Legal News

Class Action Lawsuit in Recalled Pet Food Case Settled in Hawaii

Posted on May 23, 2008
Honolulu, HI: Earlier today a class action lawsuit against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods was settled in the First Circuit Court, State of Hawaii, according to two Honolulu attorneys linked to the case. The class action lawsuit alleged that last year, Menu Foods was distributing tainted pet food to Hawaii pet owners.

Chantix News Means Trouble for Pfizer

Posted on May 23, 2008
Chicago, IL: There is now a litany of adverse symptoms associated with Chantix (varenicline). Heart problems, seizures and diabetes join the already well-documented psychiatric problems, including suicide, suicidal thoughts and depression.

California Software Developers: A Reality Check on Overtime, Overdue

Posted on May 23, 2008
San Francisco, CA: It would be an interesting exercise to focus a webcam on a roomful of computer workers—and a clock—to gauge just how many hours you, and your colleagues are working, and to guess as to whether or not you're being paid the overtime you may be owed for working those long hours.

Remaining Trasylol Stocks Recalled

Posted on May 23, 2008
Washington, DC: After repeated studies showed that patients who were given Trasylol had a higher risk of kidney failure, Bayer, maker of Trasylol, has started recalling remaining stocks of the drug in the US. Previously, Bayer had suspended marketing the drug, but had not recalled all stock of the drug...

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PPH & Fen-Phen Lawsuit: "Can I Still Make a Claim?"

Posted on May 22, 2008
New Orleans, LA:Gwen, a registered nurse, started taking Fen-Phen and Redux in 1993 to lose weight. Neither diet drug worked; instead she was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation and now she is concerned that it could lead to Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH).

Intellectual Property Law: Nintendo Loses $21 Million Lawsuit

Posted on May 22, 2008
Lufkin, TX: Anascape Ltd. has been awarded $21 million in an intellectual property lawsuit against Nintendo. The well-known video game maker has lost the $21 million lawsuit filed by Anascape, Ltd., a small Texas-based company.

Deadly Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis: Who Dropped the Ball?

Posted on May 22, 2008
Minneapolis, MN: Imagine driving to work, as you do every day, only to have the bridge underneath you suddenly give way and collapse. That's what happened to scores of people last year after an unsafe bridge in Minneapolis simply gave up, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Chantix Grounded by Federal Aviation Administration

Posted on May 22, 2008
Washington, D.C.: It still might be okay for YOU to use the anti-smoking drug Chantix in spite of all the warnings over suicidal thoughts and potential psychosis, but as of Wednesday pilots and air traffic controllers are no longer allowed to use the drug...

Employment Class Action Lawsuit: At The Car Wash

Posted on May 22, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CA: A car wash chain with an alleged history of employment law violations faces their day in court. Earlier today, attorneys from the law firm Bush Gottlieb and Bet Tzedek Legal Services announced their intent to file a class action lawsuit against car wash owners and brothers Benny and Nisan Pirian for alleged employment law violations.

Heparin-related Heart Problems and Shortness of Breath

Posted on May 22, 2008
Lufkin, TX: Howard, a 46-year old professional truck driver, recently suffered a life-threatening accident. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, and later a hospital in Houston, where he was subsequently given Heparin. But the Heparin has caused severe problems, including shortness of breath, changes in blood pressure, and possible cardiac arrest.

California Software Developers: High Tech Equals Low Pay?

Posted on May 21, 2008
Los Angeles, CA: To anyone outside the computer industry, determining who should and should not be paid for overtime work may seem like an easy task. However, those in the computer industry, specifically those who work in California, report that companies constantly err when they classify employees as exempt from overtime.

Hutchinson Technology: Damages Awarded in Unpaid Wages Suit

Posted on May 21, 2008
St. Paul, MN: A year-long bitter court battle between Hutchinson Technology and current and former employees of its production plants has reached a tentative settlement. The lawsuit was over alleged unpaid wages at Hutchinson Technology’s Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin plants.

Special Needs Home Stalled By Auction-Rate Securities Failure

Posted on May 21, 2008
Crystal Springs, MS: Peggy was in the middle of building a home that would facilitate her disabled mobility, but a large part of the construction money has become blocked in failed auction-rate securities (ARS). Solutions offered by her broker will only complicate matters and her research indicates she is in for a long wait before any resolution.

Digitek Defect: Twice the Size, Twice the Dose

Posted on May 20, 2008
Sacramento, CA: The Digitek recall has gone to the dogs—literally. That's what happened when Georgia Vonk got the call from her pharmacist that Bailey P. Vonk's Digitek heart medication had been recalled for adverse reactions including nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, cardiac instability, and even death.

Loss of Dignity: Sum of $904,200 Awarded in Eldercare Lawsuit

Posted on May 20, 2008
Lake Oswego, OR: A milestone settlement was awarded on Monday, May 12 in an eldercare endangerment and abuse case against eldercare giant Avamere. The lawsuit was for an incident that took place at their Lake Oswego facility, The Pearl. The jury in this case awarded a record sum of $904,200 in a verdict believed to be the highest award ruled by an Oregon jury in an eldercare abuse case...

Digitek Recall: "I felt bad all the time I took Digitek"

Posted on May 20, 2008
Charlotte, NC: Jerry Earnhardt is only 50 years old but his body is twice that age. Jerry had a heart attack in 1988 and was prescribed Digitek—which he took until hearing about the Digitek recall from his pharmacist. Then Jerry and his wife Sherry received a letter from their insurance company about the recall, listing the side effects...

The Many Pitfalls of the Duragesic Fentanyl Patch

Posted on May 20, 2008
Washington, DC: When you're dealing with a medication 80 times more potent than morphine, you are entrusting your very life to the capacity of the Duragesic Fentanyl patch to dispense medication properly—because it could leave the user in severe distress, or dead...

Credit Card Abuse: To Be Continued?

Posted on May 19, 2008
Washington, DC: On March 13, 2008 five credit card consumers were ready to testify at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing regarding credit card industry practices and credit card abuse. But it turned out to be a waste of time: GOP staff members asked them to sign waivers allowing public disclosure of their private financial matters—which they refused to sign...

California Labor Law: Hostile Environment

Posted on May 19, 2008
Los Angeles, CA: ”I was a stockbroker and financial advisor for 35 years and survived well in this male-dominated world,” says Gwen, “but one year away from retirement, the brokerage firm Wachovia forced me to resign and left me without medical benefits...

One More Tractor-Trailer Related Fatality

Posted on May 19, 2008
Bath County, KT: Yet another fatal semi-tractor trailer accident took place early one morning in May--on Interstate 64, adding to the growing number of fatalities that occur ever year on American roads.

NuvaRing — Breaking the Silence

Posted on May 18, 2008
Washington, DC: Blood clots, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, liver tumors, and death — these are not things you would associate with birth control — especially a device like NuvaRing, a form of birth control that is supposed to make your life easier, not shorter...

Duragesic Pain Patch: Hundreds of Lawsuits Pending

Posted on May 18, 2008
Palm Beach, FL: Johnson & Johnson may claim that its Duragesic Pain Patch was a safe product, despite recently recalling it, but the fact remains that many patients who have filed lawsuits against the company have won their claims.

Fen-phen PPH: "I Was Scared to Death"

Posted on May 17, 2008
Lawrenceburg, KY: W.L. Carter is one of the lucky ones. When he started taking Fen-phen in 1994, he took only half the recommended dose, given that the diet drug cocktail was expensive and his health insurance provider wouldn't pay for it. In hindsight, that strategy may have saved his life although, like thousands of others, he wound up with PPH (Primary Pulmonary Hypertension).

Zurn Pex Faces Class Action Lawsuits

Posted on May 17, 2008
St. Paul, MN: Consumers who have Zurn Pex plumbing systems in their homes may discover that the system is not all it was cracked up to be. People have already experienced leaking in their homes that has caused significant water damage. Some lawsuits have already been filed, although as more consumers experience problems with their Zurn Pex plumbing more lawsuits will likely be filed.

Nevada Hepatitis C Cases Rise, CDC Slams Endoscopy in New Report

Posted on May 17, 2008
Atlanta, GA: Since the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada was first linked to the hepatitis C outbreak, more than 80 cases have been confirmed, and a damning report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta adds further fuel to the fire.

“Chantix Put Me in a Psychiatric Hospital”

Posted on May 17, 2008
Longbranch, TX: “If I wasn’t at work that morning, surrounded with good people, I would have committed suicide because of Chantix,” says Darlene. Her boss took Darlene to a psychiatric hospital, where she stayed for two weeks.

Icy Hot Heat Patches: "Excruciating Pain"

Posted on May 17, 2008
Raeford, NC: Still more consumers are coming forward with stories of being injured by the Icy Hot Heat Therapy Patch after it was recalled. Many of these people were able to purchase the Icy Hot Patches even after they were recalled because somehow, not all stores have pulled the patches from their shelves...

Interview with Attorney Cory Fein on Ford’s Defective Cruise Control Recall

Posted on May 16, 2008
Houston, TX: Cory Fein is an attorney at Caddell & Chapman - whose company motto is aggressive, creative, results. He actively applies those principles against all obstacles in commercial litigation, products liability and class action litigation. The firm, which he joined in 2001, has represented plaintiffs in automotive manufacturing, and consumers in class action litigation against insurance and credit card companies involving defective products and deceptive business practices.

Writer vs. Sun Microsystems in California Labor Law Case

Posted on May 16, 2008
Santa Clara, CA: Yet another California Labor Law class action is brewing in the sun-kissed State, in support of a technical writer for Sun Microsystems who claims she was denied legitimate overtime.

California Computer Professionals vs. Sun Microsystems

Posted on May 16, 2008
Santa Clara, CA: In yet another test of California's Computer Professionals legislation, technical writers for Sun Microsystems have filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging they were wrongly classified as computer professionals and therefore denied overtime pay...

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