Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

A California nut grower and processor issued a nationwide recall of pistachios on Tuesday due to possible salmonella contamination, and authorities said consumers should avoid all pistachio products until more information was available.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said several illnesses had been reported that may be associated with the contaminated pistachios. The FDA said it and the California Department of Public Health were investigating the matter.

The FDA said it first learned of the problem on March 24, when Kraft Foods Inc informed the agency that Back To Nature trail mix was contaminated. Kraft had identified the source of the contamination as Setton.

Continue reading " Pistachios Recalled in U.S. Due to Salmonella Risk " »

A Fulton County jury has awarded $1.8 million in damages to a boy whose penis was severed in a botched circumcision.

The state court jury gave another $500,000 to the boy’s mother in the decision rendered.

The case involves a child,who was born at South Fulton Medical Center in 2004. In a suit filed two years later, his mother contended that the doctor who circumcised him removed too much tissue and that his pediatrician failed to respond when a nurse complained of excessive bleeding.

Continue reading " $2.3M Awarded in Botched Circumcision " »

A congressional study and a national consumer advocacy group found that the health care industry in 2004 had spent millions of dollars exaggerating the malpractice crisis in Nevada and elsewhere in the country.

But the hard-hitting television campaign of five years ago, helped persuade voters to overwhelmingly approve an industry-backed ballot initiative imposing a $350,000 cap on malpractice damages for pain and suffering. Advocates said the intent of the measure, patterned after 1975 tort law changes enacted in California that imposed a $250,000 cap, was to reduce multimillion-dollar verdicts against doctors, which would lower their insurance premiums and reduce health care costs for the public.

Continue reading " Nevada Attorneys Hope to Lift Malpractice Damages Cap " »

A now-12-year-old Temecula boy who fell from a fast-food restaurant's play structure and struck his head, causing brain damage, was awarded a $20 million settlement from the franchise's parent company.

The money was awarded to Jacob Buckett and his sister, Isabelle, who was 5 at the time of Jacob's fall at the Temecula restaurant on Aug. 4, 2005.

The structure was inside the restaurant and there was no rubber beneath the bars, just tile, according to Jacob's attorney.
The defendants, the restaurant franchisee, parent company and playground manufacturer, were not named because of the settlement's confidentiality clause but according to the Web site momlogic.com, the restaurant was a Burger King.

Delta Marketing Inc., the installer of the playground, was also sued.

Continue reading " Boy Awarded $20 M in Brain Damage Case " »

A federal judge has upheld most of an $8.5 million judgment awarded to a woman who lost use of her arm due to a flesh-eating bacteria misdiagnosed by an Air Force base doctor.

The judge last month granted only part of the U.S. government's request to trim $1.13 million from the damages he assessed last year for Jean Phillips. Frazier lowered damages covering Phillips' past medical expenses by $62,748, settling on an $8.46 million payout.

Frazier had found that Dr. Dan MacAlpine, who was stationed at Scott Air Force Base near Mascoutah, Ill., failed to notice or heed Phillips' rash on her right arm in 2002. MacAlpine, assuming she was an addict looking for prescription drugs, told her to go home and take over-the-counter pain medication.

But the rash turned out to be necrotizing fasciitis - commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria - that Frazier said eventually cost Phillips use of her right arm.

A Palm Beach County jury has awarded $4 million on behalf of a child suffering from severe mental retardation that the family blamed on a delayed delivery in a West Palm Beach hospital more than 11 years ago.

Stephanie Preshong Brown, of Palm City, was carrying twins in July 1997 when she was admitted to Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach for premature contractions. One of the twins, Sydney Preshong Brown, died in utero.

A few weeks later, doctors determined that the other twin, Jordan Preshong Brown, was in distress and decided to deliver by Cesarean section.

The lawsuit contended that problems securing an operating room led to several hours of delay.

Continue reading " Jurors Award $4 M in Brain-Damaged Baby " »

Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA unit and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said they won a verdict in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf of a Florida smoker.

A state court jury in St. Petersburg, Florida, found the two biggest U.S. cigarette makers not liable in the case. The verdict is the first defense win in a so-called “post-Engle” tobacco suit in Florida.

The case is the third of its kind to be tried since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 ruled that smokers could not sue as a class on behalf of smokers statewide. The court said smokers could sue individually and extended the time for them to do so. Thousands of such cases are pending across Florida.

Continue reading " Altria, R.J. Reynolds Win Verdict in Florida Suit " »

A pharmacist at the Yuba City Wal-Mart store mislabeled a pill bottle, resulting in a woman taking twice too much blood pressure medication and nearly dying, according to a $1.2 million lawsuit.

After collapsing on a bus, victim Geraldine Schamanski's heart stopped five times in 24 hours.
Besides Wal-Mart, the pharmacist and Asereth Medical Services are named as defendants. The latter company apparently supplied the pharmacist who mislabeled the bottle.

Continue reading " Wal-Mart Sued Over Alleged Drug Mislabeling " »

A Staten Island man stricken with polio has won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against a drug maker, claiming he contracted polio 30 years ago while changing his daughter's diaper.

Dominick Tenuto was awarded $22.5 million, believed to be one of the highest awards ever on Staten Island.

The lawsuit claims that the oral vaccine Tenuto's daughter received, which contained a live virus, passed through her body and infected Tenuto while he was changing her diaper.

The 61-year-old Tenuto, a former Wall Street executive, sued two years after contracting polio and losing his job.

The drug maker, Lederle Laboratories, plans to appeal.

City and police officials have agreed to pay a man $75,000 to settle a lawsuit filed after his fiancee was killed and he was seriously injured when a driver fleeing police crashed into his car.

Richard Garman’s settlement, allows the city of Indianapolis to avoid a costly trial without admitting liability in the fatal 1999 crash.

Garman’s case stemmed from a 50-second chase that reached 80 mph on city streets and ended when a fleeing driver struck the then 21-year-old Garman’s car, injuring him and killing his fiancee, J. Elizabeth Foster, 19.

Garman, now 30, sued based on his own injuries, which included broken ribs and collapsed lungs, as well as emotional distress and clinical depression spurred by Foster’s death. Garman’s injuries left him with more than $280,000 in medical bills.

Continue reading " Indiana Police Settle Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Crash " »

A jury has ruled in favor of a plaintiff in a Popcorn Workers Lung lawsuit. According to The Associated Press, the federal jury in Iowa yesterday ordered a flavorings manufacturer to pay the victim - who died just a day before of complications from Popcorn Workers Lung - and his wife $7.5 million for causing his injuries.

Popcorn Workers Lung is a potentially life threatening ailment, for which the only cure is a lung transplant. The disease - also known as bronchiolitis obliterans - has been linked to diacetyl, a chemical used to give microwave popcorn and other snack foods a buttery flavor.

Continue reading " Diacetyl Popcorn Workers Lung Victim, Wife Awarded $7.5 Million " »

The mother of University of Colorado student Lynn "Gordie" Bailey, who died of acute alcohol poisoning in September 2004 after a fraternity-initiation ritual, has settled her lawsuit with the fraternity on the eve of the trial.

According to the lawyer who represented Leslie Lanahan, Bailey's mother, said a settlement was reached with both the Chi Psi fraternity and the Alpha Psi Delta Corporation of Chi Psi, which owned the fraternity house in Boulder.

Bailey died the morning of Sept. 17, 2004, of acute alcohol poisoning. His blood-alcohol level was 0.328 percent.

Continue reading " Frat Hazing Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled " »

A judge has awarded $45 million in damages to a San Mateo woman who was paralyzed when a wrecking and demolition company's truck ran a red light and hit her car.

Tricia Roth, now 41, a former software developer for Microsoft Corp., suffered a broken neck and spinal injuries in the September 2006 accident, according to her lawyer. Her doctors said she requires full-time attendant care and will never walk again.

The driver, Roman Pantoja, failed to see the light on East Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo near Highway 101 and admitted that he was at fault, according to a court hearing.

Superior Court Judge awarded damages against Pantoja and his employer, Division 1 All Service.

A jury awarded a 21-year-old Florida woman $65 million for her injuries in a 2007 crash. The verdict is considered to be one of the largest by a Polk County jury.

The verdict stemmed from a traffic crash in Zolfo Springs that left Kendra Lymon in a coma and hospitalized for months.

Lymon had been driving her Dodge Neon on Aug. 21, 2007, when a tractor-trailer owned by Bynum Transport, struck her car at State Road 35 and State Road 64, according to the lawsuit naming Bynum and the driver.

The truck's driver, Robert Bohn, a battalion chief for Polk County Fire Services, was working part-time for the trucking company.

Continue reading " Florida Jury Awards Woman $65 M in Crash " »

A Miami Beach woman left bedridden and in excruciating pain following spinal surgery in 2003 at Mount Sinai Medical Center was awarded $38 million by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury.

The six-person jury deliberated nine hours over two days before finding that neurosurgeon Mario Nanes, Mount Sinai and the hospital's pharmacy management firm caused Amanda Slavin's debilitating injuries.

Mount Sinai settled before the case went to trial, so it is not on the hook to pay any part of the award. The hospital's pharmacy management firm at the time, McKesson Medication Management, vowed to appeal.

Continue reading " Miami Beach Woman Awarded $38 M For Botched Spinal Surgery " »

The family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages against the primate's owner, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."

The suit also alleges that Herold had given the chimp medication that further upset the animal. Herold has made conflicting public statements about whether she gave Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, to Travis on the day of the attack. The drug had not been prescribed for the animal, police said.

Herold knew the 200-pound chimp, Travis, was agitated when she asked Nash to come to her house on Feb. 16, the lawsuit said. The suit accuses Herold of negligence and recklessness for owning "a wild animal with violent propensities, even though she lacked sufficient skill, strength and/or experience to subdue the chimpanzee when necessary."

Continue reading " Family of Chimp Attack Victim Seeks $50M " »

Medtronic said that at least 13 people might have died in connection with a heart device that it recalled in 2007 but was still in widespread use, including four patients whose deaths were related to efforts by doctors to surgically remove the product.

The new data reflect the first fatality update by Medtronic since October 2007, when it recalled the device — a thin electrical cable that connects an implanted defibrillator to a patient’s heart. The company cited five deaths when it recalled the product, saying fractures in the cable could cause a defibrillator to fail to deliver a lifesaving shock to an erratically beating heart, or to fire for no reason.

Separately, a previously undisclosed Food and Drug Administration report indicates that Medtronic began receiving reports soon after the device reached the market in late 2004 that the cable, known as the Sprint Fidelis, was fracturing. The company also revised its manufacturing process in the months before withdrawing the Sprint Fidelis from the market, according to the F.D.A. report.

Continue reading " Medtronic Links Device for Heart to 13 Deaths " »

The family of UCF football player Plancher, a 19-year-old freshman wide receiver who died March 18, 2008, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after an offseason conditioning workout on the UCF campus.

An autopsy found that the extreme stress of the workout triggered Plancher's sickle-cell trait, a blood disorder that caused his body to shut down.

UCF officials said they tested Plancher for the trait in 2007 and were aware he had the genetic condition.

Enock and Giselle Plancher, Ereck's parents, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the UCF Athletics Association alleging coaches and athletic trainers were negligent in their treatment of Plancher.

Continue reading " Family of Football Player Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against UCF " »

A former Seattle High School wrestler who was paralyzed at a practice two years ago was awarded $15 million in a settlement with Seattle Public Schools.

Mac Clay, then a senior, was at wrestling practice in the school cafeteria when he was driven backward into two wrestlers going in the opposite direction. The accident left him with limited use of his arms and no movement in his fingers and triceps, according to his attorney.

At the time, 13 wrestling team members were practicing using one mat on the concrete floor, although there were extra mats nearby, his attorneys said.

"They didn't follow the normal safety rules," said one of Clay's lawyers, Jack Connelly. "The coaches weren't certified and hadn't attended safety classes required" by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Continue reading " Paralyzed Seattle Wrestler And School Settle " »

A Maryland jury awarded more than $150 million to the neighbors of a northern Baltimore County service station, finding Exxon Mobil Corp. liable for the damage caused when thousands of gallons of gasoline seeped into the groundwater from a leaking pipe.

The Baltimore County jury's verdict -- delivered after five months of testimony and nearly two weeks of deliberations -- directed the oil giant to compensate about 90 Jacksonville families for the lost value of their homes. It also requires Exxon to pay for cancer screenings, and it acknowledged the upheaval caused by the huge spill by awarding millions for emotional distress.

Continue reading " Exxon Found Liable in Maryland Gas Leak " »

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued safety guidelines for companies that use peanut products today and said it may seize products that test positive for salmonella bacteria.

While heat-sensitive, salmonella bacteria become heat-resistant in high-fat environments such as peanut butter, according to the FDA guidance.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention government said 683 people in 46 states have been sickened in the outbreak linked to foods that used peanut ingredients made by the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp of America.

Continue reading " FDA issues peanut safety guidelines for foodmakers " »

Shortly after new antipsychotic drugs came on the market in the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration started to worry that they might trigger diabetes in some patients.

So in 2000, the FDA asked AstraZeneca P.L.C. and other pharmaceutical companies to share data on cases of new-onset diabetes and related illnesses in patients taking the drugs. AstraZeneca, told the FDA that patients and doctors had reported 12 new cases of diabetes and five cases of related illnesses among the 623,000 who had taken its antipsychotic drug Seroquel.

But internally, the company had reported the number as 27 cases of diabetes and two of hyperglycemia, according to court documents recently released.

Continue reading " New Questions About Seroquel And Diabetes " »

A Missouri jury recommended that AmerenUE electric company pay the families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago for a combined $2.3 million.

On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into Spring Lake. Shortly after hitting the water, the teens became immoblized by an electric current.

Nic Harbison drowned, the others were resucitated.

Harbison's father, Jerry Harbison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against AmerenUE the electric company.

Continue reading " Missouri Jury Orders Electric Company to Pay $2.3 M " »

The following is a summary of the changes effective on March 9, 2009.
Click here for the complete board rules.

Chapter 162, Supervision of Medical School and Physician Assistant Student, with amendments to §162.1, Supervision of Medical Students, provides for the supervision of a medical student who is not enrolled at a Texas medical school as a full-time student or visiting student.

Chapter 171, Postgraduate Training Permits, repeals §171.7, Inactive Status, repeals a provision that recognizes an inactive status of a physician in training permit.

Continue reading " Texas Medical Board March 2009 Board Rules Changes " »

A Houston judge is sentencing a Beaumont cardiologist on charges he molested two girls, and although Dr. Jeffrey Klem will not receive jail time, the doctor will be placed on probation and must write a letter of apology to the girls.

Dr. Klem is receiving five years deferred adjudication on each charge of Injury to a Child. Under the terms of a plea agreement, he will not have to register as a sex offender.

Continue reading " Beaumont Doctor Sentenced For Improperly Touching Two Girls " »

Sickened consumers who sued the peanut processor blamed for a national salmonella outbreak could have trouble recovering damages from company accounts because assets listed in a bankruptcy filing will likely go to other businesses that bought its products.

Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America filed documents listing nearly $11.4 M in assets and debts of $4.8 M in U.S. Bankruptcy court. However, more than $7 M listed as assets was in insurance that covers the company's products and will not be used for claims by consumers. Among the uses for that money would be compensating businesses that had bought Peanut Corp. products that were recalled, trustee Roy V. Creasy said.

Continue reading " Peanut Processor Has No Money For Injuries " »

Dereka Williams, 13, living in Denton Texas was partially blinded last year when a retractable dog leash broke and struck her in the eye. "I was in the driveway and my dog was kind of running and I was trying to pull her and the leash broke," said Dereka.

SlyDog, the inexpensive retractable leash Dereka's father bought to keep track of Diamond, the family's 25-pound blue pit bull terrier puppy, had recoiled without warning. It struck Dereka in her left eye and tore the retina.

"She kept saying, 'Mommy I can't see, I can't see,' " said her mother, Joy Williams. "I thought she was exaggerating. Her eye was bloodshot. You could see the metal piece sticking out of her eyeball."

Continue reading " Dog Lease Injures a Denton Texas Girl " »

A New Jersey jury has awarded an UPS employee $1 million after finding that his bosses at United Parcel Service retaliated against him after he complained that managers were violating company policies.

In his lawsuit, 51-year-old Michael Battaglia said he was demoted and assigned to the night shift after lodging his complaints in October 2005.

Following a month long trial in state Superior Court in New Brunswick, a jury found that UPS violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws.

It awarded Battaglia $500,000 for economic losses and $500,000 for emotional distress.

The Supreme Court forcefully rejected calls for limiting consumer lawsuits against drug makers, upholding a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm to gangrene following an injection.

The decision is the second this term to reject business groups' arguments that federal regulation effectively pre-empts consumer complaints under state law.

Diana Levine of Vermont once played the guitar and piano professionally. Her right arm was amputated after she was injected with Phenergan, an anti-nausea medicine made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, using a method that brings rapid relief, but with grievous risks if improperly administered.

In a 6-3 decision, the court turned away Wyeth's claim that federal approval of Phenergan and its warning label should have shielded the company from lawsuits like Levine's.

Continue reading " US Supreme Court Rejects Limits on Drug Lawsuits " »

A jury in New Jersey ruled that a Perth Amboy oral surgeon committed medical malpractice in the death of patient the morning after having his wisdom teeth removed.

The jury deliberated less than three hours over two days before finding that George Flugrad committed medical malpractice when he failed to get clearance from Woodbridge patient Francis Keller's medical doctor to remove his wisdom teeth after Keller told him he had an impaired immune system.

Keller's family and his estate were awarded $11 million in damages. With interest combined with other settlements reached in the case, Keller's parents will received more than $12 million, according to their attorney.

"The money will never bring my son back no matter how much I get," Helen Keller said. "I only hope it prevents someone else from going through this heartache."

Continue reading " Jury Awards $11M to New Jersey Family in Oral Surgery Malpractice Case " »

A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago.

After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote that three of the four deputies named in Shirley Nagel’s lawsuit used unreasonable and excessive force as the deputies detained Nagel’s son, Joel Don Casey.

Casey’s death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy found the 52-year-old man died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.

He also suffered fractures to his seventh cervical vertebrae and to his thyroid cartilage.

Continue reading " Texas Jury Awards $3 M in Houston Death Involving Excessive Force " »

The trustee of a trust fund for sick Florida smokers is prepared to settle some claims by the federal government for $18 million, freeing up the rest of the $580 million fund for smokers and their attorneys.

"We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice in full settlement of all claims for reimbursement of Medicare and Veterans Administration benefits received by beneficiaries" of the fund, according to fund trustee Miles McGrane.

When it comes to how the settlement money would be paid, McGrane offered two scenarios -- a quick and easy method dividing the total by about 45,000 authorized claimants for a charge of $400 each or a belabored process of running their Social Security numbers through Medicare and VA databases to check for individual benefit payments.

Continue reading " Florida Smokers' $580 M Trust Fund and Justice Department Settles for $18 M " »

Chelsie Barker, now a 10-year-old girl, needs round-the-clock attention as a result of a lack of oxygen during birth in a Michigan jail.

Jail officers are being sued in federal court, for violating the girl’s constitutional rights by not getting her mother, an inmate, to a hospital for the delivery.

Their defense is Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision. Attorneys for the officers say they are not liable because the child had no 14th Amendment right before she was born.

The jail officers “had sufficient warning that the child was on the way and did not get her the medical care she needed immediately prior to, during, and after the birth,” according to the U.S. District Judge.

Continue reading " Birth Injury in Jail Leads to Lawsuit " »

According to plaintiffs' attorneys AstraZeneca PLC failed to warn physicians and patients about risks associated with its widely used schizophrenia drug Seroquel.

According to documents that were just unsealed in a U.S. federal court case showed AstraZeneca knew about the risk of weight gain and diabetes in 2000.

The company "not only failed to warn physicians and patients about the risk of diabetes but they also marketed them in a way that represented that there was no risk."

Continue reading " Seroquel Increased Risks of Diabetes " »

A class of drugs to treat stomach disorders needs a strong warning about the risk of involuntary, repetitive movement on several parts of the body seen with long-term use or high doses, according to U.S. regulators.

The drugs contain the ingredient metoclopramide and are available in various forms including tablets, syrups and injections, the Food and Drug Administration said.

According to the FDA more than 2 million Americans use the medicines to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease and other stomach ailments.

Continue reading " FDA Requires Boxed Warning and Risk Mitigation Strategy for Metoclopramide-Containing Drugs " »