Morrison & Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights and reports on the latest news, developments, and trends that affect consumer-facing companies. Subscribe below to receive the latest updates by attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Product Liability practices.
Morrison & Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights and reports on the latest news, developments, and trends that affect consumer-facing companies. Subscribe below to receive the latest updates by attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Product Liability practices. ...›
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recognizes that companies everywhere are in the midst of responding to the impact of COVID-19 on business operations, including government stay-at-home orders that could see some operations temporarily close. Given these “extraordinary circumstances,” the CPSC issued a notice that companies may not be in a position to carry out ...›
As the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. grows, the potential shortage of ventilators has become an increasing concern. This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took two important steps to keep medical facilities equipped with life-saving ventilators. Ventilator Modification Enforcement Policy On March 22, 2020, FDA issued a new guidance document, ...›
A number of startups announced they would begin selling at-home COVID-19 testing kits this week. These startups included: Carbon Health, a tech-enabled healthcare network that combines virtual and in-person care, Everlywell, a company that offers food sensitivity and various other home health tests, and Nurx, an app that delivers prescriptions and STI testing kits. But ...›
Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit held that plaintiffs cannot avail themselves of liberal discovery rules in order to locate class representatives. The court found that Rule 26(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs the discovery process, does not authorize discovery before class certification when such discovery is to help plaintiffs locate ...›
With nearly half of the United States population being either urged or ordered to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel in light of the COVID-19 crisis, modern forms of communication such as telephone calls, video chat, and, of course, text messaging, are providing critical connections between business and consumers. Indeed, businesses may be ...›
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) steered into a new direction that may accelerate the development of self-driving technologies. The DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), in an effort to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”), issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on Tuesday seeking to ease certain safety requirements for ...›
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took yet another step to encourage production of basic medical supplies in the battle against COVID-19. On Friday, March 20, FDA published two new guidance documents communicating its policy on the manufacture of certain alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Recognizing the significant supply disruptions for hand sanitizers, and ...›
COVID-19 is, quite literally, putting the medical supply industry to the test. Manufacturers are being pushed to develop novel products like therapies and vaccines to combat the disease as quickly as possible. The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act encourages drug and medical device companies to increase production of existing products currently in short ...›
The rapid spread of coronavirus has spawned prolific marketing claims that any number of products can treat or prevent coronavirus. It comes as no surprise then that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued their first round of joint warning letters to several companies claiming their products—teas, essential oils, ...›
Courts scrutinize class action settlements to ensure they result from arms-length negotiations and are fair and reasonable to absent class members. Applying that standard to a nationwide settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook, on March 3, 2020, the Ninth Circuit provided a helpful roadmap for parties seeking approval of class action settlements where the ...›