NEW!
Merck & Co., Inc. has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to resolve Vioxx-related claims in which a claimant has suffered a heart attack, sudden cardiac death, or stroke.

Cohen, Placitella & Roth attorney William D. Marvin recently overcame long odds and persuaded the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to reinstate disability benefits for a woman whose serious back injury prevented her from returning to work as an administrative assistant.

The appeals court reversed a decision of the District Court, which had upheld an insurance company’s action in cutting off the client’s disability benefits. In an unpublished opinion issued on August 31, 2007 , the court held that the company relied on a “deficient” paper review by a hired consulting service physician, and that this action was arbitrary and capricious because there was no other evidence that the claimant could return to work.

An employee who seeks disability benefits from a company benefit plan faces an uphill battle. The federal ERISA law, purportedly intended to protect workers’ benefits, gives the insurance company every advantage. When benefits are denied and the employee files a lawsuit, the case is decided by a federal judge, not a jury. Generally, evidence is confined to documents in the insurance company file, so new medical evidence to prove disability is not allowed. And the insurance company gets the benefit of doubt, under a standard of review providing that benefits can be reinstated only if the court finds that the denial was “arbitrary and capricious.” Then, even if the plaintiff does win, the only damages that can be recovered are the past due benefits, interest, and possibly attorney fees. ERISA pre-empts any state laws that might provide punitive damages or other incentives for carriers to honor their obligations.

In this case, three years of litigation culminated in the favorable decision. CPR lawyers battled to obtain a discovery deposition to reveal the insurer’s arbitrary practices, to raise numerous issues on summary judgment at the trial court level, and to argue those issues before the Third Circuit. CPR plans to go forward to collect all the overdue benefits and interest, in addition to a full award of fees and expenses.

Numerous multi-million dollar recoveries in medical and hospital malpractice cases, such as birth injury, cerebral palsy, failure to diagnose cancer, and surgical and anesthesia errors.

Numerous multi-million dollar recoveries for workers catastrophically injured by dangerous machinery, as well as other workplace hazards.

A $2.4 million dollar recovery on a property damage case against an electrician, the electric utility, and a tenant for a marina fire.

A $3.5 million dollar recovery in a property subrogation case against a gas utility and a landscaping maintenance company for a gas fire.

A $4.3 million dollar recovery for a child who was seriously injured on a dangerous roadway due to the alleged negligence of the engineers, the governmental authorities, and others.

A $3.25 million dollar recovery for a teacher rendered blind due to the medical negligence of her doctors in failing to administer anesthesia properly.

A $10 million dollar recovery for the family of a young father, killed when a tire separated from a dangerously overloaded tractor-trailer truck and crashed through the windshield of the family car.

An $8 million dollar recovery for a fire fighter and his family, where defective equipment caused serious and permanent injury.

A $7.6 billion dollar tobacco settlement where Chris Placitella was a member of the team that represented the state of New Jersey.

A $3.75 billion dollar diet drug settlement where Chris Placitella was one of the national plaintiffs' attorneys.