MEDICAL DEVICE, MASS TORT AND PHARMACEUTICAL LITIGATION
For virtually a decade, O’Brien & Ryan, LLP served as liaison counsel between Pennsylvania plastic and reconstructive surgeons in the national silicone breast implant litigation and the courts. We were one of the most active firms in the Pennsylvania consolidated breast implant litigation, working for the defense of plastic surgeons involved in those mass tort lawsuits. We represented healthcare provider defendants in over two hundred cases. Of those cases, we successfully tried to verdict two breast implant cases, including the first in the state.
Additionally, attorneys of the firm have served as counsel for physicians in the pedicle screw litigation and pharmaceutical litigation cases including Fen-Phen, Rezulin, Baycol, Celexa and Vioxx. In these capacities, we have accumulated experience not only in medical device and pharmaceutical litigation, but in the particulars of mass tort litigation. Our firm has worked with the courts to develop systems for becoming proficient in case management and discovery including obtaining, organizing and utilizing massive numbers of manufacturer documents and manufacturer employee depositions produced through the course of consolidated and multi-district litigation, in both hard copy and electronic form.
Contact:
Marshall L. Schwartz
(610) 834-6294
(610) 834-1749 Fax
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O'Brien & Ryan News
Defense Verdict for Orthopedic Surgeon in Delaware County
Dan Ryan obtained a defense verdict for an orthopedic surgeon in Delaware County. The plaintiff underwent a total right knee replacement in 1997, by the orthopedic surgeon. The plaintiff did very well with her knee implant for a period of almost five years. In 2002,...
Defense Verdict for Otolaryngologist in Bucks County
Paul Peel obtained a defense verdict for an otolaryngologist in Bucks County. Plaintiff, a physician, alleged that he underwent unnecessary sinus surgery causing him to require a revision surgery. Plaintiff also alleged that he was not given proper informed consent....
Defense Verdict for Plastic Surgeon in Philadelphia
Dorothy Duffy obtained a defense verdict for a plastic surgeon. The Honorable Victor J. DiNubile, Jr. released all 300+ pending silicone breast implant cases in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. All but two of those cases have been discontinued. In one...
Defense Verdict on Behalf of General Surgeon in Philadelphia
Marshall L. Schwartz obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a general surgeon in Philadelphia. Plaintiff was 42 when she underwent a laparoscopic ventral hernia repair procedure. Plaintiff alleged that use of the Veress needle, the method used to insufflate the...
Defense Verdict for Cardiothoracic Surgeon in Philadelphia County
Daniel F. Ryan, III obtained a defense verdict for a cardiothoracic surgeon in Philadelphia County. In this case, the decedent underwent a ventral septal defect repair procedure on November 15, 2000. The decedent subsequently underwent a second emergency heart...
UPDATE: Court Stays Order Compelling Production of Quality Reviews, Allowing Appellate Review of Peer Review Protection Act
Last month, Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Terrence R. Nealon granted a plaintiff’s discovery appeal in her medical malpractice case and ruled that the Peer Review Protection Act (“PRPA”) did not shield quality-of-care reviews conducted by hospital plan...
PA Supreme Court to Test Ostensible Agency & MCARE Requirements for Non-Physician Experts
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted allocatur to a case questioning whether a jury should be allowed to consider a vicarious liability claim based on a theory of ostensible agency where a physician provides emergency treatment at the behest of a...
Health Insurance Quality Reviews Not Privileged Under Peer Review Protection Act
In an issue of first impression, the Lackawanna County trial court recently declined to extend the Peer Review Protection Act to quality-of-care reviews conducted by health insurance companies, regardless of who the company hired to conduct the peer...
Carbon County Court Illustrates Proper Apportionment of Fault Amongst Settled & Non-Settled Defendants
The Carbon County Court of Common Pleas recently denied a motion for a new trial, finding that the trial court did not err in allowing the names of defendants who settled prior to trial to remain on the verdict sheet. In doing so, the court described the way in...
Superior Court finds Expert Witness Unnecessary in Res Ipsa Loquitur Cases
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently held that leaving a sponge in a patient speaks for itself and does not require an expert witness to prove negligence or causation in a medical malpractice trial. In Fessenden v. Robert Packer Hospital, the patient...
Heather Hansen Speaks at Health & Safety Presentation
On September 10, 2015, Heather Hansen presented End Distracted Driving, part of the CertainTeed Environmental Health & Safety Day at Saint-Gobain in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
Dorothy Duffy Writes for Drexel Law Review
In connection with the symposium Beyond Reproach: Becoming an Expert on Expert Witnesses at Drexel School of Law, Dorothy Duffy, along with Marrielle B. Van Rossum authored Of Surgical Sponges and Flour Barrels, and Why Medical Experts Are Needed Even with a Res Ipsa Loquitur Instruction for the Drexel Law Review.
Heather Hansen Speaks at PBI Program
On August 13, 2015, Heather Hansen spoke at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s CLE Down the Shore: Tort Law Update in Atlantic City.
Dorothy Duffy Presents at PBI Litigation Update
On July 27, 2015, Dorothy Duffy presented an encore presentation of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 28th Annual Civil Litigation Update in Philadelphia, PA.
Six Partners selected to 2015 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers & Two Associates selected to Rising Stars
Each year, on a state-by-state basis, Super Lawyers selects attorneys using peer nominations and evaluations along with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, and those selected represent the top five percent of the total lawyers in each state.
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