InjuryBoard West Virginia Archives

• Suit Over Wandering Nursing Home Resident's Death Settled For $750,000

  Mike Simon | July 27, 2007 12:16 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Wrongful Death

  A $750,000 settlement reached in June between a Pennsylvania nursing home and Francis X. Ounan has been approved by a federal judge. Ounan, the executor of his mother's estate, filed suit against nursing home chain Sunrise Senior Living Services, Inc. on January 15, seeking damages for claims of negligence and wrongful death. Nursing home administrator Lynn Plasha and nurse Cynthia Harbaugh were...

• The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 Considered by Congress

  Mike Simon | July 26, 2007 4:39 PM | 1 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  On July 12th, the Arbitration Fairness Act was introduced to the House and the Senate to amend the Federal Arbitration Act, which was passed in the 1920's. The proposed bill would make clauses in contracts that mandate arbitration and prohibit joining class action lawsuits unenforceable. The bill aims to prevent mandatory arbitration in employment, consumer, franchise, or civil disputes.Leo...

• FDA Expands Warning About Botulism Risk from Certain Castleberry's Food Products and Dog Food

  Mike Simon | July 25, 2007 10:42 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Defective & Dangerous Products

  Castleberry's Food Company has recalled numerous products nation-wide due to a risk of exposure to botulinum toxin. The recall, which includes mostly hot dog chili sauces, is for all listed products, without regard to "best by" dates. Exposure to the toxin, which can be fatal, is already responsible for four hospitalizations in two states. Retailers are asked to remove all recalled products...

• Court to Hear Katrina Insurance Appeal

  Mike Simon | July 10, 2007 8:32 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  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...

• Fen-Phen User Wins $75K Jury Award

  Mike Simon | July 09, 2007 8:24 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs

  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...

• Texas Woman Says Avandia Killed Her Husband

  Mike Simon | July 07, 2007 8:19 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs

  Peggie Stanford has filed a wrongful death suit against GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of diabetes drug Avandia, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Stanford claims her 60-year-old husband, Larry, had been using an Avandia variant when he died of a heart attack earlier this year. Stanford suffered the fatal heart attack the same day that the New England Journal of Medicine...

• U.S. Attorney: No Charges in E. coli Outbreak Tied to Spinach

  Mike Simon | July 06, 2007 8:28 AM | 1 Comments
  Category: Defective & Dangerous Products

  Federal prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges with regard to the 2006 nationwide E. coli outbreak, which was traced to fresh spinach from California. The companies being held accountable for the outbreak still face numerous civil lawsuits from consumers claiming to have gotten sick from the tainted crop, however.The outbreak, which caused three deaths and approximately 200...

• Coal Company Ordered to Pay Wheeling-Pitt $219 Million

  Mike Simon | July 06, 2007 8:10 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  After a month-long trial, a Brooke County Circuit Court jury has ordered Massey Energy and a subsidiary to pay more than $219 million in damages to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation. Wheeling-Pitt sued Massey subsidiary Central West Virginia Energy Co. in April 2005, claiming it failed to deliver 104,000 tons of metallurgical grade coal per month as required under a contract signed in 2002...