New Orleans 187 articles

Former Louisiana Jefferson Parish Councilman Jimmy Lawson is suing the local government, the Jefferson School Board and dozens of other entities over claims that he was exposed to toxic asbestos, which contributed to his recent mesothelioma diagnosis. He claims he repeatedly encountered the carcinogenic mineral decades ago while working at New Orleans school properties in the 1960s, in local government offices, and at the Avondale Shipyard, where he was briefly employed in the late 1960s. Other companies named in the lawsuit include insurers, equipment manufacturers, and corporations like Huntington Ingalls and Union Pacific Railroad. Lawson, 71, served on the Jefferson ... Read More

The federal government is expanding its efforts to combat the nation’s opioid crisis and health care fraud with a new regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force operation for the Newark and Philadelphia areas. The Newark/Philadelphia Medicare Strike Force location is the tenth region-specific operation. All of the Strike Force locations monitor health care activity in a specific region for fraud affecting government health care programs. The growing crisis of opioid abuse and addiction has not just harmed tens of thousands of individuals and their families across the U.S., it has also taken its toll on the Medicare program, which loses billions ... Read More

A man who survived a helicopter crash that killed one man and injured another near New Orleans May 20 reportedly told a witness that the aircraft’s landing gear became entangled in power lines. Witness Val Harmon told The Times-Picayune that he and some friends suspected a helicopter went down in a swampy area nearby when they heard crackling and popping sounds and noticed the aircraft that had been in the air nearby was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Harmon and two friends hopped on an ATV and drove out into the marshland near Boutte, Louisiana, part of St. Charles Parish. ... Read More

Federal investigators said they have found evidence of a missing fan blade in the engine of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 that made an emergency landing Tuesday, April 17 in Philadelphia. The Southwest Boeing 737-700 was flying from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Dallas when its left engine exploded, shattering a window and fatally injuring passenger Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old mother of two and Wells Fargo executive from Albuquerque. Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that someone found a Southwest Airlines engine cowling, the outer covering of the engine, on the ground ... Read More

U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon, overseeing the Xarelto multidistrict litigation, appears to be pushing both sides toward a resolution, stating in the Jan. 30, 2018, monthly status conference hearing that “I need to devise an end game.” The nationwide MDL involves more than 21,000 lawsuits alleging Xarelto makers Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer did not adequately warn about the bleeding risks with its top selling blood thinner. The MDL was created in 2014 in New Orleans, and since then, hundreds of new cases have been filed each month. Cases in state courts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles ... Read More

More NFL concussion controversy has erupted after Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton took a hit in Sunday’s wild-card game against the New Orleans Saints and appeared to suffer the symptoms of a concussion. But instead of going to the locker room as the League’s brand-new concussion rules require, Newton was evaluated on the sideline and returned to the game in four minutes. Just after Saints defensive tackle Tyeler Davison tackled Newton with 9:12 left in the fourth quarter, defensive tackle David Onyemata pummeled Newton hard in the head. Newton was slow to stand back up and then, as he was ... Read More

A new burn center will be opening soon in New Orleans, giving many patients along the Gulf Coast a more local option for the treatment of burn injuries. According to The Times-Picayune, the new integrated Burn Center and Level 1 Trauma Center at University Medical Center is expected to open in February or March 2018. The new burn center is a big deal not only for those in the New Orleans area but for the country as well. According to Dr. Jeffrey Carter, the Medical Director of UMC’s Burn Center, there are only 1,900 beds available for patients with burn ... Read More

A federal jury found a New Orleans woman guilty of cheating Medicare out of millions of dollars through a scheme of paying and receiving illegal kickbacks and billing the health care program for power wheelchairs and other medical equipment. After a three-day trial, Sandra Parkman, 61, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, two counts of health care fraud, and five counts of accepting kickbacks, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Federal prosecutors alleged that Ms. Parkman and her boss Tracy Richardson Brown, who is also ... Read More

Proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, used to treat heartburn, acid reflux and ulcers, are some of the most prescribed drugs in the world. PPIs are sold under name brands such as Prevacid, Nexium and Prilosec, by prescription and over the counter, and they are taken by more than 20 million Americans in any given year. “PPIs have been regarded as generally safe and without serious adverse effects. However, this perspective is changing,” said Danish scientists earlier this year when they published a study linking the drugs to an increased risk for serious foodborne infection, listeriosis. The drugs have been linked ... Read More

Physiomesh, made by Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon, isn’t the only hernia mesh currently under fire for its allegedly defective design. The Ventralex ST Mesh, made by C.R. Bard and Davol, Inc., is getting its fair share of criticism, with similar claims of pain and infection as its sister product, Physiomesh. Richard Stipelcovich of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, was implanted with a Ventralex ST Mesh to treat an incarcerated umbilical hernia on Oct. 4, 2016, at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. The surgeon was Dr. James E. Brown, who trusted Bard’s product to be as safe as it claimed to be. Following the placement ... Read More