Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Products

• Helmsing Leach has a highly regarded medical device and pharmaceutical products defense practice.
• We have defended more than 25 distinct products, including both brand name and generic drugs, in national, state, and local Alabama litigation.
• Within this practice area, we have specialized experience developing, presenting, deposing, and challenging expert witnesses, with firm lawyers having deposed well over 300 treating and prescribing physicians and dozens of retained experts in drug and medical device cases.
• We have successfully challenged plaintiffs’ expert witnesses in medical device and pharmaceutical products litigation in many federal courts.

Representative Reported Cases

• Barnhill v.Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., 2011 WL 1837816 (S.D. Ala. May 10, 2011)
• Patterson v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., 2011 WL 3047794 (N.D. Ohio 2011)
• Ex parte Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., 991 So2d. 1263 (Ala. 2008)
• Wyatt v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 2007 WL 7238402 (N.D. Ala. 2007)
• Benkwith v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 467 F.Supp. 2d 1316 (M.D. Ala. 2006)
• Sutherland v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 2006 WL 5185611 (N.D. Ala. 2006)
• Central Alabama Comprehensive Health Care, Inc. v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 427 F.Supp. 2d 1129 (M.D. Ala. 2006)
• Hester v. Bayer Corporation, 206 F.R.D. 683 (M.D. Ala. 2001)
• Brock v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 96 F. Supp. 2d 1352 (S.D. Ala. 2000)

Other Significant or Recent Representations

• Co-national counsel for drug manufacturer in hormone therapy litigation
• Trial team for pharmaceutical company in litigation relating to birth control product
• Science team member for device manufacturer in litigation involving thousands of suits and claim
• Regional and state counsel for several different international pharmaceutical companies in multi-district and mass tort litigations over past 10 years

Attorneys

Joseph P. H. Babington, John N. Leach, Russell C. Buffkin, T. Ryan Luna, D. Andrew Stivender, Annie J. Dike