Product Liability

Published on: October 26, 2015

Eleventh Circuit Upholds Denial of Class Action in Diet Drug Lawsuit

Earlier this year, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a proposed class action based on the plaintiffs’ failure to meet a number of the four required elements of class certification.

In Karhu v. Vital Pharm, Inc., the defendant manufactured and marketed a dietary supplement intended to help users lose weight. The defendant marketed the product for this purpose. The plaintiffs’ class action lawsuit alleged that the product did not in fact aid with weight loss as the defendant claimed. The plaintiffs sought to certify a class of product users nationwide.

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Published on: October 22, 2015

Another Table Saw Product Liability Case Filed in Alabama Involving SawStop Technology

By Moll Law Group

Each year, roughly 35,000 to 40,000 individuals sustain serious injuries while using table saws. Due to the nature of how these products are used, one of the most common types of injuries involves the operator’s fingers, hands, and arms.

In the recent case of Ingram v. Sears, a man from Alabama filed a lawsuit against Sears Roebuck & Co. after he lost several fingers while using a Craftsman table saw when his fingers came into contact with the saw blade. Ultimately, the plaintiff required the amputation of several fingers on his left hand.

Asserting claims for relief under product liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranty theories, the plaintiff’s complaint states that the man was using the product in a reasonable manner and exercising all due care to ensure his own safety. Additionally, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant knew the table saw was dangerous when it designed, manufactured, marketed, tested, approved, inspected, and sold the device.

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Published on: October 16, 2015

California Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s Claims Alleging Food Company Products’ Labels were Misleading

By Moll Law Group

In Guttmann v. Nissin Foods (USA) Co., Inc., a California federal court dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the defendant had engaged in false advertising regarding the safety of its noodle products, based on the presence of trans fat in the product. More specifically, the plaintiff indicated that he had assumed the defendant’s products were safe for consumption based on the product’s label, while also contending that he suffered economic damages as a result of being deprived of the benefits of the product that he thought he was purchasing.

After the plaintiff filed his lawsuit, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a document stating that partially hydrogenated oils, or trans fat, no longer carry the agency’s “GRAS,” or “generally recognized as safe” approval. Based on this document, food producers and manufacturers must now remove any trans fat from their food products by the year 2018.

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Published on: October 14, 2015

California Court of Appeal Upholds Summary Judgment in Favor of Defendant Pipe Manufacturer in Fatal Product Liability Action

By Moll Law Group

In a recent case, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District upheld a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a defendant pipe manufacturer on the basis that the plaintiff’s exclusive remedy was through the workers’ compensation system.

In Melendrez et al. v. Ameron International Corp., one of the defendant’s employees, who had been employed with the defendant for nearly 25 years, was authorized to take home pipes that had been rejected at the manufacturing plant so that he could use them for improvements to his patio at home and to create flower pots. Sometime in 2011, the man was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and he unfortunately died one year later.

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