Los Angeles 341 articles

An airplane crash that killed two men and seriously injured a third while filming the Tom Cruise movie American Made in 2015 has spawned multiple lawsuits, including one filed Sept. 8 by four production companies seeking indemnity for damages awarded against them in other lawsuits. The lawsuit, filed in California, seeks to hold S&S Aviation, a Georgia company responsible for maintaining the airplane that crashed, at least partly responsible for any damages and lawyer fees resulting from the wrongful death and personal injury claims the production companies face. The movie “American Made” is set to be released later this month. It ... Read More

The American verdicts against international pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has been raising awareness about the link between talc-based powders and ovarian cancer around the world. Last month, a California jury ordered the company to pay $417 million in damages over its failure to warn consumers of its products’ ovarian cancer risk. Previously four Missouri juries found in favor of the women who had brought suit against Johnson and Johnson, with verdicts totaling more than $300 million: Best Media Info, in an article on brands that have lost consumer trust, said of Johnson and Johnson in a discussion of the ... Read More

Workplace exposures to vapor, gas, dust, and fumes dramatically increase the likelihood that workers will develop some form of lung disease, a new U.S. medical study has found. To understand what roles workplace exposures may play in promoting changes visible on a CT lung scan, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York analyzed data from a broad study of cardiovascular disease in adults. The participating patients were divided among six cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Winston Salem, North Carolina. According to Reuters, the 5,702 study participants had chest CT scans at the ... Read More

Rescue workers had to perform a double leg amputation in order to free a worker who became caught up in a machine last week in an Alhambra, California manufacturing facility. Alhambra Fire Department paramedics arrived at the Alhambra Foundry Co. around 1 p.m. in response to a call for emergency help. The metals manufacturer and fabricator has been operating in Alhambra, about five miles south of Pasadena, since 1923. The paramedics were able to stop the worker’s bleeding and stabilized him, treating him with fluids and pain medication, MyNewsLA.com reported, but ultimately they were unable to free him from the ... Read More

It was a sad day on Avenida Dolores in San Clemente, California, early Thursday morning when an apparent natural gas explosion destroyed a family home. Although the home and everything inside was reduced to fiery ruins, the couple and their dogs made it out physically unscathed. Diane Alajoki told CBS Los Angeles that she and her partner were packing for a trip early Thursday morning when they felt an enormous blast. Not knowing what had happened, Ms. Alajoki said she thought maybe something had hit the house. “I laid down just before getting in the shower, and this explosion happened,” Ms. ... Read More

With the largest verdict yet in a talc ovarian cancer case, $417 million having just been awarded to California plaintiff Eva Echeverria, some hearing the news for the first time may be asking if Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe. The answer is, it depends on how you use it. The health issue being discussed in the recent court cases is talc allegedly increasing women’s risk of ovarian cancer. This only becomes an issue when the powder is used for feminine hygiene; however Johnson and Johnson refuses to warn women of the risk in using its powder this way. By six ... Read More

Nonprofit advocacy group Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN) is petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put warnings on all over-the-counter heartburn medication warning users about a risk of esophageal cancer. These drugs already contain warnings that if heartburn has persisted more than three months, patients should consult a doctor prior to use, and that they should seek a doctor’s opinion if symptoms continue after treatment. However, ECAN is concerned that many self diagnosing patients might miss important warning signs of this deadly and fast-growing cancer, the incidence of which has risen 600 percent over the past 30 ... Read More

The widow of a man who was killed by a boiler explosion last April has filed a wrongful death lawsuit to seek justice for her husband’s death. On April 3, 2017, a 1-ton steam tank explosion at Loy-Lang Box Co. in St. Louis, Missouri, rocketed debris so high into the air, massive debris rained down nearly a block away. Kenneth Threntham, 59, an employee of Loy-Lang, was killed immediately. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kathy Trentham, the wife of Kenneth Trentham, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against several companies including Kickham Boiler & Engineering of St. Louis, Arise Inc. of Cleveland; the ... Read More

A year after allegedly causing a bus crash that killed four people and injured several others, the driver of a California-registered tour bus faces four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter. In addition to manslaughter charges, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office charged 58-year-old Mario David Vasquez of Los Angeles with five counts of misdemeanor vehicle code violations. Mr. Vasquez was among the bus occupants who were seriously injured in the crash. On Aug. 2, 2016, Mr. Vasquez was driving a passenger bus registered to Autobuses Coordinados USA Inc. when he veered off of Highway 99 near the Central Valley town of ... Read More

Three passengers who were injured last October in a deadly tour bus crash near Palm Springs, California, are suing the estate of the owner-operator of the bus and several others, claiming negligence and other factors contributed to the crash. Plaintiffs Jose Santos Hernandez, Idalia Arevalo, and Pilar Medrano, all Los Angeles residents, were among 31 passengers injured in the Oct. 23, 2016, bus crash. Thirteen others, including bus driver Teodulo Elias Vides, were killed. The passengers were returning to Los Angeles from Red Earth Casino in Thermal, California. According to the complaint, Mr. Vides, who owned and operated the USA ... Read More