Personal Injury | Medical Malpractice | Attorney | Steve Leshner

Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ


Personal Injury Law Specialist in Phoenix, Arizona


With over 30 years of success and expertise, Stephen I. Leshner, PC is the best choice for your Personal Injury lawsuit or Mesothelioma claim. I can help take the complications and stress out of your personal injury such as motorcycle accident or asbestos exposure case.

Xarelto Lawsuit Filed

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By Stephen Leshner of Stephen I. Leshner PC on Thursday, August 7, 2014.

Drug giants Bayer and Johnson & Johnson face the first lawsuits related to safety concerns for the billion-dollar blood thinner Xarelto, according to Reuters.

Plaintiffs filed claims after severe internal bleeding sent them to the hospital. In those cases, patients took Xarelto (rivaroxaban), and their claims blame the excessive bleeding on that use.

Unlike warfarin, a trusted mainstay for preventing blood clots for the past 50 years, Xarelto does not have an antidote to stop uncontrolled bleeding, which can be fatal.

Kentucky resident Virginia Stunteneck filed a lawsuit against Bayer in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Stunteneck was hospitalized after she took Xarelto and suffered severe gastrointestinal bleeding in 2013.

She claims the drug should not be sold and that Bayer and J&J continued to sell it even if they knew the risks. The companies also did not inform the public.

“As the manufacturers and distributors of Xarelto, defendants knew or should have known that Xarelto use was associated with irreversible bleeds,” Stunteneck’s complaint said.

In May, Boehringer Ingelheim paid $650 million to settle thousands of internal bleeding cases involving its blood thinner, Pradaxa. The drug hit the market in 2010, a year before Xarelto. Both drugs share the same bleeding side effects.

Attorneys say they expect more lawsuits after more people become aware of the dangers of the drug.

This first wave of claims comes a few months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) advisory panel  unanimously rejected approval of Xarelto as a treatment for patients with sudden reduced blood flow to the heart, including heart attacks and chest pain, also known as acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

While the drug is approved for a number of uses, adding approval for ACS would grant Xarelto access to the 1.2 million Americans who are sent to the hospital each with the condition.

The panel voted that the drug should not be used to prevent new heart attacks and stroke in patient with ACS because there was not enough clinical data to support the approval. The experts added that some trial data was actually missing.

The drug follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Pradaxa, another drug that has robust sales. Even though the risk of internal bleeding concerned doctors, it did not appear to stop them from prescribing it.

Xarelto is currently approved for more uses than Pradaxa.

Bayer and J&J continue to pursue FDA approval despite being shut down for ACS treatment. The companies are conducting studies on whether or not the drug can be used in combination with aspirin to stop heart attacks, death and stroke. In addition, the companies plan to start testing Xarelto on patients with chronic artery disease and heart failure.

By 2018, analysts say Xarelto will generate about $3.68 million in annual sales.

If you or someone close to you has suffered severe bleeding and complications after taking Xarelto, please contact Phoenix Arizona mass tort and product liability attorney Steve Leshner for a free consultation.

FDA Requiring Low-T Manufacturers to Warn of Risk of Blood Clots

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By Stephen Leshner of Stephen I. Leshner PC on Wednesday, July 9, 2014.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring manufacturers to include a general warning in the drug labeling of all approved testosterone products about the risk of blood clots in the veins. Blood clots in the veins, also known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), include deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). The risk of venous blood clots is already included in the labeling of testosterone products as a possible consequence of polycythemia, an abnormal increase in the number of red blood cells that sometimes occurs with testosterone treatment. Because there have been postmarket reports of venous blood clots unrelated to polycythemia, FDA is requiring a change to drug labeling of all testosterone products to provide a more general warning regarding venous blood clots and to ensure this risk is described consistently in the labeling of all approved testosterone products.
Because these clots occur in the veins, this new warning is not related to FDA’s ongoing evaluation of the possible risk of stroke, heart attack, and death in patients taking testosterone products.
If you or someone close to you has been injured after taking any testosterone product, please call Phoenix, Arizona mass tort product liability attorney Steve Leshner for a free consultation.

Steve Leshner interviewed by Phoenix Business Journal About General Motors Defective Switch Lawsuits

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By Stephen Leshner of Stephen I. Leshner PC on Friday, June 20, 2014.

Traditionally unpopular trial attorneys become protagonists in GM’s massive recalls, possible cover-up

GM BARRA HEARINGAndrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Congress wants answers from General Motors CEO Mary Barra about why the company waited years to recall defective cars.

Senior Reporter- Phoenix Business JournalEmail | Twitter | Facebook

Trial lawyers and plaintiff’s attorneys are not always the most popular crowd, especially with businesses.

But there are plenty of indications that it was attorneys for a Georgia woman killed in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt crash who uncovered ignition switch problems that General Motors either ignored or failed to disclose for more than a decade.

Otherwise, the ignition problem and its link to at least 13 deaths might not have been unearthed, according to Steve Leshner, a Phoenix product liability and malpractice attorney who has sued GM in the past.

Brooke Melton‘s attorneys hired an engineering expert who collected ignition switches from various Chevy cars and discovered there had been changes because of problems with stalling. That’s what Melton’s family alleges caused of the fatal crash on Brooke’s 29th birthday.

GM has recalled more than 20 million cars this year, and Arizona car dealerships are backlogged with vehicles waiting for parts.

Leshenr said it appears that Melton’s law firm, aided by court orders for GM to turn over evidence, uncovered the ignition switch problem and a possible cover-up. He has seen similar behaviors by other companies being sued, and they often battle to keep plaintiffs from getting their hands on evidence and paper trials.

Leshner – who served as president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association – expects to see more consumer lawsuits against GM for injuries suffered because of recall-related problems. GM could also face consumer fraud lawsuits.

Leshner said auto dealers – including those in Phoenix – could also be sued by consumers. “Any part who is involved in the stream of commerce in the product could be named,” he said.

The U.S. automaker already paid a $35 million fine for not reporting the ignition problems to federal regulators. GM had a $3.8 billion profit and revenue of $155 billion last year.

GM CEO Mary Barra was on Capitol Hill again yesterday and was grilled by lawmakers over the recall, how the company handled the problems and the appearances of a corporate cover-up. Barra disagreed with a contention from U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., that if it was not for plaintiffs attorneys’ discovery efforts the ignition problem would not have been unearthed. She and GM attorney Anton Valukas insisted there was not an organized company cover-up of the switch problem. She pledged that she is working to improve GM’s corporate culture and safety protocols.

Barra also said in her testimony the smaller percentage of recalled cars actually fixed was not because of a months-long parts backlog reported by auto dealers, but because consumers had not brought their cars in for repairs. GM dealers in Phoenix – and elsewhere – say it is sometimes taking months to get parts for and repair recalled Chevrolets and other cars.

GM is paying for rental cars – sometimes for months – for customers who do not want to drive recalled vehicles.

GM picked Chandler in 2013 for 1,000-worker, $21 million information technology center. The company received $1.5 million in job training grants from the state for the East Valley Center.

General Motors Defective Ignition Switch Failure Leads to Fatalities

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By Stephen Leshner of Stephen I. Leshner PC on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.

General Motors (GM) has recalled 1,367,146  vehicles: the 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, the 2007 Pontiac G5, the 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, the 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR, the 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice and the 2007 Saturn Sky vehicles due to a faulty ignition switch.  The defect allows the key to unintentionally slip from the “run” to “off” or “accessory” position while the vehicle is being operated. This problem can occur especially when using heavy key rings, and causes the ignition to turn off and stall while in motion.  The stalled engine can turn off power steering and power brakes, making the vehicle difficult to control and creating a hazardous emergency situation.  Additionally, with the loss of power, the air bag system is disabled and rendered useless in an ensuing crash.  There have been reported to be at least 34 collisions, resulting in 12 fatalaties, caused by this defective product.  As part of the recall, GM dealers will be replacing ignition switches and recommend taking non-essential items off key rings until the ignition switch has been replaced.

Stephen I. Leshner has been representing people injured by defective automotive products for the past 37 years.  If you or someone close to you has received serious injuries or death caused in a crash with one of the listed GM vehicles, please call Steve Leshner for a free consultation.

Endo International Agrees to $830 Million Settlement in Transvaginal Mesh (TVM) Cases

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By Stephen Leshner of Stephen I. Leshner PC on Thursday, May 8, 2014.

Endo International PLC agreed to pay $830 Million to settle about 20,000 lawsuits filed by women who say they were injured by transvaginal mesh devices.  While not admitting fault, the company said the settlement will cover a substantial majority of the mesh litigation brought against its American Medical Systems subsidiary.  This settlement is in addition to the $54.5 Million Endo agreed to pay last year to settle an undisclosed number of TVM cases.

The Endo agreement is still subject to several conditions, including confirmation of medical records for all claimants.  TVM cases against other Defendants, including C.R. Bard, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit, are pending.

Stephen I. Leshner, P.C. is representing many women who were injured as a result of defective TVM products, against all manufacturers, including Endo and American Medical Systems.  If you or someone close to you has been injured as a result of a defective transvaginal mesh product, please call Phoenix Arizona product liability attorney Steve Leshner for a free consultation.