One of the nation’s leading trial attorneys Brent Wisner talks about his role in current litigation against several big pharma companies who’ve all been manufacturers of the popular heartburn drug called Zantac, which has been taken off the market amidst concerns over possible cancer diagnoses. Brent is the managing partner and lead trial attorney at the law firm of Wisner Baum. He’s been recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine. And he serves as co-lead trial counsel in the Zantac Products Liability Litigation in Delaware.

Chances are if you ever had a serious problem with heartburn, you might have taken a popular drug called Zantac. The generic form of the drug is called ranitidine

In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that manufacturers of the drug withdraw all prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) ranitidine drugs from the market immediately. This was part of an ongoing investigation of a contaminant in ranitidine medications.

Fast forward to May of this year. That was when Pfizer, one of the manufacturers of Zantac, agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug. Still, this company and these lawsuits do not represent the entirety of the problem and the legal woes for manufacturers. That’s what we will be talking about today.

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Links from Our Conversation

Zantac Lawsuit Update: What you Need to Know About The Heartburn Medications, Forbes - https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/product-liability/zantac-lawsuit/

Sanofi to Settle 4,000 Zantac Cancer Lawsuits in US State Courts, CNN – https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/business/sanofi-to-settle-zantac-cancer-lawsuits/index.html/

Zantac Not a cause of Woman’s Cancer, Jury Says in First Trial Over Drug, Reuters – https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/zantac-not-cause-womans-cancer-jury-says-first-trial-over-drug-2024-05-23/

Judge Appoints Four Attorneys to Lead 77,000 Zantac Cancer Cases in Delaware, PR Newswire – https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/judge-appoints-four-attorneys-to-lead-77-000-zantac-cancer-cases-in-delaware-301827346.html#:~:text=Judge%20Vivian%20L.,of%20the%20State%20of%20Delaware.

One of the co-authors of a groundbreaking academic paper, Michael Hicks, makes the case that “ChatGPT is bullshit.” That’s not only the title of his paper, but a compelling point of view that we dig deep into in this conversation. Michael is one of the three co-authors of the paper, along with James Humphries and Joe Slater. All three are educators at the University of Glasgow.

Michael Hicks is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University. He’s mostly interested in the ways we use scientific laws and models to understand what’s possible, and what isn’t. He says he also thinks about conditional reasoning, probability, and explanation.

For more information, go to www.ShapingOpinion.com. This is also our Substack hub, where you can subscribe and become a member of our podcast family.

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Links from Our Conversation

* ChatGPT is Bullshit, Springer Link - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5/

* Michael Townsen Hicks, website - https://www.townsenhicks.com

The head of the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), Mo Canady joins us to talk about a self-inflicted safety crisis at many American schools because school boards are terminating their in-school police presence. They are banning School Resource Officers, and more and more parents are outraged. Mo has been a member of NASRO’s board since 2005. And before that he held positions in law enforcement, and as an instructor for NASRO.

One of the more notable recent events is where a 17-year-old student at Garfield High School was shot and killed on June 6th in a school parking lot after trying to break up a fight between two other boys.

There is no way of knowing if the shooting could have been prevented, but one thing is clear. There was no police presence at the school. This after the Seattle School Board voted in 2020 to remove the position of School Resource Officer at the school. That district is one of roughly 70 in the country to do so.

In this episode, we talk about those School Resource Officers – or SROs - and the vital role they play in school communities.

For more information, go to www.ShapingOpinion.com. This is also our Substack hub, where you can subscribe and become a member of our podcast family.

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Links from Our Conversation

After Shooting, Seattle Parents Regret School Kicking Out Officers in 2020: “Who is protecting our babies?”, Fox News

Garfield High Used to Have a Cop, but Seattle Schools Canceled the Job, Seattle Times

Chicago Board of Education Unanimously Votes to End CPD Contract, Remove SROs, Police1

More School Districts are Bringing Back or Adding Police, USA Today

If you suffer from anxiety, you may be given a lot of options. Drugs, illegal or legal. Alcohol. Therapy. But one thing most may not bring up to you is something that’s inside of you. Courage. In this episode, we talk with Janet Jackson Pellegrini, one of the authors of a new book called, “You Can Overcome Anything with Courage.” The book contains 17 different stories from 17 different people. Each shares his or her personal stories and life lessons that have one thing in common – they found the courage to overcome the challenges they faced. Janet tells her story of overcoming anxiety and solving a big life problem simply be reframing her brain after a single casual conversation.

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Links from Our Conversation

* You Can Overcome Anything with Courage (Amazon)

* Tambellini Restaurant Downtown Says Arrivederci! (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

University professor and researcher April Bleske-Rechek makes her case for standardized testing in college admissions at a time when there’s an aggressive movement to get rid of the tests. She co-authored an article recently in Skeptic Magazine where they say the standardized tests are not biased, but are in fact more fair than other measures to gauge student potential.

April is a Professor, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where she focuses on Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology. She has written for many peer-reviewed journals, and is an active member of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Check out this FULL EPISODE at YouTube:

Check out this FULL EPISODE at Rumble: https://rumble.com/v51728f-dont-cancel-the-sat-with-april-bleske-rechek.html

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Spotify —

For all episodes and to learn more about Shaping Opinion at:

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Links from Our Conversation

* Standardized Admission Tests Are Not Biased, Skeptic Magazine

* April Bleske-Rechek, The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

Patrick Wolf joins Tim to shed light on why school choice is exploding across the country. The list of states passing or pursuing legislation for more school choice is on the rise weekly. Patrick has long been at the forefront on the issue of school choice.

He talks about the impact on the pandemic, which he says revealed a lot to parents about their kids’ public school education. He is a Distinguished Professor of Education Policy. He is the 21st Century Endowed Chair, in School Choice in the Department of Education Reform, at the University of Arkansas, College of Education and Health Professions. Before this, he taught at Columbia and at Georgetown University, and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

As principal investigator of the School Choice Demonstration Project, Patrick has led evaluations of school voucher programs in Washington, DC; Milwaukee, WI; and the state of Louisiana. He has conducted research and written several books on the topic.

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