Lawyers pursue Digitek wrongful death case outside of MDL

CHARLESTON - Mimi Rivera-Vega of Texas endured 12 years of progressive heart disease that led to a transplant in her final month, yet surviving spouse Scottie Vega blames her death on a pill she swallowed.

Vega and minor son Christopher allege in federal court that heart medicine Digitek caused her death in 2008.

Their Houston lawyers, Jimmy Williamson, Michael Kerensky and Cyndi Rusnak, seek damages from drug maker Actavis and distributor Mylan.

Actavis and Mylan settled more than 3,000 Digitek suits for $10 million last year, but the Vegas elected not to join the settlement.

Another family that stayed out of the settlement relies on testimony of a California coroner who amended a death certificate a year and a half after the death.

Six suits that started after the settlement also remain pending before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin.

He plans a hearing on Sept. 14 and 15, on challenges Actavis and Mylan raised to qualifications of expert witnesses.

Actavis moved for summary judgment in remaining cases on Aug. 3, arguing that no one came forward with evidence that a single tablet was out of specification.

Richard Dean of Cleveland wrote that "discovery has run its course and all plaintiffs have to show for it is a collection of expert witnesses, all of whom concede that they have no direct evidence that Actavis marketed defective tablets."

For Mylan, Harvey Kaplan of Kansas City supported the motion.

"Plaintiffs have had ample time to produce evidence that Mylan defendants distributed and plaintiffs actually consumed defectively manufactured Digitek tablets," he wrote.

In 2008, Actavis recalled a batch of pills from a plant in Little Falls, N.J., due to fears it had produced pills of double thickness.

A cascade of federal suits followed, and the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi District Litigation assigned them to Goodwin.

Some alleged wrongful death and other personal injuries, and some proposed class actions over economic damages.

Goodwin denied certification of a class action, finding individual issues predominated over common issues.

Depositions of experts for plaintiffs with injury claims went so poorly last summer that settlement followed in September.

At a hearing last November, Goodwin asked who would volunteer for the first trial.

Kerensky said, "Sure, judge, we'll go first.

Hernia Mesh Patch Recall Information and ... - The Houston Exponent

Austin, TX (PRWEB) January 26, 2007

Dallas – Fort Worth, TX (PRWeb) January 26, 2007 — Patients who have had a hernia repair that utilized a mesh patch are urged to contact their hernia surgeons or the hospital where their hernia repair surgery took place to find out if the recalled Composix® Kugel Hernia Mesh Patch was used in their hernia repair. The FDA list of recalled Composix® Kugel Hernia Mesh Patch

The FDA has advised patients who have been implanted with one of the recalled devices to seek medical attention immediately if they experience symptoms that could be associated with ring breakage such as unexplained or persistent abdominal pain, fever, tenderness at the implant site or other unusual symptoms.

Lawyers that practice in the area of defective medical devices have begun to prepare cases against Davol, the manufacturer of the recalled Bard Composix® Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch. The Johnson Law Firm, a national law firm at the forefront of defective medical device litigation, announced today that it has opened a new division within the firm dedicated to filing claims on behalf of patients who have received the recalled hernia mesh patches.

“Adequate testing of this device by the manufacturer would have revealed the defects with the device and saved many of these patients from multiple additional surgeries, complications and a lifetime of pain,” according to Johnson Law Firm attorney Steven Johnson. “We have clients from across the United States who suffered complications after receiving this defective device. We are proud to represetn these clients in lawsuits against the manufacturer of these defective Hernia Mesh Patches. We intend to seek every measure of damages allowed by law for our clients in these cases and we will hold this manufacturer accountable.”

The Johnson Law Firm has represented thousands of people and their families in cases where defective medical devices or defective pharmaceutical drugs have caused serious injuries or death. The firm has clients from every state.

The Composix® Kugel Mesh Patch is used to repair ventral (incisional) hernias caused by thinning or stretching of scar tissue that forms after surgery. The patch is placed behind the hernia defect through a small incision. The patch is then held open by a “memory recoil ring” that allows the patch to be folded for insertion and later spring open and lay flat once it is in place.

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