January 30, 2010
Lawyers in Vioxx Case Hit With Negligence Lawsuit Over Alleged Paperwork Errors
An Ohio man who accepted an approximately $100,000 settlement for his Vioxx personal injury claim has filed a negligence suit against three Houston firms and three Houston lawyers, alleging the defendants made paperwork errors in his case file that reduced the size of his settlement.
Craig Pingle, who lives in Hancock County, Ohio, alleges in Craig Pingle v. Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto & Friend, et al. that he should have received a settlement totaling more than $436,000.
The defendants are David P. Matthews and David P. Matthews PC; Abraham, Watkins, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend, formerly known as Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Matthews & Friend; Jim S. Adler and Jim S. Adler PC; and Julie L. Rhoades, who practices with Matthews at Matthews & Associates in Houston. Matthews & Associates is not named as a defendant. The suit is filed in 152nd District Court of Harris County, Texas, Judge Robert Schaffer's court.
Pingle alleges in the Jan. 11 petition that he hired Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Matthews & Friend and Jim S. Adler PC in September 2005 to pursue legal claims arising out of his use of Vioxx, which he took from 1999 through 2003. He alleges that as a result of his Vioxx use, he suffered a heart attack in January 2002.
Merck & Co. Inc. took Vioxx off the market in 2004, and Pingle's underlying product liability case was settled through a federal multidistrict litigation suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation.
Pingle alleges in his Jan. 11 petition that Matthews worked with Adler on his case while at Abraham Watkins and after he left the firm to form David P. Matthews PC and that Rhoades also worked on the litigation.
Pingle alleges that in 2008 he took advice from the defendants to enter into a settlement program with Merck, but the defendants failed to provide the claims administrator with correct information about the time period he took Vioxx. Instead of noting that Pingle began taking Vioxx in 1999, defendants "inaccurately represented" that he began taking Vioxx on Jan. 8, 2002, the day of his heart attack, which affected the number of "points" that would determine his award, Pingle alleges.
He alleges that the claims administrator awarded him 54.10 points, and he received a gross settlement of about $100,000, relying on defendants' representations that the figure was the maximum number of points he should receive.
However, Pingle alleges that after reviewing paperwork three weeks later, he noticed the incorrect date.
"Had Defendants submitted the correct information to the Claims Administrator and/or the Merck, Mr. Pingle would have been awarded approximately 218 points and been awarded a settlement totaling over $436,000," he alleges in the petition.
He brings a negligence cause of action against the defendants and seeks monetary damages caused by the defendants' conduct.
Matthews did not return a telephone message left at his office at the firm he founded in 2007, Matthews & Associates. Neither Rhoades nor Adler returned messages left at their offices.
Randall Sorrels, a partner in Abraham Watkins, denies his firm was negligent in connection with Pingle's Vioxx claim.
"We've done a thorough review of the file, and it appears the numbers match the formula," Sorrels says.
Dale Jefferson, a partner in Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom in Houston who represents all defendants except Adler and Jim S. Adler PC, says, "Buyer's remorse is a common occurrence" in plaintiffs settlements.
Sorrels alleges that Pingle accepted the settlement, and it was approved by the claims processing center and "approved" by the federal bankruptcy judge in Ohio who handled Pingle's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, Craig A. and Cherlynn D. Pingle, Debtors.
On Oct. 27, 2009, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard Speer of the Northern District of Ohio approved a stipulation that would pay Pingle $5,000 out of a partial net recovery of $26,680, after attorney fees, in Vioxx settlement funds. Pingle's bankruptcy case was closed in 2005 but reopened in 2009 because of the Vioxx settlement money.
Pingle's attorney, Houston solo Lance Kassab, says his client's bankruptcy should have no bearing on the negligence suit Pingle filed against his Vioxx attorneys.
Sorrels says Adler referred Pingle to Abraham Watkins, but Adler was not directly involved in the litigation.
