Stefanie Colella-Walsh

Stefanie Colella-Walsh is an Associate and member of the Stark & Stark Mass Tort Litigation Group where she concentrates her practice in complex litigation with a focus in mass tort and pharmaceutical litigation. Ms. Colella-Walsh is also a Senior Associate in several of Stark & Stark's Litigation Teams. Ms. Colella-Walsh has extensive experience as a trial attorney throughout the state of New Jersey.

Posts by Stefanie Colella-Walsh

New Bill Could Restrict Medical Device Approval Process

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in DePuy ASR®, Medical Devices

A recent Bloomberg article, reported that House Democrat Edward Markey (MA) has sponsored a bill that would prevent manufacturers from asserting that their new medical devices are “substantially equivalent” to existing, approved devices, under certain circumstances.  While the bill was apparently developed as a result of a 1999 recall of vaginal mesh manufactured by Boston… Continue Reading

First Federal Yaz Trial Sent to Mediation, NJ Trials Still On…For Now

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Defective Drugs, Uncategorized, Yaz® Yasmin® and Ocella®

The first federal Yaz trial is not moving forward as planned.  While the highly anticipated trial was originally scheduled to begin the second week of January 2012, Judge Herndon, who is overseeing the federal Yaz cases in the Southern District of Illinois, has now ordered both sides to mediation. On December 31, 2011, Judge Herndon… Continue Reading

Actos Class Action Filed in Louisiana

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Actos®, Defective Drugs

A class action was filed in September 2011 against Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, the manufacturers of the diabetic drug, Actos.  The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of two individuals who developed bladder cancer after taking Actos. The complaint also seeks class certification to… Continue Reading

Panel Scheduled to Meet Again to Consider MDL Treatment in Darvocet Cases

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Darvocet® and Darvon®, Defective Drugs

The United States Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (MDL) is scheduled to meet on July 28, 2011, in San Francisco, CA to hear further argument on whether all federal Darvocet and Darvon cases should be centralized, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.§ 1407, for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings, and if so, which federal district is the appropriate forum for these proceedings.

DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant To Possibly Follow DePuy ASR MDL

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in DePuy ASR®, Medical Devices

DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has yet to issue a recall for its Pinnacle system. However, similar to the recalled ASR models, there are concerns that the Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System, also a metal-on-metal implant device, might have significant design defects leading to a higher than normal failure rate. DePuy has reportedly sold over 150,000 Pinnacle hip implant systems, largely outselling the ASR models. As of last month, the FDA had received more than 1,300 “adverse events reports” with regard to the Pinnacle system.

CEO of DePuy Resigns

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in DePuy ASR®, Medical Devices

As we have previously reported, DePuy Orthopedic, Inc., a subdivision of Johnson & Johnson, Inc., issued a recall in August 2010, for the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System after data suggested that about one out of every eight may fail within only five years. Specifically, the recall targeted individuals who received the implants after July 2003.

Possible New Defendant in NuvaRing® Mass Tort Litigation

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Medical Devices, NuvaRing®

The Hon. Rodney W. Sippel, U.S.D.J., presides over the federal multi-district litigation in the Eastern District of Missouri addressing claims against NuvaRing®. Judge Sippel held a case management conference on February 14, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. wherein Plaintiffs addressed the possibility of naming an additional defendant, NV Organon. Judge Sippel Ordered Defendants to respond to Plaintiffs’ stipulation by March 16, 2011.

New Developments in DePuy Hip Recalls: The Pinnacle System

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in DePuy ASR®, Medical Devices

In August of 2010, DePuy, a Johnson & Johnson company, announced a global hip replacement recall of two devices: the ASR Hip Resurfacing System and the ASR XL Acetabular System. Data from a recent study concerning XL Acetabular metal-on-metal hip replacement system showed that the 5 year failure rate of the product is approximately 13%, or 1 in 8 patients. It has identified component loosening, component malalignment, fracture of the bone, dislocation, infection, metal sensitivity and pain as the reasons for the failure of the hip replacement system.

Update on YAZ® Case Management Conference

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Defective Drugs, Yaz® Yasmin® and Ocella®

On December 16, 2010, counsel attended a Case Management Conference before Judge Martinotti in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, New Jersey. It was agreed that counsel will continue to work together to depose, or question, the necessary witnesses from defendant Bayer Corporation, both domestically and internationally. Additionally, plaintiffs were granted authority to file a motion with the Court, seeking to compel the production of foreign personnel files from employees noticed for deposition, which the defendants argue is prohibited under German law. The motion is expected to be heard in early 2011.

YAZ® Lawsuit Update: Bellwether Trials in the Federal MDL Scheduled

By Stefanie Colella-Walsh on Posted in Defective Drugs, Yaz® Yasmin® and Ocella®

A large number of YAZ® lawsuits were designated as Mass Tort or Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) cases over the past several months. Just recently, the three initial bellwether trials in the federal MDL were scheduled. Courts utilize a bellwether approach when there are a large numbers of plaintiffs proceeding on the same theory or claim, such as in the Yaz ® cases. Typically, a group of plaintiffs are chosen to represent all the plaintiffs with the same alleged ailment.