Year: 2019
New York Times: DUI breath tests often inaccurate, exaggerated
In 2010, when a new person was brought in to run Washington, D.C.’s breath testing program, his first priority was to test the city’s Intoxilyzer machines for accuracy. He was astounded to discover that every machine was exaggerating the test results, entering numbers that were 20 to 40 percent higher than the actual result. This
Tennessee Innocence Project to help the wrongfully convicted
States with similar incarceration rates to that of Tennessee have far more exonerations listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. For example, there have been 61 exonerations of North Carolina defendants, 57 of people convicted in Louisiana, and 96 exonerations from Michigan. Only 21 exonerations are listed from Tennessee It’s unlikely that our courts are
What are the early signs of a vaping-related illness?
For years, e-cigarette companies like Juul advertised their products as a safer alternative to smoking. However, that statement has been proven false in just the last few months. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaping-related illnesses have been connected to over 1,200 injuries and 26 fatalities across the country. This is an
Update on the litigation surrounding Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson has been a household name for nearly 75 years, and for much of that time it enjoyed a good reputation. In the 1980s, J&J was applauded for its handling of the Tylenol crisis, when someone tampered with a small number of bottles of the pain killer and seven people were killed by
Soon all new cars could come with breathalyzers
If you’re convicted of driving drunk in Tennessee, the court is likely to order you to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on your car. Much like a roadside breathalyzer test, an IID requires you to breathe into the device to get a reading on how much alcohol is in your breath. This is then
Case study ties asbestos-tainted talcum powder to mesothelioma
As we’ve discussed on this blog, thousands of lawsuits have been brought against Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and other products containing talc. Those cases allege that using J&J’s talc-based products for routine hygiene caused mesothelioma or ovarian cancer. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, it can be difficult to prove what specific product or practice caused
THP increasing DUI, distraction patrols on Halloween
Halloween is the single most dangerous day of the year for child pedestrians. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a child is twice as likely to be hit by a motor vehicle on Halloween than on any other day. Part of this is simply because they’re children, and they’ll be out trick-or-treating.
Jury imposes $8 billion punitive damages against J&J for Risperdal
Thousands of lawsuits involving the drug Risperdal have been filed against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The main complaint by most of the young men suing is that taking Risperdal caused gynecomastia, or the abnormal development of breasts. Many plaintiffs were prescribed Risperdal as minors and none were told they might
What should you do if you have taken Zantac?
As we discussed in a recent blog post, the over-the-counter heartburn drug Zantac has been taken off the shelves. Manufacturers discovered that the drug, and others containing ranitidine, may be contaminated by the carcinogen n-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA. Hearing that a medication you take was recalled can be alarming. So, what should you do if you took
Without admitting fault, J&J reaches opioid deal with 2 counties
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio had the second-highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses in the country in 2017. West Virginia led the nation in per capita opioid deaths. That’s part of the reason why Ohio is central to the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, where thousands of cases against opioid manufacturers