  The article describes how a teenager trying to lose some weight nearly lost his liver due to a green tea extract.  

So be wary of the quick-fix diet pill as you make your New Year’s resolution to lose a few pounds.  They may be doing more harm than good. 

All of us here at the Washington Product Liability Blog wish you a healthy and happy 2014!

Defective Product Alert: Two Manufacturers Recall Food Products Due to Mislabeling

The California food producer DelMonaco Specialty Foods recalled 5,616 pounds of its Aramanino brand bolognese sauce products.  The food product manufacturer failed to properly label milk, a known allergen, when the allergy label was not applied to all of the products in each lot that was produced.  Multiple versions of the Aramanino “Bolognese Sauce with Beef & Pork” sauce are being pulled from grocery store shelves due to the mislabeling.

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service announced last Friday that a Utah-based food producer, Creminelli Fine Meats, is recalling approximately 101 pounds of fully-cooked-not-shelf-stable, ready-to-eat pork roast products that were sold exclusively online. The product is being recalled because the company was using a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan for a different category of ready-to-eat products.

Court Announces DePuy ASR Settlement Plan

The Johnson & Johnson $2.5 billion DePuy ASR defective hip implant settlement was announced in court on Tuesday. Attorneys for plaintiffs now have the task of assessing the settlement and possible alternatives with their clients. The next few weeks should provide clarity on that front. Regardless, the settlement is a very good sign and an impressive outcome thanks in large part to the hard work of plaintiffs' attorneys, particularly those on the DePuy MDL  leadership counsel who hammered out this settlement back in New York.

The American Association of Justice (AAJ)  has also been instrumental in achieving this success by providing resources and opportunities for lawyers across the country to connect and share information. Without AAJ, settlements like this one, which will benefit so many people, would not happen. I hope that folks will consider this the next time they hear chatter about “frivolous lawsuits” and “tort reform.” When a corporation harms people and could have prevented it, what’s needed is “corporate reform” not reform of  the tort system that holds them accountable.

Further details of the settlement can be found here.

DePuy ASR & Talk of Settlement

News reports that Johnson & Johnson has tentatively agreed to pay $4 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits filed over its recalled metal on metal DePuy ASR hip system hit the media yesterday. According to Bloomberg’s report, the executive committee of plaintiffs’ lawyers leading the nationwide litigation gave a statement honoring a court order on confidentiality of negotiations: “Any comment relating to settlement that does not come from leadership, the court, or from the company itself, remains speculative.” U.S. District Judge David Katz in Toledo, Ohio, who is coordinating federal litigation, needs to approve any settlement. As such, our position is to treat this talk as just speculation.  Unless or until an announcement is made, the best practice is to assume that there's no deal in place.

It is important for Washington residents who have an ASR hip implant to be mindful of this backdrop. As soon as any official word becomes available, it will be posted here immediately.  Bloomberg predicts that could happen as early as next week. But we'll just have to see how it plays out. Check back frequently for updates.

Failure to Warn: Your Food May Be A Dangerous Product

The people of Washington have spoken, for now at least: They have rejected I-522, the proposal that requires labeling of genetically modified foods. Trailing 45 to 55 percent, it looks lost. A vote is a vote and we must respect the outcome, but given the issue here and the amount of money spent by big business opposing I—522, it raises the question whether we the people have really spoken. Do Washingtonians not want to know what is in their food?  Or were citizens overcome by huge agribusiness companies that outspent the proponents by nearly 3-to-1 making this the most expensive initiative campaign in state history. Here is the heartbreaking part: according to the Seattle Times, of the $22,000,000 in donations to the campaign, only $550 was contributed from state residents. Good grief. The ability to exert influence in important matters like this one is far from even-handed: the playing field is tilted and the outcome reflects as much.

Labeling on our food is every bit as important for public safety as labeling is for dangerous products. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) may be dangerous and they may be benign. But we have a right to know what goes in our food, so that we can make our own choices about health, safety and what we serve our families. The proponents of I-522, while disappointed, are proud of the campaign and the awareness it raised; and they are thankfully not giving up the ghost. Future efforts to provide better, complete food labeling are in our future.

In better news, some companies are dropping the phony “natural” claim. Even the Wall Street Journal–long a foe of people exercising their rights to civil justice—had to admit that the changes are coming due to legal action challenging the “naturalness” of all manner of foods from ice cream to potato chips. Likewise, massive meat manufacturer Cargill has finally decided to respond to mounting public pressure to label its mystery meat products that contain the infamous “pink slime” that it puts in ground beef packages. According to the  New York Times, Cargill announced that it will label the “finely texturized meat product” in its meat packages on the day voters in Washington decided I-522. Coincidence?  Probably not. Cargill’s pink slime—in the form of stacks of green cash—oozed into Washington. According to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission’s database, Cargill spent over  $140,000 to defeat I-522. If they will tell us about pink slime, but not GMO, what do they not want us to know?