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Karen Barth Menzies joined Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson in 2007 as a partner who focuses primarily on the mass tort cases. Ms. Menzies developed a specialized practice in pharmaceutical litigation at the Los Angeles firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, Goldman & Menzies. Ms. Menzies' oversees the firm's SSRI-antidepressant birth defect and PPHN litigation, Avandia litigation and other pharmaceutical and device cases.
Ms. Menzies has been at the forefront of the SSRI antidepressant litigation for more than a decade against defendants such as, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Eli Lilly in cases involving antidepressant-induced suicide, withdrawal and birth defects. In 2003, she was appointed Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in the Paxil Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1574). She is also co-liaison counsel in the Paxil birth defect and PPHN cases pending in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (GSK's home town). Karen has testified twice before FDA advisory boards as well as the California State Legislature on the safety concerns regarding the SSRI antidepressants and the manufacturers' misconduct.
Ms. Menzies has received an AV rating, the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards under the peer review system of Martindale-Hubbell, the national legal directory. Ms. Menzies has received several awards from legal organizations including, Lawyer of the Year by Lawyer's Weekly USA (2004), California Lawyer of the Year by California Lawyer magazine (2005), The National Law Journal's Top 40 Under 40 (2005), Consumer Attorney of the Year Finalist by Consumer Attorneys of California (2006), Southern California Super Lawyers (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007).
Ms. Menzies has authored numerous publications and has been a frequent speaker on the topics of FDA, drug safety and federal preemption. She is most proud of the speeches she has been invited to give to healthcare professionals and patients at medical seminars both in the U.S. and internationally.
Ms. Menzies is a member of the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association ATLA), Consumer Attorneys of California, American Bar Association, Women's Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, National Association of Women Lawyers and Public Justice (formerly the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice). Karen currently serves as co-chair of the AAJ Avandia Litigation Group and the AAJ Preemption Litigation Group.
Ms. Menzies received her Bachelor of Arts Degree at Colorado State University and her Juris Doctorate from University of California at Davis in 1995, where she served as a intern for Justice Rod Davis, California 3rd District Court of Appeal (1994), the Colorado Attorney General's Office (1993), the California Attorney General's Office (1994), and the Sacramento District Attorney's Office (1995). Ms. Menzies was admitted to the California Bar in 1995.
Admissions:
California, 1995
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1995
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1999
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1999
U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, 2003
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 2003
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2003
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 2005
U.S. District Court, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, 2006
U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2006
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2007
Lectures/Speeches:
Successful Handling of Wrongful Death Cases in California, Lorman Education Services, Los Angeles, CA, August, 2001
SSRI Drugs: Suicide, Homicide, Seizures, Dependency, A Scientific Symposium, Extant Medical Legal Consulting, LLC, Philadelphia, PA, October, 2002
Case Management and Electronic Discovery in Pharmaceutical Litigation, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Dallas, TX, July, 2003
The New Frontier: Emerging Litigation in the Mass Tort Arena: Antidepressants/SSRI's, Mealey's LexisNexis presents, Wall Street Forum: Mass Tort Litigation Conference, New York, NY, July, 2003
The Rising Tide of Pharmaceutical Lawsuits, What the Practitioner Needs to Know About the Future of Psychiatric Drug Litigation, Safe Harbor's Third Annual Medical Conference: Non-Pharmaceutical Approaches to Mental Disorders, Glendale, CA, June, 2004
"FDA Oversight of Drug and Medical Devices and Preemption," The American Bar Association Health Law Section and The ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education TeleConference, October, 2004
Pharmaceutical Update: Vioxx and SSRIs - SSRIs: The Connection Between Antidepressants, Violence and Suicide, Association of Trial Lawyers of America TeleConference, October, 2004
"Federal Preemption How the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Has Become an Advocate for the Drug Industry Against the Consumers It Has a Duty to Protect" - SSRIs and Collisions Between Medical, Legal and Regulatory Worlds, Presented to the 29th International Congress On Law and Mental Health, Paris, France, July 2-8, 2005
"The FDA's Dilemma - Safety Failures, Public Scrutiny and Industry Influence" Topic: What's Wrong at the FDA?, ATLA's Pharmaceutical Seminar, "Trends and Hot Topics in Pharmaceutical Litigation," Las Vegas, NV, September 16-17, 2005
"Class Actions and MDLs - Hot Topics in Class Actions" - "The Future of Class Action Litigation in America" American Bar Association, Washington, D.C., November 9-11, 2005
"Antidepressant SSRI-induced Suicide Risks, Public Forum on Antidepressant Drugs: Risks, Benefits and Alternatives," The Recovery System's Clinic, Mill Valley, CA, December 6, 2005
"Science, Regulation and Litigation Issues Regarding the SSRI-Antidepressants" - "Drug Safety, Best Practices, Litigation Update, Regulatory Developments" Insight Information-ALM, Toronto, Canada, January, 23-25, 2006
"Best Practices in Plaintiff-oriented Pharmaceutical Litigation - Lessons for Canada" Strategic Panel Discussion and Master Class - "Drug Safety, Best Practices, Litigation Update, Regulatory Developments" Insight Information-ALM, Toronto, Canada, January, 23-25, 2006
"Protecting the Public: Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation - Panel: Drug Update - Zoloft, Wellbutrin, and other SSRIs" 2006 ATLA Winter Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 18-22, 2006
"Update on Discovery Tools: FDA/Regulatory Discovery" ATLA Education Program Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP) Panel - 2006 ATLA- Association of Trial Lawyers of America Annual Convention, Seattle, Washington, July 15-19, 2006
"Identifying The Emerging Areas of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation" Antidepressant Paxil: Allegations of suicide connected with the use of this antidepressant and the current status of the national class action, Mealey's Teleconference: Emerging Drugs and Medical Devices August 17, 2006
"SSRIs and Suicide in Children" ACAM -- American College for Advancement in Medicine -- "Neurorestoration: Integrative Approaches to Brain Health, Palm Springs, California, November 1-5, 2006
"Preemption and Negligent Pharmacovigilance" ATLA - Association of Trial Lawyers of America -- ATLA Education Seminar -- Protecting the Public: Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 17-18, 2006
Panel Moderator and speaker for documentary screening, "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety," shown at the 4th Annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival, Social Justice Program, presented by Friends Of Film and Palisades Enrichment Programs, Pacific Palisades, California, May 19, 2007
"Homicide and Psychotropic Drugs," 30th International Congress on Law and Mental Health - The International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH), Padua, Italy, June 25-30, 2007
"Avandia: The Liability Story; FDA; Clinical Studies; Recent publications in NEJM," Avandia Teleseminar, American Association for Justice Education, June 28, 2007
"Avandia: Timeline / Event / Background," Mealey's Avandia Litigation Conference, Chicago,July 13, 2007
"Preemption in Pharmaceutical Cases," Preemption Law Litigation Group Panel: Preemption Updates and Roundtable Discussion, American Association for Justice (AAJ) Annual Convention, Chicago, July 14-18, 2007
FDA and Preemption, Pharma and Beyond: Litigation Today with Special Guest Mark Lanier, American Association for Justice (AAJ), New York City, October 29, 2007
Defense Psych Exam, 46th Annual Convention, Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), San Francisco, November 9-11, 2007
Publications:
"Successful Handling of Wrongful Death Cases in California: Quirks of Courts" Lorman Education Services, January, 2002
"Biting the Magic Bullet: A Look at the SSRI Litigation" Harris Martin's Columns: Drugs & Supplements. August 2002
" The Fox in the Chicken Coop" FDA's Recent Intervention in Pharmaceutical Litigation, ATLA Education, 2003
The Antidepressant Controversy: The Growth Of A New Area Of Litigation, Mealey's Litigation Report Antidepressant Drugs, 2004
"A Cure Worse Than the Disease - Recent FDA actions and newly disclosed research on the link between antidepressants and suicide especially among young people are strengthening plaintiffs' claims against drug makers" TRIAL, 2005
"The FDA's Dilemma: Safety Failures, Public Scrutiny, and Industry Influence" ATLA Education, 2005
"Internet Disclaimers: Do they waive the attorney-client privilege protection?" ABA Conference "The Future of Class Action Litigation in America"
"Preemption and the FDA -- Politics as Usual" ATLA Annual Conference, February, 2006
"Preamble to FDA Final Rule: FDA s Latest Effort To Immunize Drug Manufacturers From Tort Liability At The Expense of Consumer Safety" Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices, February 2006; Mealey's Litigation Report: Antidepressant Report, February 2006
"Discovery of FDA and Other Regulatory Agency Evidence," ATLA Education Reference Materials, ATLA 2006 Annual Convention
Birth Defects and Other Threats to Mom and Baby Associated with Paxil, Mealey's Litigation Report: Antidepressant Report, October 2006
"Preemption and Negligent Pharmacovigilance" ATLA Education Seminar, Protecting the Public: Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation, November, 2006
Focus on Facts to Defeat Preemption, TRIAL, March 1, 2007
Pro Bono Activities:
Co-counsel for defense in State v. Pittman (S.C.Gen.Sess., NO. 04-GS-12-571, 04-GS-12-572) Zoloft-induced murder case in South Carolina against a boy who was 12 years old at the time.
Governmental Testimony:
California State Senate Transportation Committee hearing regarding investigation into CalTrans' oversized truck permits, October 1999
FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Subcommittee of the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee hearings regarding the risk of suicide in children and adolescents taking antidepressants, February 2004
California State Senate hearing on Antidepressant Drugs and Suicide, regarding antidepressant drugs and suicide, August 4, 2004
FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Advisory Committee hearings regarding the risk of suicide in children and adolescents taking antidepressants, September 2004
FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting concerning the FDA's Review of Suicidality Data in Adult Antidepressant Studies, December 13, 2006
Published Cases:
Prudential Home Mort. Co. v. Superior Court 66 Cal.App.4th 1236 (1998)
Motus v. Pfizer, Inc. 127 F.Supp.2d 1085 (C.D. Cal. 2000)
In re Paxil Lit. 218 F.R.D. 242 (C.D. Cal. 2003)
Cartwright v. Pfizer, Inc. 369 F.Supp.2d 876 (E.D. Tex. 2005)
Barton v. United States District Court for Central Dist. of Cal. 410 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2005)
Witczak v. Pfizer, Inc. 377 F.Supp.2d 726 (D. Minn. 2005)
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