The federal agency responsible for regulating offshore oil drilling repeatedly ignored warnings from government scientists about environmental risks in its push to approve energy exploration activities quickly, according to numerous documents and interviews. Minerals Management Service officials, who receive cash bonuses for meeting federal deadlines on leasing offshore oil and…
A Chicago man filed a lawsuit against NBC Universal Inc. over an injury he sustained while walking through the set of the movie “Public Enemies” in the streets of Chicago in 2008. In his lawsuit, John McManus said he tripped on one of the fake rubber cobblestones installed by set…
The Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision revoked the licenses of three doctors and accepted the license surrender of an Oklahoma City surgeon who was the subject of an international controversy after a brain surgery that ended in a teenager’s death. Dr. Paul Christopher Francel has been sued…
A Miami-Dade jury has awarded a Sarasota man more than $14 million after deciding that the asbestos he inhaled in the 1970s caused his deadly abdominal cancer. Jurors found that chemical giant Union Carbide was negligent for selling asbestos fibers to other companies, which had used the fibers to make…
The U.S. government is ordering energy giant BP to find less-toxic chemicals to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid evidence that the dispersants are not effective and could actually make the spill more harmful to marine life. The Environmental Protection Agency said that BP has to choose…
The decision by BP and federal officials to use the chemical dispersant Corexit to break up oil spewing in the Gulf of Mexico is drawing fire from congress who say there are more powerful, less toxic dispersants that could be used to combat the crude. Environmentalists have raised warnings about…
Several prominent oceanographers are claiming that the government is failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and allowing BP to block the spill’s true size and scope. The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to…
A federal judge has issued a scheduling order for the first bellweather NuvaRing lawsuit trials in the federal Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), which involve claims filed by women who allege that side effects of the birth control ring caused them to suffer serious and potentially life-threatening blood clots. All fact discovery…
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration greatly expanded the fishing ban in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday in response to spreading oil from the BP well blowout. The prohibited area now covers 19 percent of the gulf, nearly double what it was, according to the agency. In Washington, Interior…
A Maryland woman was awarded $3.5 million by a local jury in a malpractice lawsuit over an alleged botched surgery that left her unable to walk. Victoria Little underwent surgery for blocked arteries in 2007, and the lawsuit claims the doctors used an improper grafting technique. The surgery caused severe…