Los Angeles 410 articles

An accident on the set of the television series LA’s Finest that injured two of the show’s executives last month has resulted in a partial leg amputation. According to Deadline Hollywood, executive co-producer Brandon Sonnier and co-showrunner Brandon Margolis were rushed to Los Angeles area hospitals after a stunt being filmed for a car crash scene in San Pedro, California, resulted in a real crash. A source told Deadline that a stunt car crashed into a cargo crate, which sent the container and the car hurtling into the area behind the crate where the producers and director were watching the ... Read More

The University of Southern California (USC) has agreed to pay $215 million and implement numerous reforms to settle a class action lawsuit brought by dozens of women who allege they were sexually abused by a gynecologist at the USC Student Health Center over the course of nearly three decades. A court will need to approve the settlement, which also requires USC to obtain background checks for anyone who interacts with patients at the school’s student health center, and give female patients the option to see a female doctor. An independent women’s health advocate will also be appointed to ensure any ... Read More

An Amtrak train with 183 passengers aboard has been stranded in the tiny town of Oakridge in Oregon since about 9:45 a.m. Sunday, when the Coast Starlight Train 11, traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles, struck a tree that had fallen onto the snow-covered tracks. No one aboard the train was injured, but “conditions further deteriorated with numerous track blockages from snow and fallen trees,” Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari told ABC News. Poor weather conditions have forced road closings in the area. Crews are working to clear the track and were expected to reach the stranded train around 6 a.m. ... Read More

Authorities investigating a plane crash that killed five people and destroyed a suburban California home earlier this month say the pilot was in possession of fake papers indicating he was a retired Chicago police officer. Pilot Antonio Pastini, 75, who owned a sushi restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, and a number of other restaurants, departed Fullerton Municipal Airport on Feb. 3 and flew about 10 miles when his Cessna 41A broke apart and burst into flames in the air. Parts of the airplane were scattered across four blocks of a Yorba Linda neighborhood, but the largest part of the plane ... Read More

A whistleblower lawsuit accusing a Los Angeles-based hospital group of engaging in unlawful financial arrangements has led to an $8.1 million settlement with the U.S. Government. Avanti Hospitals LLC and six of its owners agreed to pay the U.S. $8.1 million to settle whistleblower allegations that they violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Physician Self-Referral Law (also known as the Stark Law), and the False Claims Act. The lawsuit, filed by Dr. Joshua Luke, the former CEO of Gardena Hospital, alleged that Avanti, Gardena Hospital, and at least two other Avanti affiliates bribed a high-referring physician with payments that exceeded the ... Read More

The first trial alleging a talcum powder product was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos and caused a woman’s fatal mesothelioma is scheduled to begin this week in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. But instead of Johnson & Johnson in the hot seat, Colgate-Palmolive Co. will be defending the case. The trial involves the case of Sally Brandt, who was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in November 2015. She and her husband filed a lawsuit a month later alleging she was exposed to the carcinogenic mineral through years of using Colgate-Palmolive’s Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder. Brandt has since passed away. Brandt’s trial ... Read More

About 3,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with malignant mesothelioma. A third of them are Veterans. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. It develops in the lining of the lungs or abdomen. And while it can take up to 50 years to develop, once diagnosed, mesothelioma usually kills within a year or two. A disproportionate number of Veterans are diagnosed with the disease because many were exposed to asbestos during their service. Asbestos is a durable, fire-resistant mineral, which made it an excellent insulation. As a result, it was widely used in buildings and ships ... Read More

More than 100 cities have electric scooter services that provide convenient transportation especially in high-traffic areas. But many riders of the two-wheeled vehicles are landing in the emergency room, often for head injuries that could have been prevented had they been wearing a helmet. According to an observational study conducted by researchers with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), about 40 percent of e-scooter riders treated at two southern California emergency departments suffered head injuries, but only 4.4 of them wore a helmet. Equally as troubling is that researchers also found that 182 of 193 e-scooter riders they observed ... Read More

Wei Chen was an accomplished pilot who in 2011 had flown around the world in a single-engine plane, later writing a book about his experience, “Around The World in 69 Days: What Would You Attempt To Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?” But on Dec. 21, the founder and CEO of Sunshine Enterprise Inc., took off in a Cessna 560 from Fulton County Airport-Brown Field in Atlanta, bound for Memphis, Tennessee, along with three other people including top-level executives from his company and Wei Chen’s brother and best friend John Chen, when about a mile into the flight ... Read More

Last spring, Los Angeles police launched an investigation into sexual assault claims against University of Southern California (USC) gynecologist Dr. George Tydall. Several former and current female students had reported that he had inappropriately touched them, unnecessarily penetrated them with his hands, made lewd comments, and photographed them while they were at his office for medical exams. The investigation became one of the largest – if not the largest – sex crimes investigations involving an individual in the Los Angeles Police Department’s history. As part of their investigation, police began following the former gynecologist, noting that on two occasions Tydall, ... Read More