John M. Restaino, Jr.

Senior Partner

Overview

Dr. John M. Restaino, Jr. joins Milberg as a Senior Partner working out of the Denver, Colorado area. A non-practicing podiatric surgeon and an attorney with over 30 years of experience, Dr. Restaino focuses on Mass Tort and Medical Malpractice cases.

Dr. Restaino practiced podiatric surgery from 1980 until 1990 after graduating from California College of Podiatric Medicine and magna cum laude from Farleigh Dickinson University. In 1991, he began the practice of law after receiving his J.D. from Western State College of Law. Relying on his unique experience and perspective, Dr. Restaino enjoys looking “outside the box” in the development of specific aspects of litigation, including the science pertaining to each litigation, the development of expert witnesses, and the cross-examination of defense expert witnesses.

Dr. Restaino received his Master of Public Health degree from the Division of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. An Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, he actively conducts pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology. He frequently lectures at legal seminars and has been invited to lecture at the University of South Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern College of Medicine, and Harvard.

Outside the office, Dr. Restaino enjoys martial arts and holds a Black Belt in Kenpo karate and a 2nd degree Black Belt in Okinawan karate. He is a two-time winner in the Kenpo Internationals Black Belt Heavyweight division/senior division. He also enjoys SCUBA diving and holds an “Instructor” rating from the North American Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). He is both Dive Master and Rescue Diver qualified, having previously taught Dive Medicine at the NAUI College in Laguna Niguel, California.

Notable Cases

  • One of the initial attorneys to develop the Silicone Breast Implant litigation
  • Plaintiff Steering Committee, Diet Pill Litigation MDL
  • Chair, Science Committee, Propulsid MDL
  • Developed that aspect of litigation linking the use of Propulsid and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
  • Chair, Science Committee, Rezulin MDL
  • Science Committee, Ortho Evra MDL
  • Co-Chair, Science Committee, Phenylpropanolamine MDL
  • Co-Chair, Vioxx MDL
  • Science Committee, Zyprexa MDL
  • Science Committee, Yaz/Yasmin Oral Contraceptive MDL
  • Science Committee, Gadolinium
  • Co-Chair, Science Committee, DePuy Hip MDL
  • Science Committee, Pradaxa MDL
  • Co-Chair, Trans Vaginal Mesh MDL
  • Plaintiff Executive Committee, Plaintiff Steering Committee, and Chair of the Science Committee, Incretin Mimetics MDL
  • Plaintiff Steering Committee and Science Committee, Lipitor MDL
  • Science Committee, Talc MDL
  • Science Committee, Zantac MDL
  • Developed the Proton Pump Inhibitor/Gastric Cancer litigation
  • Developed the fluroquinolone/aortic aneurysm & dissection litigation

2021

  • Bennett CL, Nagai S, Bennett AC, Hoque S, Nabhan C, Schoen MW, Hrushesky WJ, Luminari S, Ray P, Yarnold PR, Witherspoon B, Riente J, Bobolts L, Brusk J, Tombleson R, Knopf K, Fishman M, Yang YT, Carson KR, Djulbegovic B, Restaino J, Armitage JO, Sartor OA. The First 2 Years of Biosimilar Epoetin for Cancer and Chemotherapy-Induced Anemia in the U.S.: A Review from the Southern Network on Adverse Reactions. Oncologist. 2021 Aug;26(8):e1418-e1426. 

2020

  • Bennett CL, Hoque S, Olivieri N, Taylor MA, Aboulafia D, Lubaczewski C, Bennett AC, Vemula J, Schooley B, Witherspoon BJ, Godwin AC, Ray PS, Yarnold PR, Ausdenmoore HC, Fishman M, Herring G, Ventrone A, Aldaco J, Hrushesky WJ, Restaino J, Thomsen HS, Yarnold PR, Marx R, Migliorati C, Ruggiero S, Nabhan C, Carson KR, McKoy JM, Yang YT, Schoen MW, Knopf K, Martin L, Sartor O, Rosen S, Smith WK. Consequences to patients, clinicians, and manufacturers when very serious adverse drug reactions are identified (1997-2019): A qualitative analysis from the Southern Network on Adverse Reactions (SONAR). EClinicalMedicine. 2020 Dec 23;31:100693.

2019

  • Bennett CL, Schooley B, Taylor MA, Witherspoon BJ, Godwin A, Vemula J, Ausdenmoore HC, Sartor O, Yang YT, Armitage JO, Hrushesky WJ, Restaino J, Thomsen HS, Yarnold PR, Young T, Knopf KB, Chen B. Caveat Medicus: Clinician experiences in publishing reports of serious oncology-associated adverse drug reactions. PLoS One. 2019 Jul 31;14(7):e0219521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219521. eCollection 2019.

2018

  • Chen B, Restaino J, Tippett E. Key Elements in Adverse Drug Reactions Safety Signals: Application of Legal Strategies. Cancer Treat Res. 2019;171:47-59. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-43896-2_4.

2016

  • Kaur K, Fayad R, Saxena A, Frizzell N, Chanda A, Das S, Chatterjee S, Hegde S, Baliga MS, Ponemone V, Rorro M, Greene J, Elraheb Y, Redd AJ, Bian J, Restaino J, Norris LB, Qureshi ZP, Love BL, Brookstaver B, Georgantopoulos P, Sartor O, Raisch DW, Rao G, Lu K, Ray P, Hrusheshky W, Schulz R, Ablin R, Noxon V, Bennett CL; Southern Network on Adverse Reactions (SONAR) project. Fluoroquinolone-related neuropsychiatric and mitochondrial toxicity: a collaborative investigation by scientists and members of a social network. J Community Support Oncol. 2016 Feb;14(2):54-65. doi: 10.12788/jcso.0167. PMID: 26955658

2015

  • ‘Epidemiology for the Trial Lawyer’, in AAJ’s Trial Guide. (Book Chapter)

2014

  • Kevin Lu Z,  Samuel J, Kessler BA, Richard Schulz, John Bian, Brian Chen JD, Jun Wu, Virginia Noxon, Gowtham A Rao, Ramie Leibnitz, John Restaino, Whitney Maxwell, LeAnn B Norris, Zaina P Qureshi, Linda Martin, Bryan L Love, Brandon Bookstaver, Scott Sutton, Raja Fayad, Sony Jacob, Peter Georgantopoulos, Oliver Sartor, Paul R Yarnold, Dinah Huff, William Hrusheshky, Dennis W Raisch RPh, Richard Ablin and Charles L Bennett. Systematic Approach to Pharmacovigilance beyond the Limits: The Southern Network on Adverse Reactions (SONAR) Projects. (2014) Adv Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 3: 149.doi:10.4172/2167-1052.1000149.
  • Edwards BJ, Laumann AE, Nardone B, Miller FH, Restaino J, Raisch DW, McKoy JM, Hammel JA, Bhatt K, Bauer K, Samaras AT, Fisher MJ, Bull C, Saddleton E, Belknap SM, Thomsen HS, Kanal E, Cowper SE, Abu Alfa AK, West DP. Advancing Pharmacovigilance through Academic – Legal Collaboration: The Case of Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents and Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis – A Research on Adverse Drug events and Reports (RADAR) Report. Br J Radiol. 2014 Oct;87(1042):20140307. doi: 10.1259/bjr.20140307.

2013

  • John M. Restaino, Jr., DPM, JD, MPH. Drug Safety: Implications for the Dermatologist and Dermatopathologist. Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. Semin Cutan Med Surg. 2013 Dec;32(4):195-8.

2000

  • Restaino, J.M.: Anorexigens and Pulmonary Hypertension: Recent Developments and Observations. ATLA 2000 Chicago Annual Convention Papers.

2012

  • Chen B, Restaino J, Norris L, Xirasagar S, Qureshi ZP, McKoy JM, Lopez IS, Trenery A, Murday A, Kahn A, Mattison DR, Ray P, Sartor O, Bennett CL. A tale of two citizens: a State Attorney General and a hematologist facilitate translation of research into US Food and Drug Administration actions–a SONAR report. J Oncol Pract. 2012 Nov;8(6):e158-67. doi: 10.1200/JOP.2011.000504. Epub 2012 Aug 14.

2005

  • Restaino, J.M.: Diet-Pill Litigation: The Fen-Phen-Redux Debacle: A Medical-Legal Perspective (In Drug Injury 2nd Ed. (Ed. James T. O’Donnell), Chapter 17. 2005.

1988

  • Restaino, J.M.: Medical malpractice and the standard of care. J Foot Surg. 1988 Nov-Dec;27(6):576-80.
  • Restaino, J.M.: The teaching of legal medicine. A void in the podiatric medical education. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 1988 Sep;78(9):478-81
  • Restaino, J.M.: AIDS: Professional liability implications for the podiatrist. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 1988 Feb;78(2):92-7.

1987

  • Restaino, J.M.: Informed consent and surgery of the foot and ankle. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 1987 May;77(5):235-42
  • Restaino, J.M.: Informed consent: should it be extended to 12-year-olds? A surgeon’s view. Med Law. 1987;6(2):91-8.

Practice Areas

Education

  • M.P.H., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2006
  • J.D., Western State College of Law, 1986
  • D.P.M., California College of Podiatric Medicine, 1974
  • B.S., Fairleigh Dickinson University, magna cum laude, 1974

Bar Admissions

  • California, 1986

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2025

Professional Activities

  • University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, Adjunct Associate Professor
  • Southern Network of Adverse Event Reporting (SONAR), pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology

More Info