The Litigation Counsellor®

On Monday, November 15, 2021, a Florida jury awarded more than $13 million to Army Sergeant Guillermo Camarillorazo, holding 3M liable for hearing loss resulting from the use of defective earplugs in combat. The jury awarded Sgt. Guillermo $816,395 in compensatory damages and $12,245 in punitive damages. This is the largest jury verdict to date. Previous jury verdicts were in the amounts of $8.2 million, $7.1 million and $1.7 million.

On October 29, 2021, parties in the In Re: Johnson & Johnson Aerosol Sunscreen Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation told the judge they had reached a tentative settlement agreement. Last month, the cases were consolidated into a Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL”) in front of U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal in the Southern District of Florida.

On Friday, October 8^th, 2021, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) consolidated suits related to Johnson & Johnson Sunscreen Products, sending claims to U.S. District Judge Anuraag Singhal in the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuits were filed against Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) and Costco Wholesale Corporation by a group of plaintiffs alleging J&J’s Aveeno and Neutrogena-branded sunscreen products were contaminated with benzene, a carcinogen.

On Friday, October 8^th, 2021, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) consolidated suits related to Philips Sleep Apnea Devices. The claims were sent to U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The lawsuits were filed against Koninklijke Philips NV (“Philips”) by a group of plaintiffs alleging the defendant manufactured defective sleep apnea breathing machines.

On September 2, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division Edmund A. Sargus Jr., issued an order rejecting defendant C.R. Bard’s bid for summary judgment as the first bellwether in the Hernia Mesh multidistrict litigation continues.

The plaintiff in the bellwether, Steven John, claims that he sustained significant injuries as a result of the implantation of the defendant’s Ventralight ST device.

On August 25, 2021, class claims were filed in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and the University of Notre Dame Du Lac (“Notre Dame”) alleging that the defendants have a reckless disregard for the health and safety of generations of Notre Dame football student athletes.

On August 19, 2021, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (“J&J”) and retail giant Costco Wholesale Corporation filed a response motion with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”), agreeing with calls from plaintiffs in the carcinogenic sunscreen litigations to consolidate all related cases into a multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) centralized in the District of New Jersey under Chief Judge Freda L. Wolfson.

On August 12, 2021, two Ohio counties filed a motion in limine in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division in preparation for the counties’ upcoming October bellwether trials in the Opioid Litigation.

In the motion, the two counties, Trumball and Lake County, seek to exclude any reference to prescription opioids as “legal” drugs or to distinguishing them from “illegal” drugs. The plaintiffs argue that characterizing prescription opioids and other controlled substances as “legal” or distinguishing them from “illegal” drugs is misleading and states a legal conclusion.

On July 26, 2021, class claims were filed in Massachusetts federal court against Dutch sleep apnea therapy machine manufacturers Koninklijke Philips N.V., Philips North America LLC and Philips RS North America LLC (collectively, “Philips”) alleging that through the degradation of a noise-abating insulation foam used in the majority of Philips’ defective sleep products, users were exposed to toxic chemicals.

On February 5, 2021, baby food giant Gerber Products Co. (“Gerber”) was served with class claims in federal court in the District of New Jersey alleging that unbeknownst to consumers, and contrary to the representations made by Gerber, its baby food products contain heavy metals, including arsenic and cadmium.

On November 19, 2020, class claims were filed against Kimberly-Clark Corporation (“Kimberly-Clark”) in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. The suit alleges that the company neglected safety and sanitation responsibilities owed to its customers and the public at large when it was discovered that the defendant’s Cottonelle Flushable Wipes and GentlePlus Flushable Wipes products were contaminated with a dangerous bacterial strain.

On November 13, 2020, major home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation (“Whirlpool”) was served with class claims in federal court in the Southern District of California alleging that the company manufactured and distributed defective refrigerator-freezers.

On June 24, 2020, a settlement of over $10 billion was announced by Bayer AG, bringing an end to nearly 75% of the lawsuits involving its glyphosate-based weed killers, including the well-known Roundup^® products. In the announcement, Bayer estimated that the settlement will cover all litigations headed by the plaintiff law firms leading the federal multidistrict litigation, in addition to the California state court bellwether cases.

On May 19, 2020, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”), announced that it would permanently halt production of its controversial talc-based baby powder throughout the North American market, including in the United States and Canada. In public comments made by the company in the announcement, J&J indicated that the decision was made for economic reasons and not tied to product safety, alluding to the thousands of lawsuits currently facing the company that allege its talc-based products cause cancer and contains asbestos.