Personal Injury Law News & Recall Articles - Early 2007/Fourth Quarter 2006

Associated Press, "Heart Valve Problems Linked to Two Medications"

           A study by Italian researchers found that roughly one-fourth of Parkinson’s patients taking pergolide or cabergoline, sold as Permax, Dostinex and other brands, had moderate to severe heart valve problems. More...

Associated Press, "Officials Deny Indonesian Jetliner Found"

          Relatives waiting for news about a missing jetliner broke down in tears Tuesday after learning that senior Indonesian officials erroneously reported the Boeing 737's charred wreckage had been found and that a dozen people may have survived. More...

New Jersey Law Journal , "N.J. Judge OKs $14.5M Settlement in Class Action Over Bad Jeep Brakes"

          A New Jersey judge has approved a $14.5 million settlement in a national class action alleging defective brakes on Jeep Grand Cherokees. More...

Insurance Journal, "Chrysler Recalls Vehicles to Reprogram Brake System Computers"

         DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group said Friday it was recalling more than 60,000 vehicles to reprogram a brake system computer to avoid the loss of antilock brakes and traction control. More...

Newsday, "GOL Airline Crash Lawsuit Update"

         Long Island pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino may be home for the holidays, but the investigations and litigation set in motion by the midair collision in Brazil will be continuing into the new year and possibly beyond. More...

The Boston Globe, "Biogen issues alert after 2 Rituxan deaths"

            Biogen Idec Inc. said yesterday that two patients using its drug Rituxan have died of a rare brain infection. In a letter sent to doctors, Biogen and Genentech Inc. , which co-markets Rituxan with the Cambridge drug maker, warned that the two patients had contracted fatal progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. More...

Associated Press, "FDA Seeks liver, Stomach Warnings for Painkillers"

           U.S. health officials on Tuesday proposed new warnings about liver and stomach risks on the labels of over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. More...

Associated Press, "FDA's credibility is questioned in antibiotic review"

           A Food and Drug Administration meeting to review whether a recently approved antibiotic carries an unacceptably high risk of liver failure raised questions Thursday about the credibility of the agency's internal decision-making. More...

          A Food and Drug Administration federal panel Wednesday recommended the agency issue its strongest possible warning to alert patients and doctors that antidepressants can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in young adults. The panel called for placing the so-called black-box warning on product labels and in medication guides distributed to patients. More...

The Post and Courier, "Judge Refuses new trial in $31 million accident verdict"

           A judge refused to order a new trial after a jury awarded $31 million to the family of passenger injured in a Ford rollover accident. More...

Associated Press, "U.S. Pilots Charged in Brazil Jet Crash"

          Police on Friday formally accused two U.S. pilots in connection with Brazil's deadliest air disaster, saying their "lack of caution" at the controls of an executive jet played a role in the collision over the Amazon that killed 154 people. One of the pilots' lawyers, former Justice Minister Jose Carlos Dias, called the accusation biased and said police were simply "looking for someone to blame for the crime." More...

San Francisco Chronicle, "FDA Explores Safety of Heart Stents"

          Federal health officials asked experts Thursday whether the drug-coated stents used to prop open the arteries of about 3 million people in the U.S. pose a heightened risk of death or raise other safety concerns that require action. More...

Associated Press, "11 Taco Bells linked in E. coli inquiry"

          All 11 Taco Bells implicated in an E. coli outbreak in New York and New Jersey used the same food distributor, the restaurant chain said Tuesday as health officials tried to pinpoint the source of the dangerous bacteria that sickened at least three dozen people. More...

Los Angeles Times, "Anti-clot drugs urged with coated stents"

          Patients who have received a drug-coated stent to prop open an artery face double the risk of heart attack or death after they stop taking an anti-clotting drug, researchers said Tuesday. The findings mean patients may need to stay on medication beyond the three to six months currently recommended and possibly for the rest of their lives, scientists said. More...

Associated Press, "GM opens rollover test facility; automaker hopes to develop sensors for special air bags to help prevent ejections"

          General Motors Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a $10-million crash test facility that will help the automaker study rollover crashes. The Detroit-based company also said that by 2012 it would make rollover-enabled air bags a standard feature on all its retail vehicles. The air bags currently are used on 43% of GM's trucks. More...

Los Angeles Times, "Dire health effects of pollution reported"

          The effects of air pollution from construction equipment in California are "staggering," according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The environmental group concluded that at least 1,100 premature deaths and half a million work and school absences in 2005 were caused by people breathing emissions from older tractors, bulldozers and other diesel equipment -- at an estimated public health cost of $9.1 billion. More...

The New York Times, "Study Finds Medication Raises Suicide Risks in Young Adults"

          In a long-awaited analysis, health officials reported yesterday that antidepressant medications appeared to increase significantly the risk of suicide attempts and related behaviors in adults under 25, while reducing such risks in older people. More...

The Napa Valley Register, "Napa Mom Dies on Trail"

          A Napa mother, Kelli Lynn Bruner, 37 lost her life early Tuesday morning in a single-vehicle crash on Silverado Trail, south of Hagen Road. More...

ABC News , "Rollovers Account for 33 Percent of all Auto Related Deaths"

          Rollovers account for 3 percent of all auto accidents but nearly 33 percent of all auto-related deaths. General Motors Corp. is trying to do something about that startling statistic. The company is building a new state-of-the-art crash testing center at its Michigan headquarters. More...

Associated Press, "Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuit: Families Suing maker of Paxil over Infant Deaths"

          The maker of the antidepressant Paxil has been hit with five new lawsuits claiming the drug caused heart defects with serious health consequences. The suits charge that use of the drug by pregnant women led to heart defects in their children. The suits also allege that the birth defects led to the deaths of three children, and have seriously impaired the health of two others. More...

Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Ohio popcorn plant workers say flavoring hurts lungs"

          Popcorn is a source of civic pride in Marion, Ohio, home of a yearly popcorn festival, a museum that claims the world's largest popcorn popper collection, and a factory that makes ACT II and Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn. Marion's popcorn industry has also been a source of lawsuits when workplace inhalation of the powdery butter flavoring that coats microwave popcorn was linked to a potentially fatal lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, which inflames the lungs and results in severe, permanent shortness of breath. More...

          Pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects, a group of obstetricians said Thursday. More...

LA Times, "Transplant recipient counts blessings, vows to aid others"

         Christy Pimental received a new kidney last week, and with it, a new shot at a normal, healthy life. More...

Bloomberg News, "Advanced Medical recalls lens solution; stock sinks"

          Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc. on Tuesday recalled 2.9 million bottles of its Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution after harmful bacteria were found in some units sold in Japan. The company's shares fell 8.9%. More...

Associated Press, "American lawyers add families to suit in Brazil air crash"

          American attorneys representing families of victims in Brazil's worst air disaster said Wednesday they filed a second lawsuit adding the families of 22 victims to an original lawsuit filed earlier this month. The legal action filed in the Eastern District federal court in Brooklyn, New York cites executive-jet company ExcelAire Service Inc. and its pilots. It also names Honeywell International Inc., saying defective equipment contributed to the crash that killed 154 aboard a Brazilian commercial airliner. More...

Learn more about the crash of Gol Airlines Flight 1907 and lawsuits filed by the families of victims of the accident.

          Ford Motor Co. must pay $15 million for the death of a teenager in a sport utility vehicle rollover accident, a Tulsa, Okla., a jury decided. More...

          Mattel Inc. is recalling 4.4 million Polly Pocket magnetic play sets after three children were hospitalized with serious injuries from swallowing tiny magnets that fell off the toys, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Tuesday. More...

Millions of Americans could be walking around with tiny time bombs in their hearts.

          The concern centers on devices called drug-eluting stents. Doctors implant them in the hearts of about a million Americans a year to treat coronary artery disease. They generate some $5 billion a year in sales for the two companies that make them. But they may be doing more harm than good. More...

Newsday, "Investigators look to see if pilots in Brazil crash made mistake in using critical device as new lawsuit is filed"

          While air traffic control errors seem to be growing more likely as the primary cause for the Sept. 29 midair collision in Brazil that killed 154, the radio management unit, or RMU, is under scrutiny from Brazilian and American investigators, according to aviation experts. The RMU is a rectangular electronic console that pilots on larger aircraft use to program critical navigation and communication equipment. More...

San Francisco Chronicle, "11M Bottles of Acetaminophen Recalled"

          A major manufacturer of acetaminophen sold by Wal-Mart, CVS, Safeway and more than 100 other retailers recalled 11 million bottles of the widely used pain-relieving pills Thursday after discovering some were contaminated with metal fragments. There were no immediate reports of injuries or illness. The recall affects bottles containing various amounts of 500-milligram caplets made by the Perrigo Co. More...

Associated Press, "Lawyers for Brazil air crash victims file suit in U.S."

          American attorneys representing the families of victims in Brazil's worst air disaster filed suit in a U.S. federal court Monday against ExcelAire Service Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. alleging negligence. More...

Enterprise News, "Lawsuit Blames Ford Motor Co. for Death"

          A trial began Thursday in the case of a Beaumont family which is suing Ford Motor Co., claiming the design of their SUV was defective and led to the death of their son in a 2004 accident. More...

Associated Press, "Gov't Probing Reports of Engine Fires "

          The government has opened an investigation into some Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute sport utility vehicles after receiving complaints of engine compartment fires, Ford Motor Co. said Friday. More...

Bloomberg News , "Ford Loses Appeal of $82.6 Million Explorer Rollover Judment"

          Ford Motor Co. lost a bid Wednesday to overturn an $82.6-million judgment over an Explorer sport utility vehicle accident that left a woman paralyzed. More...

San Francisco Chronicle, "Ortho Evra weekly birth control patch target of lawsuit"

          The maker and distributor of a widely used once-a-week birth control patch were the targets of lawsuits filed Wednesday in San Francisco by the mother of a 25-year-old woman who died after using the patch and by 44 other women who blame the device for blood clots and other illnesses. More...

Associated Press, "GlaxoSmithKline Reaches Paxil Settlement"

          GlaxoSmithKline PLC has agreed to pay $63.8 million to settle a lawsuit's claims that it promoted its antidepressant drug Paxil for use by children and adolescents while withholding negative information about the medication's safety and effectiveness. More...

Reuters, "Despite Dropped Vioxx Case, Merck Faces Many Other Lawsuits"

          The drugmaker Merck, which at last count faced 23,800 lawsuits from Vioxx users, is scheduled to go to trial in two separate cases next week -- one a federal case in New Orleans, the other a lawsuit in a California state court in Los Angeles involving two former Vioxx users. Two more trials are scheduled to begin in late November, a state court case in Alabama and another federal case to be heard in New Orleans. More...

LA Times, "Transplant Monitor Lax In Oversight"

           The little-known organization that oversees the nation's organ transplant system often fails to detect or decisively fix problems at derelict hospitals — even when patients are dying at excessive rates, a Times investigation has found. More...

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Struggling for air: Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated"

          A lean and fit 35-year-old Milwaukee man had been working at a local flavoring plant for just six months when he collapsed while playing basketball with his buddies. He felt like he was hyperventilating. He couldn't figure it out. He always played basketball. Then he noticed his sweat: It was bright orange. Around the same time in 2004, he began to cough and wheeze and noticed a regular shortness of breath. More...

Lieff Cabraser is at the forefront of litigation on behalf of food industry workers to prevent diacetyl butter flavoring and other food product side-effect injuries.

Arizona Daily Star, "Tire Treads Separate, Three die in SUV rollover crash"

          Three people were killed and three others were injured in a rollover crash on Interstate 10 near the Cochise-Pima county line Monday. All of the deceased and injured are from Tucson, said Officer Jim Oien, a Department of Public Safety spokesman. They are all brothers and cousins who work together. More...

Bakersfield Californian, "Man Killed In Tread Separation Accident"

          Three people were killed and three others were injured in a rollover crash on Interstate 10 near the Cochise-Pima county line Monday. All of the deceased and injured are from Tucson, said Officer Jim Oien, a Department of Public Safety spokesman. They are all brothers and cousins who work together. More...

Herald-Leader, "Comair sues FAA, airport, Says they share blame for crash"

          The intense finger pointing that began in the wake of the Flight 5191 crash escalated yesterday when Comair sued the Urban County Airport Board and the federal government. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

The Courier-Journal, "Comair sues FAA, Lexington airport; Airline spreads blame in fatal crash"

          Comair sued Blue Grass Airport in Lexington and the federal government yesterday, saying they must "share responsibility" for the August crash of a regional jet that killed 49 people. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

Associated Press, "Comair sues over plane crash"

          Comair sued the federal government and the Lexington airport Friday over the deadly crash of a commuter plane that mistakenly took off from a too-short runway. Forty-nine people were killed in the accident Aug. 27. In a statement, the airline said it intends to reach fair settlements with the victims' families but is suing to ensure other parties that bear responsibility pay their share. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

The New York Times, "Victims’ Families Criticize Secrecy of Brazil Air Crash Inquiry"

         As salvage crews searched Wednesday for the last four bodies of the 154 people killed in an apparent midair collision on Sept. 29, aviation experts, victims’ families and the Brazilian public were criticizing the investigation for what they said was a lack of transparency and questioning whether the full story of the accident would ever be known. More...

AVweb, "Transponder Wasn't Faulty, Says Honeywell"

         Honeywell said on Sunday that the transponder aboard the Legacy jet was not subject to a recent airworthiness directive that outlined deficiencies in some models. More...

Associated Press, "2 Paralyzed After Drinking Tainted Juice"

          Two Canadians remained paralyzed Tuesday after drinking carrot juice contaminated with the botulism toxin, health officials said. A week after Bolthouse Farms issued a continental recall of its carrot juice, at least 10 Toronto businesses still had the product on their shelves over the long holiday weekend, prompting health officials to call on the media to warn households and shopkeepers to throw away the juice. More...

Chronicle Herald, "Botulism Cases Lead to Carrot Juice Recall"

Independant Online, "Brazil 'Crash Airline' to Compensate Familie"

         Gol airlines has contacted families of 154 victims of Brazil's deadliest air crash to discuss compensation for the tragedy, the company said on Monday. More...

Associated Press, "Victims' Lawyers Probe Brazil Accident"

          American attorneys representing families of victims in Brazil's worst air disaster said Monday they were conducting their own investigation to determine responsibility for the crash that killed 154 people and seek compensation. An attorney with the San Francisco law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, said the probe, parallel to a separate government inquiry, would be supervised by Hans-Peter Graf, a former head investigator for the Swiss Aviation Authority. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

CBS Canada, "Toxic Carrot Juice Paralyzes Two in Toronto"

         Two Toronto residents are paralyzed after drinking carrot juice that tested positive for a botulism toxin, according to the city's public health department. More...

Associated Press, "Calif. lettuce recalled over E. coli concerns"

          Less than a week after the Food and Drug Administration lifted its warning on fresh spinach grown in California’s Salinas Valley, a popular brand of lettuce grown there has been recalled over concerns about E. coli contamination. More...

Learn more about recent e. coli-contaminated spinach dangers and lawsuits.

St. Petersburg Times, "Woman Being Treated For Botulism in Carrot Juice"

          A Hillsborough County woman has been hospitalized and is severely ill after drinking bottled carrot juice contaminated with botulism. The woman is unresponsive and has paralysis. More...

Associated Press, "Botulism Linked to Carrot Juice"

         Investigators think botulism toxin from bottled carrot juice paralyzed a woman, the fourth person thought to be poisoned by bacteria in the drink. More...

The Advocate, "Suit claims Zyprexa problems"

        A Baton Rouge woman filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court against Eli Lilly and Co. claiming illness caused by the drug Zyprexa. In the lawsuit, Noel Dixon claims she developed diabetes as well as stomach and bowel problems after using Zyprexa. More...

The New York Times, "Brazil Air Force Cites Faults and Confusion in Fatal Gol Airlines Flight 1907 Crash"

          Brazilian Air Force officials on Thursday identified what they said were equipment breakdowns and confusion that probably contributed to the apparent collision of two jets over the Amazon a week ago. Investigators still have not determined how three systems failed: a nearly new, top-notch air traffic control network and an anticollision system on each of the planes. More...

Learn more about the Gol Brazil Rainforest plane crash and the rights of the families of victims.

Los Angeles Times, "High E. Coli Readings Traced to Faulty Pipe"

          A faulty pipe used by boaters to empty their sewage is the likely source of E. coli contamination at three waterfront areas, the city's health officer said Thursday. More...

Learn more about e. coli dangers and food contamination lawsuits.

Bloomberg News, "Pfizer Must Face Suit in Michigan Over Rezulin"

          Pfizer Inc. must defend a lawsuit in which people claim its diabetes drug Rezulin damaged their livers. More...

Cornell Daily Sun, "FDA Adds Warning to Patch"

          The Food and Drug Administration recently updated the label of the contraceptive patch to include a warning about an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), blood clots in the veins or pulmonary track. More...

The New York Times, "Equipment on Plane in Brazil Collision May Have Been Faulty"

          Brazilian Air Force investigators confirmed Wednesday that the Boeing 737 involved in an apparent midair collision last Friday was visible on radar until the time of the accident. They declined to say whether the other plane, an Embraer executive jet, was also visible, an indication that equipment on the smaller plane to make it visible to the airliner may not have been working. More...

Learn more about the Gol Brazil Rainforest plane crash and the rights of the families of victims.

Reuters, "US jury says Wyeth drug caused woman's breast cancer"

          A jury on Wednesday awarded a woman $1 million and her husband $500,000 in compensatory damages after finding that Wyeth's hormone replacement drug Prempro was a cause of her breast cancer. More...

Associated Press, "Brazil Probes Cause of Gol Midair Collision"

          Two American executive jet pilots were ordered by a judge to stay in Brazil while authorities investigate whether they caused a midair collision with an airliner that crashed into the Amazon, killing all 155 people aboard. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

Bloomberg News, "Merck to Face 40,000 Vioxx Suits, Officials Say"

          Merck & Co. will face about 40,000 claims over its withdrawn Vioxx painkiller once deadlines for filing lawsuits lapse around the U.S., court records and lawyer estimates show. More...

Learn more about Vioxx injuries and lawsuits.

Los Angeles Times, "5 More Cases Linked to E. Coli From Spinach"

          A nationwide E. coli outbreak linked to California's coastal counties sickened five more people, bringing the number of cases to 192 in 26 states, federal officials said Tuesday. More...

Learn more about contaminated spinach and e. coli injuries and lawsuits.

The New York Times, "Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living"

          It had been an uneventful, comfortable flight. With the window shade drawn, I was relaxing in my leather seat aboard a $25 million corporate jet that was flying 37,000 feet above the vast Amazon rainforest. The 7 of us on board the 13-passenger jet were keeping to ourselves. Without warning, I felt a terrific jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by an eerie silence, save for the hum of the engines. More...

Learn more about the Gol Brazil Rainforest plane crash and the rights of the families of victims.

The New York Times, "Midair Collision Probably Led to Brazil Crash, Officials Say"

          Investigators said Sunday that they believed the crash of a Brazilian jetliner with 155 aboard in the Amazon rainforest was probably caused by a collision with a small business jet. Rescuers ruled out the possibility of finding survivors from the Friday crash, the worst in Brazilian history. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.

Bloomberg News, "Brazil Rescue Crews Comb Amazon Crash; No Signs of Survivors"

         Brazilian search-and-rescue crews resumed operations today near the wreckage of a Gol passenger plane that crashed in the Amazon jungle with 155 people aboard. No signs of any survivors have been found. More...

Associated Press, "No survivors in Brazil plane crash"

          Authorities said Sunday there were no survivors among the 155 people aboard the Brazilian jetliner that crashed deep in the Amazon jungle in the nation’s worst air disaster, as rescue workers began pulling bodies out of the twisted wreckage. More...

Learn more about the legal rights of the families of victims of airplane crashes.