In the News Today – January 4, 2017
Judge “Almost Halved” $1 Billion Award, Citing “Constitutional Considerations”: U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade cut around $500 million of punitive damages from the award in a December jury verdict that ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay more than $1 billion to plaintiffs who said they were injured byDePuy’s Pinnacle hip implants. The judge cited “constitutional considerations” that limit how much plaintiffs may recover in punitive damages. (Reuters)
Man Names 199 Defendants in Asbestos Suit: A West Virginia man, who admits to having been a smoker for over ten years, has named 199 defendants in a lawsuit alleging asbestos exposure caused lung cancer. The plaintiff claims the defendants are being sued “as product manufacturers, suppliers, installers and distributors upon theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of express/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations by specific defendants and post-sale duty to warn.” (West Virginia Record)
