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Pradaxa reemerges as top mass tort ad target

4/28/2015

Following months of declining advertising, spending on ads soliciting plaintiffs for lawsuits targeting the blood thinner Pradaxa jumped by over 7,000% in March. The increase launched the drug into the top ten of all drugs and devices featured in mass tort ads that March.

The surprising ad push comes ten months after Pradaxa manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to pay $650 million to settle the majority of lawsuits filed over the drug which has been linked to more than 500 patient deaths.

Prior to the settlement announcement, Pradaxa was one of the top drugs targeted in mass tort advertising as measured by ad spending. Advertising volumes peaked in May 2014 - the month the settlement was announced.

Since then, ad volumes had largely declined until March.

Only four firms sponsored Pradaxa ads in March. The Goldwater Law Firm accounted for nearly three-quarters of all Pradaxa mass tort ad spending and over half of that expenditure was devoted to a single ad that ran on the nationally syndicated program "Inside Edition."

The Pradaxa ad spike follows a trend of greater interest among mass tort advertisers in ads featuring various blood thinners. Johnson & Johnson and Bayer's Xarelto became the most targeted drug in mass tort ads last summer weeks after the Pradaxa settlement.

The Goldwater ad below also mentions blood thinners generally -- presumably including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer's Eliquis in addition to Xarelto and Pradaxa -- and ran 14 times in March.

Sales of Pradaxa have stagnated following the litigation settlement and in the face of competition from Xarelto and Eliquis.

Zofran ad surge signals heightened litigation interest

3/31/2015

Monthly mass tort ad spending targeting the anti-nausea drug Zofran and its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, increased by over 8,000% in February -- the largest spike for any drug or medical device featured in mass tort ads in over 6 months.

Twenty-five law firms sponsored over 1,300 ads featuring Zofran last month at a combined cost of approximately $2 million.

By comparison, under $25,000 was spent to air fewer than 200 ads in January.

The advertising blitz follows the filing of lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline alleging that the drug caused birth defects in children born to women who took Zofran while pregnant.

Over 95% of the spending on Zofran mass tort ads was devoted to spots for broadcast on national networks -- reflecting the expected national scope of the litigation.

More Zofran mass tort ads were broadcast on local broadcast networks in Boston, Philadelphia, and Bakersfield than any other local media market.

In 2012, the US Department of Justice announced that GlaxoSmithKline would pay more than $1 billion to settle claims that it illegally marketed medications for off-label, unapproved uses including allegations that the company promoted Zofran, approved only for post-operative nausea, for treatment for morning sickness in pregnant women.

Zofran Mass Tort Ads Broadcast in February

Infuse Bone Graft Ads Jump in January

2/26/2015

Estimated spending on mass tort advertising targeting the Infuse Bone Graft product manufactured by Medtronic increased by over 800% in January over December.

The over ninefold increase amounted to the most spent on these ads since September.

The majority of the Infuse Bone Graft ads in January aired on local broadcast TV channels in the Minneapolis media market. The Brown & Crouppen law firm spent nearly $27,000 to air 267 ads there.

The Balkin Law Group spent more on Infuse Bone Graft ads in January than any other firm -- devoting more than $30,000 to ads aired predominantly on national cable channels.

January 2015 Infuse Bone Graft Ads: Brown & Crouppen (left); Balkin Law Group (right)

In May, Medtronic, the manufacturer of the Infuse Bone Graft, announced that it would pay $22 million to end product liability lawsuits involving 950 users of the product and that nearly 4,000 additional claims could create settlement costs of $120 to $140 million.

This announcement followed Medtronic’s 2012 agreement to pay $85 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of making misleading statements concerning Infuse, a genetically engineered bone graft used in spinal surgery.

As reported at the time, the settlement resolved claims that Medtronic failed to reveal that as much as 85.2 percent of Infuse sales depended on so-called "off-label" uses, where doctors sometimes paid by Medtronic would prescribe the product for applications not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The claimants in the product liability suits allege that the Infuse bone graft caused injury after being used in ways that were not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Shortly the announcement of the settlement in May, the company was sued by Humana Inc . for allegedly paying doctors hundreds or millions of dollars to tout the safety and effectiveness of the Infuse product for a variety of spinal surgeries even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had limited its use to lower-back procedures.

More recently, in October, a Maryland appeals court revived a man’s injury suit against Medtronic over the off-label use of its Infuse bone graft device in his surgery, finding that federal law doesn’t preempt his claims about misrepresentations to doctors or the public about the risks of such uses.

As reported by Bloomberg, The Infuse Bone Graft accounted for $471 million in sales in fiscal year 2014, according to a company earnings report.

Studies have shown that Infuse, which helps help bones heal after spinal surgery, has been found to pose an increased risk of cancer along with infections and male sterility. FDA officials warned surgeons not to use the product in cervical-spine procedures in July 2008 after learning of complications in dozens of patients.

NY political scandal highlights competition for asbestos cases

1/29/2015

The recent arrest of New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on charges of bribery related to mesothelioma and asbestos litigation has called attention to the intense and expensive competition for clients in this lucrative area of mass tort litigation.

Nowhere has this battle played out more prominently than in TV advertisements broadcast across the country at all hours of the day and night.

While drug and medical device mass tort advertising declined in December, mesothelioma ad spending increased 15% and total spending was greater than that spent on ads targeting the top 11 drugs combined.

Federal prosecutors allege that Silver funneled state grants to a doctor who referred asbestos claims to a law firm that paid him over $5 million in salary and referral fees although, according to prosecutors, he “never performed any legal work whatsoever.”

The law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, has long been a leader in representing plaintiffs alleging that exposure to asbestos caused caused mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer.

Each mesothelioma case can be worth an average of $1.5 to $2 million and, typically, the plaintiff’s counsel collects about one-third of that sum in contingency fees.

To secure these large awards, plaintiffs’ personal injury firms aggressively compete to represent those afflicted with the disease.

In December, over 35 law firms and lead generation companies spent $4.7 million to air over 6,500 mesothelioma ads on television. The Akin Mears law firm accounted for nearly half of the ad spending last month with nearly $2.2 million.

The competition for mesothelioma clients is national in scope. Mesothelioma and asbestos ads appeared on local broadcast networks in nearly every media market across the country and over 85% of all ad spending was devoted to ads aired on national broadcast and cable television networks.

In addition to television, advertising online has become an active and expensive method for reaching potential victims.

A recent examination of the most expensive keywords in Google AdWords found that the keyword phrase “lawyer for mesothelioma” costs $849.71 per click.

Sample of Mesothelioma Lawyer Ads produced by Google search

The aggressive advertising on TV and online for asbestos victims is expected to continue in light of recent multimillion dollar jury awards, the announcement of a $358 million settlement by Garlock Sealing Technologies and the billions set aside in trusts for victims by other defendants.

The US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reports that over 190,000 cases have been litigated in the asbestos multidistrict litigation and over 2,000 cases are currently pending.

In response to the Silver case, a longtime critic of alleged corruption in asbestos cases, Lisa Rickard of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, said, "It's time for a serious look into potential criminal activity relating to abusive asbestos litigation so that we can end this shameful abuse of our civil justice system."

Silver will take a leave of absence from Weitz & Luxenberg until the allegations are resolved. The firm has not been charged and denies any prior knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Mesothelioma Lawyer Television Ads Broadcast in December

Amidst auto recalls, law firms launch airbag defect ad campaigns

12/22/2014

In the wake of national recalls by a number of automakers of vehicles with Takata airbags, plaintiffs’ law firms have begun an aggressive campaign seeking potential victims.

Over $340,000 was spent by law firms in November to air nearly 1,100 ads focused on the airbag issue.

The New York-based firm of Weitz & Luxenberg spent more than any other firm on these ads in November and invested heavily in ads on national broadcast and cable networks and on local programming in San Francisco.

The Louisiana firm of Morris Bart sponsored the most ads, however, with an intensive focus on local media markets in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama.

In November, the family of a woman alleged to have been killed by a Takata airbag filed a lawsuit against the company and the Honda Motor Company.

Previous class-action lawsuits filed against Takata and automakers allege at least four deaths and 139 injuries linked to defective air bags.

The New York Times reports that at least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the faulty airbags, and the scope of the defect has led to a standoff between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Takata. The safety agency has demanded that Takata issue a nationwide recall of all driver’s-side airbags, but the Japanese supplier says that the agency does not have the authority to compel such an action from a supplier like Takata.

Three automakers, Honda, Mazda and now Ford, have agreed to issue national recalls on driver’s-side airbags made by Takata.

Sample of Airbag Recall Mass Tort Ads Broadcast in November:

Huge hip settlement likely to spur aggressive lawyer advertising

11/4/2014

The announcement of a billion dollar settlement by Stryker of thousands of lawsuits involving its recalled all-metal hip implant devices will likely spur additional advertising by plaintiffs' law firms and others seeking additional claimants.

Typically, mass tort advertisers increase their advertising efforts following the announcement of major settlements in an effort to attract potential claimants eligible for compensation.

In the month following last November's announcement of a multi-billion dollar settlement by Johnson & Johnson to settle thousands of lawsuits related to its hip implant products, spending on mass tort TV advertising focused on hip implants topped $2.5 million -- an increase of over 50% from the previous month.

An even more dramatic increase in mass tort advertising was observed following Endo International's agreement to pay $830 million to resolve legal claims arising from pelvic (or transvaginal) mesh devices at the end of April 2014.

There are over 3,500 cases pending against Stryker and the settlement called for a base award of $300,000 per failed implant with additional compensation available for complications related to the surgery to remove the implant.

The Johnson & Johnson settlement called for a typical payment of $250,000 to be paid to each of over 8,000 patients who brought suit against the company.

It was also reported that J&J may settle more than 1,000 additional lawsuits related to the hip products that were excluded from the original settlement. Inclusion of the additional claims would cost the company an additional $250 million over the $2.5 billion committed last November.

Based on standard agreements, plaintiffs’ lawyers would receive about one-third of the overall payout.

Actos mass tort ads track litigation developments

10/30/2014

Mass tort advertising targeting the diabetes drug Actos increased by 65% in September -- following the loss of a bid in August to throw out a $9 billion punitive-damage award over claims the drugmakers, Takeda and Eli Lilly, hid the cancer risks of the diabetes medicine.

While the drugmakers subsequently won a more than 99 percent cut in the award in ruling on a separate motion earlier this week, the reduced award total of $36.8 million will likely be subject to further appeal.

The increase is consistent with earlier shifts in Actos mass tort advertising following key litigation developments.

Actos, once the world’s best-selling diabetes medicine, is at the center of thousands of lawsuits across the country.

As the graph below indicates, over the past 6 months, mass tort advertising volumes focused on the drug fluctuated wildly from the $1.2 million spent in April following the first loss by Takeda in Lousiana federal court and the imposition of that multibillion dollar verdict early that month to a low of just over $300,000 spent in August following victories for the drugmaker in Nevada and Illinois state courts in May.

Reflecting the national scope of the litigation, over half of all ad spending in September was devoted to ads airing on national broadcast and cable networks.

While about a dozen advertisers purchased Actos ads in September, three sponsors -- the lead generation firm The Relion Group and the Goldwater and Stewart & Stewart law firms-- accounted for over 90% of all estimated ad spending.

Given these trends, it should come as no surprise if mass tort advertising volumes increase in October and beyond in light of the Louisiana verdict and the $2 million damage award to an Actos plaintiff in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in early October.

Law firms bet on morcellator litigation

9/30/2014

Some prominent plaintiffs’ law firms are betting on the potential for future litigation with a stepped-up ad campaign targeting the cancer risk associated with the laparoscopic power morcellator gynecological surgical device.

With an advertising push led by the New York firm Weitz & Luxenberg and Maryland attorney Peter Angelos, law firms spent over $1 million to air over 1,300 morcellator mass tort ads in August.

The combined ad campaign cast a wide net for potential plaintiffs with over 60% of the ads airing on national broadcast and cable channels and other ads appearing on local stations across the country.

The heightened interest in the product follows an FDA warning in April about a possible cancer risk associated with the products. Johnson & Johnson, the largest manufacturer of the device, withdrew them from the market in late July.

Despite these actions, doctors nationwide continue to use the device claiming that the risks have been overstated.

Wall Street Journal video on power morcellator risk:

Xarelto debuts as top ad target

8/28/2014

Opening a new front in the mass tort litigation wars, plaintiffs’ attorneys launched an aggressive advertising campaign targeting the blood thinner drug Xarelto in July -- increasing their total monthly ad spending by nearly $1.2 million to air over 1,800 ads.

The advertising blitz follows reports from earlier this summer that the blood thinner, sold by Johnson & Johnson in the United States and Bayer in Europe, was facing its first lawsuits in the US. A case filed in February in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas alleges that the drug caused severe internal bleeding.

The Xarelto advertising also began shortly after the announcement in late May that Boehringer Ingelheim would pay about $650 million to settle thousands of lawsuits involving its blood thinner, Pradaxa.

Of the estimated $1.2 million spent on Xarelto ads in July, nearly 90% was devoted to ads on national broadcast and cable channels such as NBC, the CW network, and WGN America.

However, just over three quarters of the ads aired on local television stations across the country where advertising time is less expensive.

The Kansas-based firm of Goza Honnold spent the most on Xarelto mass tort ads with the purchase of over $450,000 worth of ads with the bulk of its spending devoted to ads airing on national networks.

The West Virginia firm of Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Beitzler aired the most ad spots by broadcasting 635 spots in July in local West Virginia media markets Charleston and Parkersburg.

Xarelto is Bayer’s top-selling drug and generated $847 million in sales for Johnson and Johnson in 2013, according to Bloomberg.

Riata Defibrillator ads rise following FDA safety notice

7/31/2014

Mass tort law firms increased their spending on TV advertisements targeting users of the Riata Defibrillator by nearly 50% in June following a new FDA safety advisory about the device.

St. Jude Medical recalled the product in late 2011 due to the discovery of premature erosion of its electrical wires and, on June 3, the FDA noted that the device still remains implanted in thousands of patients.

The advertising law firms, lead by Ferrer, Poirot, & Wansbrough of Dallas, focused their ad spending on nearly 90 ads -- like the one below -- that aired on national broadcast network and cable TV.

As seen in the heat map, about 200 ads also ran in local media markets.

The Silverstein Group provides comprehensive analyses of advertising by attorneys and law firms in 211 media markets and on 11 national broadcast networks and more than 80 national cable networks.

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