Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

According to OSHA, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009.

"With every one of these fatalities, the lives of a worker's family members were shattered and forever changed. We can't forget that fact."
-Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor

Poorly Managed Construction Sites Are Dangerous.

Construction site injuries include:

* Falls
* Struck by falling object
* Struck by laterally moving object or equipment
* Impalement or penetrating injury
* Truck or other motor vehicle accident
* Electrocution
* Explosions
* Burns

Continue reading "Dallas Fort Worth Construction Sites Can Lead to Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries" »

I am proud of our work this week. We just settled another car accident injury claim. My client was minding his own business, one night in Dallas. Somebody plowed into him and rear ended him. The folks who hit him were drunk and tried to run. They were caught by an off duty apartment security guard.

Come to find out they were high as a kite and ready to fly.

Luckily for my client he had minor soft tissue injuries, but he had pre-existing neck problems including cervical neck fusion. Obviously we were concerned that he may have had neck injuries. But after medical evaluation he was cleared of major injuries.

We settled for insurance policy limits.

When you need to help after an injury or accident, you need to find the Dallas Fort Worth Texas personal injury lawyers.

We evaluate and accept cases all over Texas including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio car accidents, auto wrongful death cases, mesothelioma, burn injuries, Accutane side effect bowel disease, Paxil birth defects, brain injuries, 18 wheeler, semi truck, tractor trailer accidents, diesel truck or big rig accidents.

If you have been injured in an accident as a result of the negligence of others,
please call 817-900-8439, 888-210-9693 or Contact Me Online.

In a column in the Washington Post (8/6), Petula Dvorak writes, "Over their fences, at community picnics but mostly at funerals, the people of one Frederick neighborhood near Fort Detrick wondered whether it was just a horrible coincidence that so many of them had cancer."

They "immediately looked to their former next-door neighbor, Fort Detrick, where anthrax and Agent Orange were studied for decades and where about 400 acres known as Area B were used for storage and dumping."

Scientists "determined that vapors rising through the ground from the discarded chemicals had seeped into the" home of Randy White. White "is considering a class-action lawsuit against the Army."

Continue reading "Residents Suspect Cancer Cluster Near Fort Detrick, MD." »

A lawsuit in south Texas has been filed against British Petroleum over pollutants leaking out of the company's Texas City refinery.

The lawsuit claims more than 500,000 pounds of pollutants were released into the air when one of the compressors went offline in April.

The citizens of Texas City experienced "sinus and eye issues, coughing, feeling nauseous, and feeling lethargic," from exposure to benzene, one of the chemicals released, the suit claims. The lawsuit seeks $10 billion in damages.

T.J. Aulds, Galveston County - The Daily News 08/04/2010
Read Article: Galveston County - The Daily News

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed Over Pollutants From TX City Refinery" »

A Friendswood attorney filed a federal lawsuit over the release of more than 500,000 pounds of pollutants — including high levels of benzene — into the air after a unit failure at BP’s Texas City refinery.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the release of pollutants between April 6 and May 16, when the refinery’s ultracracker’s hydrogen compressor went offline.

BP doesn’t argue the fact that more than 250 tons of emissions were sent into the atmosphere during the 40 days. The company does take issue with claims the health of workers and residents was affected. T.J. Aulds, Galveston County - The Daily News 08/05/2010

Read Article: Galveston County - The Daily News

A group of former Motorola workers and their children filed a lawsuit Friday against the Schaumburg-based company, claiming toxic substances used to make Motorola products caused serious birth defects in at least 30 children born to workers employed by the company since the 1960s.

The 71 plaintiffs filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit claims Motorola knew the chemicals used to make semiconductors and computer chips in sterile "clean rooms" were toxic and had the potential to cause birth defects in children born to people exposed to the compounds.

Thirty children of former employees allegedly suffer from physical and developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida, sterility and brain malformations, the suit claims. LEEANN MATON, Chicago Sun-Times 07/26/2010

Read Article: Chicago Sun-Times

Continue reading "Ex-Workers' Lawsuit Blames Motorola for Birth Defects" »

Patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery have received pain pumps to assist in their recovery. Now a new study suggests these pumps may deliver too much medicine, destroying cartilage and leading to a condition known as Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis.

A study by The American Journal of Sports Medicine identified intra-articular pain pumps as the likely cause of Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL).

PAGCL only occurs in patients who received a shoulder pain pump filled with bupivacaine and epinephrine during their surgery.

Numerous lawsuits are pending against the companies that manufacture, market or distribute the pain pumps, including Stryker, DJO Inc., I-Flow Inc., BREG Inc. and others.

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Update: Pain Pumps & Arthoscopic Shoulder Surgery Risks" »

A Texas natural gas producer's decision to voluntarily disclose the chemicals it injects into the ground could prompt other drillers to do the same, and pave the way for regulators to require such disclosure.

But Range Resources Corp.'s move also reflects the desire of industry to get out ahead of the issue to prevent federal regulation of the key drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. MIKE SORAGHAN, Greenwire, The New York Times 07/16/2010

Read Article: The New York Times

Continue reading "Natural Gas Company's Natural Gas Disclosure Decision Could Change Fracking " »

TXI will permanently shut down its four oldest, highest-polluting cement kilns in Midlothian and will stop burning hazardous waste as fuel, the company said Tuesday.

The Dallas-based company’s announcement ends an environmental battle that has raged in North Texas for decades.

Midlothian became a center for the cement industry because of extensive limestone deposits. Yet it also became the site of one of the country’s biggest environmental fights.

Federal law allows some cement kilns to burn hazardous waste as fuel to create the high heat required to make cement. TXI is the only company that has burned hazardous waste in Midlothian in recent years.

Environmentalists across the country and in North Texas said burning massive volumes of chemical waste needlessly endangered the public.

Read the full story here at the Dallas Morning News.

Continue reading "TXI to Shut Down Highest-Polluting Cement Kilns in Midlothian Texas" »

Two Texas natural gas pipelines that exploded last month, killing three people, had not been properly marked, according to state records.

Incident reports filed with the commission by the pipeline operators and excavators involved in each event confirm that neither pipeline was properly marked before the digging.

State law requires that companies wanting to excavate call a national 811 number to state where they plan to dig and request information about pipelines and anything else underground that might be struck. AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 07/02/2010

Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Continue reading "Pipelines in Texas Natural Gas Explosions Were Not Properly Marked " »

While most of the discussions about the environmental impact of natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale have centered on air quality, questions are now being raised about its potential impact on water quality as well.

Drilling critics have expressed concern that a drilling process called hydraulic fracturing in which millions of gallons of water and sand laced with chemicals are pumped into the ground to free up natural gas -- has the potential to contaminate groundwater supplies. ELIZABETH CAMPBELL and AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 07/02/2010

Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Continue reading "Residents Blame Drilling Process for Fouled Well Water" »

San Francisco Chronicle (6/23, Zito) reports, "The thousands of mine shafts that pockmark the Sierra Nevada and testify to California's Gold Rush riches have also left a legacy of toxic contamination in some of the state's popular recreation areas, according to a new study.

Soil tests on a handful of trails near mine mouths in the foothills have revealed extremely high levels of lead, arsenic and asbestos, said researchers at the Sierra Fund, a small environmental advocacy group." Elizabeth Martin, chief executive of the group, said, "This is the longest neglected environmental problem in California."

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Sierra Nevada Trails Contaminated With Lead, Arsenic, Asbestos." »

In the first frantic days after the blowout of the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, crisis managers in Houston, concerned about the potential for an even greater catastrophe, weighed the risks of using more aggressive methods to try to control the well or leaving it alone, according to meeting notes and other documents.

A handwritten log was among hundreds of pages of unreleased documents obtained by The New York Times in which managers describe the desperate bid to control the subsea gusher that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the gulf. Henry Fountain, The New York Times 06/22/2010

Read Article: The New York Times

Continue reading "BP Oil Spill Blowout Documents" »

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is investigating a company that installed a gas pipeline through the site of an old landfill in northeast Fort Worth without proper permission.

Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners is installing a 30-inch pipeline that runs from just north of Arlington to a network of interstate pipelines near Justin. The line, designed to transport natural gas produced from drill sites in the Barnett Shale, is expected to start operating in the third quarter of this year.

The site was listed as a former unauthorized landfill on a database maintained by the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Companies are supposed to check the database before installing a pipeline in the region, according to officials. AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 06/24/2010

Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Continue reading "Texas Company Being Investigated By TCEQ Over Gas Pipeline" »

The AP (6/18) reports officials investigating a string of birth defects in rural Kettleman City, CA, "started taking samples of the air, water and soil" while "grieving parents" testified before state legislators about "infant deaths and birth defects in an impoverished farm town next to the biggest hazardous waste landfill in the West."

Residents blame "toxic waste dump for the grouping of cleft palates and heart problems," but Waste Management officials "have said there is no evidence linking the...landfill to the deformities."

The company received approval to expand the 1,600-acre facility despite opposition from the residents. The expansion is pending results of state and federal environmental investigations.

Read full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Officials Begin Testing Kettleman City California Hazardous Waste Landfill." »

McDonald's has recalled 12 million of its Shrek-themed glasses sold in the last month due to the toxic chemical cadmium found on the glasses' design.

Long-term exposure to cadmium can lead to adverse health affects, and consumers who have purchased any of the glasses are urged to stop using them immediately.

A refund can be obtained by visiting McDonald's Web site. Alissa Figueroa, Christian Science Monitor 06/04/2010

Read Article: Christian Science Monitor

Continue reading " McDonald's Recalls Shrek Glasses Over Toxic Chemical Cadmium" »

Bloomberg News (6/3, Fisk, Calkins) reports, "The US government asked a federal judge to reject Transocean Ltd.'s bid to use a 159-year-old law to cap its liability at $27 million for environmental claims tied to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The Justice Department announced an investigation of whether any criminal or civil laws were violated in the BP Plc oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest US spill on record. The government is reviewing whether there were violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990."

The US filed the motion in Houston federal court to 'make clear' it's entitled to pursue claims 'for pollution response costs, environmental damages and other injuries stemming from the oil spill,' Assistant US Attorney General Tony West wrote.

'It is simply unconscionable, in the circumstances of this case, that Transocean is attempting to use this' law to avoid paying states or the US for damages caused by the rig explosion, West said in a May 24 letter to Transocean's lawyers."

Read full Bloomberg article here.

Continue reading "US asks judge to reject Transocean liability cap." »

A Miami judge approved a lawsuit for class-action status over the issue of tainted drywall imported from China.

The lawsuit will represent 152 families and was filed against homebuilder South Kendall Construction Corp., Palm Isles Holdings, Keys Gate Realty and Banner Supply.

The lawsuit alleges that some of the drywall installed in Florida homes releases large amounts of hydrogen sulfide, which corrodes metal.

The suit also claims the contaminated drywall causes breathing problems and nosebleeds. Nirvi Shah, Miami Herald 05/28/2010
Read Article: Miami Herald

In another setback in the effort to stem the flow of oil gushing from a well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers said that the “top kill” technique had failed and they had decided to move on to another strategy.

The abandonment of the top kill technique, was the latest in a series of failures. First, BP failed in efforts to repair a blowout preventer with submarine robots. Then its initial efforts to cap the well with a containment dome failed when it became clogged with a frothy mix of frigid water and gas.

BP has started work on two relief wells, but officials have said that they will not be completed until August — further contributing to what is already the worst oil spill in United States history.

Read the full story here at the New York Times.

Continue reading "Dallas Oil Recovery Team: BP Leak ‘Top Kill’ Fails" »

Plaintiff Andrew McCarrell was awarded $25.16 M in damages in his lawsuit against Roche Holding AG, maker of Accutane. McCarrell alleged in his lawsuit that his use of Accutane resulted in inflammatory bowel disease. McCarrell underwent five surgeries, including one to remove his colon.

According to Bloomberg on 2/16/10, McCarrell initially was awarded $2.62 M in his lawsuit, but that award was overturned and a new trial was ordered.

Accutane was introduced to the market in 1982 with a list of serious side effects including birth defects and depression. More than 13 million people reportedly used Accutane before Roche removed it from the market in June 2009, citing the cost of personal injury lawsuits.

May 22, 2010. By Heidi Turner Read full story here Lawyers and Settlements

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Accutane Lawsuit Update" »

Health workers tracking Libby's plight estimate at least 400 people have died of asbestos-related illnesses — from W.R. Grace mine workers and family members who breathed in the dust they brought home in their clothes, to those who played as kids in waste piles dumped by the company behind the community baseball field.

Some 1,500 locals and others who were exposed have chest X-rays revealing the faint, cloudy shadows of asbestos scarring on their lungs. Even though research long showed cause for concern — up to 70 percent of miners in a 1980s study had fibers in their lungs — it took news reports about the deaths to drive officials to action, beginning a decade ago.

After the cleanup began, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confidently predicted it would be done in two years at a cost of $5.8 million. Ten years on, the price tag has exceeded $333 million, the deaths continue, and more asbestos keeps showing up — in schools, in businesses, in hundreds of houses.

The scope of contamination has at times overwhelmed environmental regulators, dragging out the cleanup, an Associated Press review of hundreds of pages of government documents and interviews with current and former agency officials revealed.

Matthew Brown, Associated Press, Yahoo News 05/25/2010

Continue reading "For Asbestos-Ravaged Town, Questions Persist" »

Actor Dennis Quaid has filed a lawsuit against drug maker Baxter Healthcare Corp. over two easily confused drugs that, when mixed up, almost killed his twin infants.

The lawsuit claims that the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug, Hep-lock, have such similar labels that the two are easily confused. In late 2007, Quaid's twins were given an almost fatal dose of Heparin instead of Hep-lock at a local hospital. The lawsuit also states that the company should have recalled the Heparin because they knew that similar incidents had occurred before.

Staff and Wire Reports, Contra Costa Times 05/25/2010
Read Article: Contra Costa Times

Continue reading " Actor Dennis Quaid Files Suit Over Heparin Drug Mix Up" »

The federal agency responsible for regulating offshore oil drilling repeatedly ignored warnings from government scientists about environmental risks in its push to approve energy exploration activities quickly, according to numerous documents and interviews.

Minerals Management Service officials, who receive cash bonuses for meeting federal deadlines on leasing offshore oil and gas exploration, frequently altered their own documents and bypassed legal requirements aimed at ensuring drilling does not imperil the marine environment, the documents show. Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post 05/24/2010

Read Article: The Washington Post

http://www.shezadmalik.com/lawyer-attorney-1459578.html

Continue reading "Federal Agency Overseeing Oil Drilling Ignored Warnings of Risks" »

The U.S. government is ordering energy giant BP to find less-toxic chemicals to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid evidence that the dispersants are not effective and could actually make the spill more harmful to marine life.

The Environmental Protection Agency said that BP has to choose an alternative dispersant and must begin using it. So far, BP has put about 600,000 gallons of the chemical mixture Corexit 9500 on the surface and 55,000 gallons on the sea bottom.

Dispersants are toxic, and when mixed with oil can become even more dangerous than either the dispersant or oil alone, according to EPA data.

Oil treated with dispersants spreads through the water, more readily coming in contact with delicate fish eggs and other fragile sea dwellers, said Peter Hodson, a specialist in fish toxicology who is director of the School of Environmental Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada.

Read the full story here at USA Today.

The decision by BP and federal officials to use the chemical dispersant Corexit to break up oil spewing in the Gulf of Mexico is drawing fire from congress who say there are more powerful, less toxic dispersants that could be used to combat the crude.

Environmentalists have raised warnings about the risk that dispersants can be stored indefinitely in the organs and tissues of marine animals.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has acknowledged the threat in describing the use of dispersants as a trade- off between the harm of allowing oil to accumulate and the possible damage to marine life from the detergent-like substance.

Because there is uncertainty about “the long-term effects on aquatic life,” Jackson said, “we must make sure that the dispersants … are as nontoxic as possible.”

The lawmakers suggested that corporate ties between BP and the manufacturer drove the choice. JENNIFER A. DLOUHY, Houston Chronicle 05/20/2010
Read Article: Houston Chronicle

Several prominent oceanographers are claiming that the government is failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and allowing BP to block the spill’s true size and scope.

The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean.

And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well.

Read the full story here at the New York Times

Continue reading "U.S. Lack of Response in Assessing BP Gulf Oil Spill" »

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration greatly expanded the fishing ban in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday in response to spreading oil from the BP well blowout. The prohibited area now covers 19 percent of the gulf, nearly double what it was, according to the agency.

In Washington, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar appeared before Congress for the first time since the well exploded a month ago. Mr. Salazar acknowledged that the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency responsible for policing offshore drilling, had been weakened by corruption and lax enforcement of safety and environmental rules.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Tonight's 60 minutes show on CBS, reported the harrowing story of the BP TransOcean's rig, the Deep Horizon.

As the world knows on April 20, 2010 there was a tremendous explosion on the oil rig, located some 40 miles of the Louisiana coast. In the gas explosion 11 oil rig workers lost there lives in the ensuing fire ball.

Watch the 60 Minutes segment here.

Continue reading "Devastating BP Oil Rig Explosion Survivor Tells Story on 60 Minutes" »

Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well is worse than estimates that the government and BP have given.

The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes.

Read the full story here at the New York Times.

A Houston judge agreed Thursday to stay pending cases against Transocean arising from the April 20 disaster that destroyed its Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killed 11 workers and created a growing oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison issued an order suspending the cases against Transocean at the company's request after it sought a $26.7 million limit to its liability in the lawsuits.

Lawyers involved in the myriad lawsuits filed against Transocean, rig leaser BP and others said they had expected Transocean would attempt such a move under the Limitation of Liability Act, a maritime law that allows vessel owners to limit liability to the value of a vessel and its freight. Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle 05/14/2010

Read Article: Houston Chronicle

A man who claimed that he developed severe bowel problems from Accutane, an acne medication, has reached a pre-trial settlement with Roche Laboratories, the drug’s manufacturer.

Roche has asked Madison County Circuit Judge to approve the Accutane settlement, according to a report in The Madison Record.

The plaintiff, Peipert alleges that Dr. Daniel Goran prescribed him Accutane to treat his acne, and that the drug caused him to develop the debilitating condition, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The case was set to go to trial on April 19, but start of the trial was delayed due the potential settlement with Accutane manufacturers.

Continue reading "Accutane Lawsuit Settled on eve of Trial" »

Scientists and environmental groups are raising questions about 5,000 gallons per day estimate. They also criticize BP for refusing to use scientific techniques that would give a more precise figure.

BP has repeatedly claimed that measuring the plume of oil gushing from the broken well would be impossible.

The issue of how fast the well is leaking has been unclear from the beginning. For several days after the April 21 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, the government and BP claimed that the well on the ocean floor was leaking about 1,000 barrels a day.

Read the full New York Times story here.

An Oklahoma City jury has ordered Allergan Inc., the maker of Botox Cosmetic, to pay $15 million to a local doctor who claimed she suffered botulism poisoning from the product.

Dr. Sharla Helton claimed in her lawsuit that the illness she suffered as a result of Botox injections in 2006 caused her to quit her job. The jury said they ruled against Allergan Inc. because their Botox product did not have adequate information about side affects on its warning label. Nolan Clay, NewsOK.com 05/12/2010

Read Article: NewsOK.com

Continue reading "OK Jury Finds Botox Maker Negligent, Awards $15 M" »

After BP’s Texas City, Tex., refinery blew up in 2005, killing 15 workers, the company promised to fix the safety issues that caused the blast.

In 2006 a oil pipeline ruptured and spilled 200,000 gallons of crude oil over Alaska’s North Slope, the oil giant once again vowed to fix the problems.

In 2007, BP settled a series of criminal charges, including Texas City, and agreed to pay $370 million in fines.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

Continue reading "BP's Poor Record: History of Spills and Safety Lapses" »

The effort to contain the oil spill that has poured millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico encountered a setback, according to officials. This means that oil will continue gushing into the ocean for possibly months.

Workers earlier maneuvered a containment dome over the remaining leaks on the seabed to funnel the oil to the surface, where it would be collected by a drill ship.

Read the full story here at the New York Times.

Continue reading "Attempt to Contain Gulf Oil Spill Plagued With Problems" »

In the worst case, the disaster could grow at 12 times the rate of current estimates, BP officials say at a Capitol Hill briefing.

BP officials told congressional representatives that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could grow at a rate more than 10 times current estimates in a worst-case scenario — greatly enlarging the potential scope of the disaster.

Most of the handful of congressional Democrats and Republicans who met with representatives from BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill walked away unimpressed.

Read full LA Times story here.

Continue reading "BP Gives Gloomy Outlook on Gulf Oil Spill" »

With each day that the leaking oil well a mile below the surface remains uncapped, scientists and energy industry observers are imagining outcomes that range from bad to worse to worst, with some forecasting a calamity of historic proportions.

Executives from oil giant BP and other energy companies, meanwhile, shared their own worst-case scenario in a Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, saying that if they fail to close the well, the spill could increase from an estimated 5,000 barrels a day to 40,000 barrels.

Read the full Washington Post Story here.

Continue reading "After Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Devastation Predicted For Region" »

Where the world runs out of road and into bayou, and all that is left beyond is the Gulf of Mexico, dozens of docked shrimp boats bob in place. They should be out right now, green nets trawling for cash in crustaceans.

Among these many boats — actually, between the Capt. Andy and the Capt. James — there rocks the St. Martin. And on the St. Martin, there lives its owner, a Vietnamese-born American named Thuong Nguyen, whose right forearm bears a tattoo that says, in his native language:

“Life is difficult.”

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "At the End of the Road Hwy 23: Dallas Oil Recovery Team" »

The government ordered a halt on Sunday to fishing in areas affected by the ever-spreading oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, a ban that covers waters from Louisiana to Florida and hinders the livelihoods of untold numbers of fishermen.

Citing public safety concerns, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration restricted fishing for at least 10 days in the affected waters, largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Pensacola Bay in Florida. Scientists were taking samples of water and seafood to ensure food safety.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Safety Fears Halt Fishing in Areas Affected by Spill" »

BP's chief executive is coming under mounting pressure over the vast spill spreading in the Gulf of Mexico, which was caused when a giant drilling rig there caught fire and sank, with the loss of 11 crew members. The oil, still spewing from the well on the ocean floor, threatens to blacken the Louisana shoreline, and BP's reputation.

When Mr. Hayward took over BP's leadership three years ago, the company was badly run, accident-prone and accused in the aftermath of a deadly explosion at its Texas City refinery of putting profits before safety.

None of that seems to matter now, as BP heads into the crisis grinder. And with about 5,000 barrels of oil leaking from the damaged well each day.

Read the full WSJ story here.

Continue reading "BP's Worsening Spill Crisis" »

The world’s most endangered species of sea turtle is threatened by an oil slick that’s expanding in the Gulf of Mexico as 5,000 barrels a day of fuel gushes from a BP Plc well.

The Kemp’s Ridley turtle only nests in the western Gulf of Mexico, with one of its main feeding grounds in the area of the oil spill, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website. The species is critically endangered, the highest degree of threat on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “Red List.”

“Oil cannot be good for these animals because it’s toxic and can kill them,” Andre Landry, a marine biologist who runs the Sea Turtle and Fisheries Ecology Research Lab at Texas A&M University at Galveston. Oil nearing shore waters “will affect Kemp’s Ridleys from juveniles through to adults as well as their food and habitats.”

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "World’s Most Endangered Sea Turtle Threatened by BP Oil Slick" »

Oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico unabated Saturday, and officials conveyed little hope that the flow could be contained soon, forcing towns along the Gulf Coast to brace for what is increasingly understood to be an imminent environmental disaster.

The spill, emanating from a pipe 50 miles offshore and 5,000 feet underwater, was creeping into Louisiana’s fragile coastal wetlands as strong winds and rough waters hampered cleanup efforts. Officials said the oil could hit the shores of Mississippi and Alabama as soon as Monday.

The White House announced that President Obama would visit the region on Sunday morning.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Gulf Coast Towns Brace as Huge Oil Slick Nears Marshes: Dallas Texas Oil Spill Recovery Team-Update 4" »

An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control and started washing ashore along the Gulf Coast as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.

The spill was bigger than imagined — five times more than first estimated — and closer. Fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "'Mind-boggling' oil spill in Gulf could eclipse Exxon Valdez disaster: Dallas Texas Oil Spill Recovery Team-Update 3" »

Teams of lawyers from around the nation are mobilizing for legal battles over the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, filing at least 26 potential class action lawsuits.

Attorneys say there could be hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs from Texas to Florida seeking damages. Plaintiffs so far include commercial fishermen, charter boat captains, resort management companies and individual property owners.

Plaintiffs in class-action cases seek to represent an entire group of people in similar situations who claim economic losses due to company negligence.

The lawsuits target BP PLC, Transocean and other companies involved in the offshore rig that exploded in the Gulf and began leaking oil.

Read the full AP story here.

Continue reading "Lawyers Flock to Gulf Coast For Oil Spill Lawsuits: Dallas Texas Oil Spill Recovery Team-Update 2" »

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who directed relief efforts in the gulf after Katrina, says that it’s impossible to estimate the size of the oil slick and that his priority is on stopping its spread.

The new top commander heading the fight against a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico said on Saturday that it was impossible to estimate the size of the leak pouring into the water.

Allen's comments come as academics and consultants say the size of the leak is growing and is perhaps three times larger than previously thought. The amount of oil leaked may already be about 10 million gallons and growing. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill was about 11 million gallons.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Dallas Oil Spill Recovery Team: New Federal Commander Fights Against BP Oil Leaks" »

As a personal injury attorney, medical doctor and concerned environmentalist I have decided to team up with my very good friend, Spencer Aronfeld of the Aronfeld Law Firm. Today we are going to the Gulf Coast to assess for ourselves first hand the impact of this environmental catastrophe.

What will follow over the next few days will be dispatches from the front lines; first hand cataloging of the damage. We are hopeful that with pictures and video of the devastating damage we can start a discussion and have people think about the downside of oil.

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Oil Spill Recovery Team-Update 1" »

Driven deep into Gulf Coast waterways by wind and seasonally high tides, the spreading oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon accident could cause serious ecological and wildlife-health consequences long after signs of surface damage have been erased.

Independent studies of several major oil spills, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident, show that oil often reaches farther into tidal estuaries than previously thought and can soak into shoreline sediment where it can continue to affect fish and wildlife for 10 or 20 years.

In the aftermath of offshore oil spills in Alaska, Massachusetts and Spain, researchers discovered long-term effects on shellfish, crabs, seabirds, whales and sea otters years after the accidents. The problems ranged from altered blood chemistry and higher levels of stress hormones to erratic behavior, contaminated eggs and long-term population declines.

Read the full story here at the Wall Street Journal

Continue reading "Threats to Wildlife Often Linger Long After Accidents " »

Frank Campo thinks the oil spill approaching the marshes east of New Orleans may destroy his community.

Campo, who runs Campo’s Marina in St. Bernard Parish’s Shell Beach, says the response to the spill is too little and too late to prevent economic disaster for the commercial and recreational fishermen who earn a living from the coast.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Oil Spill’s ‘Fisheries Failure’ May Signal End of Coastal Towns " »

We blogged on Thursday about the initial lawsuits getting filed over the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Those suits, however, are likely to turn out to represent just the tip of the iceberg in regard to the legal trouble likely facing a host of defendants, including BP, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, and others.

Read the full WSJ story here.

Continue reading "Guessing the Feds’ Response to the BP Oil Rig Explosion" »

As oil edged toward the Louisiana coast, fears continued to grow that the leak from the seabed oil well could spiral out of control. One official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the oil flow could grow from the current estimate of 5,000 barrels a day to “an order of magnitude higher than that.”

BP officials said they did everything possible, and a review of the response suggests it may be too simplistic to place all the blame on the oil company. The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP, which was leasing the drilling rig that exploded in flames on April 20 and sank two days later. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead.

Read the full New York Times.

Continue reading "BP Is Criticized Over Toxic Oil Spill" »

BP PLC said Friday that it would honor all "legitimate claims" for damages stemming from the Louisiana oil spill, as the company's stock continued to fall amid investors' concerns about potential litigation and a total clean-up bill that could run well into the billions of dollars.

The disaster was set in motion when the Deepwater Horizon, which had been leased by BP to drill a well in the Gulf of Mexico, caught fire and sank, killing 11 crew members. BP's efforts to stop the flow of oil from the well have failed.

The company is spending about $6 million a day on the clean-up, but those costs are expected to escalate with the oil making landfall. Analyst estimates of BP's total costs stemming from the disaster range from around $2.5 billion to $8 billion. BP says it is self-insured.

Read the full Wall Street Article Here.

Continue reading "BP's Escalating Costs Put Investors on Edge " »

British Petroleum downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore rig that exploded, causing the worst U.S. oil spill in decades along the Gulf Coast and endangering shoreline habitat.

In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.

At least 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled so far since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers, according to Coast Guard estimates.

Read the full AP story here.

Continue reading "BP Document: No Plan For Major Oil Spill" »

It’s looking much more likely that the oil spill from a BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico will have political ramifications in the U.S.

The situation in the Gulf deteriorated again as the U.S. Coastguard revealed that oil is gushing from the damaged well five times faster than previously thought. A change in prevailing winds means the growing oil slick is likely to reach land on Friday, despite BP’s massive efforts to contain it.

Read the full Wall St Story here.

Continue reading "Political Consequences Loom As Gulf Oil Slick Spreads Faster" »

The plaintiff' attorneys are starting to circle the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Attorneys have filed a class action on Thursday over damages caused by the drilling rig that exploded on April 20.

The suit, Cooper v. BP plc, was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of Louisiana shrimpers, fisherman and commercial boaters who claim the oil spill is hurting their livelihood.

Read the full story here at the National Law Journal.

Continue reading "Class Action Lawsuits Filed Over Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill " »

Two new federal lawsuits are filed over the oil spill that is currently spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion on one of BP PLC’s offshore rigs. Both lawsuits were filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The first was filed on behalf of two Louisiana commercial shrimpers Acy J. Cooper and Ronnie Louis Anderson, who allege that the spill “is causing dangerous environmental contamination of the Gulf of Mexico and its shorelines, threatening Louisiana’s sensitive wetlands and estuarine areas” and it “will continue to cause loss of revenue to persons (and businesses) who are being prevented from using the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana’s Coastal Zone for diverse activities, including work and to earn a living.”

Read the full WSJ story here.

Continue reading "Gulf Oil Spill Law Suits Start " »

A Mississippi jury has awarded $15 million to a 71 year-old oil industry worker who developed asbestosis after years of handling bags of product containing 99 percent asbestos.

Plaintiff Troy Lofton, who testified at trial with tubes in his nose and ears and holding an oxygen bottle that assists his breathing 24 hours a day, alleged that ConocoPhillips manufactured a dangerous product while knowing of its dangers.

The case is only the third to go to trial of over 700 pending cases involving oilfield workers who developed lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma after handling products made by ConocoPhillips or its subsidiaries.

Among the evidence at trial was a handwritten document indicating that the company had weighed the cost of personal injury lawsuits against the profits of continuing to sell asbestos.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $15M Asbestos Verdict : Dallas Texas Mesothelioma Attorney" »

Tests on blood and urine samples taken from residents by state health officials in January have found the same toxic compounds in people's bodies that have been detected in the air and water here.

The results showed that exposure is occurring, according to Louisiana chemist Wilma Subra.

"Clearly, it's connecting the dots – which we didn't want to happen," Subra said.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Tests Detect Barnett Shale Emissions Toxins in Dish Residents" »

Plumes of toxic, smog-causing chemicals from Barnett Shale natural-gas operations are so common that inspectors find them nearly every time they look, a Dallas Morning News examination of government records shows.

What's more, the inspectors have rarely looked.

Hundreds of pages of documents obtained by The News under federal and state open-records laws, plus other reports and studies, reveal a pattern of emissions of toxic compounds, often including cancer-causing benzene, from Barnett Shale facilities.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Barnett Shale Facilities Release Toxic Emissions" »

For 14 years until just last month, GlaxoSmithKline sold a denture cream called Super Poligrip that contained high levels of zinc.

The zinc helped with adhesion and was probably safe so long as people used moderate amounts of cream. Indeed, the human body needs small amounts of zinc to function. But some people ended up using much larger amounts, and they began to develop the kind of nerve damage associated with excess zinc.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Poligrip and Fixodent Litigation Update" »

For what appears to be the first time, a former resident of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has been permitted to move ahead with a claim against the Marine Corps for years of water contamination that she says led to the development of her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The U.S. Department of the Navy, which includes the Marines, this week lost its bid to dismiss the case of Laura J. Jones of Iowa, who lived at Camp Lejeune from 1980 to 1983 as the spouse of a Marine officer.

In 2005, more than two decades after she left North Carolina, Jones was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Continue reading "Judge: Lejeune Resident Can Move Ahead With Injury Claim" »

The maker of Poligrip denture cream will stop making formulas containing zinc amid lawsuits claiming years of excessive use caused neurological damage and blood problems in consumers, allegedly crippling some.

GlaxoSmithKline will stop making and marketing Super Poligrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care products in the U.S. The company plans to reformulate the creams without zinc.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Continue reading "Glaxo to Remove Zinc From Denture Cream" »

A range of health problems are linked to the pits on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Toxic substances have been found in the smoke.

The noxious smoke plumes that wafted over the military base in Balad, Iraq, alarmed Lt. Col. Michelle Franco. The stench from a huge burn pit clung to her clothing, skin and hair.

She wheezed and coughed constantly. When Franco returned to the U.S., she was diagnosed with reactive airway dysfunction syndrome. She is no longer able to serve as an Air Force nurse.

Read full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading " US Army Veterans Blame Burn Pits For Toxic Injury" »

Roche Holding AG, the Swiss drugmaker, must pay $25.16 million in damages to a former user of its Accutane drug who blamed the acne medicine for his inflammatory bowel disease, a New Jersey jury ruled.

Andrew McCarrell, 38, won the verdict at a retrial in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An appeals court ordered the new trial after overturning a $2.62 million award he won in May 2007. McCarrell, a computer technician from Birmingham, Alabama, testified he got sick after taking the drug for acne in 1995. He needed five surgeries, including one to remove his colon.

Read the full Reuter story here.

Continue reading "" »

The family of Kristen Spears alleges an overdose of the drug manufactured by Irvine-based Allergan Inc. killed her at age 7.

Spears started getting Botox injections at the age of 6 -- not to smooth furrows in her brow, but to calm spasms in her legs.

The girl was born with severe cerebral palsy, and Botox, best known as a face-lift-in-a-syringe, can relax contorted muscles and sometimes help young patients walk without surgery.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Allergan Trial Will Focus on Botox's Safety in Cerebral Palsy Treatments" »

A Rhode Island meat company recalled 1.24 million pounds of pepper-coated salami, after officials conducting a months-long, multistate investigation of a salmonella outbreak compared shopping receipts of those who got sick.

The recall by Daniele International Inc. comes amid an outbreak that's sickened 184 people in 38 states since July.

Daniele has been identified as the source of the ongoing outbreak by William Keene, a senior epidemiologist at the public health division in Oregon, where eight people have gotten sick.

Continue reading "RI Meat Company Recalling 1.2M Pounds of Salami" »

In Pennsylvania's first precedent-setting decision regarding hormone replacement therapy mass tort litigation, the Superior Court has revived a plaintiff's lawsuit by finding that the plaintiff was entitled to an exception to the two-year statute of limitations because she couldn't have reasonably known of an alleged link between her breast cancer and HRT drugs before the publication of a widely publicized study.

Continue reading "Pa. Court Revives Plaintiff Verdict in Hormone-Replacement Case" »

Baxter International Inc., which recalled its blood thinner heparin amid reports of allergic reactions and deaths in 2008, faces at least 30 lawsuits in Chicago by injured people or their estates.

As many as 300 product-liability complaints may be filed in the Illinois state court, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Allen Schwartz. His law firm and two others are working to comply with a judge’s order last year to convert an aggregate lawsuit to individual claims against the Deerfield, Illinois-based company.

Continue reading "Baxter Faces New Lawsuits Over Tainted Heparin" »

Byetta (exenatide) is a type 2 diabetes drug that is used to control blood sugar levels. It is part of a class of medications known as incretin mimetics, which imitate natural hormones that lower blood glucose levels. Last month, the FDA expanded the use of Byetta to a stand-alone diabetes treatment, but insisted that warnings about the risk of pancreatitis from Byetta be added to the label and will require additional studies.

Continue reading "Byetta Lawsuit Update Dallas Texas Attorney" »

The FDA has warned Amylin Pharmaceuticals that they have made false and misleading statements about the diabetes drug Byetta.

The FDA letter was sent to Amylin Pharmaceuticals, alerting the company that federal regulators were aware of statements made by representatives that provided misleading or false information about the benefits of their product.

Download the FDA Warning Letter here.
Download file

Continue reading "FDA Calls Byetta Claims Misleading Dallas Byetta Attorney" »

When we reviewed the litigation over AstraZeneca's antipsychotic Seroquel in June, there was debate over whether the litigation was a bust for the thousands of plaintiffs who'd filed suits claiming the drug caused their diabetes.

Delaware court judge, who had just tossed a Seroquel case on Daubert grounds, warned in his opinion that plaintiffs had yet to establish that link successfully. But plaintiffs lawyer Paul Pennock of Weitz & Luxenberg cautioned us to reserve judgment. "Far from going away, Seroquel is about to reveal AstraZeneca as one of the worst managers of a mass tort litigation in history," he said.

Read the full article here.

Continue reading "Seroquel Plaintiffs Lose Diabetes Claim in Delaware" »

A recent lawsuit brought by a group of Indiana National Guardsman spotlights a controversial legal doctrine that prevents soldiers on active duty from seeking compensation for injuries sustained in war zones.

The guardsman allege that a mission to help clean up a water treatment plant in southern Iraq left them with what they say are potentially fatal illnesses.

Read full Wall St Journal Article here.

Continue reading "Soldiers Fight in the Courts Over Liability in War Zones " »

BP must pay more than $100 million in damages for exposing contract workers to toxic substances at its Texas City oil refinery in April 2007, a federal jury in Galveston said in the latest setback for the troubled plant.

The mammoth verdict arose out of a case brought by a BP contractor who claimed the British oil giant's failure to maintain equipment and provide adequate safety controls led to a poisonous chemical release that sent more than 100 workers to area hospitals on the evening of April 19, 2007.

The company said it was “shocked and outraged” by the jury's decision and vowed to appeal.

Continue reading "Jury orders BP to pay $100 M for Exposing Workers to Toxic Substances" »

A Sioux Falls woman is accusing Johnson and Johnson and two mining companies of failing for decades to warn consumers about a link between ovarian cancer and talcum powder.

Deane Berg, 52, applied talc-based body powder to her perineum each day after showering from 1975 to 2007, she says in a federal lawsuit filed last week. She contracted ovarian cancer in 2006.

Berg maintains that talc caused her cancer and that the companies selling the mineral knew there was a risk but failed to warn the public.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed Against Talc Producers For Cancer Link," »

After 13 hours of intensifying pain, two trips to the emergency room and two CT scans, doctors finally found what was ailing Lottie Green.

In her left lung, the pulmonologist told her, was the largest blood clot they had ever seen and there were others in her right lung as well, she said.

Soon after the 41-year-old Bethesda, Md., resident was released from a hospital last month, Ms. Green joined hundreds of other women in lawsuits against Germany's Bayer AG, the maker of the popular oral contraceptive Yaz.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Texas Yaz Yasmin Birth Control Lawsuit Update" »

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is weighing further regulation of three drugs used to create high-contrast images on MRI scans, based on a new analysis that suggests they carry a higher risk of causing a rare, but potentially fatal disease.

The issue, marks a setback for GE Healthcare (GE), which contends that its product is no riskier than competing imaging drugs. FDA reviewers said GE's drug, Omniscan, had a disproportionately high number of reports of the disease compared with its peers.

Continue reading "FDA Review Says MRI Imaging Drugs That Contain Gadolinium Riskier for Kidney Patients " »

A consumer advocacy group is petitioning the government to ban the weight loss pill Meridia because a recent study suggests it increases risk of heart attack, stroke and death.

A letter Thursday from Public Citizen calls on the Food and Drug Administration to pull Abbott Laboratories' drug from the U.S. market, where it is used by roughly a quarter million people.

Preliminary results from a 10,000-patient study — known as the SCOUT study — showed a slightly higher risk of heart-related problems in patients taking Meridia, also called sibutramine, compared with a dummy pill. Patients in the study were older than 55, overweight with a history of heart disease or diabetes.

Continue reading "Public Citizen Asks FDA to Ban Weight Loss Pill" »

A funeral is set for a retired Indiana National Guard commander who testified in October that exposure to a lethal carcinogen in Iraq caused his cancer.

Lt. Col. James C. Gentry, 52, Williams, Ind., died of lung cancer. His death is a marker in a pending federal lawsuit; his life inspired a federal bill working its way through Congress.

Continue reading "Guard Commander Said KBR Carcinogen Caused his Cancer" »

Once upon a time, asbestos was practically everywhere. Because the material causes devastating forms of cancer and lung disease, huge product-liability litigation sprung up. That led to huge settlements, which led to the establishment of huge trusts, created to assure payment to millions of current and future claimants.

Some $20 billion now resides in these 40 or so trusts, set up by Johns Manville Corp., Owens Corning and other former makers and sellers of asbestos. But who’s overseeing the trusts? Is the money getting spent properly? In short, are the trusts working as designed?

Continue reading "Asbestos Mesothelioma Payout System is Being Questioned" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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 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" »

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 " »

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" »

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 3rd District Court of Appeal reversed a $24.2 million verdict Wednesday, striking a Miami-Dade jury award to a Weston, Fla., surgeon who claimed asbestos exposure caused his terminal cancer.

In a unanimous unsigned opinion, the three-judge panel remanded the products liability lawsuit by Dr. Stephen Guilder against Honeywell International and ordered a new trial.

Guilder won one of the highest compensatory damage awards against a single defendant in a mesothelioma case in April 2008. He died before the appeal was decided.

He claimed he developed the rare peritoneal mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos by remodeling an attic, working in road construction and repairing cars in the 1970s and 1980s.

Continue reading "Appeals Court Reverses $24.2 M Verdict in Asbestos Mesothelioma Case" »

A federal jury found Exxon Mobil liable for contaminating groundwater in New York City and awarded the city $104.7 million in compensatory damages.

The city had sought $250 million in damages to finance construction of a treatment plant to make the water in five wells in southeastern Queens drinkable. But lawyers for the city called the jury’s decision a “total victory” for their side.

Dozens of similar cases are pending against oil companies nationwide over the contamination of groundwater by the additive M.T.B.E., which is highly soluble in water and has leaked from underground storage tanks across the country.

Continue reading "NY City Awarded $105 M in Exxon Mobil Toxic Lawsuit " »

A lawsuit against a Swiss pharmaceutical company went to trial last week in Missoula, but a verdict in the case could have national significance for hundreds of plaintiffs suing the company in a mass tort.

Peggy L. Stevens of Missoula filed suit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. last year, alleging the company was professionally negligent when it failed to disclose health risks associated with one of its medications.

Stevens, who has lymphoma, developed severe dental and jaw-related problems after taking Zometa, a bone-strengthening medication manufactured by Novartis. Her attorneys say the company knew patients taking Zometa were vulnerable to a degenerative jaw disorder called osteonecrosis, particularly those patients who undergo invasive dental procedures, like root canals or tooth extractions.

Continue reading " Zometa Lawsuit Against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Underway" »

A lawsuit against a Swiss pharmaceutical company went to trial last week in Missoula, but a verdict in the case could have national significance for hundreds of plaintiffs suing the company in a mass tort.

Peggy L. Stevens of Missoula filed suit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. last year, alleging the company was professionally negligent when it failed to disclose health risks associated with one of its medications.

Stevens, who has lymphoma, developed severe dental and jaw-related problems after taking Zometa, a bone-strengthening medication manufactured by Novartis. Her attorneys say the company knew patients taking Zometa were vulnerable to a degenerative jaw disorder called osteonecrosis, particularly those patients who undergo invasive dental procedures, like root canals or tooth extractions.

Continue reading " Zometa Lawsuit Against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Underway" »

Under rules to be proposed this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to add Parkinson’s disease, ischemic heart disease and hairy-cell leukemia to the growing list of illnesses presumed to have been caused by Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used widely in Vietnam.

The proposal will make it substantially easier for thousands of veterans to claim that those ailments were the direct result of their service in Vietnam, thereby for them to receive monthly disability checks and health care services from the department.

The new policy will apply to some 2.1 million veterans who set foot in Vietnam during the war, including those who came after the military stopped using Agent Orange in 1970. It will not apply to sailors on deep-water ships, though the department plans to study the effects of Agent Orange on the Navy.

Continue reading "New Rules Opens Toxic Injury Health Claims to Agent Orange " »

The Ivory family's dreams of a relaxing retirement on Florida's Gulf Coast were put on hold when they discovered their new home had been built with Chinese drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. It got worse when they asked their insurer for help — and not only was their claim denied, but they've been told their entire policy won't be renewed.

Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought new houses constructed from the defective building materials are finding that insurers drop policies or send notices of non-renewal based on the presence of the Chinese drywall.

Continue reading "Home Insurers Discontinuing Chinese Drywall Policies" »

Thirty members of the West Virginia National Guard filed a lawsuit in Marshall County Circuit Court, WVA, alleging that they were negligently exposed to a highly toxic chemical as they guarded a rebuilding project in Iraq in 2003.

The lawsuit contends that members of the Moundsville-based 1092nd Engineer Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard were deployed to the Qarmat Ali water plant near Basra from April to June 2003. The soldiers guarded the facility while KBR Inc. contractors repaired the plant.

Continue reading "30 W.Va. National Guardsmen sue KBR over alleged chemicals exposure" »

The Southern Union gas company was ordered to pay $18 million for illegally storing mercury waste, which was exposed to the public five years ago when vandals stole the hazardous liquid from a rundown building and spilled it at an apartment complex.

U.S. District Judge fined the Texas company $6 million and ordered an additional $12 million in payments to the community, saying it had committed a "serious crime" by storing liquid mercury at a neglected building in Pawtucket without the required permit.

"It must be enough to get the attention of other companies who might be doing the same thing," the judge said of his penalty.

Continue reading "RI Orders Texas-based Southern Union to Pay $18 M in Mercury Storage Case" »

Asbestos lawsuits are filed by plaintiffs who have suffered as the result of asbestos-related illness. Plaintiffs in asbestos lawsuits can include the victims of asbestos exposure, or their families or loved ones. Defendants against asbestos lawsuits are those parties considered responsible for the asbestos exposure. In the past, targets of asbestos lawsuits have included:

* Employers
* Asbestos manufacturers
* Asbestos installers
* Landlords
* Leasing agents

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Asbestos Lawsuits" »

A faint rotten-egg smell drifts off a covered lagoon a hundred yards from a well-traveled Missouri gravel road.

This is battleground -- ground zero in what some see as a high-stakes fight for the future of Missouri agriculture.

But in Kansas City law offices 80 miles away, combatants prepare for another showdown over the smells drifting from this 80,000-head hog operation.

Is the stench an obnoxious affront to neighbors or simply the "odor of agriculture" that comes with life in the country?

Continue reading "Missouri Hog Lawsuits and Toxic Environmental Pollution" »

When he began getting weak, 61-year-old Ronald Beaver figured he might just be feeling his age. Eventually his problem was traced to a serious blood disorder caused by low levels of copper.

It wasn't until several weeks later — after the man from Tamarac, Fla., started getting daily doses of copper — that Beaver's doctor mentioned that getting too much zinc can trigger loss of copper.

The only source of that much zinc they surmised was the tubes of PoliGrip denture cream he had been overusing for a decade.

Continue reading "Overuse of Denture Cream with Zinc Leads to Lawsuits" »

Oklahoma brought a pollution lawsuit in 2005 against the Arkansas poultry industry, suggesting the threat of legal action may have spurred the companies to do better at policing themselves.

''The water quality is getting better, and this year, especially, we had very little algae,'' said Archie ''Trey'' Peyton III, 35, a former environmental consultant.

''There's got to be a reason for that, which to me it follows that the last two years that most of the poultry litter in this region has been trucked out. But it looks to me like that's making an impact on the river,'' Peyton said.

But Oklahoma says the industry needs to do more, and its closely watched case against 11 companies -- including food giants Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. -- goes to trial Thursday.

It's been a long-standing practice among poultry farmers in the Illinois River watershed to spread their chickens' droppings on their fields. But as big business took over the production of broilers, the amount of waste being spread on local fields ballooned -- to an estimated 345,000 tons annually in recent years, according to Oklahoma.

Continue reading "Oklahoma to File Lawsuit Against Big Poultry" »

New environmental tests confirm extremely high levels of dioxin, the toxic ingredient of Agent Orange, in people, fish and soil near a former U.S. air base where American troops stored the herbicide during the Vietnam War.

"Time is of the essence" to finish cleaning up the site, now home to the Danang airport, where dioxin levels in the soil, sediment and fish were 300 to 400 times higher than internationally accepted levels, the survey by the Canadian environmental firm Hatfield Consultants said.

The survey also found that temporary containment measures jointly implemented by the U.S. and Vietnam in 2007 have apparently resulted in lower dioxin levels in people who live near the site.

Continue reading "Dioxin levels high in Vietnam near US base" »

ACROSS THE NATION: Controversies brew over possible toxic emissions

Almost a year after tests by USA TODAY found significant levels of two potentially toxic metals in the air outside the school, local health officials expanded their own monitoring efforts here. The reason: Air samples taken by the county earlier this year showed even higher levels of the metals than what USA TODAY found — on two days, at least nine times more.

Highlands, flanked by two metals plants, is among scores of schools where regulators — local, state or federal — are monitoring outdoor air for toxic chemicals, many that pose unique dangers to kids. The monitoring is not required by law but came in response to the USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools where chemicals from nearby industries may permeate the air.

Continue reading "Testing for Toxics at Schools Sparks Lawsuits " »

A lawsuit alleging that Merck & Co's osteoporosis drug Fosamax caused jaw damage ended in a mistrial on Friday .

U.S. District Judge John Keenan declared the mistrial two days giving the New York jury considering the case a "cooling off period" in light of supposed acrimony among jurors.

A Merck lawyer on Wednesday referred to an "unsubstantiated claim" of a chair being thrown in the jury room.

Merck faces lawsuits involving almost 900 cases by patients who say the use of Fosamax causes osteonecrosis of the jaw, or the death of jawbone tissue. The trial is Merck's first over the drug

Continue reading "Merck Lawsuit Over Fosamax ends in Mistrial" »

A federal judge presiding over hundreds of lawsuits against Chinese drywall makers and installers said Thursday that he plans to hold the first trial in January 2010 for the cases, which claim the imported products emit sulfur, methane and other chemical compounds that have ruined homes and harmed residents' health.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon told attorneys that he expects them to pick six plaintiffs whose cases could be tried in early 2010, with the first trial starting in January.

Kerry Miller, a lead lawyer for companies named as defendants in the suits, said defense attorneys may need more time to prepare for the first batch of bellwether trials. Russ Herman, a lead plaintiffs lawyer, said he supports Fallon's scheduling plan.

Continue reading "Trial Set For January 2010 on Chinese Drywall" »

The number of Chinese drywall manufacturers responsible for corrosion and potential health problems plaguing U.S. homeowners may be about to increase substantially.

With the first set of home inspections about to begin in the massive combined Chinese drywall litigation playing out in New Orleans, lawyers involved in the case were told to document the different identifying markings on wallboard found in affected homes.

On Thursday, they revealed that 36 separate variations of tainted drywall have been found -- a much higher number than previously disclosed.

While some manufacturers may have more than one way of marking their product and some markings were stamped by distributors, the three dozen variations opens the door to a host of new companies publicly joining the mix.

Continue reading "Number of Implicated Chinese Drywall Manufacturers Increases." »

Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard and is highly regulated. An estimated 1.3 million employees in the construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. Heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, particularly during the removal of asbestos during renovation or demolition.

Employees are also likely to be exposed during the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials) and during automotive brake and clutch repair work.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Texas Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits" »

On Oct. 18, 2005, plaintiff Alvin Greenberg, 58, disabled, suffered from an overdose of Zyprexa. He had been administered the drug by the staff at the Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Wyndmoor, where he was a resident; the order for the anti-psychotic medication had been called into the facility by his treating physician three days earlier.

Greenberg's daughter and power-of-attorney, Alicia Greenberg, sued Green Acres, Melanio Aguirre, Greenberg's attending physician, and Aguirre's practice, claiming negligence, in order to recover personal injury damages. Prior to trial Greenberg settled with Green Acres for an undisclosed amount but Green Acres still remained in the action as a defendant.

Plaintiff's counsel alleged that Greenberg was given 10 times the proper amount of Zyprexa, causing Greenberg to require an emergency room admission for Zyprexa toxicity. According to counsel, when Aguirre spoke to the nurse by telephone on Oct. 15, it wasn't clear whether Aguirre directed the nurse to give Greenberg 25 mg or 2.5 mg of the medication. Plaintiff's counsel asserted that both Aguirre and the nursing home were liable for the overdose because they didn't ensure that Greenberg receive the proper dosage of the medication he required.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Medical Malpractice: Staff Dispensed 10 times Correct Dosage" »

Exxon Mobil Corp. lost the second phase of a trial in which New York City accused the company of poisoning the city’s groundwater, with a jury ruling that a gasoline additive will remain in water wells for years.

The case is part of larger litigation over methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE. More than 70 lawsuits filed by water providers and state and local governments were consolidated before U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin for pretrial information-gathering, according to an industry Web site.

An 11-member jury decided today that MTBE will contaminate the output of six affected wells at a peak level of 10 parts per billion in 2033. The verdict came on the third day of deliberations, less than two hours after jurors told Scheindlin they were deadlocked on a part of the case.

Continue reading "Exxon Loses Second Phase of New York Water-Well Trial " »

Camp Lejeune residents blame rare breast cancer cluster on the water.
For three decades, dry-cleaning chemicals and industrial solvents laced the water used by local Marines and their families. Mike Partain and at least 19 others developed male breast cancer.

One night in April 2007, as Mike Partain hugged his wife before going to bed, she felt a small lump above his right nipple. A mammogram -- a "man-o-gram," he called it -- led to a diagnosis of male breast cancer. Six days later, the 41-year-old insurance adjuster had a mastectomy.

Partain had no idea men could get breast cancer. But he thinks he knows what caused his: contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was born.

Over the last two years, Partain has compiled a list of 19 others diagnosed with male breast cancer who once lived on the base.

Continue reading "Camp Lejeune Residents Blame Rare Breast Cancer Cluster on the Water." »

For three decades, dry-cleaning chemicals and industrial solvents laced the water used by local Marines and their families. Mike Partain and at least 19 others developed male breast cancer.

One night in April 2007, as Mike Partain hugged his wife before going to bed, she felt a small lump above his right nipple. A mammogram led to a diagnosis of male breast cancer. Six days later, the 41-year-old insurance adjuster had a mastectomy.

Over the last two years, Partain has compiled a list of 19 others diagnosed with male breast cancer who once lived on the base.

Continue reading "Camp Lejeune Residents Blame Breast Cancer on the Water" »

Denture Cream Lawsuit – Zinc Poisoning Symptoms

It has increasingly been reported that the denture cream ingredient zinc is associated with neurological symptoms including neuropathy in denture wearers. The recommended daily allowance of zinc is 8 mg for women and 11 mg for men. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies the largest daily tolerable zinc intake is 40 mg.

Fixodent denture adhesive and alleged Fixodent zinc poisoning is complicated by the fact zinc, as a trace element, is part of a healthy diet. Denture cream zinc poisoning happens when too much zinc is used.

According to the official Fixodent web site, "the amount of zinc an average denture adhesive user would ingest from daily usage of Fixodent" is less than the amount of zinc contained in most daily multivitamins, or fewer than 6 oysters.

Continue reading "Poligrip and Fixodent Denture Cream Use Leads to Zinc Poisoning" »

About 11% of the U.S. market for oral contraceptives is now accounted for by Yasmin, a combination pill containing the novel progestin, drospirenone, in combination with ethinyl estradiol (EE).

Yaz lawsuits are personal injury cases in which women injured after taking Yaz birth control seek compensation for their injuries and losses.

Both Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills are known to potentially cause life-threatening side effects including blood clots, heart attacks, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and liver damage.

Yasmin was introduced earlier (approved in 2001 by the FDA), and has a slightly higher EE level:

* Yasmin—3 mg drospirenone and 30 mcg EE per tablet
* Yaz—3 mg drospirenone and 20 mcg EE per tablet

Continue reading "Yaz Yasmin Birth Control Side Effects" »

Side effects of Yaz birth control could increase the risk of life-threatening injuries. Yaz lawsuits are being reviewed nationwide.

Yaz, which is nearly identical to Yasmin birth control, is a newer type of oral contraceptive sold by Bayer. It has been aggressively marketed without adequate warnings about potentially life-threatening side effects.

This site provides Yasmin lawsuit information and the latest news regarding Yasmin side effects and problems. This relatively new birth control has been marketed heavily to women in the United States and is one of the first contraceptives considered a “fourth generation” birth control pill.

It is manufactured by Bayer which also markets Yaz birth control. Generic Yasmin is marketed as “Ocella” and is manufactured by Teva. Yasmin is a combination hormonal contraceptive. It contains the hormones ethinyl estradiol (estrogen) and drospirenone which is a synthetic form of progestin.

Continue reading "Yaz Yasmin Birth Control Information and Lawsuits" »

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is reviewing adverse event reports of liver injury in patients taking the weight loss drug orlistat, marketed as the prescription drug Xenical and the over-the-counter medication Alli.

Between 1999 and 2008, the FDA received 32 reports of serious liver injury in patients taking orlistat. Of those cases, 27 reported hospitalization and six resulted in liver failure. Thirty of the adverse events occurred outside the United States. The most commonly reported adverse events included yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice), weakness, and stomach pain.

The FDA is reviewing additional data submitted by orlistat manufacturers on suspected cases of liver injury, and the issue has been discussed at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Drug Safety Oversight Board.

“The issues here are complex, but FDA has benefited from the input of the Board, including comments from representatives from three FDA Centers and several other Agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Steven Osborne, M.D., executive director of the Board.

Continue reading "FDA: Safety Review of Weight Loss Drugs Orlistat, Xenical and Alli" »

The Yaz birth control pill has been on the market since 2006. Yaz is taken orally once daily to prevent pregnancy.

Yaz differs from other birth control methods because it contains a progestin hormone called drospirenone, which can increase potassium levels in the bloodstream. Yasmin, a birth control drug very similar to Yaz, has been on the market since 2001. It contains the same hormone as Yaz and is associated with the same health issues.

Continue reading "Yaz Birth Control Dangers and Lawsuits" »

Yaz and Yasmin manufacturers are now involved in multiple Federal and State lawsuits.

In October of 2008, a warning letter was sent by the Food and Drug Administration to Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in response to claims the company had made for Yaz, a very popular and heavily promoted birth control pill.

The warning letter stated that Yaz has additional risks compared to other birth control pills because it contains drospirenone, a progestin hormone that can increase potassium levels.

Among the serious and debilitating injuries reported from the birth control pills are heart attacks, blood clots, strokes, pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis, gall bladder disease, and other serious injuries. Some deaths have even occurred.

Continue reading "Yaz, Yasmin and Pulmonary Embolism, Stroke, Heart Attack" »

Bronchiolitis Obliterans also known as Popcorn Workers Lung, is an obstructive lung disease in which the bronchioles of the lungs are blocked by the growth of fibrous tissue.

The moniker Popcorn Workers Lung has been given to Bronchiolitis Obliterans because workers in factories that make microwavable popcorn that uses diacetyl for the buttery flavoring are known to contract the disease. The disease is irreversible, and can become so severe that a lung transplant may be necessary. Popcorn Workers Lung is a rare disorder that is known to be caused by repeated exposure to toxic gases, namely diacetyl.

Continue reading "Popcorn Workers Lung - Bronchiolitis Obliterans" »

Yaz and Yasmin are popular and widely-used oral contraceptives targeting women with the promises of worry free contraception. But there is potentially life threatening Yasmin side effects and Yaz side effects.Yaz was recently targeted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a prescription drug that is more dangerous and less effective than advertised by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals.

In mid-August 2009, the results of two new studies of oral contraceptives, including Yaz and Yasmin, were released in the British Medical Journal Online. The studies showed that Yaz, Yasmin and the generic form of Yaz, Ocella, caused a six-fold increase in the risk of blood clots, which cause injuries such as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary Embolism (PE).

Continue reading "Yaz Lawsuit" »

The Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings to eight companies for illegally marketing pain relief ointments containing ibuprofen.

Regulators said in a statement Thursday the companies do not have federal permission to market their products, which mix the popular pain relief drug with other ingredients. While ibuprofen is available in a variety of tablets like Advil, the FDA has not approved any ointments containing the drug.

"These companies have an obligation to demonstrate to the FDA that their products are safe and effective, and they have failed to do so," said Deborah Autor, director of FDA's office of compliance.

Continue reading "FDA Cracks Down on Ibuprofen Pain Relief Gels" »

Yasmin is an oral contraceptive pill made by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that has been linked to heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in users. Women taking the drug to prevent pregnancy or to treat emotional and physical symptoms of PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) and moderate acne have suffered severe injuries and even died as a result.

The drug has been linked to 50 or more deaths in the United States between 2004 and 2008 in addition to many other injuries. Bayer has been named in numerous lawsuits filed on behalf of women who were injured or died as a result of taking Yasmin.

Yasmin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. A lower-dose version of the same drug, called Yaz, was approved in 2001. Yasmin is essentially the same drug as Yaz and uses a different kind of hormone than other birth-control pills, a drug called DRSP (drospirenone). DRSP has been shown to increase potassium in the body, which raises the possibility of severe health complications for women with kidney (renal) disease and cardiovascular conditions.

Continue reading "Yaz and Yasmin: Birth Control Pill Has Caused Patient Deaths, Heart Attack, and Stroke" »

If you believe you may have been harmed by the use of Avandia, it is important to note that your time to file a lawsuit against the maker of the drug could be running out. The statute of limitations in many states is coming up soon, and there still may be people who do not realize that the injury they have suffered could be related to their Avandia use.

New research shows that diabetics treated with the popular drug Avandia have higher risk of heart failure and death than those taking Actos, leading Canadian scientists to conclude that "continued use of [Avandia] may not be justified."

The findings, published in today's edition of the British Medical Journal, are the latest blow to the controversial blockbuster drug, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Inc.

Researchers stressed that the findings are relative and that Actos, a product of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., also poses heart risks, albeit lesser ones.

Continue reading "Avandia Risk of Heart Failure and Lawsuits" »

When Kari and Ron Craton moved a few years ago to a more rural area of southwestern Michigan, they were seeking a more rustic life. What they got was more rust.

Government officials say food-processing plants that turn raw crops into products have contaminated the water-supply wells of the Cratons and other property owners in agricultural areas of Michigan and could do the same in other states. Residents claim increased amounts of metals in water drawn from their wells have killed their pets, ruined their plumbing and made their houses impossible to sell or rent.

Continue reading "Wastewater From MI Food Plants Getting Into Home Water Wells" »

A dye used in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) scans has been linked to a rare and potentially fatal skin disease in some users.

The problem stems from the metal gadolinium found in the dyes injected into some patients before MRI scans and all patients before MRA scans.

The disease is known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NSF/NFD), and appears to only occur in patients with kidney disease who undergo an MRI or MRA where a gadolinium-based dye is used.

Continue reading "Gadolinium Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (MRI Dye) and Lawsuits" »

A government test of fish pulled from nearly 300 streams in the USA found every one of them contaminated with some level of mercury.

The U.S. Geological Survey's research marks its most comprehensive examination of mercury contamination in stream fish. The study found that 27% of the fish had mercury levels high enough to exceed what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for the average fish eater, those who eat fish twice a week.

But the findings in wild-caught fish underscore how widespread mercury contamination in the nation's waterways has become. Previous research has found levels of concern in ocean and lake fish.

Continue reading "Mercury Found in all Fish Caught in U.S.-Tested Streams" »

The Fleet Phospho-soda attorneys at Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm are investigating potential lawsuits for individuals who have suffered severe kidney damage after a colonoscopy prep where Fleet Phospho-soda was used.

While most patients only became aware of the potential for Fleet Phospho-soda kidney problems when the product was recalled in December 2008, the manufacturer has been aware of the potential side effects for years.

Continue reading "Fleet Phospho Soda Side Effects and Lawsuits" »

Fleet Phospho Soda, a laxative product used for varying applications, was the subject of a December 2008 consumer alert from the FDA (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). The alert warned that the use of phosphate-based laxatives such as Fleet Phospho Soda could result in kidney failure, even among individuals who do not have a medical condition that puts them at risk for kidney failure.

Fleet Phospho Soda is available without a prescription, it is a non-prescription laxative. It is widely used to clean the intestines before a colonoscopy and other medical procedures.

The Phospho Soda works by drawing fluid from the rest of the body into the colon; if an individual does not consume enough water or other fluids during Phospho Soda use, he or she may become dehydrated. The individual's level of phosphate salts in the kidneys may also become too high — a development that can result in a type of kidney damage called acute phosphate nephropathy (APN).

Continue reading "Fleet Phospho Soda and Kidney Damage" »

Avandia, an oral medication produced by GlaxoSmithKline, improves control of blood glucose levels in individuals with type-2 diabetes. Despite its ability to make insulin receptors more sensitive, Avandia does have some serious associated risks, as it can increase the chances that patients' develop:

* stroke
* congestive heart failure
* heart attack
* liver toxicity
* severe allergic reactions

Continue reading "Avandia Death Risk and Lawsuits" »

January 2008, Courtney Rohn dashed in for a takeout order at a Homestead restaurant.

A day later the 32-year-old mom died at Homestead Hospital. An autopsy showed that she died of a bacterial infection in the blood.

Now her family has filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against El Toro Taco, in connection with Rohn's takeout order. The lawsuit alleges the bacterial infection was caused from food poisoning and was exacerbated from Rohn having her spleen removed.

Rohn's mother and stepfather, Margaret and Walter Armstrong, are alleging two counts of negligence, two counts of strict liability and violations of The Florida Food Safety Act.

Continue reading "Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit From Food Poisoning" »

New studies point to an increased risk of Paxil birth defects in babies whose mothers use the antidepressant during pregnancy. According to the findings of two studies, women who were taking Paxil during their first trimester were one and a half to two times more likely to have a baby with a heart defect than women who were taking other antidepressants or women of the general population.

A study published in the February 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that maternal use of the antidepressant Paxil increased the risk—by as much as six times—of a birth defect known as persistent pulmonary hypertension, or PPHN.

Babies born with PPHN have difficulty circulating oxygen through their bodies because of constricted blood vessels in the heart and lungs.

Continue reading "Paxil Side Effects and Birth Defects" »

Yaz prevents ovulation and causes changes in the cervical and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus.

Yaz is used as contraception to prevent pregnancy.

Yaz is contraindicated if you are pregnant or if you have any of the following conditions: a history of stroke or blood clot, breast or uterine cancer, abnormal vaginal bleeding, kidney or liver disease, an adrenal gland disorder, severe high blood pressure, migraine headaches, or a history of jaundice caused by birth control pills.

Continue reading "Yaz Information and Side Effects" »

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about potential health risks associated with electronic cigarettes.

Also known as "e-cigarettes," electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices designed to look like and be used in the same manner as conventional cigarettes.

Sold online and in many shopping malls, the devices generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. They turn nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user.

Continue reading "FDA Warns of E-Cigarette Risks" »

A WV Kanawha County woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of popular weight-loss product Hydroxycut, alleging that they falsely marketed their products as safe and effective dietary supplements.

In a suit filed last week in Kanawha Circuit Court, Rhonda M. Hawkins maintains that Ontario-based Iovate Health Sciences, Inc., and its subsidiaries and related companies defrauded the public by advertising that Hydroxycut products worked and had no adverse health effects.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Law Suit Filed in WV Against Iovate" »

With thousands of homeowners claiming their houses and health are deteriorating from sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall, a federal judge in New Orleans is intent on fast-tracking a handful of cases for trial, attorneys say.

The first of these bellwether lawsuits could be tried by the end of the year, a timetable that encourages homeowners to think settlement. In contrast, drywall maker and defendant Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin welcomes home inspections and is investigating "practical solutions" but denies any health effects from its drywall.

About 600 tainted Chinese drywall lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation under U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon for pretrial issues. With the help of plaintiff and defense steering committees, Fallon will select five cases to test the waters.

"He is moving extremely fast, which is the right thing because people are living in homes that are toxic to them," said Victor Diaz, a partner at Podhurst Orseck in Miami and a member of the MDL plaintiff steering committee.

Continue reading "Defective Product Chinese Drywall Cases on 'Rocket Docket'" »

Merck & Co., the drugmaker facing 900 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes the death of jawbone tissue, goes to trial tomorrow in a case that may affect all the others.

The trial in New York of the first case of the group, filed by Shirley Boles, 71, will be one of three so-called bellwether cases that may point the way to out-of-court settlements.

Continue reading "Merck Faces First Trial of Claim That Fosamax Attacks Jawbone " »

As investigators with the Consumer Product Safety Commission prepared for a visit to China next week to look into tainted drywall, the federal judge overseeing the massive basket of legal cases reiterated his plan to speed the proceedings along.

In a report to Congress, the federal agency -- leading the investigation into Chinese drywall -- said it had received permission from Chinese officials for the trip, scheduled to begin on Monday.

Meanwhile, Judge Eldon E. Fallon, who plans to begin "bellwether" trials in January, told both sides during a status conference in New Orleans on Tuesday that he expected discovery to begin in a few weeks.

The process will be sped along by the use of "profile forms" rather than traditional interrogatories that can get mired in procedural delays.

Fallon also said he wanted an agreed-upon plan for inspecting and identifying affected homes by Friday. The inspections should determine whether a home had Chinese drywall and, if so, what kind of damage was present, Fallon said.

Continue reading "Speedy Chinese Drywall Litigation Given Thumbs up" »

Merck & Co., the drugmaker facing 900 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes the death of jawbone tissue, goes to trial tomorrow in a case that may affect all the others.

The trial in New York of the first case of the group, filed by Shirley Boles, 71, will be one of three so-called bellwether cases that may point the way to out-of-court settlements.

“In mass litigation, all eyes are on the first trial, not only because it shows the strategy of each side, but also because it’s the first information about how jurors respond to the evidence,” said Howard Erichson, a law professor at Fordham University in New York and an expert on civil procedure.

Continue reading "Merck Faces Product Liablity Claim That Fosamax Attacks Jawbone " »

Yaz and Yasmin are different from other combination birth control pills because they both contain a new type of progestin hormone known as drsp or drospirenone.

However, drospirenone has diuretic activity that can cause an increase in the user’s potassium levels, which can lead to dangerous health problems and is especially dangerous to users who have pre-existing kidney, liver and adrenal disease.

Continue reading "Yaz Yasmin and Drospirenone Side Effects" »

A federal appeals court has invalidated Bayer’s patent for the birth control pill Yasmin, allowing Teva Pharmaceuticals to produce the generic version, Ocella, without licensing the drug.

The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s finding that the use of the progestin drospirenone that led to Yasmin were too obvious a pharmaceutical development for Bayer to patent.

Yasmin is an oral contraceptive that combines drospirenone with the estrogen component ethinyl estriadol to prohibit ovulation. While many birth control pills use ethinyl estriadol in combination with progestins, Yasmin was the first to use drospirenone.

Continue reading "Yasmin Generic Lawsuit Knocks out Bayer's Patent over Birth Control Pill" »

A Texas law firm is targeting generic drug giant Mylan Inc., along with other pharmaceutical companies, in product liability lawsuits related to the manufacture of pain patches.

The lawsuits involve the powerful painkiller fentanyl, which is applied to the skin in a patch for the slow release of the medication. In the Mylan lawsuits, the plaintiffs attribute 28 deaths to the patches.

Mylan makes the patches at its plant in St. Albans, Vt., which is operated by Mylan subsidiary Mylan Technologies Inc.

“We think there was a manufacturer defect,” according to the plaintiffs' attorney. “What we don’t know is the exact nature of the defect.”

Mylan has denied liability in court filings.

Continue reading "Mylan Faces Several Product Liability Lawsuits Over Fentanyl Pain Patches" »

An expert panel reported that two more diseases may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the American military during the Vietnam War.

People exposed to the chemical appear, at least tentatively, to be more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease, according to the report. The report was written by a 14-member committee charged by the Institute of Medicine with determining whether certain medical conditions were caused by exposure to herbicides used to clear stretches of jungle.

The results, though not conclusive, are an important first step for veterans groups working to get the government to help pay for treatment of illnesses they believe have roots on the battlefield. Some other conditions linked to Agent Orange already qualify.

Continue reading "Parkinson Disease and Heart Disease linked to Agent Orange" »

Pfizer Inc.’s Warner-Lambert unit created a list of 13 ailments that its epilepsy medicine Neurontin could treat as part of its promotion of the drug for unapproved uses, a former employee testified.

“I was trained from day one” to market the drug illegally, David Franklin testified. Franklin, who worked as a medical liaison at the Parke-Davis division of Warner-Lambert, said he encouraged doctors to prescribe Neurontin for uses beyond those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“My job was to promote Neurontin and motivate doctors to experiment” on patients, he said today in federal court in Boston. After being hired as a medical liaison, “I was selling drugs,” he said. The uses promoted were from the “snake-oil list” of 13 medical conditions, said Franklin, a microbiologist.

Continue reading "Defective Drugs: Neurontin Lawsuits and Suicide" »

Federal regulators on Tuesday added stronger warnings to a group of best-selling drugs used to treat arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, saying they can increase the risk of cancer in children and adolescents.

After more than a year of review, Food and Drug Administration scientists said the drugs appear to increase the risk of cancer after they are used beyond 2 1/2 years. The agency studied several dozen reports of cancer in children taking the drugs, some of which were fatal. Half of the cases were lymphomas, a cancer that attacks the immune system.

The drugs are known as tumor necrosis factor blockers and work by neutralizing a protein that, when overproduced, causes inflammation and damage to bones, cartilage and other tissue. The drugs are prescribed to children with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disorder and Crohn's disease.

Continue reading "FDA: Arthritis Drugs Linked to Cancer Risk in children" »

Merck & Co., facing more than 850 lawsuits over claims that its osteoporosis drug Fosamax may cause irreversible “jaw rot,” won’t face punitive damages in the first trial, a federal judge said.

U.S. District Judge John Keenan said at a hearing today in New York that he’ll release a decision as early as July 31 knocking out the possibility of punitive damages in the case. He’ll deny Merck’s request to rule in its favor on liability, which means the case will go to trial Aug. 11, he said.

Keenan has scheduled three so-called bellwether trials through January to show each side the other’s strategy and possibly point the way to settlements. The judge earlier denied the plaintiffs’ request to treat the litigation as a class, or group, lawsuit allowing them to ask for court-ordered medical monitoring of all Fosamax users.

Continue reading "No Punitive Damages Against Merck in Fosamax Trial" »

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday released an analysis of 19 varieties of electronic cigarettes that said half contained nitrosamines (the same carcinogen found in real cigarettes) and many contained diethylene glycol, the poisonous ingredient in antifreeze. Some that claimed to have no nicotine were found to have low levels of the drug.

E-cigarettes are promoted by their manufacturers as safer than traditional cigarettes because they do not burn tobacco. Instead, a lithium battery in the cigarette-shaped device heats a solution of nicotine in propylene glycol, producing a fine mist that can be inhaled to deliver nicotine directly to the lungs.

Continue reading "Carcinogens and Poisons Found in Electronic Cigarettes" »

After her family dropped its lawsuit in the midst of trial, Pfizer Inc. won’t face a lawsuit over claims its epilepsy drug Neurontin helped lead a Massachusetts woman to commit suicide,

Susan Bulger’s family agreed to dismiss the suit after an anonymous donor offered to put money in a trust for her 10-year- old daughter, Regina, said Mark Lanier, the family’s lawyer. The trial began July 27 and was scheduled to run three weeks in federal court in Boston.

The suit was the first of about 1,200 involving Neurontin. The family claimed Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, promoted the medication for unapproved uses and didn’t warn it could increase the risk of suicide until forced to do so by the government. Pfizer said Bulger had a history of drug abuse and had made six suicide attempts before taking her life in 2004.

Continue reading "Neurontin Pfizer Product Liability Lawsuit Dropped" »

The drug Metoclopramide (brand name Reglan, Octamide, Maxolon ) which is used to treat some gastrointestinal disorders such as gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), diabetic gastroparesis and nausea has been linked to the serious neurological movement disorder known as tardive dyskinesia.

On February 26, 2009 the FDA issued an alert warning against chronic use of metoclopramide containing drugs and requiring a boxed warning.

Reglan side effects of tardive dyskinesia and drug induced movement disorders are characterized by rarely reversible symptoms that include random movements in the tongue, lips or jaw as well as facial grimacing, movements of arms, legs, fingers and toes along with swaying movements of the trunk or hip.

Continue reading "Defective Drugs: Reglan Lawsuits and Tardive Dyskinesia" »

The asbestos lawsuits filed in the United States over the past fifty years constitute the longest running mass tort in the country’s history. A tort is defined as a civil action taken based on a negligent or intentional harm done that is not based on contract law.

A Rand Corporation research says that by the end of 2002, about 730,000 individuals claiming physical harm from asbestos exposure had filed suit against about 8,400 corporations and businesses. At that point, about seventy corporations had filed for bankruptcy protection over their asbestos liability.

Today, in 2009 the number of bankruptcy filings has reached one hundred. The number of lawsuits since 2002 are several hundred thousand in number and they have increased each year. Because the diseases caused by asbestos exposure have latency periods of up to fifty years, many people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago are just now getting sick.

Continue reading "Arlington Texas Asbestos Litigation" »

The central figure of an investigation into the hepatitis C outbreak might have been impaired by a stroke a year ago, but he is competent enough to face medical malpractice charges, according to the state Board of Medical Examiners.

Based on results from an examination performed by Dr. Thomas Kinsora, a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Dipak Desai is "borderline" in regards to his ability to assist defense attorneys in his medical board licensing hearing.

Continue reading "Hepatitis C Medical Malpractice Claims Can Proceed" »

Yasmin lawsuits are personal injury cases that seek settlements for women injured after taking Yasmin (drospirenone), a contraceptive pill also prescribed in the treatment of moderate acne and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) for menstruating women. Yasmin may also be sold under the brand name Yaz, a form of drospirenone manufactured and distributed by Bayer.

Produced by Berlex Laboratories, Inc., Yasmin has been reported to cause a variety of serious side effects since its FDA approval in May 2001. Women injured after taking Yasmin will likely be entitled to compensation by pursuing a Yasmin lawsuit.

Continue reading "Defective Drug: Yasmin Lawsuits" »

Patients who were harmed because of heparin contamination still have time to bring claims against the makers of the heparin products. Patients may have been exposed to contaminated heparin through injections, pre-filled syringes or IV bags. It is important for people affected by contaminated heparin to hold those responsible accountable for what happened.

Heparin is a blood thinner, used in a variety of procedures, including dialysis and cardiac procedures. In early 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of certain Baxter heparin products after the agency received reports of adverse reactions linked to the products. Within a month, hundreds of reports detailing severe reactions to heparin surfaced worldwide. The recall was later expanded to include more products and other companies.

The FDA discovered that the contaminant was oversulfated chondroitin sulphate (OSCS), the reactions to OSCS can be extreme; with large doses of heparin, it can result in death.

Injuries linked to contaminated heparin include nausea, vomiting and flu-like symptoms to anaphylactic shock, coma and even death.

Continue reading "Baxter Contaminated Heparin Class Action Lawsuit Still Open" »

Federal regulators warned consumers on Tuesday not to use body-building products that are sold as nutritional supplements but may contain steroids or steroidlike substances, citing reports of acute liver injury and kidney failure.

The Food and Drug Administration said it issued the warning because of increased reports of medical problems in men who had used such products.

But except for naming eight specific supplements sold by a single company, the Food and Drug Administration did not provide much clear guidance to consumers on what other products to avoid. The F.D.A. acknowledged that it did not know how many products its warning affect

Continue reading "FDA Warns Against Bodybuilding Products Containing Steroids" »

Accutane has been a controversial acne medication because of the serious risk of side effects and suicides attributed to it. The FDA warned physicians prescribing the acne medication to be aware of any signs of depression their patients might display. Accutane manufacturer Hoffman-LaRoche did not warn patients and healthcare professionals of the potential risks involved with Accutane until after the FDA made this advisement.

In October 2001, Congressman Bart Stupak expressed his concerns about Accutane following the suicide of his son who was taking Accutane. Accutane manufacturer has warned physicians that the acne drug can possibly cause "depression, psychotic symptoms, and rarely suicide attempts," but still the company maintains they believe the drug is safe. In addition, Accutane carries high risk of serious birth defects, including deformed babies, miscarriage, premature birth, or death of the baby.

Continue reading "Defective Drug: Accutane Lawsuits and Inflammatory Bowel Disease" »

If you took an oral sodium phosphate (OSP) to clean your bowels prior to a colonoscopy and have developed kidney damage, there is a chance your health problems are linked to the use of the OSP. In 2008, certain oral sodium phosphates, including OsmoPrep and Visicol were given a black box warning, the highest warning required by the FDA, alerting patients to the risk of kidney damage.

The OsmoPrep and the Visicol are prescription drugs, and there is also an over-the-counter preparation called a Fleet enema. These also have been linked with acute kidney damage when used as bowel preparation for a colonoscopy but not when used as a laxative. In 2008, they were also given a black box warning that warns of the potential risks of renal failure."

There are some people who are more susceptible to renal failure than others. Some factors that can affect a patient's susceptibility include having pre-existing kidney damage, being dehydrated while taking the OSP, being on an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor while taking the OSP, being on an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) while taking the OSP, having increased bowel transit times (such as a bowel obstruction or colitis), or being on a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) while taking the OSP. A final risk factor is being 55 years of age or older at the time the OSP is taken.

Continue reading "Fleet Phospate Class Action Lawsuits For Kidney Damage" »

If you are a patient taking Avandia and have suffered a heart attack or stroke, you need to seek legal advice as the time for filing a lawsuit may be running out, . Avandia is used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus but studies have linked Avandia to an increased risk of adverse heart events.

Avandia was found to have an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, the problems it causes are similar to those caused by Vioxx. Avandia is believed to increase a certain subset of cholesterol that also increases the risk of heart attacks.

The FDA issued a safety alert in May, 2007, based on different studies, and found that people with underlying heart disease are at an increased risk of one of those events [heart attack or stroke] if they are taking Avandia. There was a meta-analysis, where researchers looked at different studies, and that showed a 30 to 40 percent greater risk of a heart attack in patients treated with Avandia than people treated with a placebo or other diabetes therapies.

Continue reading "Avandia Class Action Lawsuits and Increased Risk of Strokes" »

Introduced in the U.S. in July 2002, NuvaRing is a vaginal contraceptive ring that is over 98 percent effective at preventing pregnancy when it is used properly.

NuvaRing birth control works over the course of three weeks by slowly releasing hormones into a woman's body. While NuvaRing needs to be removed during the fourth week of a month (to allow for menstruation), the contraceptive effects of this birth control device continue to persist.

Currently, over 1.5 million women in 32 countries, including the U.S., the Netherlands and Australia, use NuvaRing.

Continue reading "Defective Drug: Nuvaring Lawsuits and Increased Risk of Stroke" »

According to adverse drug event reports received by the FDA, there may be a connection between the use of Chantix and diabetes. The drug has been linked with a number of reports involving new onset diabetes.

The Chantix attorneys at Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm are evaluating the potential for legal cases on behalf of individuals who were diagnosed with diabetes for the first time after using Chantix.

While studies have not firmly established that Chantix causes diabetes, sufficient reports of problems associated with the use of the drug warrant further investigation. Potential cases are being reviewed throughout the United States.

Continue reading "Chantix Diabetes Side Effects and Lawsuits" »

The use of oral sodium phosphate products, like Fleet Phospho-soda, Visicol and OsmoPrep, to clear out the bowels before a colonoscopy or other medical procedure, have been associated with the development of a rare but serious form of kidney injury known as acute phosphate nephropathy.

The Fleet Phospho-soda attorneys at Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm are investigating potential Acute Phosphate Nephropathy lawsuits for patients who have been diagnosed with the kidney condition after using an over-the-counter Fleet Phospho-soda laxative at high doses for colonoscopy prep.

Continue reading "Fleet Phospho-soda and Acute Phosphate Nephropathy Lawsuits" »

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has caught the manufacturers of Zicam and that should force it, to regulate homeopathic products.

FDA regulations require that drugs and treatments be “scientifically proven safe and effective.” Homeopathic remedies, except when people rely on them to treat serious conditions, are usually safe. So far, though, the FDA has ignored the multi-million dollar fraud. But now there is harm.

Continue reading "Zicam Lawsuits and the FDA Complaint" »

An investor with Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. the maker of Zicam, has filed a proposed securities class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on behalf of shareholders of Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., who purchased Matrixx stock between December 22, 2007 and June 15, 2009, in relation to Matrixx Initiatives alleged violations of FDA regulations involving the Zicam Cold Remedy products.

Continue reading "Zicam Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. Investor Class Action Lawsuit" »

Millions of people who have used the prescription acne medication call it a miracle. But the drug also has been the target of lawsuits, federal investigations and scientists who say the drug is overused and that its dangers outweigh its benefits.

But now Accutane is gone. Its maker, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding, pulled it from the market last week. The company maintains the drug is safe but says it can't compete with generic versions that flooded the U.S. market several years ago.

Others say Roche has had trouble shaking off the studies and lawsuits that link it to everything from birth defects to depression. Juries recently awarded at least $33 million in damages to users who blamed the drug for bowel disorders.

"We've never advocated this drug being taken off the market," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that has been vocal about Accutane.

Click here for the Accutane Case List

Continue reading "Accutane Lawsuits and Litigation" »

Beverly Crouch spent hundreds of dollars on chemicals last fall to try to get the green tinge out of her backyard pool.

It wasn't until two months ago that she learned why the chemicals she put into her 13,000-gallon, above-ground pool wouldn't clear the water. The green color came from well water contaminated with hexavalent chromium, a known human carcinogen.

Crouch, 44, isn't alone. Some of her neighbors' wells gushed water the color of urine.

Texas environmental officials are still trying to determine the extent of the contamination. Later this month, they will ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider the site for federal Superfund status.

After that, efforts will begin to find who dumped the dangerous chemical, which appears to have been in the area for years, according to one environmental investigator.

Continue reading "Midland Texas Wells Contaminated with Chromium" »

U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, who is handling the consolidated Fixodent and Super PoliGrip lawsuits filed over zinc poisoning from denture creams, issued an order designating lawyers to serve in leadership positions in the MDL, or Multidistrict litigation. These denture cream lawyers will perform services that benefit all of the plaintiffs involved in the litigation during the pretrial proceedings.

On June 9, 2009, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized all federal denture cream lawsuits before Judge Altonaga in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, for coordinated discovery and pretrial litigation.

Continue reading "Denture Cream Lawsuits" »

MedWatch June 2009 Drug Safety Labeling Changes posting includes 31 drug products with safety labeling changes to the following sections: BOXED WARNING, CONTRAINDICATIONS, WARNINGS, PRECAUTIONS, ADVERSE REACTIONS, PATIENT PACKAGE INSERT, and MEDICATION GUIDE.

The "Summary Page" provides a listing of drug names and safety labeling sections revised:

Continue reading "FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program" »

A Rhode Island woman has joined 516 other plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that make certain dyes used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The woman, who did not want to be identified, was diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in 2006 after being injected with a contrast-agent made with gadolinium . It's a rare disease that affects people with renal failure, such as kidney disease.

The contrast-agent, or dye, is used during an MRI to help technicians and doctors examine tissue. Patients with healthy kidneys simply flush the gadolinium out. People diagnosed with NSF, however, describe their skin turning wood-like, eventually cracking. The disease can move to organs where it can be fatal.

Continue reading "Gadolinium MRI Dye Linked to Skin Disease" »

Russell Powell wondered for years after he returned from Iraq why he couldn't run even short distances without wheezing.

Following his yearlong tour of duty that ended in 2004, he coached his son's Little League team, but had to stop because it exhausted him.

The 34-year-old, who was able to run two miles in 9:44 before he went to Iraq in 2003, said now he is lucky to finish in 20 minutes.

He was discharged from the West Virginia Army National Guard for medical reasons at the end of 2008 because he was unable to meet physical requirements. Since he started his new job as a corrections officer for a West Virginia prison earlier this year, he's had to use several sick days and vacation days to visit doctors.

Continue reading "W. Va. Soldiers sue KBR for Chemical Exposure in Iraq " »

Two years after several environmental groups sued, a Houston energy company has agreed to clean up mercury contamination around its natural gas wells in the Monroe area.

EnerVest Operating LLC will decontaminate land in Ouachita, Union and Morehouse parishes and replace about 400 leaky mercury meters the company uses to gauge well and pipeline pressure, according to a settlement approved last week by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

The deal comes more than two years after EnerVest was sued for allowing mercury to seep into the land surrounding its wells in northeast Louisiana. The company failed to properly dispose of mercury and clean up spills from meters, according to the lawsuit filed by the Louisiana Audubon Council, the Sierra Club, the Gulf Restoration Network and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network. Nor did EnerVest upgrade its meters to more environmentally friendly models that have become "the industry standard," the groups said.

Continue reading "Texas Firm Agrees to Clean up Mercury Spills to Settle Lawsuit" »

Has a Zicam nasal cold remedy robbed you of your sense of smell, and possibly the ability to taste? If so you have probably been stricken with a condition called anosmia – loss of sense of smell, sometimes accompanied by loss of sense of taste - related to the presence of zinc gluconate in Zicam intranasal cold remedies. Like thousands of other people who have used Zicam nasal gel or swabs, you probably had no idea that these products could be so dangerous.

Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. has had to remove several varieties of Zicam nasal cold remedies from the market because of their association with anosmia. The lawyers at our firm are currently representing scores of people in personal injury lawsuits who lost their ability to smell, and in some cases taste, after using a Zicam nasal gel or swab to treat or prevent a cold.

Continue reading "Zicam Lawsuit and the FDA" »

Federal and state officials plan to interview about 100 Midlothian residents next week as part of an environmental study to see whether a link exists between industrial pollution and human and animal health problems, including birth defects.

Midlothian, southeast of Fort Worth, has 10 cement kilns, one of the largest concentrations in the country and a major source of industrial pollution in North Texas, according to environmental groups. Residents also worry about emissions from a steel plant in this community of about 15,000.

Continue reading "Midlothian Texas Residents to be Studied for Industrial Pollution" »

Side effects of Zicam Nasal Gel and Nasal Swabs, marketed as an over-the-counter cold remedy, have been associated with the loss of sense of smell and taste, which can be an extremely devastating injury. In June 2009, the FDA required that three Zicam Cold Remedy products be pulled from the market due to reports of more than 130 users losing their sense of smell.

STATUS OF ZICAM LAWSUITS: Hundreds of Zicam lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individuals who lost their sense of taste or smell, and lawyers are continuing to review potential claims.

Continue reading "Zicam Lawsuit Filed" »

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" »

In Texas, Asbestos been used in the petroleum industry in everything from pipe insulation to gaskets to the clothes workers wore. Asbestos causes cancer when breathed into the lungs, often in the form of Mesothelioma.

The fire benefits of asbestos were such that their use in Texas did not stop with the petroleum industry. The substance was used in building materials for homes, schools and buildings.

The state of Texas is in the top 10 when it comes to asbestos claims. At last count, it was placed seventh among all the states for the highest number of asbestos lawsuits filed and that number is expected to rise dramatically as the disease progresses.

Continue reading "Texas Asbestos Lung Mesothelioma Lawsuits" »

FDA has required the manufacturers of the smoking cessation aids varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban and generics) to add new Boxed Warnings and develop patient Medication Guides highlighting the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients using these products. These symptoms include changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and attempted suicide. The same changes to the prescribing information and Medication Guide for patients will also be required for bupropion products (Wellbutrin and generics)that are indicated for the treatment of depression and seasonal affective disorder.

Continue reading "FDA: Varenicline (marketed as Chantix) and Bupropion (marketed as Zyban, Wellbutrin, and generics)" »

The Yaz® birth control pill has been on the market since 2006. Yaz is taken orally once daily to prevent pregnancy.

Yaz differs from other birth control methods because it contains a progestin hormone called drospirenone, which can increase potassium levels in the bloodstream.

Yaz has been linked with serious adverse heart problems. In a letter sent to the manufacturer of Yaz, the Food and Drug Administration warns of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, and gall bladder disease in Yaz users.

The FDA says, "Yaz has additional risks because it contains the progestin, drospirenone which can lead to hyperkalemia in high risk patients, which may result in potentially serious heart and health problems. Women taking Yaz must be concerned about the drug interactions that could increase potassium, in addition to the drug interactions common to all combination oral contraceptives."

Continue reading "Yaz Class Action Law Suits in Progress" »

Ever since the issue of MRI health risks began circulating, Gadolinium kidney failure has been debated—especially with its link to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) and increased risk for MRI and kidney failure when used in association with MRI for persons with compromised kidneys.

However, a new study casts a certain amount of doubt. The study: High-Dose Gadodiamide for Catheter Angiography and CT in Patients With Varying Degrees of Renal Insufficiency: Prevalence of Subsequent Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis and Decline in Renal Function, was recently undertaken at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

The results of the study were published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

"The purpose of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and nephrotoxicity among patients with differing degrees of renal dysfunction who are exposed to high doses of gadodiamide," said Mellena D. Bridges, MD, lead author of the study.

Continue reading "MRI Gadolinium Induced Kidney Failure" »

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" »

There is a big mess at Matrixx Initiatives, a Scottsdale, Ariz., maker of over-the-counter health care products. Best-known for its homeopathic Zicam Cold Remedy offerings, Matrixx hit a rough patch on June 16, when the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to stop using two of its popular remedies.

The F.D.A. said that it had received more than 130 reports of anosmia — or loss of smell — from users of the products and that more than 800 such reports had been delivered to Matrixx. The agency told Matrixx that Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel and the same treatment in swab form could no longer be marketed without government approval.

Continue reading "Zicam and Shareholder Litigation Begins" »

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.

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

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" »

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 " »

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" »

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" »

The acne remedy Accutane, a synthetic form of vitamin A used to treat serious forms of acne that can cause scarring, has been the subject of extensive litigation because of a long list of side effects including inflammatory bowel disease, suicide, and birth defects.

The U.S. manufacturer of Accutane, Hoffman La Roche, is part of the international conglomerate known as “The La Roche Group,” with affiliates in 150 countries. “The La Roche Group” is estimated to be the seventh largest pharmaceutical company in the world. Accutane is one of Hoffman La Roche’s top sellers with estimated annual sales of $1.2 billion. Accutane is also one of the 3 drugs on the market with the most reports of adverse side effects, and this has led to extensive litigation. Lawsuits have been brought against Hoffman La Roche for alleged adverse reactions caused by Accutane including gastrointestinal disorders, suicides, and birth defects.

Continue reading "Accutane Lawsuits and Litigation" »

The Eleventh Circuit ruled on Wednesday on an interesting and provocative case. In an unpublished opinion, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a case in which the mother of a 17 year-old who committed suicide in 2000 sued Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. The plaintiff alleged that Accutane, an acne drug made by Hoffman-LaRoche caused the suicide. Click here for reports from BNET Pharma and the Drug and Device Blog, respectively.

Continue reading "Wife of Congressman Loses Accutane Acne-Drug Suicide Case" »

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" »

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" »

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fiber that, when released into the air, can be inhaled or swallowed. Asbestos fibers are so small that they are not visible to the naked eye. Once they are inhaled, asbestos fibers stay in the body and, over the course of decades, lead to the development of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. An estimated 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year, and because the disease takes decades to develop, the rate of new diagnoses is still climbing. The peak incidence of mesothelioma is predicted to occur around 2020.

Continue reading "Texas Mesothelioma Lawyers, How to File an Asbestos Lawsuit in Texas " »

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" »

Two class action lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the recall of Hydroxycut, a popular weight-loss supplement that has been linked to liver damage and other life-threatening side effects.

The suits, filed in Canada and Tennessee, accuse Iovate Health Sciences, which manufactures Hydroxycut, of failing to warn of the drug's dangers or take proper precautions to protect its users.

Continue reading "Dangerous Drugs: Hydroxycut Class Actions Filed" »

GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Avandia, faces more lawsuits alleging that patients suffered from serious Avandia side effects. Among the more severe side effects is the reported link between Avandia and heart attacks. Some critics say the risk of a heart problem is too high, while patients file lawsuits alleging they were harmed by the use of Avandia.

One such lawsuit was filed in Texas, alleging the plaintiff, Frank Casteel, took Avandia for 5 years and then underwent heart bypass surgery. According to the Southeast Texas Record, the suit was filed against Smithkline Beecham Corp., doing business as GlaxoSmithKline. The plaintiff claims that GlaxoSmithKline knew its drug was unreasonably dangerous, knew that patients were not informed about the risks associated with Avandia and still marketed and distributed the drug. Furthermore, the suit alleges that the pharmaceutical maker disclosed positive information about Avandia, but concealed or withheld any negative information about the drug's safety.

Continue reading "Avandia Class Action Lawsuits Continuing" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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 " »

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.

Continue reading "" »

A woman who said she developed ulcerative colitis from taking Accutane was awarded $10.5 million by a New Jersey jury. It was the third of 425 lawsuits alleging that Accutane caused inflammatory bowel disease in some users to go to trial. All three cases have resulted in multi-million dollar judgments against Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc., the maker of Accutane.

Approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982, Accutane has been the subject of controversy for years. In addition to inflammatory bowel disease, the drug has been associated with myriad other serious side effects.

It was known in the late eighties for causing severe birth defects. It has also been known to cause psychiatric problems, and has been linked to 266 cases of suicide in the United States.

In addition to inflammatory bowel disease, Accutane has also been associated with problems of the liver, kidneys, central nervous system, and pancreas, as well as the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and auto-immune systems.

Continue reading "Accutane Injury Results in $10.5 Million Judgment" »

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" »

Bayer AG has begun the process of settling medical injury lawsuits regarding its Magnevist contrast agent; Magnevist contains gadolinium.

The company is one among several, including General Electric Company and Tyco International Limited, being sued over complaints that the gadolinium-containing contrast agent was responsible for causing a potentially fatal organ hardening disease, called Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Since May 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required that gadolinium-containing contrast agents carry a black box warning.

Continue reading "Bayer Settles Gadolinium Contrast Agent Injury Lawsuits" »

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" »

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" »

Reglan side effects have been associated with the development of tardive dyskinesia, a syndrome that causes involuntary movements in the body extremities, particularly the lower face. In February 2009, the FDA required that a “black box” warning about the tardive dyskinesia problems be added to Reglan and other gastrointestinal drugs containing metoclopramide.

REGLAN LAWSUIT STATUS: Lawyers are reviewing potential claims for individuals who may be entitled to compensation through a Reglan lawsuit as a result of developing tardive dyskinesia.

Continue reading "Reglan Lawsuits" »

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading "Frat Hazing Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled " »

A 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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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 " »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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.

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

A class action suit against the maker of a blood thinning Heparin drug claims the company is substituting safer ingredients - cooked, dried pig intestines - with more dangerous ones.

Joyce Ann Osteen of Illinois is suing Baxter over its anticoagulant drug Heparin in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

She claims the company began substituting a more dangerous ingredient to "reap greater profits as a result of utilizing cheap component parts."

Baxter began making the drug from enzymes found in pork intestines, according to the complaint filed Jan. 5.

Continue reading "Baxter Contaminated Heparin Class Action Lawsuit Filed" »

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 " »

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" »

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" »

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 " »

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" »

Roche Holding AG must pay $12.9 million to plaintiffs who blamed the Accutane acne medicine for their inflammatory bowel disease, a New Jersey jury ruled, handing the company its fourth trial loss in the case.

Roche didn't give proper warnings to doctors for three Florida residents about the risks of Accutane, which was a substantial factor in their illness, a state court jury found yesterday in Atlantic City. The judge combined three lawsuits into one trial. With three earlier losses for individuals, Roche has now lost jury verdicts involving six plaintiffs.

Continue reading "Roche Loses $12.9 M Three-Case Accutane Verdict " »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

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" »

According to documents filed in federal court, the makers of gadolinium-based contrast agents currently face 391 lawsuits filed by individuals who allege that they developed a rare condition known as NSF, or nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, after an enhanced MRI.

Gadolinium contrast injections are commonly used during MRI and MRA tests to allow doctors to distinguish blood vessels from surrounding tissue by providing enhanced clarity to the images. However, in patients without properly functioning kidneys, side effects of the MRI contrast agents could lead to the hardening and thickening of the skin, which severely restricts movement and could be fatal.

Continue reading "Gadolinium Litigation Involves 391 Lawsuits in State and Federal Court" »

United States District Judge Rodney W. Sipple issued an order Wednesday designating lawyers in the recently formed NuvaRing birth control MDL to serve in leadership positions and to act on behalf of all plaintiffs during discovery and pretrial proceedings.

On August 22, 2008, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized all federal NuvaRing birth control lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri before Judge Sipple as part of a federal procedure which allows complex product liability cases to be consolidated and coordinated for pretrial proceedings.

Continue reading "Nuvaring Birth Control MDL Lawsuit" »

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 " »

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" »

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" »

Two months after a Digitek recall was issued due to manufacturing problems that allowed double strength tablets to be commercially released, at least three lawsuits have been filed. A number of additional cases are expected to be filed in the coming weeks, as hundreds of potential cases are currently being investigated throughout the country by individuals who are trying to determine if they may be entitled to compensation through a Digitek lawsuit.

Many people have described problems that surfaced during the months around the recall, but some have reported problems consistent with a Digitek overdose as early as 2006. Since the manufacturer has released very little information about the extent of the Digitek problems, all cases are being reviewed to determine if injuries could have caused by the manufacturing problems.

Continue reading "Defective Drugs: Digitek Lawsuits" »

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" »

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" »

The Duragesic and generic fentanyl pain patches have been linked to hundreds of cases of overdose and death. Poor design, manufacturing defects, inadequate warnings and poor quality controls could result in excessive amounts of fentanyl entering the body.

Lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States for users who have died or entered a permanent coma from a fentanyl overdose.

Johnson & Johnson was the main manufacturer as well as a variety of generic fentanyl patch manufacturers.

Continue reading "Defective Drugs: Fentanyl Lawsuits" »