In 1969, San Jose housewife Michelle Ahearn was told she was losing her eyesight because of strep throat. When attorney Sal Liccardo heard this from her husband, Dennis, he had his doubts and recalled a medical lecture he attended about side effects from taking birth control pills. His small law firm took the case and wound up in an epic battle against Johnson & Johnson that took seven years to resolve and went all the way to the California Supreme Court.
Now, 50 years after first meeting with Michelle and Dennis Ahearn, Liccardo — whose son, Sam, is mayor of San Jose — has written “Her Right to Know: One Trial Lawyer’s Search for the Truth About the ‘Pill’,” a book that details the case that he and law partner Dick Caputo brought against one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Spoiler alert: Ahearn won, then lost and was finally vindicated.
Liccardo said he’s been urged by friends and colleagues to write about the case, which received nationwide coverage through many of its twists and turns. “It was a real David and Goliath story,” Liccardo said last week at a event to promote the book. While he has retired, he sees the book as an extension of his 58 years as a trial attorney. “I began to realize as a trial lawyer my moral purpose was always to educate the public of the danger of corporate greed and the disasters it causes,” he said.
The court transcript was lost, Liccardo said, but he used copies of his own briefs to piece things together and said he was amazed at the details he recalled. He relied on the Ahearns to help humanize the tale and keep him from getting caught up in legalese. Michelle Ahearn said it was a project she was more than willing to work on, even though it brought up a lot of emotion from that time.
“Sal was my knight in shining armor. He put everything out there,” Ahearn said, adding that she felt a responsibility to other women to tell her story as a cautionary tale. “I couldn’t have on my conscience having other women being hurt. it was important that the word get out again to warn people that the pharmaceutical companies are totally absorbed in the money.”
GAME ON: Good news for old-school gamers in San Jose, as the city is on the list of sites for a new Atari-branded hotel. Atari — the pioneering game company founded in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Danby in Sunnyvale — announced plans to build video-game-themed hotels starting with one in Phoenix that is expected to break ground this year.
According to a press release, the hotels will include immersive experiences for every age and gaming ability, including the latest virtual reality and augmented reality. Some of the planned hotels will include studios for esports events.
Besides San Jose, the other cities following Phoenix include Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle and San Francisco. No word on the location for the San Jose hotel, but I just hope they design the lobby to look like a 2600 console.
CHEF CHU’S GOLDEN GESTURE: Yeah, the 49ers’ Super Bowl appearance on Sunday is a big deal, but let’s hope it doesn’t take away too much from the 50th anniversary celebration of Chef Chu’s, the iconic Chinese restaurant in Los Altos. Author Norma Slavit‘s book “Pork Buns and High-Fives” — a coming-of-age story about Larry Chu Jr., son of Chef Lawrence Chu and now the general manager of the restaurant — will be for sale at the event, and Slavit tells me that Chu plans to donate proceeds to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
For football fans who are on the fence, it’s worth noting that the party at Chef Chu’s runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — which leaves plenty of time before kickoff in Miami.