West Virginia Personal Injury Updates

A Louisiana hospital agreed to pay $7.4 million to settle its part of a class action suit accusing a cardiologist of doing unnecessary angioplasties and other procedures. Half of the amount will be shared by 305 former patients and the rest will pay litigation costs and attorneys' fees in the suit against Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. The attorneys are still seeking damages from...

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On May 10, in Abingdon, Virginia, the maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty to misleading the public about the drug's risk of addiction. Purdue Pharma, LP, its president, top lawyer, and former chief medical officer will pay $634.5 million in fines for claiming the drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other...

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On April 16, a federal jury in New Orleans awarded a verdict of $2.8 million in an insurance dispute to a man who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina. The jury found that Allstate did not pay enough money to cover wind damage caused to the home by the hurricane. In what has become a standard position of insurers confronted with Katrina claims, Allstate claimed that most of the damage was caused...

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a recall yesterday of Evenflo Embraceâ„¢ Infant Car Seat/Carriers. The product has been found to be unsafe when it is used as a carrier because the handle can release from the locked position unexpectedly. When the handle releases it can cause the seat to rotate forward and the child to fall to...

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In a case of nursing care negligence, a 22-year-old Sissonville man who suffered from severe disabilities died after choking on a hot dog for approximately 45 minutes. At the time of the incident, the man was at West Sattes Day Program, a day shelter facility for disabled adults located in Nitro, West Virginia.According to the report of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human...

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a warning to parents that small magnets from toys can pose a serious danger to children. According to the warning, hundreds of complaints have been filed with the CPSC stating that small magnets have fallen out of toys where they may pose a hazard to children who may swallow the magnets.There have been 33 cases where children swallowing magnets...

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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...

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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...

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On March 23, a Huron County, Ohio, jury ruled that the county and its child welfare agency were responsible for the 2004 wrongful death of a child placed into foster care and killed by the foster father with whom she was placed. The child was stabbed five times by her foster father and allowed to bleed to death in a barn on his property.According to witnesses in the trial, the agency was aware...

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A former Charleston police officer has pled guilty to charges of speeding and failure to operate an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens arising out of an October 2005 car accident in which a motorist was killed. The officer will pay a fine and serve probation as a result of the plea.At the time of the accident, the officer was providing backup for another officer responding to a domestic...

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