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Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a gastrointestinal disease that affects the most vulnerable among us – premature infants. It is a serious, sometimes fatal condition with potentially lifelong consequences. While NEC is a known risk for preterm infants, researchers have found that a seemingly innocent sources can significantly increase its occurrence – bovine, or cow’s milk-based, formula and fortifier. 

When we talk about the opioid epidemic, so many of our conversations are focused on the companies involved. Who made what, delivered it where and in what quantity? What weren’t we, the people, told and why? It sounds simple on its face, but the details and legal ramifications are knotty. Unraveling them is challenging work.

As we mark the 20th memorial of the September 11, 2001 attacks, we will stop and reflect on that horrific day. Current events make these memories all the more vivid and painful. So many lives forever ended and upended following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At the behest of clients, attorneys with Motley Rice filed suit against the alleged material sponsors of al Qaeda. This is a hard-fought case that we fight to this day.

Frameworks for nationwide settlement agreements to resolve litigation regarding the nation’s opioid crisis were announced. The two proposed agreements are with the United States’ largest pharmaceutical distributors, or the “Big Three,” McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen, and with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in 2001 that found 8 out of 10 drugs withdrawn from the market between 1997 and 2000 posed a greater risk to women than men. While that report was released two decades ago, it exposed a troubling trend in the United States.

People injured by explosive Takata airbags can now file a claim for compensation through one of three separate funds that were created to compensate victims, but victims must present evidence that their airbag was defective and show the extent of their injuries in order to receive any compensation through the claims process. If the vehicle is no longer available, photos may be enough evidence to support a claim. Inside this post are pictures of shrapnel and debris from ruptured Takata airbags that our attorneys have seen during our investigations of the defect.

Human trafficking, and the horror of its existence, are worldwide issues that we’re only just beginning to peel back the layers on. One thing we know is that those in leadership positions, including lawyers, legislators, law enforcement and others, are in a position to fight for the freedoms and rights of survivors who so often can’t or don’t feel comfortable speaking out for themselves. My colleague Dan Lapinski and I recently joined some of the nation’s foremost leaders on sex abuse and trafficking to discuss ways to ease access to justice for survivors and prevent others from being victims of such horrible atrocities.

Product recalls can have longer term effects on shareholders, including altering the company’s financial profile, hurting its performance in the market and harming its reputation. The company may also find itself facing potentially costly securities fraud litigation. Because the failure to handle a recall properly can have short- and long-term financial consequences, management should take extra care in how they handle their products and any recalls, not just out of respect for consumers but to mitigate the harms to the company’s investors. 

In an ideal world, manufacturers would do a better job of making sure medical products are safe before they reach vulnerable patients. In the meantime, know that there are steps you can take to stay informed so that you can protect yourself as best you can when recalls are announced. Find answers to key questions such as why there was a recall, if the recall affects you, how the recall affects you and what to do once you learn of a recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 881 vehicle recalls in 2019, affecting a staggering 38,583,951 vehicles. With hundreds of vehicle recalls issued each year, we face the very real problem of “recall fatigue,” a phrase that’s often used to describe consumer apathy due to the oversaturation of recall notices in the market. When consumers are no longer alarmed by recalls, they may be overwhelmed by them or recalls may become buried or ignored. This makes it easier for life-threatening defects to slip through the cracks.