Allergan recalls textured breast implants due to cancer link

July 29, 2019 By
Photo Credit: BROKER, via Alamy, as originally reported by The New York Times on 7/24/19.

Photo Credit: BROKER, via Alamy, as originally reported by The New York Times on 7/24/19.

Global pharmaceutical company Allergan has announced a voluntary worldwide recall of Biocell textured breast implants and tissue expanders due to links to an unusual form of cancer. 

The July 24 recall, made in the United States at the request of the federal Food and Drug Administration, affects implants used for cosmetic breast enlargement and for reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer, The New York Times reported.

“Worldwide, 573 cases and 33 deaths from the cancer have been reported, with 481 of the cases clearly attributed to Allergan Biocell implants, the F.D.A. said. Of the 33 deaths, the agency said its data showed that the type of implant was known in 13 cases, and in 12 of those cases the maker was Allergan,” The New York Times reported.

In Europe, the Allergan devices were banned late last year.

Shareholders sued Allergan late last year, as a proposed class action lawsuit in Manhattan federal court accused the company of hiding from investors the link between its textured breast implants and the rare form of cancer, Reuters reported.

The December 2018 lawsuit followed an announcement by Allergan that it would take its textured breast implants off the market in Europe after a Dec. 18 recall order, Reuters reported.

Today, lawyers are advertising for plaintiffs. 

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In California, new privacy, data protection rules could fuel lawsuits

March 8, 2019 By

shutterstock_329735990-2California’s new privacy law could spur a rash of class action lawsuits against companies, officials warn.

The Recorder at law.com reports that the regulations, due to go into effect Jan. 1, 2020, “will bear more than a passing resemblance to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, empowering Californians with more control over the way their data is collected, shared or viewed by companies on a daily basis.”

Reece Hirsch, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, says the privacy rights outlined in the California Consumer Privacy Act will empower the individual and possibly prompt litigation.

“A provision of the CCPA creates statutory damages for security breaches, and as a result Hirsch expects to witness a spike in California security breach class action suits,” the site reports. “Lawyers may want to consider incorporating a review of a client’s incident response plan into their CCPA prep work, he says.”

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U.S. Appeals Court sides with Uber, denies class action suits

October 5, 2018 By
Image: uber.com

Image: uber.com

Drivers who complained that “Uber misclassified them as independent contractors to avoid having to reimburse them for gasoline, vehicle maintenance, and other expenses,” were dealt a legal setback last month, according to a Reuters report in The New York Times.

“Uber Technologies Inc won a legal victory on Tuesday as a federal appeals court said drivers seeking to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors must arbitrate their claims individually, and not pursue class-action lawsuits,” the news report notes.

In a 3-0 decision on September 25, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed a lower court judge’s denial of Uber’s motion to compel arbitration in three lawsuits.

It also overturned the class certification in one of the lawsuits of thousands of California drivers who had driven for the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company since August 2009.

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