Zantac Lawsuit


Researching drug company and regulatory malfeasance for over 16 years
Humanist, humorist

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Truth



Daily reports from the trial on the Fiddaman blog.





Bob Fiddaman.





Monday, February 13, 2017

GSK: "No time to prepare a defense"






The latest in the on-going Paxil induced suicide trial from Chicago.

Despite being told by the Judge to not overwhelm the jury with evidence, GSK have submitted page after page of evidence that it wishes to present to the jury, much of which is hearsay and irrelevant. One document is almost 600 pages in length!

Despite being told by the Judge that the jury don't need to know that Stewart Dolin took a generic version of Paxil, GSK have thrown their toys out of the pram and made demands that the jury should know (Boo-hoo)

GSK have, in Dolin vs GSK, filed endless amounts of motions, 90% of which have been denied by the Judge.

GSK have also targeted the experts for Dolin, in particular, David Healy, who they depositioned for almost ten hours, nine of which were questions about his private and personal life and not about the science (data), of which he has been called to provide evidence.

GSK have also filed countless subpoenas requesting that the widow of Stewart Dolin provide them with cell phone records from her personal phone and that of her late husband's, Stewart.

GSK have also shown private medical notes of Stewart to his children.

The latest?

Well, now it seems GSK are crying that they don't have enough time to prepare to defend the allegations brought against them by Stewart's widow, Wendy. Law360 are reporting that GSK, via their highly paid attorneys, are now, in a last ditch attempt, trying to make claim that they are not prepared for trial ~ Hey, it's only been, um, like, almost five years since she first filed.

Law 360 writes...

An amended complaint filed by Wendy Dolin, the wife of late Reed Smith partner Stewart Dolin, last week brings new allegations to the fore that GSK intentionally did not warn consumers of Paxil that the antidepressant could increase suicidal thoughts and behavior — at least according to GSK's motion Thursday to do away with the claims.
GSK said that it is unprepared to defend against accusations of willful and wanton conduct at a trial set to begin March 14 and that Wendy Dolin's attorneys should not be allowed to press the claims.
“Specifically, GSK has had no opportunity to investigate or tailor its defense to these late claims which plaintiff filed, without any explanation for the undue delay; nearly five years after this case commenced; almost two years after the close of discovery; and after the court considered and ruled on multiple dispositive motions and motions in limine,” the company argued.

The amended complaint charges GSK of "wanton and willful conduct" with regard to them intentionally not warning consumers of Paxil that the antidepressant could increase suicidal thoughts and behavior.

GSK are claiming that Stewart Dolin contributed to his own death - they have previously tried every trick in the book to make it appear as if Paxil had nothing to do with his Paxil induced akathisia (which is a precursor to suicide thoughts and completion)

This from Law360...

Dolin's attorney R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC told Law360 on Friday that it was untrue that GSK is not prepared to defend against the accusations. He said the latest complaint was a standard pretrial effort, approved of by the judge, to “clean up” the complaint by clarifying allegations that had already been submitted to the court.
He added that Illinois law allows plaintiffs to allege two kinds of negligence, both standard failure to fulfill a duty and willful and wanton conduct. If the court finds that GSK intentionally hid negative side effects from Stewart Dolin and other Paxil patients, then the company cannot mitigate damages by alleging that the late Dolin contributed to his own death.

So, it appears that Dolin's allegations were initially approved of by the Judge and that GSK are, once again, stalling the wheels of justice - I wrote my thoughts on this here.

The eagerly awaited trial commences next month (March 14) in Chicago. It will be interesting to see if GSK decide to make an offer of a settlement in this case. In 2001, after defending it's drug Paxil in the implcation that it induced the homicide and suicide of Donald Schell, the jury were asked one simple question, to which they replied "Yes". (See Fig 1)



Fig 1.


If that isn't wanton and willful conduct then I don't know what is, do you?

This is for GSK and their suits. It's a 'looped' version as it seems GSK are in the habit of wishing to extend time, when their own seems to be running out.

Enjoy, Todd.





Dolin is represented by BAUM HEDLUND ARISTEI & GOLDMAN, P.C. and RAPOPORT LAW OFFICES, P.C.

GSK is represented by KING & SPALDING LLP and  DENTONS LLP.



Bob Fiddaman.

Dolin back stories.









Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Paxil Induced Suicide Trial - GSK Opposing the Judge





I've mulled over this for a week or so. I've been doing some travelling and taking a break from all things GSK - It's always a good idea to try and wipe the stench of GSK from oneself, particularly after many years of writing about their abhorrent behaviour.

The following is a case that I'm familiar with as I have wrote about it numerous times on this blog. This particular Paxil induced suicide trial has been dragging on for a number of years. GSK have argued that Stewart Dolin took a generic version of Paxil made by a different company, therefore they are not responsible/liable for any injuries caused by the said drug. The judge told them that the generic version side effects, marketed by Mylan, was, indeed, still their (GSK's) drug (in essence) because evidence provided shows that they knew about the adult suicide link in taking Paxil and failed to warn the generic manufacturers about this link. In turn, the judge told the widow of Stewart Dolin, Wendy, that if she was to file a lawsuit then it should be against GSK and not Mylan.

After many years of targeting the Dolin family, GSK's attorneys then targeted the expert witnesses for Dolin. Now, it appears that the initial ruling (Mylan are not responsible) which was ruled over two years ago, is the basis for GSK's latest argument.

According to the legal subscription based website, Law 360, GSK now want the jury to know that Stewart Dolin took a product marketed by another pharmaceutical company and that they (GSK) made no profit from the sale of this particular generic version.

Okay,

Here's my take.

GSK want the jury to know that Stewart didn't take their drug, he took Mylan's.

The Judge has previously ruled that they (GSK) are still responsible for any updates on the labelling and that that information be relayed to all the generic labels too.

So, he basically told them, your drug, your responsibility to inform the generic manufacturers.

These are my thoughts - I have no legal background.

GSK want the jury to know that Stewart took a product that was not manufactured by them, ergo, they made no profit from it.

This will, supposedly, put an element of doubt in some of the jury members.

Secondly, if the Judge does a u-turn and allows GSK to inform the jury that Stewart took a Mylan product then they (GSK) could possibly make Stewart's widow (Wendy) a settlement offer...but a much lower one because they will argue, it wasn't our drug. They want this evidence submitted to the jury for these two reaons.

1. To put doubt in the jurors minds.
2. To offer a settlement much lower than a settlement would be had Stewart had taken their own brand.

It's kind of like a last ditch attempt at saving money.

They also want to blindside the jury with documents that are either irrelevant or hearsay, some of these documents will see that evidence supporting Dolin's claim (incriminating evidence) will have been omitted - so, they wish to provide cherry-picked documents to the jury in pretty much in the same way that they cherry-pick clinical trials regarding Paxil.

Some of the documents they wish to provide to the jury are excessively large - the judge has already ruled that they can't do this but they still wish to ignore this ruling. One of the documents, for example, is almost 600 pages in length! - This is not because they feel the apparent evidence contained within is strong enough for the jury to rule in their favour, it's simply page after page of nonsense designed to confuse the jury. When you get a confused jury, you get certain members of that jury who will get pissed off, bored and will just want an end to it all - ergo, the debating of jury members (deliberation) will see certain jury members not willing to speak up or offer opinion because, well, because they will just be totally confused by it all. So, being confused, bored and pissed off, jurors are more than likely to "go with the flow" - GSK will be hoping that the "flow" is running their way.

They know they are pissing off the judge but, as I say, it's a last ditch attempt at saving a couple or so million dollars. It's incredible when you think that GSK have already paid millions of dollars to their legal team that they are trying to penny-pinch here. They really have nothing to lose by opposing any ruling by the judge in this case - they know, pretty much, that they cannot win so they are trying desperately to reduce the amount they will have to pay - it's a huge risk because every attorney should know that you never piss off a judge - it is, seemingly, a risk that GSK are willing to take. When all else fails, throw in the kitchen sink.

Anyway, these are my thoughts and, as I said, I am not an attorney. I have, however, read a lot of John Grisham :-) - I could be way off the mark - it could just boil down to the fact that GSK are a walking, talking sociopath and it would be a fruitless exercise to try and get inside the mind of one of those, right? Let's face it, they've never once apologised for putting children and adolescents at risk of suicide with Paxil so why would they be overly concerned about an adult?

Dolin is represented by BAUM HEDLUND ARISTEI & GOLDMAN, P.C. and RAPOPORT LAW OFFICES, P.C.

GSK is represented by KING & SPALDING LLP and  DENTONS LLP.


Bob Fiddaman.

Dolin back stories.








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