Legal Updates
Trains Collide Outside Los Angeles
Friday, September 12, 2008
On September 12, 2008, the mayor of Los Angeles announced that a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train just outside Los Angeles, California. "The latest figures that we have is, there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 fatalities," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters. "That's probably the…
Deadly PML Case Associated With Rituxan
Friday, September 12, 2008
On September 11, 2008, the FDA said one case of a deadly brain infection has been reported in a patient taking Genentech and Biogen Idec's popular arthritis and cancer drug Rituxan. The FDA said the woman died of the rare viral infection more than a year and a half after…
Alcoa Asbestos Lawsuit Can Proceed After Tennessee Supreme Court Ruling
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
On September 10, 2008, the Tennessee Supreme court ruled that Alcoa Inc. can be sued for the asbestos-related death of a former worker's daughter. The Pittsburgh-based company had argued that it should not be held responsible for the former worker’s daughter’s mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated with asbestos that lead…
Ex Virginia Shipyard Worker Gets Mesothelioma Compensation
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
On September 6, 2008, a former shipyard worker won a $4.39 million jury verdict from an Illinois maker of asbestos-related parts that he asserted gave him a terminal form of cancer.The plaintiff, a former worker at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., was awarded $4 million in compensatory damages and $390,000…
Digitek Suits Consolidated to West Virginia
Monday, September 08, 2008
On August 29, 2008, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that all federal lawsuits related to defective, double strength Digitek (also known as Digoxin) be moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. The action comes after an April 2008 recall on…
Truckers Using Chantix Not Expected to Be Given Medical Certification
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
On August 27, 2008, it was announced that truck drivers using the prescription medicine Chantix to help them quit smoking would not be granted medical certification. Growing concern on the part of the FDA prompted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to caution physicians against certifying the medical fitness of…
