Medtronic said that at least 13 people might have died in connection with a heart device that it recalled in 2007 but was still in widespread use, including four patients whose deaths were related to efforts by doctors to surgically remove the product. The new data reflect the first fatality…
The family of UCF football player Plancher, a 19-year-old freshman wide receiver who died March 18, 2008, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after an offseason conditioning workout on the UCF campus. An autopsy found that the extreme stress of the workout triggered Plancher’s sickle-cell trait, a blood disorder that caused…
A Missouri jury recommended that AmerenUE electric company pay the families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago for a combined $2.3 million. On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into…
Sickened consumers who sued the peanut processor blamed for a national salmonella outbreak could have trouble recovering damages from company accounts because assets listed in a bankruptcy filing will likely go to other businesses that bought its products. Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America filed documents listing nearly $11.4 M in…
A jury in New Jersey ruled that a Perth Amboy oral surgeon committed medical malpractice in the death of patient the morning after having his wisdom teeth removed. The jury deliberated less than three hours over two days before finding that George Flugrad committed medical malpractice when he failed to…
A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago. After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote…
The trustee of a trust fund for sick Florida smokers is prepared to settle some claims by the federal government for $18 million, freeing up the rest of the $580 million fund for smokers and their attorneys. “We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice in…
Detroit has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 67-year-old man in a police lockup. James Stone, arrested for a parole violation, had a heart attack and died in August 2005 at the police department’s Second Precinct. Lawyers for his estate said he…
A Cleburne family, the Pawliks, whose house exploded after odorless natural gas seeped into their home through a leaking gas main and a faulty air conditioning condensation line, has reached a settlement with Atmos Energy. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The lawsuit alleged that Atmos did not inspect…
An Indiana woman has been awarded $157 million in a wrongful death lawsuit she filed against the manufacturers of a tree stand that malfunctioned, killing her husband three years ago. The substantial default judgment, reached by jurors in about an hour, no one representing the defendants — L & L…