Current Events

It was just before 10 one August morning in 2016 when Keller resident Brian Steinborn discovered his 4-year-old daughter Olivia in bed, her body cold, skin blue and vomit on her face.
He and his wife, Juli Treadwell, had managed only a few hours of sleep the night before.

Read More

Colgate-Palmolive Co. agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming its talcum-powder products caused a Pennsylvania woman to develop mesothelioma, a fatal lung disease tied to asbestos exposure.

New York-based Colgate-Palmolive moved to resolve Carol Schoeniger’s lawsuit to avoid a trial in a New Jersey state court, according to court filings. Financial terms of the deal weren’t made public.

Read more . . .

NEWTOWN, Conn. — In the years since his 6-year-old son, Benjamin, was fatally shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School, David Wheeler has testified before state legislatures, lobbied members of Congress and sat beside his wife, Francine, as she delivered a speech during one of President Obama’s weekly addresses, pleading for changes to the nation’s gun laws.

This week, the families of the victims plan to be in Hartford, listening as lawyers lay out in state Supreme Court their case that the companies that manufactured and sold the military-style assault rifle used by the gunman bear responsibility for the attack in which 26 people, including 20 children, were killed.

Read more . . .

Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris is suing several health-care companies, claiming his wife was poisoned by a chemical used during magnetic resonance imaging scans.

In a lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco Superior Court, Chuck and Gena Norris argued that gadolinium, a metal used as a contrast agent in MRI scans, caused Gena to sustain gadolinium deposition disease, experiencing “multiple, debilitating bouts of pain and burning throughout her body” and suffering long-term damage.

Read more . . .

The first state court trial in a lawsuit alleging blockbuster drug Xarelto causes internal bleeding is set to begin Monday in Philadelphia, following three federal cases in which Xarelto makers Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc and Bayer Pharma AG prevailed.

In the first trial of the roughly 1,400 Xarelto cases pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, an Indiana couple will try to convince the jury that the companies acted negligently and failed to warn patients of the drug’s increased gastrointestinal bleeding risk.

Read More

Paulette saw it happen at the playground from several feet away, the panic-inducing moment in 2014 when her 3-year-old son Charlie, who has a life-threatening allergy to milk, grabbed a playmate’s sippy cup and took a gulp.

Thankfully, Paulette had the anaphylaxis-stopping EpiPen and was able to quickly use the auto-injector on her son. But when she pulled the needle from his thigh, it was sticking out of the device at an angle instead of being under an orange cover, leaving her unsure whether the lifesaving medicine had been administered. Not wanting to take a chance, Paulette (who requested anonymity to protect her son’s identity) called 911, and Charlie was rushed to a hospital where he remained for several hours until doctors were sure he was all right.

Read more . . .

DETROIT (AP) - BMW is recalling more than 1 million cars and SUVs in two U.S. recalls due to the risk of fires under the hood, and it's recommending that they be parked outdoors until repairs are made.

A spokesman for the German automaker says the risk of fire is very low in both cases, but the vehicles should say outside "in an abundance of caution." In both recalls, repairs are expected to start on Dec.
Read more . . .

U.S. officials sent a warning to the marijuana industry, alerting online sellers they cannot market their products as a treatment for cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration sent letters to four companies on Tuesday, warning them about unsubstantiated claims that their marijuana-derived products can combat tumors and kill cancer cells. The firms sell products including oils and capsules made from cannabidiol, also known as CBD, a component of the marijuana plant that doesn’t cause the mind-altering effects of the other main component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
Read more . . .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed a Congressional resolution on Wednesday that lets banks block customers from filing class action lawsuits, partly delivering on his election campaign promise to lighten U.S. financial regulation.

The White House confirmed Trump signed the resolution, which kills a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule released in July, despite heavy lobbying for a veto by the president.

The rule, set to go into effect next spring, gave bank customers the option to band together in lawsuits known as class actions to lower their legal costs, but Republicans say the suits only benefit attorneys who reap large fees.
Read more . . .

ALBANY — More than 60 patients rights and other groups are urging Gov. Cuomo to sign a bill to make it easier for victims of misdiagnosed cancer to get their day in court.

The dozens of groups signed on to a letter pleading with Cuomo to back the legislation, known as Lavern’s Law. It would start the window to bring medical malpractice cases involving cancer when an error is discovered by the patient — not when the mistake occurred, as under current law.

Read more . . .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co agreed to a $13.9 million settlement with Orange County, California after prosecutors accused the Detroit automaker of intentionally concealing serious safety defects including those involving faulty ignition switches tied to nearly 400 deaths and injuries, the company said on Sunday.