Archive for April, 2007

American Airlines Sued After Body Found in Restroom

A federal lawsuit has been filed over the death of a man whose body was discovered in a restroom aboard an American Airlines plane.

Settlement Reached in Comair Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of two of the victims of a deadly plane crash in Kentucky has been settled.

California Air Resources Board Slashes Allowable Formaldehyde Levels in Wood Products

On April 26, the California Air Resources Board adopted new rules that will drastically reduce the level of formaldehyde allowable in wood products. Formaldehyde is used to bind composite wood products, and its release into the air has been linked to cancer.

Newborns' Blood Shows Presence of Packaging PFOAs

A recent study reveals that infants are being exposed to perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) while still in the womb. The study is raising concerns about the chemical's use in food packaging materials.

Minnesota Woman Seeks More Than $300,000 in Asbestos Suit

A Minnesota woman suffering from mesothelioma recently filed a lawsuit for more than $300,000 against 72 corporations in Madison County Circuit Court. Her suit claims she was exposed to asbestos from her husband’s clothing.

Transportation and Environmental Interests File Lawsuit to Block Cross-Border Trucking Program

A group of commercial transportation and environmental interest groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court aiming to block a controversial cross-border trucking program that would allow Mexican-based trucking companies to send their vehicles throughout the U.S.

Antidepressants May Not Help Bipolar Patients, Study Says

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that treating depressive episodes in bipolar patients with a combination of mood stabilizers and anti-depressants may not be as effective as psychiatrists previously thought.

Judge Tolls Limitations Statute in Hit-and-Run Case

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge ruled that a couple's lawsuit filed nearly six years after their daughter died in a hit-and-run accident cannot be time-barred because they had been instructed by police to wait before filing.

New Yorkers Urged to Avoid Imported Eye Makeup with High Lead Levels

On April 27, New York City's Department of Health warned area residents that some eye makeup products that had been illegally imported should be avoided completely due to their high lead content. Lead is poisonous and can cause severe health problems, particularly in children and pregnant women.

Lawsuit over Motorcycle Death Names Town, Police, Local Bars

The family of a man who was killed last July during a high-speed chase in Merrillville, Indiana, has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against the city, the police department, an alleged drunken driver, and two local bars.

Family Seeks $4 million from Anderson County, South Carolina, for Fatal Crash

The family of Anderson, South Carolina, resident Darrell Wesley Lovinggood is seeking more that $4 million in two separate lawsuits after Lovinggood's truck broke through the guardrail of Brown Road Bridge, landing in Lake Hartwell.

Boy, 11, Killed by Underage Driver; Parents Sue

The parents of an 11-year-old Tulsa, Oklahoma, boy who was hit and killed by a car have filed suit against the parents of the car's underage driver.

Florida Worker to Repay Disability Income

A Florida man has been ordered to repay $78,000 in disability income he received for an on-the-job back injury he reported in June 2004.

Maker of Celebrex in Trouble Again

Five people in Madison County filed a 27-count complaint earlier this month alleging that they suffered heart attacks, strokes, and financial damages as a result of taking the pain-reliever Celebrex.

5 Men Indicted in $100 Million Workers' Compensation Scam

Five men from across the country were charged with fraud in a workers' compensation scam that Florida officials say left hundreds of workers without urgent medical care and death benefits.

California State Fund Gets Thousands for Workers' Comp Fraud Case

A machine operator in El Centro, California, was recently ordered by an Imperial Valley judge to pay $45,996 to the State Compensation Insurance Fund in a workers' compensation fraud case.

Oklahoma Couple Files Benzene Exposure Suit against 80 Corporations

A couple in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, earlier this month against 80 defendant corporations, claiming negligent benzene exposure.

DuPont Faces Benzene Suit from Estate of 60-Year Employee

The representative of former DuPont employee Earl Dean Thompson's estate has filed a lawsuit against the company’s Jefferson County chemical plant, as well as numerous other oil companies, claiming they negligently exposed Thompson to benzene.

West Virginia Man Sues after Fall into Manhole

A Kanawha County, West Virginia, man has filed a suit against the city of South Charleston and the Kanawha County Board of Education for injuries he sustained when he fell into a manhole while attending his son’s youth football game.

Suit Over Fan’s Fall in Lambeau Field Parking Lot Settled

A out-of-court settlement has been reached in a civil suit brought against the Green Bay Packers by an Appleton, Wisconsin, man who broke his leg in the parking lot of Lambeau Field while on his way to the team’s playoff game in 2005.

CEO Sues Hotel after Slip and Fall Accident

Douglas Wilhoit, the chief executive officer of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce in Stockton, California, has filed a lawsuit against a hotel, alleging that he suffered a shoulder injury after slipping in the shower.

Illinois Man Settles Lawsuit over Hit-and-Run Accident

A Wheaton, Illinois, man settled a lawsuit this month with the family of a teenager he struck with his car and left to die by the side of the road.

Texas Couple Files Suit against Truck Driver, Company after Accident

Corey and Lisa Moore of Cleburne filed suit against Larry Dean Roberts and his employer, Swinson Excavating, on April 16. An accident involving Roberts’ truck and another vehicle left the Moores’ daughter and her grandmother dead.

EPA Responds to Legal Pressure to Monitor Lead in Children's Toys

In response to a lawsuit filed last year by the Sierra Club, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to instruct about 120 manufacturers and importers of children's products about their need to provide information about toxic levels of lead in their products.

SoCal Chemical Company to Pay Settlement to Nicaraguan Workers Exposed to Pesticide

Amvac Chemical Corp. recently agreed to pay $300,000 to 13 workers who alleged that they became sterile after being exposed to the pesticide DBCP in Nicaraguan banana plantations in the 1970s. The use of DBCP in the United States was halted in 1977.

$101 Million Settlement Reached in Lawsuit over Fatal Parking Garage Collapse

A $101 million settlement has been reached by the families of the construction workers who were killed or injured in the October 2003 collapse of Tropicana Casino’s parking garage in Atlantic City.

Corona Nursing Home Sued over Resident’s Death

Pleasant Care nursing home in Corona, California, is facing a lawsuit following resident Maria Ybarra’s death in February. Family members claim Pleasant Care compromised Ybarra’s care. Ybarra’s case is one of at least two facing Pleasant Care.

Jury Awards $1.3 Million in Case against Surgeon

A jury in Montgomery County, Virginia, recently awarded $1.3 million to the adult children of a woman who died due to complications resulting from surgery to remove an ovarian cyst.

Illegal Immigrant Gets 25 Years in DUI Crash That Killed Couple

In Nashville, Tennessee, 29-year-old Gustavo Garcia Reyes pleaded guilty Monday to driving drunk and killing a Middle Tennessee couple in a car crash last summer.

Judge Orders Trucking Co. to Stop Using Bogus Workers’ Comp Waivers

A Chattanooga, Tennessee, judge has issued an order demanding that a trucking company stop having its employees sign a fake workers’ compensation form that waives their workers’ compensation benefits.

Heart Attack Victim Files Suit against Drug Manufacturer

A Madison County woman has filed suit against Pfizer, the maker of Bextra, alleging that she suffered a heart attack as a result of taking the drug for more than six months.

Vioxx Maker Seeks FDA Approval on New Arthritis Drug

Merck, the company responsible for manufacturing the controversial arthritis drug Vioxx, is seeking FDA approval on a new arthritis medicine called Arcoxia.

Consumer Group Calls Commercial for Arthritis Drug Misleading

A consumer advocacy group has asked that a new commercial for the arthritis medication Celebrex be banned because it downplays the risks of the drug.

Lawsuit Alleges Bextra Caused Woman's Heart Attack

A Madison County woman has filed a defective product lawsuit that alleges the Pfizer drug Bextra was responsible for a heart attack she suffered.

Pet Food Recall Prompts Lawsuit

Several pet owners have filed a product liability lawsuit against a pet food manufacturer following a nationwide recall of tainted pet food.

Boys' Mercury Exposure in California Followed by Elementary School Evacuation

Two Romoland, California students aged 6 and 9 allegedly trespassed at a welding shop and stole mercury vials on April 3. The next day, a teacher noticed mercury drops rolling off one boy's clothes. The school's 950 students were evacuated per Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Benzene Case Taken to U.S. Supreme Court

A lawyer urged the U.S. Supreme Court last week to reverse the state Supreme Court ruling that barred her Alabama client from suing the manufacturers of a chemical he blamed for causing his rare form of leukemia.

Snowmobile Manufacturer Sued After Accident Leaves Rider Paralyzed

A Hudson, Wisconsin, man has filed a lawsuit against a snowmobile manufacturer after an accident four years ago left him paralyzed.

Family of Explosion Victim Receives Settlement in Wrongful Death Suit

The family of a man killed in a 2004 pipeline explosion in Walnut Creek, California, has settled a lawsuit for more than $8 million.

Pet Cat Saves Indiana Family from Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

As carbon monoxide fumes filled the home of Cathy and Eric Keesling of New Castle, Indiana, at about 1 a.m. on March 24, their cat jumped on their bed as they slept, meowing wildly until Cathy rose, nauseous and dizzy, to call 911.

Car Crash Victim Files Lawsuit against County, State

A survivor of a July 2006 fatal car accident has filed a criminal negligence lawsuit naming Amador County and the state of California as defendants.

Family Maintains Officer’s Death Was an Accident

The family of a St. Louis Park Police Officer has filed a lawsuit challenging a medical examiner’s report that declared the officer’s death a suicide.

FDA Reports Another Possibly Deadly Chemical Present in Pet Food

On March 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that another dangerous chemical has been found in the pet food responsible for the deaths of many animals: melamine, apparently in wheat gluten imported from China.

Minnesota Residents Seek Class Action Suit against 3M

Six Minnesota homeowners are seeking a class action suit against business giant 3M Co. for allegedly allowing PFCs, or perfluorochemicals, to seep into their drinking water, injuring them and devaluing their properties.

Lawsuit Alleges Defective Tire Responsible for Deaths in Freeway Crash

A lawsuit filed by two women claims that a defective tire caused a crash on a Southern California freeway that killed five.

EPEC Agrees to $23.4 Million Settlement to Clean Up Texas Superfund Site

The United States Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that EPEC Polymers Inc. has reached a settlement worth about $23.4 million to clean up the Petro-Chemical Systems Inc. Superfund Site in Liberty County, Texas.