Articles by Brendan Pierson

Lawsuit Accuses Major Food Companies of Marketing ‘Addictive’ Food to Kids

Major food companies, including Kraft Heinz, Mondelez and Coca-Cola, were hit with a new lawsuit in the U.S. on Tuesday accusing them of designing and marketing “ultra-processed” foods to be addictive to children, causing chronic disease. The lawsuit was filed …

Missouri Jury Asked to Award More Than $6B in Preterm Formula Case

A lawyer for a Missouri mother on Wednesday asked a jury to make Abbott ABT.N and Reckitt’s RKT.L Mead Johnson pay a total of more than $6 billion in the latest trial over claims that the companies’ formulas for premature …

Meta Must Face State Lawsuits Over Teen Social Media Addiction

Facebook parent company Meta must face lawsuits by U.S. states accusing it of fueling mental health problems among teens by making its Facebook and Instagram platforms addictive, a federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday. Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Yvonne …

Jury Says J&J Must Pay $15 Million to Man Who Claims Talc Caused His Cancer

Johnson & Johnson must pay $15 million to a Connecticut man who alleges that he developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, as a result of using the company’s talc powder for decades, a jury found on Tuesday. Plaintiff Evan …

Bayer Must Pay $78 Million in Latest Roundup Cancer Trial, Jury Finds

Bayer must pay $78 million to a Pennsylvania man who said he got cancer from using the company’s Roundup weedkiller, a state court jury in Philadelphia found on Thursday. The verdict follows previous consecutive victories for Bayer in that court. …

GSK Agrees to Settle About 80,000 Zantac Lawsuits for Up to $2.2B

GSK has agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle most lawsuits in U.S. state courts claiming that a discontinued version of the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, the company announced on Wednesday. The agreement with 10 plaintiffs’ law …

A Second Zantac Cancer Trial Ends With Hung Jury

The latest trial over claims that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer ended with a hung jury on Wednesday, as jurors in Chicago were unable to agree on whether Boehringer Ingelheim must pay damages to an Illinois man who …

J&J Gets $260 Million Talc Verdict Overturned, New Trial Ordered

An Oregon judge has overturned a $260 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit brought by a woman who said she got mesothelioma, a deadly cancer linked to asbestos exposure, from inhaling the company’s talc powder, the company …

Delaware Top Court Will Hear Drugmakers’ Appeal to End Zantac Lawsuits

Delaware’s highest court said on Tuesday it will hear an appeal by GSK and other drugmakers seeking to end more than 70,000 lawsuits claiming discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim are asking the court …

Third Trial Over Zantac Cancer Claims Ends With Hung Jury

The third trial over claims that discontinued heartburn drug Zantac ended in a mistrial on Wednesday when jurors could not agree about whether pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim was responsible for an Illinois man’s cancer. Martin Gross alleged in his lawsuit …