South Carolina Personal Injury Law Blog

Talc is a naturally occurring mineral composed of magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. In its natural form, some talc deposits contain asbestos, a known carcinogen. While manufacturers claim their products use “asbestos-free” talc, studies have repeatedly found asbestos fibers in commercial talc products, raising serious questions about contamination and quality control processes.

The connection between talc and cancer has been building for years. Women who used talc powder in their genital area for feminine hygiene have shown significantly higher rates of ovarian cancer. Research published in medical journals indicates that regular talc use may increase ovarian cancer risk by 20-30%. For mesothelioma, the link is even more apparent as asbestos contamination in talc products has been directly identified as a contributing factor to this aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and abdomen.

Despite decades of internal research and scientific studies raising red flags, major manufacturers continued marketing talc products without adequate warnings. Court documents have revealed that some companies knew about potential asbestos contamination as early as the 1970s but failed to inform consumers. Many families trusted these products for generations, using them daily on themselves and their children, never suspecting the potential danger.

In recent years, millions of Americans have turned to drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Rybelsus to manage type 2 diabetes or achieve weight loss. These medications have quickly become household names, but behind the hype lies a growing body of evidence linking these drugs to serious health problems. These medications, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, were initially developed to regulate blood sugar by mimicking a natural hormone that affects appetite and insulin. What started as a treatment for diabetes has since become a massive off-label market for weight loss, fueled by social media trends and aggressive marketing campaigns. But what many patients didn’t realize was that taking these drugs could come at an extraordinary cost to their health.

Reports now show that hundreds of patients have developed a condition called gastroparesis, a chronic disorder that affects the stomach’s ability to empty food, leading to vomiting, malnutrition, and unrelenting nausea. For some, the condition becomes permanent, requiring feeding tubes or repeated hospitalizations. Others have suffered from intestinal obstructions, pancreatitis, and kidney damage caused by dehydration from recurrent vomiting. In the most alarming cases, individuals have reportedly gone blind after using these medications.  GLP-1 use is now linked to developing a condition called NAION, a form of optic nerve damage that causes sudden, irreversible vision loss.

Despite these serious risks, many patients were never warned. In fact, a growing number of lawsuits allege that drugmakers failed to properly disclose the full range of side effects linked to GLP-1 drugs. The consequences have been life-changing. People who trusted their doctors and believed they were making smart decisions for their health are now left struggling with permanent injuries. Many say they never would have taken the medication had they known what could happen.

Growing scientific research has linked the widely used herbicide Paraquat to Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating neurological disorder with no known cure. Paraquat is one of the most toxic chemicals still legal in the United States, though it is banned in more than 50 countries worldwide. Paraquat is commonly sold under brand names like Gramoxone, Firestorm, and Parazone.

Originally developed in the early 1960s, Paraquat is a fast-acting weedkiller used primarily by licensed applicators in commercial agriculture. It’s often sprayed on crops like soybeans, corn, cotton, and grapes, especially in southern states like South Carolina, where it has long been applied to tobacco and other regional crops.  This herbicide has also been widely used by utility workers, spraying it on power lines, roads, and rights of way to clear vegetation.

The dangers of Paraquat are well-documented. Just a few drops can be lethal if ingested, and even skin exposure or inhalation can result in poisoning, lung scarring, organ failure, and long-term neurological damage. Most concerning is the strong and consistent link between Paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s disease. Studies show that individuals exposed to Paraquat are up to 2.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s than non-exposed individuals.  Symptoms of Parkinson’s can include tremors, stiffness, difficulty walking, memory issues, mood changes, and motor dysfunction. Many victims require long-term medical care, and the condition often robs individuals of their independence and quality of life.

Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) is a commonly used birth control drug dating back to the 1950s. Despite the drug’s popularity, Depo-Provera has been repeatedly linked to the risk of developing intracranial meningiomas, otherwise known as brain tumors. In fact, a recent study published in the March 2024 British Medical Journal found that long-term use of the Depo-Provera contraceptive increased the risk of meningiomas by five times.

Symptoms of meningiomas can include persistent headaches, vision problems, memory loss, and severe neurological issues, though typically the growth of these meningiomas is asymptomatic. Nonetheless, if symptoms are present, they can be mistaken for other problems and, as a result, misdiagnosed. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that a correct diagnosis occurs only after the tumors have grown large enough to affect nearby structures. Many affected women have undergone brain surgery or radiation, and still face ongoing medical challenges like epilepsy, motor disfunction, cognitive impairments, persistent headaches, depression, anxiety, and overall decline in their quality of life and independent functioning.

We believe that Pfizer’s failure to adequately warn consumers about these risks makes them liable for the health complications that are becoming increasingly common in women across the United States. In Europe, similar progestogens have already been restricted or removed from the market.

Cash App, along with other peer to peer funds transferring apps, is an extremely popular, convenient, but unregulated way to manage money. Many people use it as a relatively “frictionless” method to pay for goods and services when those services do not take traditional credit cards or debit cards and when cash is not an option. Cash App was created initially as Square Cash by the Square Corporation, now known as Block Incorporated. It claims something around 51 million monthly transaction active users, making it one of the largest ways to send and receive money by peer to peer cash money transferring apps. Each user creates a $cashtag, which is like the address to which you send and receive money. The cashtag acts like a bank account number. You open an account by providing a phone number and may link your bank account, credit card, or some other funding source.

However, there have been a number of problems reported by users of cash app. The first, and easiest to explain, are run of the mill data breaches. As with any web-based application, you have to trust the security of the application, the software that underlays the application, and the integrity of the employees of the company that runs the service. In Block’s case, a former employee with access to customer information in December of 2021 downloaded the personal information of 8.2 million former and current customers of Cash App. This made possible identity theft and other scams.

There has been a great deal of fraud that is perpetrated through Cash App. Things like scammers calling and impersonating Cash App customer service requesting the pin of the user. This gave those scammers access to the Cash App account of individuals such that they could clear out both the Cash App balance, but also the underlying linked bank accounts. Scammers have also been able to use the lack of compliance standards of Cash App to create misleading user names and cash tags. User names like Donald Trump, Jack Dorsey (founder of Block Incorporated), and Elon Musk proliferate on the platform. Their corresponding cash tags are suggestive that they are tied to each of these individuals. Scammers use these cash tags and user names in order to gull unsuspecting users into believing that they are going to receive money from these famous individuals. In the alternative, scammers can use these famous names and cash tags in order to solicit donations for political campaigns and things of that nature that do not exist. Because Cash App does not have buyer insurance, if you spend money through the platform for goods and services that are not then provided, there is no good way for you to recover your money. Cash App’s willingness to refund money stolen through fraud and by other means has been spotty at best. This has led to Class Action Lawsuits in the past. Further scamming is made all the easier by Cash App’s policy of banning only accounts and not individuals. Scammers, when they are caught, can simply switch accounts.

Recently the federal judge overseeing the multi-district litigation involving claims by over 16,000 women that Johnson & Johnson’s talc based Baby Powder causes cancer ruled that the claimant’s experts were qualified and could testify in upcoming trials against Johnson & Johnson.  That was great news.  Then two weeks ago Johnson & Johnson announced it would stop selling its talc based Baby Powder.  Once again more great news, but Johnson & Johnson still won’t admit that it’s talc based Baby Powder causes cancer.

Continue Reading ›