All Topics

• FDA Warns of Rare Sleeping Pill Side Effects

  Mike Simon | April 06, 2007 10:53 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning regarding unusual side effects of prescription sleeping pills. The makers of 13 prescription sleeping aids will now be required to put warnings on their labels cautioning that the drug may cause sleep-driving, along with other less dangerous "complex sleep-related behaviors" - like making phone calls, fixing and eating food, and having sex...

• Allstate Ordered to Reduce Rates

  Mike Simon | April 06, 2007 10:48 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  The Texas Department of Insurance has ordered Allstate to reduce its homeowners insurance rates to Texas homeowners by 5 percent. The order has been affirmed by the Travis County District Court.The litigation began after an analysis by the Department of Insurance revealed that the rates were excessive. Under the order, Allstate will be required to refund its customers an estimated $56...

• Recall of Pet Foods Expanded

  Mike Simon | April 03, 2007 10:32 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  Menu Foods, which manufactures dog and cat food, issued a recall 60 million containers of wet food on March 17, citing contamination of the products. The pet food is sold under a number of store brands, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Safeway.Menu Foods makes pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers, and is also a contract manufacturer for branded pet food companies, including...

• Federal Court Upholds Invalidation of "Wal-Mart Law"

  Mike Simon | February 23, 2007 11:22 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the invalidation of a Maryland law that would have required Wal-Mart to spend more money on employee health care.The law would have required Wal-Mart and all other non-governmental employers with more than 10,000 workers to spend 8% of their payroll on healthcare or pay the difference in taxes to the state. The Retail Industry Leaders Association,...

• West Virginia Gas Station Explosion Kills Four

  Mike Simon | February 20, 2007 11:29 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  An explosion at the Flat Top Little General Store on Route 19 in Ghent, West Virginia, near Winter Place ski resort killed four people. The explosion occurred at about 10:45 a.m., on January 30, just as a fire truck was pulling into the station in response to a report of a gas leak. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation with theories that it was a propane tank or a liquid...

• Occidental Chemical Named in Class Action Suit

  Mike Simon | February 19, 2007 11:15 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  Occidental Chemical has been named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit by residents of Alabama alleging that their property was damaged by operations at Occidental's Muscle Shoals facility.Residents living near the plant filed the suit on January 10, 2007. The plaintiffs allege that the plant has released toxic chemicals into the air and water, ultimately contaminating their property, and...

• Court to Hear Katrina Insurance Appeal

  Mike Simon | July 10, 2007 8:32 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on whether Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. should be forced to cover storm surge damage to the home of Paul and Julie Leonard resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Oral arguments will be heard on August 6th. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled in 2006 that the Leonards could not collect damages from a Katrina storm surge because...

• $39 Million Settlement in Antitrust Class Action

  Mike Simon | February 26, 2007 11:26 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  Preliminary approval has been given to a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit against paint manufacturers, Sherwin-Williams Co. and PPG Industries Inc. alleging price fixing of auto refinishing paint.According to court filings, under the proposed settlement PPG Industries, the world's second-largest car-paint maker, will pay $23 million, and Sherwin-Williams, the largest U.S. paint...

• Weirton Residents Injured in PA Car Accident

  Staff Writer | September 17, 2006 11:34 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  Two residents of Weirton were injured Friday when the car they were in slid off the road and hit a tree stump. Authorities say Thomas R. McClelland was speeding when he tried to make a left turn while traveling on Route 18 in Hanover Township, PA. He was taken to the hospital and listed in fair condition at last report. The passenger in McClelland's car was treated and released. Neither was...

• Fen-Phen User Wins $75K Jury Award

  Mike Simon | July 09, 2007 8:24 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  Virginia Cavender has been awarded $75,000 from a federal court jury in St. Louis for claims that pharmaceutical giant Wyeth's diet drug Fen-Phen caused damage to her heart valves. The jury needed less than seven hours to deliberate her claims of failure to warn and breach of implied warranty.Cavender says that she used Wyeth's Pondimin (fenfluramine) and the generic phentermine for a period of...