Before becoming LegalReader's Editor-in-Chief, Jay W. Belle Isle worked as a freelance copywriter with clients on four continents. Jay has a degree in Business Administration from Cleary University and a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Jay has also worked as a contracts administrator for a DOD contractor specializing in vehicle armor.
The FDA announced that it expects to release new guidance regarding the Essure “permanent” birth control device by the end of February 2016. The agency wants to conduct an evidence-based analysis of Bayer’s product before making its recommendations. We live in hope that the evidence is not just more garbage provided by Bayer.
Let’s take a moment to send some love and good wishes to the women and families affected by Bayer’s Essure “permanent” birth control today.
Turing Pharmaceuticals is lowering the price of the important toxoplasmosis drug, Daraprim, by 50%. This is a cause for thanksgiving, as Martin Shkreli, the company’s CEO, raised the per pill price from $13.50 to $750.00 when Turing bought the rights to the drug. It will now cost $375.00 per pill. The price could still be better, but it is Thanksgiving, so we know to expect a turkey and Martin Shkreli doesn’t disappoint.
A new recall has been issued by Toyota regarding Takata airbag inflators. This recall is for vehicles in Japan only and affects 1.6M vehicles that were recalled, inspected and deemed safe enough to not repair earlier this year. Nissan recently reported a previously inspected vehicle’s airbag inflator exploded, seriously injuring a passenger. This prompted Toyota to issue this massive recall. The company will replace the airbag inflators with a Takata model that does not contain ammonium nitrate.
Ford just hopped on the bandwagon with Honda, Nissan and Toyota in the refusal to use Takata’s ammonium nitrate-containing airbag inflators in future vehicle lines. The defective inflators have caused eight deaths, over 100 injuries and a massive 19M+ vehicle recall campaign. NHTSA even took steps to smack down the Japanese company, citing evidence that Takata didn’t timely disclose the defect.
NHTSA is finally putting an end to ammonium nitrate as an airbag propellant. One of the key takeaways from the Takata airbag debacle is that the manufacturer uses unsafe, volatile propellant. When ammonium nitrate is exposed to moisture, the chemical’s explosive properties are changed, typically for the worse.
Flint residents are seeking class action status in a suit against the city and the state of Michigan alleging that cost-cutting measures put their health in danger. When Flint was put under emergency financial management, the city’s water supply was switched from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River. The pipe corrosion that followed exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water.
Volkswagen came clean yet again telling the world it “misstated” the number of gas-powered vehicles affected by its CO2 emissions cheat. The company said that 24 gas-powered models out of its 130-model line-up are affected.
“We have started a grassroots movement to get an unsafe medical device off the market. Our fight to get PMA revoked from Essure is gaining rapid traction.” The amazing women of Essure Problems are hitting the road to DC to lobby for the revocation of Bayer’s pre-emption status for its dangerous Essure “permanent” birth control.
A federal judge dismissed two co-defendants from the Androderm testosterone products liability MDL last week. One, the parent company of the other Actavis defendants, was dismissed for having no actionable role in the Androderm issue. The other, Watson Laboratories, Inc., a Nevada Corporation, was dismissed because it was named in error. Its name is virtually identical to that of the properly named co-defendant, Watson Laboratories, Inc. a DELAWARE Corporation. Watson Delaware is now called Actavis Laboratories UT, Inc.