News in Brief September 23 – Medtronic, Labor Ready and More

Medtronic Sidesteps Suit Saying It Helped Doc Promote Off-Label Uses of Spinal Device

Minnesota-based medical device maker Medtronic will not face class action litigation that alleged it conspired with a doctor to promote off-label uses of The Infuse, a component of a bone growth device used in spinal fusion procedures. The named plaintiffs were patients of an Ohio doctor who allegedly used The Infuse for off-label purposes who later left the US after he was found liable in a civil lawsuit. The federal judge who tossed the suit against Medtronic said the case was dismissed in part because the plaintiff’s “product liability claims were preempted by the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act” and because their fraud allegations against the company were “vague and factually inconsistent.”

Settlement Granted Final Approval in Labor Ready Wage Suit

A settlement proposed by Labor Ready has been conditionally green-lit and will put to bed a 2009 class action that alleged the temp agency violated FSLA and state labor laws by denying day laborers proper wages. Court documents show Labor Ready will pay up to $4.5 million—a fluid sum dependent on the number of claimants who come forward—to an estimated pool of more than 21,000 workers. Among other contentions, the workers’ suit claimed Labor Ready shorted them on pay owed for time spent waiting for assignments and travel time, as well as fees charged to workers who cashed paycheck’s using the agency’s own check cashing machines. The condition under which the California judge approved the deal, it’s worth noting, was to increase the number of class members potentially entitled to part of the settlement.

Cholesterol Drug Makers Face Suit Over Excessive Price Inflation

A new class action filed against Teva, Mylan, Glenmark and Apotex claims the drug companies illegally collaborated to artificially inflate the price of the generic versions of pravastatin, a popular medication used to treat high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Filed by in Pennsylvania by A.F. of L. – A.G.C. Building Trades Welfare Plan, the suit cites research from group purchasing organizations that shows pravastatin prices inexplicably swelled 573 percent (adding around 50 cents to pills’ cost). Without a product shortage, recall issues or supply woes, the plaintiff’s case alleges, the pricing hike may be the result of unlawful collusion between the manufacturers.

Judge Tosses Defective Vacuum Suit Against SharkNinja

A class action filed against SharkNinja over allegedly defective vacuums has been thrown out by a federal judge who said the plaintiff’s economic losses for the cost of his vacuum did not amount to the “real economic loss” benchmark set by the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Filed in February 2016, the plaintiff’s suit claimed his SharkNinja vacuum became faulty only a few months after purchasing the machine, which would allegedly lose power during use and even caused one of the outlets in the plaintiff’s home to begin smoking.