Product Safety & Liability Reporter: Current Reports Index-Summary

OCCUPANT PROTECTION

– Crash avoidance

See CRASH AVOIDANCE

– Crashworthiness

See CRASHWORTHINESS

– Roof strength

See ROOF STRENGTH

– Seat belts

See SEAT BELTS

– Storage bin latches, GM recalls HHR vehicles, 886

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

– Asbestos exposure

See ASBESTOS

– Benzene exposure

See BENZENE

– Bus depots, workers sue bus and engine makers for diesel emission exposure (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 826
– Cotton dust, worker exposure mass tort dismissed (Tex. Dist. Ct.), 757
– Nanotechnology

See NANOTECHNOLOGY

– Welding fume MDL, $20M award affirmed due to adequate expert proof on causation (N.D. Ohio), 750

OHIO

– Asbestos

– – Medical criteria provisions apply retrospectively (Ohio), 1050
– – Supplier liability not retroactive to period before 1977 (Ohio), 1051

– Beef E. coli infection, Ohio product liability suit filed against Kroger and Nebraska Beef (Ohio Ct. C.P.), 663
– Catheter dislodged, 120-day limit on process of services does not apply to foreign companies but case dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction (N.D. Ohio), 875
– Contrast dye, gadolinium-based MDL, consolidation ordered (N.D. Ohio), 240; couple's suit remanded to Cal., drug distributor not fraudulently joined (N.D. Ohio), 877
– Heparin MDL

See HEPARIN

– Insurance coverage dispute, lawyer disqualified due to knowledge of ex-client's approach in similar lawsuits (S.D. Ohio), 898
– Lead paint public nuisance suits

– – City of Columbus dismisses suit (Ohio Ct. C.P.), 689
– – State suit should be remanded, WWII sales don't invoke removal law (S.D. Ohio), 874

– Ortho Evra patch MDL

See ORTHO EVRA

– Pontiac GTO owners class sues GM for concealing suspension and alignment problems (E.D. Cal.), 956
– Redux, wrongful death claims dismissed, PPH warning legally adequate (N.D. Ohio), 238
– Tort reform law

– – Concrete sealer yellowed, claims defeated (Ohio App. Ct.), 112
– – Statute of repose constitutional but doesn't apply to pre-effective date injury (Ohio), 234
– – Timing determination which claims available in pool chlorine feeder explosion suit (Ohio Ct. App.), 65

– Victoria's Secret bras as cause of skin problems, class suit alleges (N.D. Ohio), 823
– Welding fume MDL, $20M award affirmed due to adequate expert proof on causation (N.D. Ohio), 750
– Wheelchair-docking system, expert's testing did not support accident theories (Ohio Ct. App.), 779

OKLAHOMA

– Air conditioner corrosion class action, owner not entitled to recover losses (N.D. Okla.), 666
– Asbestos exposure from boiler installation, choice-of-law review in Okla. construction worker's claim (Cal.), 545
– Effexor, widow to appeal whether suicide warning claim barred (W.D. Okla.), 82
– Fire-safe cigarettes, governor signs bill setting certification process, 505
– Hip prostheses

– – Circumstantial evidence of multiple failure no proof of defect (W.D. Okla.), 602
– – Device maker named as defendant in suit removed to federal court, improper physician contacts also alleged (W.D. Okla.), 1027

– Rollover and roof collapse, Ford and family settle case after jury verdict set aside (N.D. Okla.), 517
– Steering systems, nationwide class in DaimlerChrysler warranty breach suit upheld (Okla.), 658

OREGON

– Pain pumps, suit seeks to hold drug companies liable for degeneration of shoulder cartilage (D. Ore.), 338
– Tobacco industry

– – Future physical harm not sufficient alone to constitute actionable injury (Or.), 441
– – Punitive damages based on harm to nonparties reaffirmed (Ore.), 135; whether state supreme court may interpose state-law procedural bar (U.S., rev grant), 575; (oral arg set), 959

ORTHO EVRA

– Label update to include higher risk of blood clots, 117
– Multidistrict litigation (MDL)

– – Consolidation, defendants seek to block due to individual issues (N.D. Ohio), 109
– – Lessons learned, Analysis and Perspective, 49
– – State caps on noneconomic and punitive damages withstand constitutional challenges (Ohio), 28

OUTLOOK 2008

– CPSC, 19
– NHTSA, 74

OUTSOURCING

– Drugs, country of origin labeling

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 3633

OXYCONTIN

– Addiction cause not proven, judgment to maker (W.D.W.Va.), 988