Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission conceded that the agency “hasn’t been acting as quickly as it should” on crib safety problems.

More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing of Canada are being recalled following reports of four infant suffocations. The CPSC said the recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and almost 1 million in Canada, where Stork Craft is based. Sales of the cribs being recalled go back to 1993 and nearly 150,000 of the cribs carry the Fisher-Price logo.

Continue reading " Federal Safety Regulators Announce New Crib Recall " »

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Merck osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes jaw damage, more than two months after a jury deadlocked in a case involving a similar claim.

U.S. District Judge John Keenan found that Bessie Flemings, 74, a Mississippi resident, failed to present enough evidence to show that her use of Fosamax caused osteonecrosis of the jaw, or the death of jawbone tissue.

Keenan said Flemings' case was the second "bellwether" trial in nationwide litigation over Fosamax, which has spawned close to 900 lawsuits.

Continue reading " Federal Lawsuit Dismissed Over Merck's Fosamax " »

The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the $6.1 million jury award to strip-search victim Louise Ogborn, saying McDonald’s legal department was “fully aware” of hoax calls to its restaurants, yet its management made “a conscious decision not to train or warn employees or managers about the calls.”

In a unanimous decision, the court also said that the $5 million awarded to Ogborn in punitive damages for McDonald’s “reprehensible” behavior was justified because the evidence showed the company repeatedly “placed a higher value on corporate reputation than on the safety of its own employees” over the 10 years it knew about the hoax calls.

A three-judge panel also upheld the judgment for former assistant manager Summers, who claimed she was duped into executing the search because of the company’s failure to warn her about the hoaxes. But the court cut her $1 million punitive damage award to $400,000, saying the jury’s verdict was excessive. Summers was also awarded $100,000 in compensatory damages.

Continue reading " Appeals Court Upholds $6 M Strip-Search Verdict Against McDonald's " »

A Phillipsburg man was awarded nearly $6 million for injuries suffered when a large tree limb dropped onto their car in 2006.

Kenneth Matlock is permanently disabled and can no longer work as a truck driver, his career for more than 20 years.

On July 4, 2006 Matlock, his wife and three children were travelling on Route 29 when the limb from an oak tree, fell onto their car. Matlock and his wife suffered broken necks and he lost the use of his right hand after the limb fell from a height of about 20 feet. Kenneth Matlock, now 43, lost control of the SUV, which continued north 220 feet until hitting a guard rail on the opposite side of the road.

Continue reading " Jury Awards Man $6 M When a Tree Falls on his Car " »

A Florida jury ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

The Broward Circuit Court jury assessed $56.6 million in past and future medical expenses against the company, part of Altria Group Inc, as well as $244 million in punitive damages.

The verdict is the largest of the so-called Engle progeny cases that have been tried so far, both sides said.

Philip Morris will seek further review of the verdict because of "numerous erroneous rulings by the trial judge," Philip Morris spokesman Murray Garnick said in a statement.

Continue reading " Philip Morris Ordered to Pay $300 M to Smoker " »

A nearly $3 million arbitration award was won by a former KBR employee who said she was raped in Iraq.

Tracy K. Barker, wife of a U.S. Army sergeant and the mother of five, was awarded $2.93 million in private arbitration proceedings in Houston.

Continue reading " Nearly $3 M Awarded in KBR Rape Claim " »

A Richmond jury awarded a librarian at the Library of Virginia $8 M in damages, the amount sought by her lawyers after the woman was struck by a GRTC Transit System bus and severely injured.

Meikiu Lo, now 34, suffered spinal and shoulder damage and multiple hip and pelvis fractures that resulted in chronic pain after a GRTC bus making a right turn struck her as she crossed the street beside the library.

She had waited on the sidewalk and was two-thirds of the way across the street when the bus, struck her, according to her attorney.

Continue reading " Jury Awards $8 M to Woman Injured by City Bus " »

Two Pfizer Inc. units’ hormone- replacement therapy drugs caused an Illinois woman’s breast cancer, making them liable for at least $6.3 million in damages, a Philadelphia jury ruled.

Jurors found that the combination of Wyeth’s Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Provera menopause drugs was a substantial contributing factor in Donna Kendall’s breast cancer. Kendall, 66, had a double mastectomy in 2002 after taking the hormone-replacement drugs for 11 years.

The panel will hear evidence Nov. 23 on whether Wyeth and Upjohn should pay punitive damages over their handling of the drugs. Wyeth has lost six of nine jury verdicts, including the last four in a row, over the drugs since 2006. This is Upjohn’s third loss at the jury stage. A trial judge threw out one verdict and another is on appeal.

Continue reading " Pfizer Must Pay $6 M in Damages Over Prempro " »

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings and said a minister who crashed his car trying to avoid a trampoline that had blown into the road during a storm can sue its owners.

Thompson and his wife filed a lawsuit against the owners of the trampoline, Kaczinski and Lockwood, saying they were responsible for the 2006 crash near Earlham in Madison County because they had not secured the disassembled trampoline.

Court records show Kaczinski and Lockwood had taken the trampoline apart during the summer of 2006 and placed its parts in their yard about 38 feet from a gravel road nearby. A few weeks later, on Sept. 17, 2006, Thompson, who is a minister, was driving down the road from the church when he swerved to avoid the trampoline top, which has blown into the road during a storm the night before.

Continue reading " Iowa Supreme Court Orders Trial in Trampoline Case " »

Federal regulators are demanding changes to labels on devices that deliver pain killers directly to joints after surgery, in response to numerous reports of irreversible cartilage damage.

The Food and Drug Administration said from 2006 to 2008 it received 35 reports of severe cartilage damage in patients who were given pain pumps after joint surgery. Nearly all the reports involved patients who had shoulder surgery; more than half needed additional surgery, including joint replacement.

Companies making pain pumps include I-Flow Corp. and Stryker Corp. Makers of the anesthetics used in pain pumps, such as APP Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Hospira Inc., will also have to update their labels. The firms have 30 days to propose language that includes a warning about the potential for cartilage destruction, according to the FDA.

Continue reading " FDA Orders Change to Pain Pump Warning Labels. " »

A federal judge has denied a request by Cintas Corp. for summary judgment in a 2007 wrongful death lawsuit in Tulsa, a ruling that paves the way for a jury to hear the case against the nation's largest uniform supplier next year.

U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan wrote in a 31-page opinion that there is ''conflicting evidence'' whether Cintas managers knew workers in company laundries were breaking safety rules to save time, but did nothing to stop them.

Eagan wrote that videotape evidence taken from the Tulsa plant ''shows employees routinely disregarding Cintas' safety procedures.''

Amalia Diaz Torres is suing Cincinnati-based Cintas, claiming the company's plant managers knew about -- and even encouraged -- the dangerous working practices that led to the death of her husband, Eleazar Torres-Gomez, in 2007.

Continue reading " Trial to Proceed in Cintas Wrongful Death Lawsuit " »

Six months after the California Supreme Court lowered standing requirements for consumer class actions, a state trial judge has certified a class of consumers who purchased contact lens solution linked to an infection that can cause blindness.

Orange County, Calif., Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez ruled on Nov. 12 against Abbott Medical Optics Inc., formerly Advanced Medical Optics Inc.

Plaintiffs attorney Mark Robinson, credited the certification order to the California Supreme Court's May 18 decision in In re Tobacco II Cases. That ruling resolved a legal dispute over Proposition 64, a 2004 ballot initiative designed to curb consumer cases filed under California's unfair competition law by requiring that plaintiffs show actual injury. In that case, in which Robinson represented tobacco smokers, the California Supreme Court said that class actions alleging consumer fraud can go forward even if not all the class members have suffered injuries caused by deceptive advertising.

Continue reading " Calif. Contact-Lens Solution Class Action Lawsuit Is Certified " »

Two men who became seriously ill after working at a Hicksville magazine distributor located atop a former nuclear fuel plant have been awarded $12 million in a federal negligence lawsuit against Verizon Communications Inc.

Gerard DePascale, and Liam Neville, each were awarded $5 million, and DePascale's wife, Joanne, $2 million, after their lawyers successfully argued the men were sickened by toxins that remained at the site years after operations ceased in 1967.

Continue reading " Jury Awards $12M in Verizon Toxic Waste Lawsuit " »

An Albemarle County, Va jury awarded $5.25 million to the parents and sibling of a 16-year-old county girl who was killed in a car accident in 2008.

The jury found that Don B. Swisher Trucking Corp., McCann Delivery Service and Kenneth Barbour were negligent when Barbour hit Sydney Aichs’ 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier with a tractor-trailer while running a red light on May 9, 2008.

Continue reading " Jury Awards $5.25M in Va Teenager Wrongful Death " »

Maximiliano Calcaño is 2 and was born with no arms. Maximiliano's mother, Anajai Calcaño, lives in a small house with no indoor plumbing in a rural village in northern Dominican Republic, not far from where coal ash generated by Virginia-based AES Corp. wound up at the edge of the sea.

More than 50,000 tons of coal ash laden with heavy metals was left at a port abutting local homes for years while the company, politicians, prosecutors, environmental activists and bureaucrats argued -- and residents got sick.

Continue reading " Dominican Republic blames U.S.Power Company for Birth Defects " »

Ten months after millions of cubic yards of coal ash spilled from a Tennessee Valley Authority dam, Gary Topmiller and his wife, Pam, said they are trapped in their home across the Emory River from the site and "living in hell."

Topmiller was among several people who spoke to reporters about their problems since Dec. 22, when a breach in an earthen dike at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant sent 5.4 million cubic yards of ash into the Emory River and onto private property.

Continue reading " Property Owner Near TVA Ash Spill Has Medical Problems " »

The husband and estate of a woman who developed blood clots and died shortly after undergoing outpatient knee surgery have been awarded more than $6 million.

In December of 2003, Ruby Quarles, 42, was referred by her primary care physician at Fort Benning's Martin Army Community Hospital to an orthopedic surgeon to investigate complaints of worsening pain in her left knee, according to trial documents.

The surgeon, Dr.McKenzie, gave Quarles an injection for the pain and ordered physical therapy; during a follow-up visit in January 2004, McKenzie ordered an MRI to determine whether Quarles might have a tear in the cartilage of her knee.

The MRI indicated a "cartilaginous loose body" behind Quarles' knee, according to the pre-trial order, and on Jan. 29 she underwent less than an hour of arthroscopic surgery at Doctors Hospital. McKenzie did not find any loose cartilage or other damage, and that afternoon Quarles' daughter, Frances, took her home.

Continue reading " Widower Awarded $6 M in Medical Malpractice Trial " »

A federal jury awarded more than $6.2 million in an age discrimination suit brought by two scientists who said they were fired from their jobs at a Chester County, Pa., chemical manufacturing firm when the company targeted only older workers in layoffs in 2005.

The jury concluded that PQ Corp.'s age discrimination was "willful" -- a finding that leads to an automatic doubling of each plaintiff's back pay award. The jury also awarded compensatory damages -- $2 million to plaintiff Roman Wypart and $1.5 million to plaintiff Bonnie Marcus -- for the emotional damage they suffered as a result of the discrimination.

Lead plaintiffs' attorney Scott B. Goldshaw said he was "gratified that the jury recognized that age discrimination is real and hurts real people."

The weeklong trial in Marcus v. PQ Corp. was the second trial in the case. The first trial, in July, resulted in a hung jury on the claims for three plaintiffs and a rejection of the fourth plaintiff's claims. Prior to the second trial, court records show, PQ settled for an undisclosed sum with plaintiff Ernest Senderov.

Continue reading " 2 Scientists Get $6.2 M Award in Age Discrimination Suit " »

The Chinese drywall product liability complaint is now nearly a year old. And while incidents of Chinese drywall being installed in homes have all but stopped, complaints of bloody noses, sinus infections and vomiting spells for pets and people, widespread corrosion and blackening of copper tubing and wiring and "rotten egg" smell continue to escalate. Last spring, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted 44 investigations into consumer complaints about drywall.

Continue reading " Updated Findings from the Chinese Drywall Report " »

Cancer patients who took drugs to cut the risk of anemia were twice as likely to develop blood clots in the lungs or legs as other patients, a decade-long study of more than 55,000 cancer patients has found.

The study adds to mounting evidence that the risks of the commonly used drugs -- known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents or ESAs -- may outweigh the benefits.

ESAs stimulate bone marrow to increase the production of red blood cells. They were first approved in cancer patients in 1991 to reduce the number of blood transfusions needed during chemotherapy.

Continue reading " Study Confirms Increased Blood Clot Risks With Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Drugs " »

An Air Force veteran and a one-time contractor who served in Iraq are suing military contractors Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc., claiming that the companies exposed them to toxic fumes by burning everything from human remains to tires in massive open-air pits.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville by former Air Force Sgt. Sean Alexander Stough and ex-contractor Charles Hicks.

"The burn pits are still going on," said attorney Susan Burke, who represents the men.

The suit names Houston-based companies KBR and Halliburton, as well as the Turkish company ERKA Ltd. The lawsuit is the latest on behalf of former military members and contract workers who claim they were exposed to toxins from burning waste in the warzone. At least 32 suits over burn pits have been filed in 32 states.

Continue reading " Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. Military Contractors Sued over Iraq 'Burn Pits' " »

Balsamic and other red wine vinegars often contain lead, a potent neurotoxin, and could pose a risk to children who consume it regularly, according to a new analysis by Environmental Health News.

Eating just one tablespoon a day of some vinegars can raise a young child's lead level by more than 30 percent, modeling requested by the news service shows.

Lead can damage people's neurological systems, particularly children's developing brains. Even low levels can reduce a child's IQ or trigger learning and behavioral disorders, scientific studies show. In adults, it has been linked to cardiovascular, kidney and immune system effects.

The heavy metal is so toxic and persistent in the body that there is no known threshold below which adverse effects do not occur, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Continue reading " Lead in Red Wine vinegars Could Cause Toxic Injury " »

Traffic deaths on U.S. roads reached a record low in the first half of 2009, according to projections released Oct. 9. Estimates show that 16,626 people died in traffic crashes between January and June –- a 7 percent decline from 17,871 for the same period last year. Projected figures for the period also show a record low fatality rate of 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from 1.23 deaths during the same period in 2008.

Read the Texas Car Accident report here.

Automobile accidents, auto collisions, car accidents, car crashes, or car wrecks, motor vehicle fender benders are an unfortunate fact of life. Auto accidents can be caused by any number of reasons including: Driver negligence, Driver impairment, Driver recklessness, Defective automobiles or parts and Dangerous road conditions.

Continue reading " Dallas Texas Car and Trucking Accident Lawsuit Update " »

There is progress to report in the Yaz and Yasmin multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2100) currently underway in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Judge David Herndon, who is overseeing the Yaz and Yasmin MDL, has appointed members to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.

The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee was appointed by Judge Herndon in an Order dated November 10, 2009.

Dr Shezad Malik will be working closely with the members of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.

Continue reading " Dallas Yaz Lawsuit Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Appointed " »

KTLA TV in Los Angeles just ran an investigation and news article into Yaz and Yasmin side effects that folks may be interesting in watching.

Click here for the link.

Read the full article here.

Continue reading " KTLA: Yaz, Yasmin Birth Control Users Report Serious Problems " »

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center officials said that 260 patients had been exposed to high doses of radiation during CT brain scans during an 18-month period, up from the hospital's original estimate of 206 in September.

A review by the hospital also found that about 20% of the patients received exposure directly to the lenses of their eyes, which puts them at a higher risk for cataracts.

Of the newly identified cases, 47 patients had died by the time the hospital began contacting victims -- a reflection, officials said, of their serious illnesses, not the radiation exposure.

Continue reading " Cedars-Sinai Finds More Patients Exposed to Excess Radiation " »

Researchers say trials of Pfizer Inc.’s Neurontin epilepsy treatment for uses that were not yet approved may have been altered to emphasize favorable results.

Comparisons of internal company documents with published data from 12 clinical trials found inconsistencies between data that made it into the medical journals and findings from the original trials, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Discrepancies included reports of positive results from trials that were initially found to be negative, and primary study goals reported as secondary study goals.

Continue reading " Data From Studies of Pfizer Neurontin Drug May Have Been Altered " »

A slip and fall accident is a type of personal injury claim that occurs when an individual slips and falls on another person’s property. It is based on the breach of duty that the owner of the property was negligent in failing to correct the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall.

The term Premises Liability is used when assigning responsibility for injuries caused by the defective design or maintenance of property, including private homes, public buildings, and anywhere a person would have a reasonable expectation of safety.

"Negligence" means failure to use ordinary care to provide a safe place and to reduce or eliminate an unreasonable risk of harm created by the condition or use of a place, equipment or procedures.

Continue reading " Dallas Texas Slip and Fall Attorney Update " »

A Pennsylvania landowner is suing an energy company for polluting his soil and water by a natural gas drilling technique.

George Zimmermann, the owner of 480 acres in Washington County, southwest Pennsylvania, says Atlas Energy Inc. ruined his land with toxic chemicals used in or released there by hydraulic fracturing.

Water tests at three locations by gas wells on Zimmermann's property -- one is 1,500 feet from his home -- found seven potentially carcinogenic chemicals above "screening levels" set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Continue reading " Pa Lawsuit Says Gas Drilling Polluted Ground Water " »

- Toyota Motor Corp. has failed to correct a problem with the throttle control system on some of its vehicles, causing them to suddenly accelerate, lawyers for consumers said in a lawsuit.

Los Angeles residents Seong Bae Choi and Chris Chan Park, who claim they experienced multiple instances of unintended acceleration, filed the suit as a class action on Nov. 5, seeking to represent all U.S. owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models.

Toyota last month said it would recall as many as 3.8 million vehicles including Lexus ES luxury cars, Camry sedans and Prius hybrids over a potential flaw in which floor mats shifting out of position could jam the accelerator pedal. The mats aren’t the problem, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer.

Continue reading " Toyota Lawsuits by Consumers Over Sudden Acceleration of Vehicles " »

The New Jersey judiciary is considering a request from Passaic County judge for mass tort status for suits alleging strokes and other serious health problems from the oral contraceptives Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.

With 13 suits filed in his court, Assignment Judge Donald Volkert Jr. wrote to Acting Administrative Director of the Courts Glenn Grant on Oct. 22 that "the case management and potential trial of this particular litigation would place a fairly substantial strain on our already limited resources."

There are 26 suits against the contraceptives' manufacturers pending in other counties, and Volkert said plaintiffs lawyers have told him the number could reach 1,000.

In a notice to the bar, the Administrative Office of the Courts says it will accept public comments until Dec. 31 on the proposal to centralize the cases in Atlantic, Bergen or Middlesex counties, where mass torts are heard.

Continue reading " Dallas Texas Yaz Update: Mass Tort Status for Suits Over Yaz, Yasmin " »

Smokers who want to quit and think a good first step is to switch to light or low-tar cigarettes are making a big mistake. A study has found that those smokers instead have about a 50% lower chance of giving up smoking.

The research, published in the November issue of Tobacco Control, analyzed survey data from about 31,000 smokers who were asked whether they had switched to a milder or low-tar brand of cigarettes and the reasons for the switch. They were queried about whether they had tried to give up smoking and if they could currently call themselves nonsmokers. Those who switched brands were 58% more likely to have attempted to give up smoking than those who stayed with one brand but were 60% less likely to successfully quit.

Continue reading " Light Cigarettes may not help Smokers Quit " »

The US food and drug safety watchdog warned that an over-the-counter men's sex aid, labeled as all-natural, contains a chemical similar to the active ingredient in Viagra and could be dangerous.

Stiff Nights, a product marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, contains an ingredient that can dangerously lower blood pressure and is illegal," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement. Read the full statement here.

The FDA began probing Stiff Nights after receiving a customer complaint about the product. The agency did not reveal the nature of the complaint.

The investigation found that rather than being all-natural, Stiff Nights contains sulfoaildenafil, a chemical similar to the ingredient in Viagra.

Continue reading " FDA: All-Natural Sex Pill Contains Viagra Chemical " »

Federal investigators reported that imported Chinese drywall that homeowners have linked to health problems and odors had higher levels of some chemicals than its domestic counterparts.

The investigators, however, were unable to link the chemicals, sulfur and strontium, to the health problems and smells in thousands of homes built during the recent housing boom, and said further testing was under way to determine any possible connection.

The preliminary findings are part of a larger study by federal agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, into complaints from nearly 2,000 homeowners that their recently built homes emit odors and cause nosebleeds and respiratory problems. The owners also say their electrical appliances have failed and their wiring has corroded. It has been estimated that more than 60,000 homes could have the imported drywall. Large amounts of Chinese drywall were imported over the last few years when domestic supplies ran short. An estimated seven million sheets made in China were used as a substitute. Most of the complaints come from Florida, Virginia and Louisiana, where the widespread destruction after hurricanes lead to rapid rebuilding of damaged homes.

Continue reading " CPSC finds Chinese Drywall has High Levels of Sulfur and Strontium. " »

A Sacramento jury set an eye-popping standard on the cost of radio station contests that kill and the resulting loss of a mother's love and a wife's companionship.

The tab for Entercom Sacramento LLC came to $16,577,118 in the water-intoxication death of Jennifer Lea Strange in a contest put on by radio station KDND "The End" (107.9 FM).

Such was the award rendered by a Sacramento Superior Court jury of seven men and five women in the trial to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Strange's survivors. The 28-year-old woman died Jan. 12, 2007, after she participated in KDND's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest.

Continue reading " Jury Awards $16.6 M for Mom's Wrongful death in Radio Contest " »

Pfizer Inc. must pay about $75 million in punitive damages to an Illinois woman who developed cancer after taking one of the drugmaker’s menopause treatments.

A Philadelphia jury ordered Pfizer’s Wyeth unit on Oct. 26 to pay the bad-conduct award, which is about 20 times larger than the $3.7 million in actual damages the panel awarded to Connie Barton over her use of Wyeth’s Prempro menopause drug, according to people with direct knowledge of the verdict.

A judge ordered Barton’s punitive-damage award sealed at Wyeth’s request until the trial of another Prempro lawsuit in the same courthouse is completed. Lawyers in that case say jurors won’t start deliberating on that suit’s claims for another three weeks.

Continue reading " Pfizer Jury to Award $75 M Prempro Verdict to Woman " »

Donna Scroggin had a hormone replacement product liability suit against Wyeth and Upjohn and at the spring 2008 trial her claim that the drug companies failed to warn of the increased risk of breast cancer resulting from their estrogen and progestin products, a federal district court jury awarded the breast cancer survivor $2.75 million in compensatory damages. In the second phase of trial, the jury hit Upjohn with about $8 million in punitive damages, and Wyeth with $19 million.

After post-trial motions, the judge upheld the jury's liability finding and $2.75 million compensatory damages verdict against Wyeth and Upjohn. But he struck the testimony of Scroggin's punitive damages expert and vacated the punitive damages awards against the drug companies.

Read the opinion here.

Continue reading " Wyeth to Face New Trial on Punitive Damages in Prempro Hormone Replacement Case " »

The widow of a Volusia County Fla firefighter who died when a tree fell on him during a brush-fire training exercise is suing the county Fire Services department for wrongful death.

County firefighter John Curry was with the department nine months and attending his first training with a wildfire team when he was killed.

Volusia County Fire Services knew that using untrained firefighters to cut down trees was dangerous, according to the complaint filed, and failed to protect Curry from his death.

Continue reading " Widow Files Wrongful Death Suit Over Fatal Training Exercise " »

The family of the 9-year-old boy who drowned in a city pool is seeking $15 million from the city, according to a wrongful death claim filed in City Hall.

Jameson Auciel, died on Aug. 20, three days after he was pulled unconscious from the McGrane Pool in Providence city’s West End.

Jameson had been floating face down in the 3- to 4-foot public pool. His cousin, Gamaelle Bazelais, 8, was also found floating face down and unconscious in the pool. Both were rushed to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

Continue reading " Family of Child who Drowned Files a Wrongful Death Lawsuit " »

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the largest fine in its history of $87 million in penalties against the oil giant BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Tex. refinery.

The fine is more than four times the size of any previous OSHA sanction. Federal officials said the penalty was the result of BP’s failure to comply in hundreds of instances with a 2005 agreement to fix safety hazards at the refinery, the nation’s third-largest.

OSHA issued 271 notifications to BP for failing to correct hazards at the Texas City refinery over the four-year period since the explosion. As a result, OSHA, which is part of the Labor Department, is issuing fines of $56.7 million. In addition, OSHA also identified 439 “willful and egregious” violations of industry-accepted safety controls at the refinery. Those violations will lead to $30.7 million in additional fines

Continue reading " BP Faces Fine for ’05 Refinery Wrongful Death Explosion " »

Young children and adolescents who take the newest generation of antipsychotic medications risk rapid weight gain and metabolic changes that could lead to diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses, according to the biggest study yet of first-time users of the drugs.

The study, to be published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 257 young children and adolescents in New York City and on Long Island added 8 to 15 percent to their weight after taking the pills for less than 12 weeks.

Continue reading " Rapid Weight Gain Associated With Antipsychotic Drugs " »

After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury sided with the parents of baseball pitcher Brandon Patch in a civil suit over the player's death during a 2003 game in Helena.

Aluminum bat maker Hillerich & Bradsby Co. failed to provide adequate warning as to the dangers of the bat used by a Helena Senators player during the game, according to at least eight of the 12 Lewis and Clark County jurors.

Hillerich & Bradsby Co. was ordered to pay $792,000 to Patch's estate, which is represented by his mother, Debbie Patch, who filed the suit.

Continue reading " Bat Maker Found Liable for Player's Wrongful Death " »

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. said safety warnings were strengthened for their diabetes drug Byetta relating to the risks of pancreatitis and the medicine’s use by patients with severe kidney disease.

Patients with “severe kidney problems” shouldn’t take Byetta and the treatment should be “used with caution” in people who have had a kidney transplant, San Diego-based Amylin and Indianapolis-based Lilly said in a statement. The companies also said U.S. regulators approved the use of the drug as a stand-alone medication for adults with Type 2 diabetes.

Six patients taking Byetta died in August 2008 from pancreatitis, an inflamed pancreas. A safety alert was issued by the Food and Drug Administration though Amylin said no evidence directly linked the drug to the deaths. The revised language reflects the concerns raised by the FDA a year ago, according to Amylin’s medical director.

Continue reading " Amylin, Lilly’s Byetta Gets Stronger Safety Warning " »

A drug designed to fight anemia appears to double the risk of stroke in patients with diabetes and kidney disease without substantially improving their quality of life, a new study finds.

Darbepoetin alfa, marketed as Aranesp and known as an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA), is often prescribed for diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease and mild anemia.

"The benefits we assumed we would have by treating anemia were less striking and the risks were more striking," said lead researcher Dr. Marc A. Pfeffer, a professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"This provides new data for doctors and patients to make their own risk-benefit assessment," he said. "There was a perception that treating anemia would make people feel so much better that we'll take risks, but the benefit in quality of life was not as great as we thought, and there was a clear doubling of your risk for a stroke."

Continue reading " Anemia Drug Raises Stroke Risk in Kidney Patients " »

The widow of a LA firefighter who was killed last year while on duty has sued the fire department and the city for allegedly causing his death by refusing to replace outdated equipment.

Ralph Arabie, a 30-year veteran of the David Crockett Steam Fire Company No. 1, was killed in September 2008 at the station when the hydraulic boom of a 1965 aerial device struck and pinned his head to the back of one of the station's trucks. He was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma to the head.

The lawsuit, filed alleges that Arabie was killed because the city and station failed to "properly maintain an already over aged fire truck," and "replace overly-aged hydraulic components."

Jan Arabie is suing for damages including the loss of her spouse, loss of support, mental anguish and emotional distress.

Continue reading " Firefighter's Widow Alleges Department Failed to Properly Maintain Equipment. " »

The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said that it had reached a $520 million agreement to settle two federal investigations and two whistle-blower lawsuits over the sale and marketing of its blockbuster psychiatric drug Seroquel.

One of the investigations related to “selected physicians who participated in clinical trials involving Seroquel,” AstraZeneca disclosed in a government filing. The other case related to off-label promotion of the drug.

As a result of aggressive marketing, Seroquel has been increasingly used for children and elderly people for indications not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Doctors are permitted to prescribe any approved drug for off-label uses.

Seroquel was the top-selling antipsychotic drug in America. It had $17 billion in sales in the United States since 2004, according to IMS Health, a research firm.

Continue reading " AstraZeneca Pays $520 M to Settle Seroquel Whistle Blower Cases " »

A Marin County supermarket clerk who urinated on herself at the checkout counter after her supervisor refused to let her take a bathroom break is entitled to a $200,000 damage award, a state appeals court has ruled.

The woman, identified only as A.M., had returned to work at an Albertson's Inc. store in Fairfax in 2004 after undergoing cancer treatment that left her mouth dry and required her to drink water constantly. The store told her to let the managers know when she needed a bathroom break and they would cover for her.

Continue reading " Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Granting $200 K to Employee Denied Bathroom Break. " »