Group Action Lawyers
Latest News & Updates

Our lawyers successfully helped former student nurses recover financial compensation for the University of Derby’s negligent actions that put them at risk of infection through blood contamination.

The cases were settled outside of court by our expert team of lawyers.

As soon as news broke of the scandal, we were on the case and offering our services to anyone affected. A number of individuals approached us for help and advice, and we took forward claims on a No Win, No Fee basis for individuals affected.
Continue Reading…

Gilead Sciences Inc, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, has recently experienced a set-back with the lawsuit filed in 2011 against them that they may have considered to have ended.

A federal appeals court has recently reinstated the lawsuit that was brought by two whistle-blowers alleging that Gilead defrauded and misled the government, as the company allegedly didn’t disclose that their HIV medicines were contaminated, which consequently allowed them to reportedly falsify data to win marketing approval for the medicine.

This false information reportedly led federal healthcare programmes to pay billions of dollars for contaminated medicine, but the case was initially dismissed by the California Court.

Now, it’s back…
Continue Reading…

A 58-year-old driver of a Tesla car was involved in a car crash in Minnesota on the 17^th July 2017. The high tech vehicle, produced by Elon Musk’s Tesla car company, is installed with ‘self-driving’ technology that’s designed to assist drivers in their journeys with automatic driving capabilities.

However, they’ve come under huge scrutiny after a number of incidents have led to crashes that have fuelled calls that the technology just isn’t ready yet; and certainly isn’t safe.

In this incident, police authorities reported that the driver had “engaged the self-driving mode” when it “suddenly accelerated, causing the car to leave the road and overturn”.

So, was this human error or technological error?
Continue Reading…

Medical device maker Medtronic have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Priding itself as the “global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions”, Medtronic have been at the centre of a fair few recalls for defects and risks that have arisen from the use of their products.

In the latest issues, scrutiny has come from issues with their products and an alleged lack of warning for equipment incompatibility.
Continue Reading…

The drug Duloxetine, more commonly known as its brand name Cymbalta, is generally used to treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It’s an active ‘serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor’, providing pain relief for patients with diabetes or sufferers from chronic or widespread pain.

The drug is commonly prescribed to people with arthritis and fibromyalgia. However, select batches of the Torrent Dutor Gastro-resistant Capsules have been recalled by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) because “out of specification results for dissolution were obtained during routine stability testing”.
Continue Reading…

Regulators have reportedly issued a recall for a number of medical ventilators manufactured by Medtronic.

The company’s New Port HY70 and HT70 Plus ventilators are being recalled amidst concerns that the devices may suddenly shutdown or reset. There have so far been 12 reported cases whereby a reset was suddenly initiated without warning. Thankfully, no patients have yet suffered an injury!
Continue Reading…

A reported manufacturing fault of a medical device has caused a great deal of concern within the healthcare industry. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a field safety notice to notify healthcare providers and users alike.

Due to a reported manufacturing fault, the Bag-Valve-Mask (BVM) manual resuscitation system could cause injury or even death as the valve may become stuck during storage, possibly resulting in the intended airflow not being delivered. Consequently, there may be a delay in the treatment.
Continue Reading…

The Takata airbag recall is one of the biggest automotive recalls in history. The company started producing airbag inflators in the late 1990s, and around the year 2000, Takata discovered some of their airbag inflators weren’t functioning properly, and even found some had erupted during tests.

The first recorded incident reportedly happened in May 2004 where a driver’s side bag ruptured in a Honda Accord. It was not until half a decade later that Honda recalled more than 500,000 airbags for the defect to be rectified, and regulators didn’t start investigations until June 2014.

Now, the scale of the issue has resulted in the Japanese manufacturer filing for bankruptcy.
Continue Reading…

A medical device alert has been issued warning hospitals and healthcare institutions that Prismaflex Haemofiltration machines are susceptible to software failure.

Machines manufactured by Baxter, and installed with the 6.10 version of software, may not compute information about syringe size and the brand of syringe used. As a result, the machine may revert back to default settings, which means it will work at the lowest possible plunger speed which may therefore lead to under-dosage.

When under-dosing occurs, a lack of anti-coagulants may be added to the blood. Without carefully measured anti-coagulants, the patient’s blood may then be at a high risk of clotting, which can of course lead to potentially serious consequences.
Continue Reading…

Unomedical concentration oxygen masks provide vital oxygen for patients. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has found that a manufacturing fault could be disrupting supply, which could lead to oxygen deprivation for patients using the faulty oxygen masks.

This has led to an increased risk of Hypoxia (deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues).

Manufacturer ConvaTec issued a voluntarily recall on 10^th May 2017 over concerns of health risks to patients. ConvaTec also distributes the affected oxygen masks to multiple countries in several European countries as well as Rwanda and Saudi Arabia, making this a far-reaching issue.
Continue Reading…

There have been multiple calls to get Takata inflators out of vehicles and off the roads for several years, and after a crash where a Takata airbag reportedly nearly caused a woman’s death, these calls are getting louder.

Karina Dorado’s trachea was reportedly punctured by shrapnel from a Takata inflator. The crash, which happened on 3^rd March 2017 in Las Vegas, should’ve been just a minor collision, but things escalated quickly. Ms Dorado was rushed into a trauma centre where surgeons removed pieces of the airbag device that had damaged her vocal cords.

She is still being treated for neck injuries.
Continue Reading…

Insurance agent Raylene Hollrah was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. The successful businesswoman, who owns her own insurance company, made a life changing decision; she underwent chemotherapy and had her breasts removed and reconstructed.

Hollrah made the brave decision to go through painful and gruelling surgery and treatment in the hopes she would free herself from breast cancer. Unfortunately, six years later, Hollrah was diagnosed with cancer again.

Shockingly, it wasn’t a return of the breast cancer; it was a “rare malignancy of the immune system” that was reportedly caused as a result of the breast implants used in her reconstructive surgery…
Continue Reading…