Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

As a Fort Worth Toxic Tort and Environmental Attorney I am providing this update regarding diesel fracking.

According to U.S. House Democrats, Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes' BJ Services are among 12 oil and gas companies using diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing, potentially violating the law.

The providers injected 32.2 million gallons of unauthorized diesel fuel, or fluids containing the fuel, to extract gas from wells in 19 states from 2005 to 2009, according to a letter to Environmental Protection Agency. BJ Services led with 11.5 million gallons followed by Halliburton at 7.2 million.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee began its investigation of fracturing in February 2010. The panel concluded that 12 of 14 companies questioned used diesel fuel or fluids containing diesel in 19 states.

Texas, where North Texas' Barnett Shale is the nation's No. 1 natural gas source and the Eagle Ford Shale in South and Central Texas is a growing resource, accounted for half of the total. Companies also used at least 1 million gallons of diesel-containing fluids in Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota, Louisiana and Colorado.

Companies using hydraulic fracturing -- a technique that shoots water, sand and chemicals into shale to extract natural gas -- aren't required to get permits unless they use fluids containing diesel, which the EPA said is a threat to drinking water.

The EPA is collecting information as part of a study into the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.

Environmental groups led by the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council said the chemicals used are often toxic, citing cases in Wyoming and Pennsylvania where residents were told not to drink well water.

Continue reading " Oil and Gas Drillers Accused of Using Diesel In Fracking " »

As a Fort Worth Traumatic Brain Injury, Wrongful Death and Truck Accident attorney I am providing this jury verdict out of California. Count this as a win for the good guys, but unfortunately no amount of money can turn back the clock and fully compensate the victims of this tragic and needless accident.

A California jury has awarded $49 million in a lawsuit stemming from a highway accident in 2007 that left one man dead and a police officer paralyzed.

Officer Pedeferri had pulled over motorist Andres Parra on U.S. Highway 101 north of Ventura when a man driving a truck slammed into them, killing Parra, and rendering the police officer a quadriplegic.

Jurors awarded Parra's parents $10.2 million for the loss of their son.

The truck driver pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and transporting marijuana. He was sentenced in 2008 to 15 years in prison.

Continue reading " $49 M Awarded in Wrongful Death Drunk Driving Truck Accident " »

As a Fosamax Product Liability Osteonecrosis attorney I am providing this update of the current status of Fosamax MDL Litigation.

A Fosamax jury trial began last week in the Superior Court for Atlantic County, New Jersey. Merck states that the evidence will show that FOSAMAX did not cause the plaintiff to develop dental and jaw related problems and that Merck provided appropriate and timely information about FOSAMAX to the medical, scientific and regulatory communities.

In Rosenberg v. Merck, the plaintiff alleges she used FOSAMAX from 1999 to 2006. The plaintiff further claimed she suffered various jaw problems and complications following a tooth extraction in December 2005.

FOSAMAX was approved as a safe and effective medication by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 1995 and is still on the market today and approved for multiple indications, including the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

This is the fourth FOSAMAX case to go to trial. The first three trials were conducted as part of the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings before Judge John F. Keenan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The first case to be tried to a verdict, Maley v. Merck, resulted in a defense verdict for Merck in May 2010. The second case to be tried to a verdict, Boles v. Merck, initially resulted in a mistrial in September 2009 after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. A retrial of that case in June 2010 resulted in a plaintiff verdict, which has since been reduced by Judge Keenan and which Merck is appealing. The third case to be tried to a verdict, Graves v. Merck, resulted in a defense verdict for Merck in November 2010. As of September 30, 2010, approximately 1,180 cases, which include approximately 1,560 plaintiff groups, had been filed and were pending against Merck in either federal or state court.

Continue reading " Fosamax Side Effect Lawsuit Update " »

As a Fort Worth Toxic Tort Groundwater contamination attorney I am providing this update on the Camp Lejeune litigation.
A former Marine has filed a $16 million lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that contaminated water at Camp Lejeune caused him to contract a rare form of breast cancer.

It is the latest damage claim in a long-running dispute between former residents and the Marine Corps over the polluted water.

Wells at the base were contaminated by fuel leaks and other sources of pollution before being closed two decades ago. Health officials think as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to tainted water.

Continue reading " Marine Files Lawsuit Over Toxic Camp Lejeune Water " »

As a Fort Worth DARVON Product Liability Attorney I am providing this Darvon, Darvocet Update.

Since Dec. 3, seven lawsuits have been filed in federal court alleging that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., the manufacturer of Darvocet and Darvon, knew of the risks but failed to warn doctors and the general public that the medications could contribute to heart disease.

The recalled pain pills Darvocet, Darvon, or the generic propoxyphene are some of the most dangerous drugs ever sold in the United States, and we are urging folks to stop taking Darvocet, Darvon, or the generic version propoxyphene pain pills immediately.

Many people we have talked with, who took Darvocet, or Darvon, developed severe heart rhythm issues including sudden death, and now are either medicated to control their heart beat, or they have a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator.

The suits, some them class actions, were filed on behalf of people who suffered from heart problems or died after taking the drugs. Plaintiffs' lawyers already have moved to consolidate the cases into multidistrict litigation.

Continue reading " Darvocet Wrongful Death Product Liabilty Lawsuits " »

As a Fort Worth Taser Lawsuit Attorney, I am reporting this Dallas Texas story.

A Dallas police officer has filed a lawsuit in which he alleges that jolts of electricity received during Taser training caused fractured backs and other severe injuries.

Dallas police Officer Andrew Butler’s lawsuit, filed Jan. 6 against Taser International, is thought to be the first of its kind in Texas. He alleges Taser did not fully disclose the risks associated with being shot with the device in the academy to his police trainers.

In Dallas, the deaths of at least two drug-fueled suspects who were stunned during arrests have been connected to shocks from the devices.

Recently, police officers around the country have begun filing lawsuits claiming they were hurt when taking a Taser shot.

Several dozen lawsuits by police officers have been filed, but only one has gone to trial. Taser prevailed in that 2005 Arizona case because the officer had a pre-existing back condition.

The company has sold 514,000 devices to more than 15,800 law enforcement and military agencies. Half of the about 2.3 million times that Tasers have been used were in training environments and other voluntary situations, according to the company.

In Dallas, being stunned is optional, but peer pressure in the hyper macho environment of police training often leaves few bystanders, people familiar with the training say.

Dallas police Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who supervises training, said that he was unaware of cases in which officers around the country had alleged they were hurt by Tasers. He said he would review information in Butler’s case, but had no immediate plans to stop officers from taking voluntary zaps in training.

He and others in the class signed waivers before they were shocked with the device. Butler and his attorney say he later had to have surgery to repair fractured vertebrae that were crushed when his back muscles contorted from the Taser shock.

Continue reading " Dallas Police Officer Files lawsuit Against Taser " »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney, this story takes the biscuit as far as crazy things to do while you are driving.

According to police, a van that caught on fire in a Seattle suburb was caused by the passengers filling up the van with gas while driving.

According to one of the victims, she and her two friends had bought gas at a gas station. She said they didn't have a gas can, so they filled an open bucket with two gallons of gas and put it in the van.

The engine cowling, a piece of metal that covered the engine had been removed. The passengers used a water bottle to transfer gas from the bucket directly into the carburetor in order to keep the engine running.

The van was filled with gas fumes, then the van stalled and as the driver tried to restart the van, it exploded.

According to Witnesses, the woman jumped out of the back of the van and fell to the ground, on fire, and that the van rolled over her leg. All three people were on fire and "desperately trying to put it out," investigators said.

Continue reading " Victims In Car Fire Were Filling Gas While Driving " »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney, I am reporting this crazy case of road rage, which took place in my back yard of Grapevine, Texas.

A Dallas man, James D. Wilson, tried to escape after assaulting another driver in a road-rage incident here in Grapevine.

According to the Grapevine police, Wilson is expected to be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangering a child and criminal mischief. The incident occurred on westbound Texas 114, which is being rebuilt as part of the DFW Connector project.

The other driver, was with his wife, his 9-year-old daughter and their dog in their BMW when he was cut off by a pickup.

The pickup pulled up beside the BMW and then the pickup driver and his passenger got out and yelled at the BMW driver.

The pickup driver got into his truck, leaving the door open, and backed into the BMW and the driver with the door.

The BMW driver got up after being hit, and was dragged about 100 feet while hanging on the door. The BMW driver eventually let go of the door and rolled onto the roadway.

Luckily the incident was witnessed by an off duty police officer and the arrest took place. The man who performed the criminal attack should have his license revoked, pay a hefty fine and go to jail. These kind of assaults/road rage cannot be tolerated in a civilized society...zero tolerance.

Continue reading " Car Accident and Road Rage in Grapevine Texas " »

As a Fort Worth Sexual Assault and abuse attorney, I am providing this update for the TCU lawsuit involving rape and sexual assault on campus.

According to a lawsuit the student filed against the university, Texas Christian University officials should have known that two athletic recruits accused of raping an art student had criminal histories and posed a threat on campus.

The woman who filed the lawsuit, alleged that she was was drugged and then gang-raped by three athletes in 2006 while visiting a dormitory room. The three were arrested and were permanently separated from the university.

Attorneys representing the woman in her lawsuit maintain that if TCU officials did not know, they should have known that, the attackers, Jones and Taylor had criminal histories and that Jones had had his probation revoked in connection with an assault causing bodily injury in a 2005 Collin County case.

The three athletes, Behling, Taylor and Jones were arrested in October 2006 after the woman reported that Taylor sexually assaulted her. Taylor lured her to his dorm room on the pretext of repaying money he owed for a hamburger. There, the woman told police, she was given a drink that caused her to pass out. Then she was attacked repeatedly by the athletes.

Continue reading " TCU Fort Worth Law Suit For False Claims of Safe Campus " »

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney, I am providing the jury verdict and a win for the good guys.

Jurors awarded $10.1 million in damages to the family of an overdose victim, hoping the verdict strikes fear into other "pill mills" that have turned Houston into a national center for prescription drug abuse.

"Our verdict shows how much our community is against these pill mills and wants things to change," said juror Lauren Simmons, after finding gross negligence led to the overdose death of Michael Skorpenske of Conroe.

Skorpenske, 54, died July 7, 2007, two days after his only visit to the Family Medi Clinic in The Woodlands where he received a prescription for three potent drugs: hydrocodone, xanax and soma.

He had sought help there for chronic pain he suffered from a motorcycle injury and a fall at a petrochemical plant.

According to records, the clinic's director, Dr. Maurice Conte, had prescribed this same drug combo at least 3,800 times between 2006 and 2007 at more than 17 pain area clinics that he supervised. Dr. Maurice Conte, was forced to surrender his license to the Texas Medical Board after Skorpenske died.

Conte, who repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during the four-day trial, was found grossly negligent and slapped with the stiffest penalty: $9.05 million.

Continue reading " Houston Doctor and Clinic Busted for Wrongful Death " »

A Fort Worth Nurse license attorney, I am providing the latest update to a story I had commented on involving 2 nurses in West Texas.

A state grand jury in Winkler County, Tex., has indicted the sheriff, the county attorney and a hospital administrator for their roles in orchestrating the prosecution of two whistle-blowing nurses after they had reported allegations of malpractice.

The sheriff, Robert L. Roberts Jr., and county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, each face six counts, including misuse of official information and retaliation, which are third-degree felonies. Stan Wiley, the administrator of Winkler County Memorial Hospital, in the West Texas town of Kermit, was indicted on two counts of retaliation.

Read full story here at the New York Times.

Continue reading " Sheriff Charged in Texas Nurse Whistle-Blowing Case " »

The law is always changing when it comes to accidents, and as a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney I read with interest this car accident case which is now in front of the Texas Supreme Court.

Seven years ago, near Fredericksburg, Courtney Foreman of Cedar Park drowned after construction work left a 15-foot gap in a bridge guardrail room enough for her car, sliding on wet dirt and gravel, to hit the Pedernales River.

She was 18. But a lawsuit against the construction company that followed those plans was thrown out, only to be reinstated on appeal.

Now the case is before the Texas Supreme Court, which will determine whether the Allen Keller Co. had a duty to protect drivers like Foreman from a potentially dangerous situation. The answer could have repercussions for Texas contractors, construction firms and accident victims.

Continue reading " Texas Supreme Court to Answer: Is Builder Liable for Bridge's Guardrail Gap? " »

As a Fort Worth Product Liability and Defective drug attorney I am reporting this latest warning from the FDA involving the drug, Multaq.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it has received several reports of liver damage with Multaq tablets, including two cases in which patients had to have their livers removed.

Both female patients were 70 years old, and they had been taking the drug for 4.5 months and six months, respectively.

The FDA said it would add a new warning about the risk for liver damage to the label of Multaq. Multaq already carries a black box warning, the most severe type, stating the drug can cause severe complications, including death, in people with recent severe heart failure and should not be used in those patients.

Sanofi-Aventis SA, the manufacturer of the medication, will send a letter to US doctors telling them that two patients taking the Multaq (dronedarone) medication have suffered liver failure.

Multaq, cleared for sale in 2009, treats atrial fibrillation, a rapid and irregular beating in the heart's upper chambers affecting an estimated two million people in the US, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

According to the FDA, patients taking the drug should call their doctor if they experience symptoms such as itching, yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, loss of appetite, or light-colored stools,

Continue reading " FDA Multaq Dronedarone: Risk of Severe Liver Injury " »

As a Fort Worth DePuy Hip Recall and Injury Attorney I am providing this DePuy Litigation update.

The DePuy Product Liability Attorneys involved with the DePuy Recall and class action lawsuits are scheduled to meet with the federal judge that is presiding over the multi-district litigation (MDL) on January 20th.

In December, a U.S. Judicial Panel ruled to consolidate all federal DePuy hip recall lawsuits in the Northern District of Ohio. The meeting scheduled for January will allow the Judge to select which attorneys will serve in leadership roles for the plaintiffs and the defendants.

Over 100 DePuy hip recall lawsuits have already been transferred to the MDL Court, and thousands more are expected to be filed or transferred in the coming months.

The claims are being consolidated in an effort to reduce the burden on the court system. All of the cases that have been and will be filed under the MDL will have similar allegations against a common defendant, DePuy Orthopedics and its parent company Johnson & Johnson. Many claims will be seeking similar damages resulting from similar injuries and much of the same discovery will be applicable to a majority of the claims.

DePuy ASR hip implants were recalled by DePuy last year after it was discovered that the metal on metal implants had an extremely high rate of failure, but most of damage had already been done. Over 90,000 people world wide were implanted with the defective devices between the 2005 launch and the recall some five years later. It is estimated that about 35,000 defective DePuy hips were implanted in the United States alone.

Patients implanted with a recalled DePuy hip implant may still be at risk for problems related to the release of small particles from the metal-on-metal devices, even if they have not experienced pain or other symptoms. Therefore, if you have received an implant involved in the DePuy hip replacement recall, do not wait until you experience symptoms of DePuy hip problems to learn your legal rights.

Continue reading " DePuy Hip Recall Lawyers and MDL Court Meeting in January " »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney, I am writing about this tragic loss of life in a car crash just before New Years day.

Spc. Clinton Young, on leave for Christmas, and was to return Jan. 3 to finish training at the 14th Military Police Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He died just before New Years day when a collision knocked him off an overpass on U.S. 287 in southeast Fort Worth, where he was standing after his car crashed into a guardrail.

His mother, Ruby Young said she was on the phone with her son moments before he was killed. "He loved his family very much and his family dearly loved him," his mom said. "But we'd like people to know that Clinton was proud to serve his country. He wanted to be a soldier."

Ruby Young said she was told that her son lost control of his car on a U.S. 287 overpass and smashed into the guardrail. An 18-wheeler then crashed just past her son's vehicle, blocking the road.

Another 18-wheeler stopped in the road because the driver couldn't get around the wreckage. Then a vehicle slammed into the second truck's trailer and careered into Clinton Young, who was standing next to his vehicle.

The collision threw him over the guardrail and he fell dozens of feet onto East Loop 820, Fort Worth police reported. My thoughts and prayers are with this young man;s family at this time of need.

Continue reading " Fort Worth Car Crash Leads to Death of Promising Young Soldier " »

As a Dallas Product Liability attorney and Bard Recovery and G2 IVC Filter lawyer, I am writing an update about this latest FDA warning regarding the Inferior Vena Cava filters.As I wrote previously in my blog, there are serious and fatal complications of the widely used Bard inferior vena cava (IVC) filters.

G2TM IVC Filter Lawsuits

G2™ Filter System Lawsuits allege that the G2TM Filter System possesses manufacturing and design defects which resulted in device failure. The injured plaintiffs experienced fracture and migration of the G2TM Filter.

In 2005, Bard Peripheral Vascular began selling its G2TM IVC filter. This replaced the RecoveryTM IVC filter. Despite the "enhanced fracture resistance" and "enhanced migration resistance" advertisements by Bard Peripheral Vascular, the device has still been shown to fracture, fail and migrate.

RecoveryTM IVC Filter Lawsuits

The RecoveryTM IVC filter was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002. It was placed on the market for use in 2003. Its manufacturer, Bard Peripheral Vascular withdrew the RecoveryTM IVC filter from the market in 2005 and replaced it with the G2TM IVC filter. The G2TM IVC filter is the "second generation" of the RecoveryTM IVC filter.

A recent medical report has found that 25% of all Bard Recovery IVC filters and 12% of Bard G2 IVC filters fractured. These fractured filters have the potential become dislodged and cause serious and fatal injury. 71% of the broken pieces migrated through the veins of the patient to the heart. The FDA has received more than 900 reports of adverse events, including:

* Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

* Filter Fracture, Migration or Embolization, leading to Injury to the Heart, Lung or Vena Cava

* Cardiac or Pericardial Tamponade

* Severe Persistent Chest Pain

* Shortness of Breath

* Death

Continue reading " Dallas Bard Recovery and G2 IVC Filter Lawsuits " »