Posted by Claudine Rosca.
Endo International PLC is a generics and pharmaceutical company that delivers medicines to patients in the fields of urology, men’s health, etc. Despite their professionalism, their products allegedly were defective resulting in liability. Product liability is the responsibility that a manufacturer incurs because they sell or create a faulty product. In 2014, Endo “agreed to pay more than $400 milion to resolve lawsuit allegations.”
Their vaginal-mesh implants had eroded in their female patients which cause painful side effects. The devices are used to “support internal organs and treat incontinence,” which is a lack of control over urination or defecation. Officer Rajiv De Silva “said the company way adding $400 million to its $1.2 billion liability reserve for the devices.” The company was blamed for organ damage in women, combining to over 10,000 suits. The issue with the company was their lack of “stricter safety requirements because they are high-risk devices.” As a result of the 2014 issues among companies such as Endo and Johnson & Johnson, the FDA ordered “vaginal-implant makers to study rates of organ damage and complications linked to the devices.”
Following the allegations in 2014, Endo continues to pay millions to resolve the sums of lawsuits against the company’s vaginal-mesh implants. Recently, Endo set aside $755 million for the eroded implants which constitutes almost $2.6 billion that was paid to wipe out cases. Their Dublin-based Endo was shut down after a piling of complaints against their devices. Other previously named companies continue to face thousands of lawsuits from women who argue against their devices. The U.S. FDA continues to increase regulations on mesh inserts but companies continue to manufacture and sell faulty products.
Claudine is an accounting and IT major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2021.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-01/endo-said-to-pay-400-million-plus-in-vaginal-mesh-accord
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-07/endo-sets-aside-775-million-to-settle-remaining-mesh-lawsuits
Posted by Victoria Gencarelli.
Product liability is a prevailing issue and concern for companies and businesses who are marketing and selling their products. It is a company’s duty to take the liability for manufacturing and selling a product that is defective or damaged. By creating and issuing a defective product to the public, it increases the risk for dangers, damages, or harmful occurrences to take place with the use of the product. If in the case that a product is defective and capable of any danger, it is the company’s responsibility to issue a warning or a recall on the product. In this way they can they attempt to protect themselves from any legal issues and also protect the general public from encountering danger while using their products.
POM Wonderful is a company who produces fruit juices and fruit extracts, but is most commonly known for the produce of pomegranate juice. The Coca-Cola Company introduced a new “pomegranate blueberry” juice product, but POM wonderful believed the product to be false advertising to consumers. The juice was actually a blend together of apple and grape juices and only consisted of 0.2% pomegranate juice in it and also included the phrase “from concentrate with added ingredients and other flavors” in small typing. POM Wonderful presented this to the court in compliance with the Lanham Act because they believed that the name of the juice and the false advertising of the Coca-Cola Company’s “pomegranate blueberry” juice was misleading and contributing to a loss of sales for POM Wonderful.
In California federal district court, they deliberated the case and had not found POM successful in proving that the Coca-Cola Company was misleading their consumers into thinking that their “Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored 100% Juice Blend” did not actually contain a high percentage of pomegranate juice. When the case reached the highest court, they disregarded POM Wonderful’s claim against the Coca-Cola Company and stating that Coca-Cola was not violating the FDA guidelines on product labeling. The POM Wonderful Company did lose out on millions of dollars in revenue and sales, but it was not seen as unfair competition and the jury ended the case in favor of the Coca-Cola Company. All in all, an issue such as this one has an overall impact on the food industry to be careful when labeling, marketing, and advertising their products to the public. It is always important to keep product liability in mind when generating products and selling them in order to avoid any potential problems in the long run.
Victoria is an accounting and finance major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2019.
Posted by Amber Piskunov.
GNC is a widely known and trusted nutritional health retailer that is now being sued for allegedly selling products known to contain an illegal amphetamine-like stimulant. The two chemicals are called Picamilon and BMPEA. In addition to selling the illegal drug, GNC clearly intended for it to be hidden because the chemical was not listed under the nutritional facts or ingredients. In today’s world, many people want to see fast results, such as losing weight or gaining muscle. Stimulants can do that by reducing digestion and hunger, while also increasing your energy output. However, it should be known that these drugs are illegal, addictive, and sometimes deadly. GNC didn’t properly label the product, making it dangerous for the consumers without prior knowledge of purchasing. The investigation is being aided by the US Food and Drug Administration; they have announced that the chemical is illegal and should not be sold to consumers. After this was found by the FDA, GNC has taken all products containing the chemical off the shelves for sale.
The lawsuit states that “GNC sells products obtained from third-party vendors that GNC knows or should have known it contained unlawful and potentially unsafe ingredients.” Being a previously trusted 2.6 billion dollar retailer of “nutritional and healthy supplements,” GNC has now publicly hurt their name because of the chemicals found. Consumers are most likely going to be worried about buying products from GNC because of the secret ingredients that were previously hidden. GNC has since denied any knowledge of the drug in their products or on their shelves, and the ones in question have been removed. They have also mentioned they are protected by federal regulations. The company is denying the claims against them and is strongly defending themselves against the lawsuit.
GNC has caused their company to have bad publicity, a decline in stocks, and also a decline in profits. This is a serious lawsuit regarding consumer safety. GNC was not properly selling their product and did not have the best intentions for the well being of the consumers. With that being said, GNC is now trying to gain sales back by promoting lower prices and a better store experience. This is a way for the company to try to stay stable while dealing with the negative attention the lawsuit has brought. The warning made by the FDA stated the product is, “a substance that does not meet the statutory definition of a dietary ingredient.” The laws were not followed when the company decided to not only put the chemicals in the product but to also not have it labeled for consumer knowledge. The public will now be safer with the product being off shelves. GNC ended up losing profits instead of gaining profits because statutory laws were not met.
Amber is an accounting major at the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University, Class 2017.
Sources used:
http://www.bidnessetc.com/56383-gnc-holdings-inc-gnc-hits-new-52week-low-whats-instigating-the-crash/
http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/22/news/companies/oregon-ag-lawsuit-gnc/
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/the-pulse/2015/11/gnc-targeted-in-5m-class-action-lawsuit.html
Under new FDA rules, movie theaters, chain restaurants, and supermarkets with 20 or more locations will have to provide calorie counts on the foods they sell. The stores have until November 2015 to comply and provide calorie information on their menus. Amusement parks, vending machines, bakeries, coffee shops, and convenience stores must also comply with the new rules.
The move to include these food establishments came from a push by the restaurant industry. Restaurant owners argued that grocery stores and the like that sell prepared foods should also be made to place calorie counts on their food. “Representatives for the supermarket industry have said it could cost them up to a billion dollars to put the rules in place — costs that would be passed on to consumers.”
Smaller outlets are exempt from the rules for now, as are airplanes, trains, and food trucks.