Bextra & Other Drugs Bextra and Celebrex: We are extensively involved in litigation concerning these “Cox II inhibitors.”...click for more
Business Litigation We have considerable experience in the litigation of complex business cases...click for more
Commercial and Securities Fraud We represent individuals and corporations who have been injured by a variety of commercial and securities fraud schemes...click for more
Class Action Litigation We represent classes of individuals and corporations who have been injured by a variety of illegal conduct. Our clients include franchisees of a national income tax return preparation service, members of pension plans, mutual fund investors and purchasers of vacation “time share” units, among others. click for more
Gadolinium-based Contrast Dye Litigation
We represent individuals who suffered nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (“NSF”) or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (“NFD”) after being injected with these contrast agents prior to undergoing MRIs or MRAs...click for more
Intellectual Property Litigation We have considerable experience in the litigation of intellectual property matters and are currently involved in litigation involving copyright and trademark matters for internationally famous musicians and other artists as well as patent matters on behalf of inventors. Recent cases in this area include a patent action against Google and a copyright infringement action against Steven Spielberg.
9/11 Litigations We are proud to have represented thousands of family members of September 11 victims in their suits against financial sponsors of terrorism and against airlines and airport security companies...click for more
Business Litigation We have considerable experience in the litigation of complex business cases, including corporate disputes, insurance coverage matters, intellectual property cases and unfair competition cases. For example we represent a member of a Delaware limited liability company in derivative litigation arising from a failed joint venture to finance Russian communications satellites. We also represent a small manufacturer in connection with anti-trust claims against a much larger competitor and a group of franchisees with claims against their franchisor.
In 2005 we formed a joint venture with SimmonsCooper LLC to represent businesses in litigation against other businesses on a contingency basis. The new model allows smaller businesses with limited financial resources to pursue litigations against larger organizations by which they have been harmed.
top Commercial and Securities Fraud We represent individuals and corporations who have been injured by a variety of commercial and securities fraud schemes. For example, we represent several companies and their shareholders who were victimized by “death spiral” financing and stock manipulation schemes. We are also currently prosecuting racketeering claims on behalf of mutual fund investors and others against major financial institutions.
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Class Action Litigation
We represent individuals and corporations who have been injured by a variety of commercial and securities fraud schemes. For example, we represent several companies and their shareholders who were victimized by “death spiral” financing and stock manipulation schemes. We are also currently prosecuting racketeering claims on behalf of mutual fund investors and actions involving franchisees of a national income tax return preparation service.
9/11 Litigations We are proud to have represented thousands of family members of September 11 victims in their suits against financial sponsors of terrorism and against airlines and airport security companies. Working directly with Ronald L. Motley in this litigation, we assumed a leadership role, sitting on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the consolidated cases against the airlines and security companies and on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for Personal Injury and Death Claims in the multi-district litigation (“MDL”) against the financial sponsors of terrorism. In 2007 the actions against the airlines and security companies were settled for hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to clients of the firm. The firm also represents property owners who suffered financial injury as a result of the September 11 attacks.
top Bextra, Celebrex & Other Drugs
Bextra and Celebrex: We were extensively involved in litigation against Pfizer concerning these “Cox II inhibitors” from 2005 through 2008. In 2006 Paul Hanly was court-appointed to three positions: as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Coordinating Committee in the coordinated New York State Bextra and Celebrex Products Liability Litigation, as liaison counsel between those proceedings and their federal multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) counterpart, and as a member of the MDL Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee; also in 2006 Jayne Conroy was selected to serve leading roles on the Discovery and Science Committees in those two litigations. Clint Fisher was added to the Discovery Committee in 2007. In 2008 Jayne Conroy was one of three negotiators of the global settlement of this litigation for the historic sum of $894 million, including hundreds of cases for clients of the firm.
Zelnorm: This drug was approved by the FDA for irritable bowel syndrome in 2002 and withdrawn in 2007 after information surfaced concerning the risks of cardiovascular injuries while taking the drug. If you or someone you know suffered such an injury while on Zelnorm please contact us right away.
Zyprexa: We were actively involved in products liability actions alleging personal injuries from ingestion of this anti-psychotic medication, resulting in a very favorable, multi-million dollar settlement in 2007 for clients of the firm. We remain heavily involved on a day-to-day basis in a class action on behalf of entities which overpaid for this medication, and recently obtained class certification of the case by Judge Jack B. Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York.
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Gadolinium-based Contrast Dyes
We represent individuals who suffered nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (“NSF”) or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (“NFD”) after being injected with these contrast agents prior to undergoing MRIs or MRAs. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with NSF or NFD, please contact us immediately to speak with one of our gadolinium lawyers.
NSF and NFD are very rare conditions that are almost exclusively linked to patients with kidney conditions who are administered gadolinium injections during a routine Magnetic Resonance Imaging (“MRI”) or Magnetic Resonance Angiography (“MRA”) scan procedure. The gadolinium increases the contrast in the scans and helps doctors spot potential problems more accurately than with the scans by themselves. Unfortunately, some patients with chronic kidney problems have had serious, even lethal, problems following the contrast injections.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Advisory in December 2006 about the potential link between gadolinium and NSF/NFD. At that time, the FDA had reports of 90 patients with moderate to end-stage kidney disease who developed NSF/NFD after an MRI with gadolinium-based contrast.
Patients with NSF/NFD develop thickening of the skin and connective tissues throughout their bodies. This is known as fibrosis. The skin becomes so hard and thick that it restricts movement. It puts tremendous pressure on bones and joints and can even cause fractures.
Signs of fibrosis can also show up in other parts of the body, affecting the heart, diaphragm, lungs and other areas.
Signs of NSF include:
Burning
Itching
Swelling
Hardening and tightening of the skin
Yellow spots on the whites of the eyes
Stiffness in joints and trouble moving or straightening the arms, hands, legs or feet
Pain deep in the hip bones or ribs
Muscle weakness
In
some cases, it can take up to 18 months for symptoms to appear after an
injection, but they usually appear much sooner, even as soon as two
days after the procedure. NSF is a progressive disease and does appear
to move quite quickly. Within a few weeks of the start of symptoms,
many patients are confined to a wheelchair.
There is no known cure for NSF. It can cause death.
Nearly all of the cases of NSF/NFD can be directly attributed to
gadolinium injections in patients with advanced or end-stage kidney
disease.
