The Supreme Court forcefully rejected calls for limiting consumer lawsuits against drug makers, upholding a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm to gangrene following an injection. The decision is the second this term to reject business groups’ arguments that federal regulation effectively pre-empts consumer complaints…
A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago. After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote…
The trustee of a trust fund for sick Florida smokers is prepared to settle some claims by the federal government for $18 million, freeing up the rest of the $580 million fund for smokers and their attorneys. “We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice in…
Chelsie Barker, now a 10-year-old girl, needs round-the-clock attention as a result of a lack of oxygen during birth in a Michigan jail. Jail officers are being sued in federal court, for violating the girl’s constitutional rights by not getting her mother, an inmate, to a hospital for the delivery.…
According to plaintiffs’ attorneys AstraZeneca PLC failed to warn physicians and patients about risks associated with its widely used schizophrenia drug Seroquel. According to documents that were just unsealed in a U.S. federal court case showed AstraZeneca knew about the risk of weight gain and diabetes in 2000. The company…
A class of drugs to treat stomach disorders needs a strong warning about the risk of involuntary, repetitive movement on several parts of the body seen with long-term use or high doses, according to U.S. regulators. The drugs contain the ingredient metoclopramide and are available in various forms including tablets,…
Dallas based dietary supplements seller Mannatech Inc. will return $4 million to customers and its founder will pay a $1 million fine for lying about the health benefits of its products, according to the Texas attorney general’s office. Attorney General Greg Abbott said the Coppell-based company tricked people into thinking…
An Arlington, Texas boy aged 2, who was critically injured in a drunken driving crash last week remained on life support as his parents coped with his devastating prognosis. Eighty percent of Abdallah Khader’s brain was destroyed in the crash, according to his doctor, Jeff McGlothlin. If Abdallah survives, he…
A California jury has awarded nearly $7 million to a 56-year-old woman who was unknowingly infected with herpes by a 77-year-old man. The lawsuit alleged that Thomas Redmond knew he had genital herpes for more than 25 years but did not disclose it before his sexual relationship began with Patricia…
Detroit has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 67-year-old man in a police lockup. James Stone, arrested for a parole violation, had a heart attack and died in August 2005 at the police department’s Second Precinct. Lawyers for his estate said he…