Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome Legal Information




Contrary to what many may believe, there continue to be EMS diagnoses and some lawsuits. If you want to investigate the possibility of a lawsuit, check out the following sites. I don't endorse any of them. Frankly, most lawyers have closed the books on LT/EMS lawsuits; nevertheless, I continue to hear of new lawsuits or unsettled ones involving L-Tryptophan. There is also one lawsuit pending for 5-HTP/EMS that I have heard about where the product taken was found to contain impurities, and the patient became ill and was diagnosed with EMS. (This lawsuit would not be against Showa Denko as were the LT/EMS cases.)

How many lawsuits against Showa Denko K.K. of Japan actually have proceeded to a trial? It's generally known that around 2,000 lawsuits have been brought against SDKK; however, so far as I have been able to determine, only three (3) actually went all the way to trial. The majority of the rest settled out of court, though some cases were dismissed or otherwise unsuccessful. There were two trials in California (the first trial awarded a monetary judgment to the EMS plaintiff, and the next trial in California was an outright loss for the EMS plaintiff; and there was one other trial in another state - I believe in Georgia, which was a "win" for the EMS plaintiff).



Contaminated L-Tryptophan and 5-Hydroxy-L-Tryptophan: Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome

History of EMS - Legally Speaking - Articles on Lawsuits, Numbers of Lawsuits, etc.

Blu_triWest Virginia Case (1992 Opinion)

Blu_triDiRosa V. Showa Denko (L-Tryptophan) (First Case that went to Trial)

Please see the links below for other information on this case.

**Soia Mialgica (This site begins in Italian.... scroll down until you come to the section in English on the DiRosa lawsuit.)

**Find Law: FindLaw California: Case Law: California Supreme Court and Appellate

Blu_triTexas Case - 1997 decision

Blu_triCommission Fails its Mission.... (New Zealand article mentions some legal facts about EMS)

Blu_triDisabled Family Fights Back (Old account from years back of a family with 3 members with EMS & legal aspects mentioned)

Blu_triSPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY; Islander Files Suit - New York Times (About ice hockey player Mark Fitzgerald who got EMS)

Blu_triSamuels v. Mix - California Personal Injury Lawyers (About a malpractice lawsuit involving LT litigation)

Blu_triJapanese Concern Sued on Blood Disorder - New York Times (Brief account of a lawsuit filed in 1990)

Note: In late 2006 the so-called MDL finally closed concerning L-Tryptophan lawsuits, and in early 2007 all eligible persons who had had lawsuits that were part of the MDL received their "rebate" checks from monies left over in the MDL account, after all these many years. The MDL had been organized in South Carolina under Judge Perry in order to consolidate EMS lawsuits, mostly federal lawsuits, in order to pay for such things as discovery costs against Showa Denko. Each person who had a lawsuit and was in the MDL had a certain amount of money from their settlement that had gone toward these costs.

faith_rumph@yahoo.com


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