Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

August 7, 2010

Settlement Reached In Illinois Stun Gun Lawsuit

A $750,000 settlement has been reached in a lawsuit against a Jefferson County, Ill., police officer who allegedly used a stun gun unnecessarily on three teenagers and assaulted another.

According to the suit, Deputy David Bowers used the stun gun on the teens at the Southern Thirty Adolescent Center two years ago. Illinois state investigators found no wrongdoing, however, and Bowers is still employed with the department.

Staff Report, United Press International 08/03/2010
Read Article: United Press International

August 6, 2010

Roche Holding AG Wins Reversal of Accutane Verdict.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

“Roche Holding AG won reversal of a $10.5 million verdict over its Accutane [isotretinoin] acne drug because a judge improperly barred the company from using evidence about the medication’s use,” according to an appeals court ruling made in Kendall v. Hoffmann LaRoche Inc., ATL- L-8213-05, New Jersey Superior Court, Atlantic County (Atlantic City).

“Roche’s lawyers should have been able to use data about how many acne sufferers had used Accutane over the years throughout Kamie Kendall’s 2008 trial of her lawsuit over the drug, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division ruled,” prompting “a judge in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to delay the trial of an actor’s suit alleging the medication causes inflammatory bowel disease.”

Bloomberg News (8/6, Feeley) reports

August 6, 2010

Lawsuit Filed Over Pollutants From TX City Refinery

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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

August 6, 2010

Thousands of Texans Line up to Join BP Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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

August 5, 2010

AstraZeneca Will Keep Seroquel Settlement Terms Confidential

by Dr. Shezad Malik

AstraZeneca Plc, which settled almost 4,000 product-liability cases this month involving its antipsychotic drug Seroquel through mediation, said it will keep terms of the agreements confidential.

The company, said it was defending more than 10,000 cases involving 22,500 plaintiff groups. Some of the cases were previously dismissed because plaintiffs lacked sufficient evidence to support allegations that Seroquel causes diabetes.

The company, said in the July 29 filing that by March, it had spent about $688 million defending Seroquel-related cases.

August 4, 2010

Home Depot Sexual Harassment Suit Settled

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The Fulton County Daily Report (7/30, Palmer) reports, “Lawyers watching a sexual harassment case that tested the limits of acceptable workplace behavior won’t get to hear what the full 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals thinks of the matter.

The case against Home Depot, heard in a rare en banc session by the full appeals court bench in June, has been settled” following “a joint motion by the parties.”

In Corbitt v. Home Depot USA, two male employees “claimed that a male manager made inappropriate sexual overtures to them.”

Read Article here.

August 3, 2010

Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Hedge Fund

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Two former female employees of the hedge fund Titan Capital have filed a sexual discrimination suit against the fund’s president and other top officials.

Danielle Pecile and Cristina Culicea claim in their suit that they were “repeatedly hit on, cursed at and called names like ‘idiot’ by the defendants.”

Pecile also says in the suit that fund president Russell Abrams asked her on one occasion to have bare-chested pictures of his wife printed from a CD. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages. Leo Standora , New York Daily News 07/30/2010

Read Article: New York Daily News

August 2, 2010

Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Accident at Utah Airport

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The death of a woman who was hit by a car on a crosswalk at the Salt Lake City International Airport has prompted a lawsuit from the woman’s husband.

The lawsuit claims that airport officials were aware of the “dangerous traffic situation” at the crosswalk but had done nothing to make it safer.

The airport had been warned by an employee of the potential for accidents at the crosswalk, the lawsuit states. The suit also names the driver of the car, Evelini Kinikini, as a defendant. Sheena McFarland, The Salt Lake Tribune 07/28/2010
Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune

August 1, 2010

Bar To Pay Damages In Fatal Drunk Driver Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A sports bar in Austell, Ga., has agreed to pay $1 million to the widow of a man killed by a drunk driver who was allegedly over-served by the bar staff.

The lawsuit claims that in October 2008, The Sports Grill served alcohol to William Paul Davis IV when he was already drunk.

Davis then crashed his car into Cuneyt Erturk’s vehicle, killing Erturk. The judge also sanctioned the bar after it was discovered that they destroyed video tapes and bar tabs that showed Davis drinking. Andria Simmons , Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/27/2010
Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

July 31, 2010

Merck Pays Claims to Families of 3,468 Vioxx Users

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Bloomberg News (7/28, Voreacos, Johnson) reports “Merck & Co. paid claims to the families of 3,468 users of its Vioxx painkiller who died of heart attacks or strokes,” a court-appointed administrator told a judge Tuesday.

“A $4.85 billion settlement fund made payments to the families of 2,878 Vioxx users who died of heart attacks and 590 who died of strokes,” according to Lynn Greer of BrownGreer LLP, a law firm in Richmond, Virginia, that analyzed 59,365 claims. Merck “pulled Vioxx from the market in 2004 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.”