Author Archives: Kurt Niland

Nurse’s whistleblower lawsuit leads to $7.3-million health care fraud settlement

Posted: May 24, 2013 Consumer Fraud

A Plano, Texas-based health care provider has agreed to pay $7.3 million to settle allegations that a company it recently acquired violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by intentionally overbilling Medicare for an anemia drug used to treated dialysis patients.

Awareness campaign to reduce brain injury risks in youth baseball underway

Posted: May 22, 2013 Personal Injury

Some baseball helmet manufacturers are boosting standards for their head gear in the hope that better protection will help reduce the number of severe head injuries youth players receive on the field every year.

Safety regulators propose tougher new standards for strollers

Posted: May 22, 2013 Product Liability

In a push to prevent further deaths and injuries to infants and young children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has voted unanimously to establish a federal safety standard for strollers.

Toxic oil, tar continue to wash ashore in Alabama years after BP oil spill

Posted: May 22, 2013 Environmental

Tests conducted on the chunks of tar that continue to wash up along Alabama’s shoreline contain exactly the same chemical fingerprint as oil from BP’s massive 2010 oil spill, meaning the oily matter originates from the blown-out Macondo well that

New website promotes community among traumatic brain injury survivors

Posted: May 20, 2013 Personal Injury

People whose lives have been altered by traumatic brain injury (TBI) may find plenty of technical information online about these elusive injuries and the various symptoms they may cause, but it’s much more difficult to forge connections with others who

Salon industry workers often exposed to toxic levels of formaldehyde

Posted: May 18, 2013 Personal Injury

Formaldehyde, a highly volatile and toxic compound that poses a substantial threat to human health, is commonly found in and released by certain hair-smoothing products used by salons. But despite the known dangers and the federal laws designed to protect

State Farm seeks new trial in Mississippi whistleblower fraud case

Posted: May 18, 2013 Consumer Fraud

Illinois-based State Farm and Casualty Co. has asked a federal judge to overturn a Mississippi jury’s finding the insurance company defrauded the U.S. government by allegedly manipulating damage reports after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 to blame

New website monitors how corporations, lobbyists are eroding our Constitutional rights

Posted: May 17, 2013 Consumer Products

Alarmed by the corporate lobby’s aggressive efforts to undermine the U.S. civil justice system, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) has launched a new website and blog called Take Justice Back.

Generic drug maker settles whistleblower case for $500 million

Posted: May 16, 2013 Consumer Fraud

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The Alabama Attorney General’s office announced Tuesday that it participated with other states and the federal government in a $500-million settlement with India-based generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy to resolve civil and criminal allegations that company for years made and

Family of deceased player Derek Boogaard sues NHL over his injuries, early death

Posted: May 15, 2013 Personal Injury

The family of professional hockey player Derek Boogaard has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the National Hockey League (NHL), accusing the organization of subjecting Mr. Boogaard to severe trauma and then loading him up on potent, highly addictive prescription painkillers.