Federal health officials opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak. The investigation into Peanut Corp. of America follows reports of poor sanitation practices and inspections that found the company sold contaminated peanut products to food makers. At least 529 people…
A lawsuit by the widow whose husband died of lung cancer is headed to trial again. Nearly two months after ending in a mistrial, the first of about 8,000 cases against tobacco companies in Florida is scheduled to head to trial again in Florida. Elaine Hess is suing cigarette maker…
The plant in Georgia that produced peanut butter tainted by salmonella has a history of sanitation lapses and was cited repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 for having dirty surfaces and grease residue and dirt buildup throughout the plant, according to health inspection reports. Inspection reports from 2008 found the plant…
More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, according to federal health officials. The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for dogs may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its…
The Food and Drug Administration said that salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made by Kellogg. Kellogg said that a previously recalled peanut butter-sandwich cracker tested positive for salmonella. The outbreak has led to 474 reported illnesses and may have caused six deaths, according to…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a link between peanut butter and a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 400 people in 43 states. Health officials are telling nursing homes, hospitals, schools and restaurants to throw away containers of peanut butter that have been linked to the…
On Dec. 4, 2008, a jury ordered a computer parts distributor to pay $247,000 in damages after one of its laptop batteries short-circuited, resulting in a house fire. In 2006, Rodger Hill was using his Hewlett-Packard laptop computer, which contained a battery distributed by Kahlon Inc., at his home in…
A class action suit against the maker of a blood thinning Heparin drug claims the company is substituting safer ingredients – cooked, dried pig intestines – with more dangerous ones. Joyce Ann Osteen of Illinois is suing Baxter over its anticoagulant drug Heparin in St. Clair County Circuit Court. She…
The family of a child who died in a Winnie the Pooh bassinet has sued the Walt Disney Co., alleging the company allowed sales of the bassinets despite a flawed design that had been linked to another baby’s death. The bassinet had a drop-down side for easy access, but the…
Merck is considering an appeal after a Texas state appeals court reversed its own prior dismissal of a $7.75 M judgment in a Vioxx personal injury lawsuit against the drugmaker. A three-judge panel of the Texas 4th Court of Appeals ruled there should be a new trial in the case.…