Periodically, a client will ask about punitive damages. The topic often arises in situations where the other party’s negligence had the potential to create much greater harm than actually occurred. Example:  A company’s defectively designed product which could have caused death or serious injury did not, but only due to sheer luck. The client learns that they are not entitled to recover for an injury that could have occurred, only for what did occur. Most clients accept this, but are genuinely concerned that something worse does not happen to someone else. This sometimes leads to questions about punitive damages.

Punitive damages are distinct from compensatory damages, which are awarded to compensate the injured party for his/ her losses. Punitive damages cannot be awarded without some recovery for compensatory damages. They are assessed in addition to compensatory damages as an expression of a jury’s outrage over the conduct of the defendant. However, ordinary negligence, even gross negligence, will not result in recovery of punitive damages. More…

Deliris Diaz’s infant son suffered burns from Little Tummys® laxative

 A Rochester woman wrongfully charged with child abuse has won a significant victory in New York State Supreme Court. The court ruled unanimously that Deliris Diaz’s lawsuit against the Little Tummys-brand laxative manufacturer should not have been dismissed.

Deliris Diaz had sued on behalf of herself and her infant son, Jose Marquiz-Diaz, who suffered severe burns to his buttocks and genital region after ingesting Little Tummys in December 2007. Jose then had a loose bowel movement in his sleep that remained in his diaper until he woke up the next morning. After discovering the burns, Ms. Diaz took Jose to the hospital, where doctors mistakenly suspected that the burns were caused by scalding the child with hot water. Deliris Diaz was arrested and charged with child abuse.

As a result, Ms. Diaz was separated from Jose and another infant until the court dropped all charges against her following a doctor’s statement that the laxative caused the burns, not any actions of Jose’s mother. Laxatives containing senna had been reported to cause severe burns when mixed with stool and held against a child’s skin by a diaper. Yet the Little Tummys laxative Ms. Diaz purchased contained no warnings or other senna information on its packaging. More…

In December 2009, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson Company, began to withdraw its ASR^TM XL Acetabular System/DePuy ASR^TM Hip Resurfacing System from the market claiming that the withdrawal was due to declining demand. However, the truth about the withdrawal and the company’s knowledge of the defectiveness of its product years earlier slowly began to emerge despite the company’s efforts to withhold the information. In March 2010, DePuy sent a letter to doctors warning them that the ASR devices, which are metal-on-metal, appear to have higher rates of early failure than other hip implant devices. The company indicated that the device had a higher failure rate in certain patients, specifically shorter patients, women, and patients with certain bone weaknesses.  

The New York Times reported that by 2008 the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had received more than 300 complaints from people who were implanted with the ASR devices. The vast majority of the complaints came from patients who were forced to undergo revision surgery within just a few years of having the ASR device implanted. On average, patients who undergo hip replacement with a non-ASR device can expect their hip implants to last for at least 15 years. More…

The law firm of Faraci Lange LLP received multiple top honors among Rochester, N.Y. firms in this year’s U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings.

According to the peer-review publication for the legal profession, Faraci Lange is the number-one law firm in four plaintiffs’ categories in the Rochester area: Legal Malpractice Law, Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation.

This latest recognition follows other recent U.S. News – Best Lawyers rankings for the firm. Angelo Faraci was named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year in 2010 (Medical Malpractice Law) and 2009 (Personal Injury Litigation) – Rochester, N.Y. Managing partner Stephen Schwarz was named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year 2010 in Product Liability Litigation – Rochester, N.Y. Other Faraci Lange attorneys listed in Best Lawyers include Matthew Belanger, John Falk, Paul Lange, Joseph Regan and Brian Zorn. More…

The law firm of Faraci Lange LLP (www.faraci.com) announced today that Julie S. Jordan has joined the firm as an associate.

Jordan focuses her practice on medical malpractice, complex tort and toxic tort, premises liability, products liability and automotive negligence cases. She previously practiced as an associate in the litigation department at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP.

Jordan is a member of the American Association for Justice, the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Monroe County and New York State Bar Associations, and the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys.

A cum laude graduate of Syracuse University College of Law, Jordan earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester. She is a resident of Farmington, N.Y.