lawsuits 2545 articles

Two whistleblowers who alleged that a Philadelphia-based vascular health company and several of its subsidiaries were cheating Medicare and engaging in illegal kickback schemes have helped the U.S. recover more than $3.8 million. The whistleblowers filed separate lawsuits alleging Vascular Access Centers LP and 23 of its subsidiary companies violated the federal False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute, both of which are intended to protect U.S. taxpayer money from being squandered and misspent. The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the whistleblowers’ claims and chose to intervene, thereby taking over their litigation. ‘ According to the Justice Department, Vascular Access Centers ... Read More

Three years after the worst gas leak in U.S. history forced the closure of Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) storage facilities at Aliso Canyon, nearly half the wells operating before the massive methane leak are closed after state regulators determined they are no longer safe to operate. Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Daily News show that of the 114 wells SoCalGas built to inject and withdraw natural gas at its Aliso Canyon site, 51 have been taken out of operation due to safety concerns, and another three wells have been permanently sealed. According to the Daily News, state records show ... Read More

The initial reaction to a cancer diagnosis is often shock and disbelief, and it’s not uncommon for patients to try to understand why their cancer developed in the first place, according to the consumer publication CURE (Cancer Updates, Research & Education). Ovarian cancer and mesothelioma victims often find out too late that they were exposed to the carcinogenic mineral asbestos either at the workplace or from using talcum powder products. Ovarian cancer is the most deadly form of cancer of the female reproductive organs. Studies suggest using talcum powder products on the genitals for feminine hygiene could put women at ... Read More

Johnson & Johnson and its unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a Mississippi family that claimed the companies’ antipsychotic drug Risperdal caused their son to develop breasts, a disfiguring condition known as gynecomastia, according to Law360. The announcement came just days before the case was slated to go to trial in Pennsylvania state court. The settlement follows a Superior Court ruling in January during which a global order barring punitive damages on gynecomastia claims with Risperdal in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas was upended. Suddenly faced with the potential of  punitive damages, Johnson ... Read More

A longstanding whistleblower lawsuit alleging Bayer AG cheated the U.S. Department of Defense by fraudulently representing its cholesterol drug Baycol as safe and effective will move forward after previously being dismissed. U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis in Minnesota, who dismissed the case in 2015, found on Oct. 16 that whistleblower Laurie Simpson had presented sufficient proof that she had direct and original knowledge of the health risks associated with Baycol and Bayer’s downplaying of those risks. The Eighth Circuit sent the whistleblower lawsuit back to Judge Davis after finding on appeal that Ms. Simpson’s allegations satisfied the “who, what, ... Read More

Autumn is the season of harvest. But what many people don’t realize is that much of the produce in North America is doused with the herbicide Roundup, which contains glyphosate, the controversial active ingredient that has been linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Monsanto introduced Roundup four decades ago. It is now the most widely used weed killer in the world among farmers, groundskeepers, landscapers, horticulturalists, and even home gardeners. Glyphosate is sprayed directly on GMO (genetically modified organism) crops like corn and soybeans because they are genetically engineered to be resistant to the chemical. But it is also used on non-GMO ... Read More

Five lawsuits have been filed against the town of Kittery, Maine, following an August bus crash that sent 13 people to the hospital including 11 children. Those suing the small tourist town are seeking compensation for medical bills ranging from $300,000 to $400,000 for injuries involving fractured tibia, head injuries, facial scarring and emotional trauma, the lawsuits state. The GMC Savana transport van was operated by the Kittery Community Center (KCC). It crashed on I-95 in the New Hampshire town of Greenland en route to Candia Springs Adventure Park in Candia, New Hampshire. The field trip was part of the ... Read More

Kalispell Regional Healthcare System of Kalispell, Montana and six affiliates have agreed to pay $24 million to settle allegations stemming from a whistleblower lawsuit that they engaged in an extensive kickback scheme. The government alleged that Kalispell Regional maintained arrangements with referring physicians that violated the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the federal False Claims Act. U.S. law prohibits hospitals and other health care providers from engaging in kickback arrangements and other schemes that provide money or other gifts for patient referrals. Services billed to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs that were influenced by illegal kickbacks ... Read More

Millions of internal documents from Monsanto – known as the Monsanto Papers – were released as part of lawsuits against the company involving claims that the active ingredient glyphosate in its herbicide Roundup causes cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and that the company knew of the risks but failed to warn consumers, including those regularly exposed to the product while working as groundskeepers, landscapers, and horticulturalists. Monsanto has repeatedly said that its weed killers are safe, despite the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2015 classifying glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Here is what the ... Read More

A lithium-ion battery for an e-cigarette exploded inside a woman’s handbag in a Salisbury, North Carolina post office Thursday, Oct. 4. The explosion was the latest in a series of mishaps involving lithium-ion batteries and e-cigarettes, which form the basis of numerous personal-injury and consumer product lawsuits throughout the U.S. According to the International Business Times, nobody was injured in the North Carolina incident, but the explosion was serious enough to warrant an emergency response by local fighter fighters and police officers. Fortunately, the only casualty of the lithium-ion battery explosion was the woman’s Michael Kors handbag, the IBT reported. ... Read More