Chicago’s 7th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a federal district judge’s ruling that barred the Illinois product liability claim of Lenore Aebischer. In 1997 at age 44, Lenore underwent a hip replacement. But the prosthetic hip manufactured by defendant Stryker Corp. allegedly failed due to structural defects, and Lenore required…
The parents of 8-month-old Joshua Flax filed suit against DaimlerChrysler after their son was killed in a car accident involving their 1998 Dodge Caravan. The wrongful death case centered on the allegedly defective design of the minivan’s front seat backs. Jeremy Flax, et al. v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., et al. Joshua…
Defendant Mancari’s Chrysler Plymouth dealership in Cook County lucked out with an ideological “get out of trial free” card in a product liability case involving a car sold at his dealership. Murphy v. Mancari’s Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. 2008 WL 927727. The Illinois Appellate Court’s clarification of section 2-261 of the…
NASCAR driver Michael McDowell walked away from a violent rollover car crash during a race at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. After skidding into a wall and flipping across the track several times he climbed out of his crashed vehicle unhurt. This complete lack of injury is unimaginable…
The American Association for Justice (AAJ) is lobbying for the rights of consumers injured by defective medical devices. In Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that manufacturers of medical products weren’t liable for damages if their device received premarket FDA approval (see 03/01/08 post for more details).…
In the case Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the manufacturer of the medical device could not be sued under state law when the device causes an injury. What this means for patients is that it is now harder to file an Illinois product liability lawsuit…