Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

Roche Holding AG, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, is pulling its Accutane acne medicine from the U.S. market after juries awarded at least $33 million in damages to users who blamed the drug for bowel disease.

Roche notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today that it was withdrawing Accutane after a “reevaluation” of its product lines showed it faced serious challenges from generic competitors, company officials said in a statement.

“In addition, Roche has been faced with high costs from personal-injury lawsuits that the company continues to defend vigorously,” according to the statement.

About 13 million people have taken Accutane since it went on the market in 1982. The medication was Roche’s second-biggest selling drug before the patent expired in 2002 and rivals started selling generic versions. Roche’s prescription market share of the drug is now below 5 percent, the company said.

Continue reading "Roche Pulls Accutane Off Market After Jury Verdicts" »

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A federal judge in Atlanta is permitting dozens of product liability suits against Home Depot and the makers of a tile grout cleaner to proceed to trial on negligence claims, but he has stripped away other claims that sought damages for violating federal consumer product safety laws.

Ten of those suits, filed by an Atlanta attorney on behalf of Home Depot customers who were hospitalized after using Tile Perfect Stand 'N Seal Spray-On Grout Cleaner, are among approximately 50 suits that have settled, according to a Home Depot attorney. The settlements are confidential, said Frank A. Ilardi of Houck, Ilardi & Regas, who shared lead counsel duties with Texas attorney William J. Maiberger Jr. until Ilardi negotiated the settlements.

Continue reading "Home Depot Product Liability Suits Advances" »

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In what could be the opening salvo in a new wave of lawsuits against the Scottsdale-based maker of Zicam, lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of 117 people who claim they have suffered loss of smell after using the popular nasal spray.

Among those suing Scottsdale-based Matrixx Initiatives Inc. include one dozen Phoenix-area residents as well as the chef of an upscale Las Vegas-area restaurant who no longer can smell or taste food.

Matrixx officials said they had not seen the lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, but a spokesman said the company believes that its nasal products are safe and do not cause loss of smell.

Continue reading "Zicam Lawsuit Filed" »

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For patients with prostate cancer, it is a common surgical procedure: a doctor implants dozens of radioactive seeds to attack the disease. But when Dr. Gary D. Kao treated one patient at the veterans’ hospital in Philadelphia, his aim was more than a little off.

Most of the seeds, 40 in all, landed in the patient’s healthy bladder, not the prostate.

It was a serious mistake, and under federal rules, regulators investigated. But Dr. Kao, with their consent, made his mistake all but disappear.

He simply rewrote his surgical plan to match the number of seeds in the prostate, investigators said.

Continue reading "Rogue Cancer Unit at Philadelphia V.A. Hospital " »

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A class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles accuses recalled Hydroxycut weight-loss products of causing deadly liver damage and other severe complications.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of anyone who consumed the now-banned supplements, claims the company failed to warn users of the risks of injury.

The Hydroxycut products were recalled May 1 after being linked to dozens of cases of liver damage, jaundice, and other related injuries. In one case, a 19-year-old Hydroxycut user died in 2007 after developing liver failure, but the death was not reported to the Food and Drug Administration until last March, according to the complaint.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Weight-loss Products Sued" »

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The Environmental Protection Agency declared its first-ever "public health emergency," saying the federal government will funnel $6 million to provide medical care for people sickened by asbestos from a mine in northwest Montana.

The declaration applies to the towns of Libby and Troy, where for decades workers dug for vermiculite, a mineral used in insulation. They were unknowingly poisoning themselves: The vermiculite was contaminated with a toxic form of asbestos, which workers carried home on their clothes.

Continue reading "EPA to Pay Medical Bills for People Sickened by Asbestos From Montana Mine" »

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Ailing Ground Zero worker Daniel Arrigo can finally breathe a little easier.

After a year-long struggle, the state's Workers' Compensation Board ruled in Arrigo's favor for a third time, forcing insurance giant Zurich North America to finally pay up.

The married father of three received a check last week for nearly $20,000 in back payments from Zurich, after the Daily News highlighted his plight last month.

He called himself a poster boy for thousands of sick 9/11 responders caught between the slow-moving state compensation board and insurance firms that skillfully game the system to fight claims.

Continue reading "Victory for Sick Ground Zero Worker" »

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A Florida mother sued Fort Lauderdale Hospital and a psychiatrist who worked there, saying they overmedicated her teenage son with a cocktail of mental health drugs -- some of which have not been approved for the treatment of children.

The boy, Emilio Villamar, died of a sudden heart attack. He was 16.

Emilio, a swimmer and water polo player, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by Dr. Sohail Punjwani in March 2002. Within the next year, the teen was given 16 different psychiatric drugs, six of which were still being administered when he died, said Michael S. Freedland, who is representing Emilio's mother, Norma L. Tringali.

Punjwani had also been treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers, a foster child who had been prescribed several psychiatric drugs before he hanged himself in April. In the wake of Gabriel's death, the Department of Children & Families has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the agency's dispensing of mental health drugs.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Links Psychiatric Drugs to Florida Child's Death" »

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Nearly three of 10 teenage Florida foster children have been prescribed a mental-health drug, and 73 foster kids younger than 6 are taking mind-altering drugs, according to a recent study released in response to the death of a Broward foster child who was taking such medications.

In all, 2,669 children -- or 13 percent of Florida foster children -- are being given powerful psychiatric drugs, said the study, commissioned last month by Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon. The largest group, almost 60 percent, are teens ages 13 to 17.

The 2,669 children represent about one-third more kids than a DCF database had reported as taking mental-health drugs -- meaning electronic state records had significantly underestimated the use of mind-altering drugs.

Child-welfare administrators are investigating the use of mental-health drugs by children in state care in the wake of the April 16 death of Gabriel Myers, a troubled 7-year-old boy who hanged himself in the shower of his Margate foster home.

Continue reading "More Florida Foster Kids Are Given Mental-Health Drugs" »

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Federal drug regulators warned consumers to stop using the popular Hydroxycut line of weight-loss products, citing reports of a death due to liver failure and other instances of serious health problems.

In all, the Food and Drug Administration said it had received 23 reports of significant adverse health effects in people who used Hydroxycut, including one person who required a liver transplant. Other complications included heart problems and a kind of muscle damage that could lead to kidney failure, the agency said.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Diet Aids Recalled After FDA Warning" »

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After three days of deliberation, a McLean County jury awarded the family of a deceased Bloomington woman more than $2 million related to her exposure to asbestos.

Juanita Rodarmel contracted mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos when she laundered the clothing of her first husband, Leslie Corry, a worker at the former Union Asbestos & Rubber Company.

Corry worked at the Bloomington plant, later called UNARCO Industries Inc., during the 1950s.

The jury also awarded $100,000 in punitive damages against Pneumo Abex, LLC and $400,000 against Honeywell International, Inc.

Continue reading "Jury Awards More Than $2 M in Illinois Asbestos Case" »

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A Maricopa County Superior Court jury has awarded $3.3 M to a Scottsdale woman who was sickened and permanently disabled by a mold infestation in her apartment building.

Robin Minium was a project manager for American Express and worked out of her upscale apartment near Scottsdale and Bell roads. She had lived there since 2000.

According to court documents, her health deteriorated significantly by 2002, and as she got sicker, she spent more time in her apartment.

Continue reading "$3.3 M Awarded to Woman Sickened by Mold" »

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Just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court decided patients can sue drugmakers over injuries from medicines approved by the government, long-stalled lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are again moving toward trials.

The March 4 decision in a case on Wyeth’s nausea treatment Phenergan broke a logjam of cases in state and federal courts. Federal regulatory approval of a medicine and information about side effects does not shield drugmakers from claims that patients and doctors were not adequately warned, the high court ruled. The decision already affected more than 250 lawsuits involving at least 10 companies that were in limbo before the ruling.

Continue reading "Wyeth Supreme Court Loss Restarts Drug Lawsuits " »

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The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for a suit by a New Jersey woman who claims to have suffered mercury poisoning from Chicken of the Sea canned tuna.

The denial of certiorari sets the stage for a federal court trial in Newark, N.J., in a putative class action suit, filed under New Jersey's Product Liability Act, that faults a cannery company with not putting mercury warnings on the label.

The justices without opinion let stand a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last September that the claim is not pre-empted by the Food and Drug Administration's "pervasive regulatory scheme." The appeals court said this is a case where state tort law complements federal regulations, which often lack a compensatory apparatus or a process for gathering information about potential claims.

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The oil company Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it had reached a $5.8 million settlement over claims of air pollution at its Deer Park refinery near Houston.

The proposed settlement would require Shell to reduce emissions from air pollutants from its plant by 80 percent within three years, upgrade chemical units and reduce gas flaring.

The agreement is subject to review by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department. It must also be approved by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, where the complaint was filed.

Continue reading "Shell Settles Texas Air Pollution Claims" »

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Wyeth, the drugmaker being acquired by Pfizer Inc., must face a lawsuit by a woman who claims her breast cancer was caused by the menopause medicine Prempro, a Texas appeals court ruled.

The state appeals court in Houston said that Susan Brockert’s “failure-to-warn” claims aren’t preempted by federal drug-labeling regulations, overturning a district judge’s finding from February 2007. The case was sent back to the lower court for further proceedings.

The appeals panel cited last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a $7 million award to a musician who lost her arm after being injected with Wyeth’s Phenergan nausea treatment. The high court said patients can sue drugmakers for failing to provide adequate safety warnings, even when a treatment and its packaging are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Continue reading "Wyeth Must Face Woman’s Prempro Lawsuit, Appeals Court Rules" »

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The investigation into the cause of brain tumors near Cameron, Mo., lead to the filing of a lawsuit which accused a tannery of being at fault.

Sludge from Prime Tanning Corp., in St. Joseph contains high levels of hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, the lawsuit filed in Clinton County alleged.

For years, farmers in at least four counties in northwest Missouri have gotten the sludge for free to use as an agriculture fertilizer for their crops, according to the lawsuit.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Blaming Tannery for Missouri Brain Cancer" »

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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" »

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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 " »

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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" »

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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" »

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Peanut Corporation of America, the company responsible for the nationwide salmonella outbreak, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will begin liquidating its assets as legal claims pile up against it.

Companies that Lynchburg, Va.-based PCA supplied with peanut products have also filed suit against it, and PCA's insurer, Hartford Casualty Insurance, has filed a lawsuit in an effort to limit its liability.

Continue reading "PCA Peanut Company Files for Bankruptcy Protection" »

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Texas health officials ordered a recall of every product ever shipped from a Plainview peanut processing plant since March 2005 after inspectors discovered contamination.

Inspectors found dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in a crawl space above a food production area at the Peanut Corp. of America’s Plainview plant, according to authorities from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The plant’s air handling system was not completely sealed and was pulling debris from the infested crawl space onto exposed food products in production areas.

Continue reading "All Peanut Products From Texas Plant Are Recalled" »

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According to federal drug officials, many doctors may lose their ability to prescribe 24 popular narcotics as part of a new effort to reduce the deaths and injuries that result from these medications inappropriate use.

A new control program will result in restrictions on the prescribing, dispensing and distribution of extended-release opioids like OxyContin, fentanyl patches, methadone tablets and some morphine tablets.

Continue reading "F.D.A. to Restrict Prescriptions of Narcotics " »

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A new study finds that almost a quarter of a sample of people exposed to toxic dust after the 9/11 attack in New York City still suffer from diminished lung capacity.

The rate of lung problems is about 2.5 times more than would be expected in people who smoke, according to co-author Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program Clinical Center.

Continue reading "Aftermath of 9/11" »

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A N.J., judge has blocked an attempt to dismiss a toxic-tort suit over a mercury-contaminated building, rejecting defense arguments that the plaintiff's expert proofs of emotional distress were inadmissible net opinions.

In Schley v. General Electric Co., L-251-07, former owners and residents of 722 Grand St. in Hoboken, N.J., seek damages from GE, a previous owner. The plaintiffs claim physical injury and emotional distress allegedly caused by contamination so severe that authorities ordered them to evacuate the building.

Continue reading "Emotional-Distress Suit Against GE Over Toxic Building" »

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A peanut processing plant in Texas run by the Peanut Corp. of America, which is being investigated for a national salmonella outbreak, operated for years uninspected and unlicensed by Texas health officials.

The Peanut Corp. of America plant in Plainview was never inspected until after the company fell under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.

Once inspectors learned about the Texas plant, they found no sign of salmonella there. This finding raises questions; how it could have operated unlicensed for nearly four years and about the adequacy of government efforts to keep the nation's food supply safe. Texas is among states where the FDA relies on state inspectors to oversee food safety.

Continue reading "Texas Peanut Plant Under Investigation" »

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Independent water quality tests conducted by environmental activists show high levels of arsenic and other toxins in river water near the site of a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee and several miles downstream.

The samples were collected about one to two weeks after 1.1 billion gallons of ash sludge and water breached an earthen containment area at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant, about 40 miles west of Knoxville. No one was seriously injured in the spill, but several residents were displaced.

Continue reading "More Toxins in River Near TVA Ash Spill" »

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Federal health officials opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak.

The investigation into Peanut Corp. of America follows reports of poor sanitation practices and inspections that found the company sold contaminated peanut products to food makers.

At least 529 people have been sickened as a result of the outbreak, and at least eight might have died because of it. More than 430 products have been recalled.

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A lawsuit by the widow whose husband died of lung cancer is headed to trial again. Nearly two months after ending in a mistrial, the first of about 8,000 cases against tobacco companies in Florida is scheduled to head to trial again in Florida.

Elaine Hess is suing cigarette maker Philip Morris, alleging her husband's death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes containing nicotine. Stuart Hess, a locksmith, died of lung cancer at age 55 in 1997.

The case originally went to trial in December, but ended on the second day of testimony after an expert witness for Hess used a racial slur.

Continue reading "Florida Tobacco Lawsuit To Restart" »

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The plant in Georgia that produced peanut butter tainted by salmonella has a history of sanitation lapses and was cited repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 for having dirty surfaces and grease residue and dirt buildup throughout the plant, according to health inspection reports. Inspection reports from 2008 found the plant repeatedly in violation of cleanliness standards.

Continue reading "Peanut Butter Update" »

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A new study finds that hundreds of young children in the Washington D.C. area experienced potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood when lead levels were rising in the city's tap water.

In some neighborhoods, the number of toddlers and infants with blood-lead concentrations that can cause irreversible IQ loss and developmental delays more than doubled after lead began leaching into the city's drinking water in 2001, according to the findings to be published in Environmental Science and Technology journal.

Continue reading "Washington D.C. Water With High Lead Levels" »

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More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, according to federal health officials.
The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for dogs may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its dog treats.

Continue reading "FDA: Products Recalled in Peanut Salmonella Outbreak" »

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The Food and Drug Administration said that salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made by Kellogg.
Kellogg said that a previously recalled peanut butter-sandwich cracker tested positive for salmonella.

The outbreak has led to 474 reported illnesses and may have caused six deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Continue reading "FDA Confirms Salmonella in Peanut Butter Crackers" »

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a link between peanut butter and a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 400 people in 43 states.

Continue reading "CDC and Peanut Butter Salmonella Link" »

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Six veterans who allege they were exposed to dangerous chemicals, germs and mind-altering drugs during Cold War experiments sued the CIA, Department of Defense and other agencies, in San Francisco Federal Court.

The vets volunteered for military experiments they say were part of a wide-ranging program started in the 1950s to test nerve agents, biological weapons and mind-control techniques.

They allege in their lawsuit that they were never properly informed of the nature of the experiments and are in poor health because of their exposure. They are demanding health care and a court ruling that the program was illegal because it failed to obtain their consent.

The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of all participants allegedly exposed to harmful experiments without their knowledge.

The lawsuit said that at least 7,800 U.S. military personnel served as volunteers to test experimental drugs such as LSD at the Edgewood Arsenal near Baltimore, Md., during a program that lasted into the 1970s.

Continue reading "Vets Sue US Over Military Experiments" »

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TEXAS-Johnson County officials are concerned about "mud" spills, the mess that some companies leave behind when waste is hauled away from drilling sites.

When trucks loaded with the mud used in the gas drilling process travel too fast along county roads, some of it spills out, and county officials are sometimes left to clean up the mess.

The Johnson County’s emergency management coordinator, said cleanup costs are mounting, and the problem is also plaguing other counties in the Barnett Shale.

The mud contains lubricants and toxic chemicals used to make the drill bit turn more easily. When mud spills onto roadways, it is like ice, sometimes leading to serious accidents.

Continue reading "Texas Roadway Hazards From Trucks Leaving Gas Well Sites " »

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An appeal by Hanford contractors, has been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court clearing the way for a settlement with almost 2,000 people exposed to radiation during the Manhattan Project and the early years of the Cold War.

The contractors - E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., General Electric Co. and UNC Nuclear Industries Inc. - were challenging a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last spring that sided largely with the plaintiffs.

The people exposed to radiation lived in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and Idaho, down wind of the Hanford nuclear reservation, as the U.S. government was developing the first atomic bombs in the 1940s. They have spent nearly two decades trying to win compensation for thyroid cancer and other conditions that they say were caused by the exposure.

Continue reading "Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Hanford Contractors" »

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W.R. Grace & Co. has agreed to pay up to $140 million to settle a class action lawsuit from its use of an attic-insulating product that contained asbestos.

The chemicals maker company will pay $30 million cash into a trust fund, an additional $30 million cash after three years, and make up to 10 additional annual payments of $8 million if certain conditions are met.

The payouts stem from the company's sale of Zonolite attic insulation, a loose-fill vermiculite product that can contain naturally occurring asbestos. Zonolite was installed in millions of homes throughout the U.S. and Canada. The hundreds of thousands of lawsuits filed against the product pushed W.R. Grace into bankruptcy protection in 2001.

Continue reading "W.R. Grace to Settle Asbestos Case" »

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The Food and Drug Administration said that it had discovered the toxic chemical melamine in infant formula made by an American manufacturer.

Agency officials said they had discovered melamine at trace levels in a sample of infant formula. It was also discovered in several samples of dietary supplements that are made by some of the same manufacturers who make formula.

Melamine contamination became a major scandal in China after it was added to milk to disguise test results that measure protein levels. Since it was discovered in infant formula in September, it has sickened more than 50,000 infants and killed 4.

Continue reading "Melamine Found in U.S. Infant Formula " »

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The city of Milwaukee's appeal to force a former lead paint manufacturer to pay for the cleanup of 11,000 contaminated properties was rejected.

The Court of Appeals ruled that NL Industries Inc. does not have to pay the city costs of cleaning up the inner-city homes. The city sought $52.6 million for the program, which involved replacing old windows.

The Milwaukee County jury ruled last year the widespread presence of lead paint in Milwaukee homes was a public nuisance, but NL Industries did not "intentionally and unreasonably engage in conduct" that caused it and was not negligent.

Continue reading "Milwaukee Loses Appeal in Lead Paint Lawsuit" »

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A congressionally mandated scientific panel has concluded that Gulf War syndrome is real and still afflicts nearly a quarter of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict, according to a recently released report.

The report concluded that two chemical exposures were direct causes of the disorder: the drug pyridostigmine bromide, given to troops to protect against nerve gas, and pesticides that were widely used -- and often overused -- to protect against sand flies and other pests.

"The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real, that it is a result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time," according to the 450-page report presented to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake.

Continue reading "Gulf War Syndrome New Report" »

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A group of Maryland residents whose drinking water was contaminated with coal ash reached a multimillion-dollar settlement of its class action lawsuit against Constellation Energy Group.

The deal, estimated at $45 million, gives about 600 residents living near a sand and gravel mine financial compensation and environmental remediation.

For 12 years Constellation worked with a contractor to dump billions of tons of waste ash from its Brandon Shores coal-fired power plant into an unlined former gravel mine pit. County tests found that 23 wells in the area tested positive for metals such as arsenic, cadmium and thallium, all components of waste ash from smokestacks, also called "fly ash."

A suit was filed in November 2007 in Baltimore Circuit Court to make Constellation pay unspecified damages for personal injuries and loss of property values.

Continue reading "Coal Fired Power Plant and Residents Settle Law Suit" »

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The world's largest company Exxon Corp promised the residents of a Baltimore County neighborhood that the company would "pay money damages to the people who were harmed" by a 26,000-gallon gasoline leak that contaminated the groundwater beneath their homes two years ago.

This is a trial in which 309 plaintiffs claimed that the oil giant was careless in looking after its facilities and the responsible party There are real damages in this case. Some plaintiffs have suffered emotional distress and some plaintiffs have suffered loss in property values.

Continue reading "Exxon Sued For Groundwater Contamination" »

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Parents are worried about a chemical substance found in the popular sealants that are painted on children’s molars to prevent decay.

The chemical is bisphenol-A, or BPA, which is widely used in the making of the hard, clear plastic called polycarbonate, and is also found in the linings of food and soft-drink cans. Most human exposure to the chemical clearly comes from the food supply. But traces have also been found in dental sealants.

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reassured consumers that the chemical appears to be safe, it has received increasing scrutiny in recent months from health officials in the United States and Canada. See earlier post

Continue reading "BPA In Dental Sealants" »

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to stem the pollution washing into waterways from cities and suburbs, the National Academy of Sciences reported this week.

According to the report's authors, there needs to be "radical changes" in the way the federal government regulates stormwater runoff so that all waters are clean enough for fishing and swimming.

Stormwater runoff is the toxic brew of oil, fertilizers and trash picked up by rain and snowmelt as the water flows over parking lots, roofs and subdivisions.

Continue reading "EPA Messed Up Water Pollution Controls" »

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued new air quality standard for lead that is expected to have a major impact in Missouri, in the heart of the nation's lead belt.

The new standard is 10 times more tougher than the old standard for lead, a toxic metal which known to impair neurological development in children.

The new standard of 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter of air represents the first time the agency has revised airborne levels of lead since 1978, when the metal was phased out of gasoline. According to experts it is a good standard and EPA has got to enforce it.

The EPA was under a court order to revise the standard as a result of successful 2004 lawsuit.

Continue reading "EPA Issues New Standard For Lead" »

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A Kansas District Court judge says the city of Neodesha is entitled by law to recover the costs of cleanup and damage caused by an oil refinery. The ruling from the judge overturns a jury verdict that sided with oil giant British Petroleum (BP) Corp. North America.

Continue reading "BP Corp Liable for Clean Up " »

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According to sources the EPA is planning to rule that it will not set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate. Perchlorate is a highly toxic substance; a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children across the United States.

The EPA's "preliminary regulatory determination" marks the final step in a six-year-old battle between EPA scientists who want to regulate the chemical and other governmental officials who oppose it. The EPA estimates that up to 16.6 million Americans are exposed to perchlorate at a level many scientists consider unsafe.

Continue reading "EPA Blinks on Perchlorate" »

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns consumers on the Texas Gulf Coast to protect themselves against dangers in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

Portable gasoline generators can quickly produce high levels of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO) and should never be used indoors, including inside a home, basement, shed or garage, even if doors or windows are open. It is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas; in other words a silent killer. CO from a generator used indoors can kill you and your loved ones in minutes.

Continue reading "Carbon Monoxide From Generators Can Kill in Minutes" »

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Years after claiming that mercury in fillings was safe, the FDA now says it may be harmful to pregnant women, children, fetuses, and people who are especially sensitive to mercury exposure.

The FDA now states that dental amalgams containing mercury, may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses.

Continue reading "Mercury Fillings Harmful" »

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An Arkansas woman filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a Connecticut company of making plastic baby bottles with a dangerous chemical linked to serious health problems.

The lawsuit by Ashley Campbell against Playtex Products is a challenge involving the industrial chemical bisphenol A.

Continue reading "Baby Bottles With BPA" »

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