Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Personal Injury

  • January 15, 2025

    Seattle Jury Awards $100M To 4 Plaintiffs In School PCB Case Against Monsanto

    SEATTLE — A jury in Washington state on Jan. 14 awarded four plaintiffs a total of $100 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Monsanto Co. in a trial over injuries allegedly caused by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle-area school.  The plaintiffs had sought $4.14 billion in punitive damages.

  • January 14, 2025

    High Court Declines To Review Denial Of Qualified Immunity In Prison COVID-19 Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied the petition for writ of certiorari of prison officials seeking review of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision reversing a Michigan federal court’s dismissal of a prisoner’s civil rights complaint against the officials stemming from their management of the prison in response to COVID-19.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tenn. Federal Judge Allows Expert Witness Testimony In Medical Malpractice Case

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge denied dueling motions to exclude the other party’s causation and standard of care expert witnesses in a medical malpractice case after finding that all four experts meet admissibility standards under state and federal law.

  • January 10, 2025

    Statute Of Limitations Bars New Jersey University COVID-19 Quarantine Death Lawsuit

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit brought by the estate and parents of a college sophomore who died while in COVID-19 isolation during the school year after contracting the disease, ruling that the statute of limitations had run on wrongful death and negligence claims and that contract and fraud claims were deficient.

  • January 06, 2025

    Ohio High Court Remands Discovery Privilege Dispute In Medical Malpractice Suit

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chiding a trial court for “erroneously limit[ing] its own power to control the discovery process,” the Ohio Supreme Court remanded a disagreement over whether a treating physician’s residency file is protected by the peer-review privilege, instructing the trial court to use in camera review, among other inquiries, in determining whether the privilege applies.

  • January 03, 2025

    11th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Remanded Assisted Living COVID Wrongful Death Case

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied an assisted living facility’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of a split panel decision affirming a judgment of a Florida federal court remanding to state court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the personal representatives of a woman who died from COVID-19 while under the care of the facility.

  • December 23, 2024

    Florida Federal Judge Allows 5 Rebuttal Experts In Toxic Exposure Case

    ORLANDO, Fla. — “Disagreement with an expert’s premises is classic cross-examination fodder” and not grounds for exclusion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, a federal judge in Florida noted in an order denying five motions to exclude filed in an environmental contamination case.

  • December 20, 2024

    Amazon Refutes Claims As To Quality Of Care In Telehealth Death Suit Against It

    OAKLAND, Calif. — In response to a wrongful death and medical malpractice suit filed in a California state court against Amazon One Medical, a virtual and in-office health care provider, regarding alleged negligent virtual care, an Amazon One Medical spokesperson in a Dec. 19 email reply to Mealey Publications said, “While we are prohibited by law from discussing patient records, we refute claims that a change in the duration of visits or location of a virtual visit has impacted the care provided at Amazon One Medical.”

  • December 17, 2024

    Judge Stays Discovery In Lawsuit Over Alleged Workers’ Comp Scheme

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal judge has stayed discovery pending resolution of expected dismissal motions in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit where a reinsurer and management general agency allege that the defendants took part in purportedly fraudulent workers’ compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits.

  • December 17, 2024

    Experts Featured In Mealey's Daubert Report

    Entries are ordered in alphabetical order of the expert in each area of expert testimony.  Experts appeared in the March to December 2024 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.

  • December 17, 2024

    Dead Smoker’s Family, Tobacco Companies Settle Wrongful Death Suit

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — Two notices of settlement were filed in California federal court by tobacco companies and the family members of a dead smoker who brought claims accusing the companies of causing his death from laryngeal cancer announcing that the parties have reached  settlements in principle and will file finalized settlements within two months.

  • December 16, 2024

    Expert Excluded, Cannot Opine On How Woman Was Injured In Fall At Restaurant

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An accident reconstructionist retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured after falling from a booth at a Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurant is inadmissible, a federal magistrate judge in Puerto Rico ruled, because he did not reach his conclusions through a reliable methodology.

  • December 13, 2024

    Medical Expert Retained To Opine On Woman’s Medical Needs After Crash Can Testify

    OXFORD, Miss. — A federal magistrate judge in Mississippi on Dec. 12 agreed to strike one statement from the report of an expert hired to opine on the medical condition of a woman suing for injuries sustained in a car accident but otherwise denied the woman’s motion to exclude his testimony.

  • December 13, 2024

    3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Coverage Dispute Arising From Construction Accident

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a coverage lawsuit arising from a construction accident, agreeing with the lower court that the insurer had no duty to defend a building owner because it was not an “additional insured” under the CGL policy’s additional insured endorsement.

  • December 12, 2024

    Survivors Of Boy Who Died In Fall From Amusement Park Ride Win $310 Million Verdict

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida jury awarded each of the parents of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from an amusement park ride $155 million for past and future pain and suffering as well as for medical and funeral expenses against the Austrian manufacturer of the ride after a one-day trial solely on the issue of damages.

  • December 12, 2024

    Texas Sues PFAS Makers For Profiting ‘Immensely’ Through Deceptive Trade Practices

    CLEBURNE, Texas — Texas sued 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in state court on Dec. 11, arguing that they manufactured and marketed consumer products that contain PFAS and “profited immensely” while they knew that the products posed risks to human health and the environment.

  • December 12, 2024

    Judge: Expert Can Opine On Lost Wages, Household Services In Accident Case

    HAMMOND, Ind. — An expert retained by a man who was injured in a car accident can testify on alleged economic losses but may not opine on causation, an Indiana federal judge ruled in denying a motion to exclude filed by a trucking company and its employee.

  • December 11, 2024

    Medical Expert May Testify On Surgical Needs But Portions Of Testimony Excluded

    DENVER — A Colorado federal judge agreed to limit the testimony of an expert retained by a man who alleges that he was injured in a car crash after his insurer argued that portions of the expert’s proposed testimony is outside the scope of a court’s order reopening discovery and allowing for a supplemental expert report.

  • December 10, 2024

    Massachusetts Jury Awards $10.6M To Family Of Smoker Who Died From Cancer At 59

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts state court jury awarded $10.6 million against a tobacco company, including $2.5 million in punitive damages in favor of the surviving family members of a woman who got hooked on cigarettes after being handed a free sample at age 12 and continued to smoke until her death from lung cancer in 2018 at age 59.

  • December 10, 2024

    French Cosmetics Maker Says Hair Relaxer Case Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    CHICAGO — French cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal SA has filed a brief supporting a motion to dismiss in Illinois federal court, arguing that a toxic chemical injury lawsuit against it connected to hair relaxer products should be rejected because the company “does not belong in this case” and U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over the company.

  • December 06, 2024

    Jury Hands Medical Device Company A Win In Ethylene Oxide Wrongful Death Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania state court jury on Dec. 6 handed down a verdict in favor of a medical device company in a lawsuit brought by a widow who contended that the company’s use of ethylene oxide (EtO) at a facility where it sterilizes medical instruments caused her husband’s wrongful death.

  • December 06, 2024

    Residents Say 3M Is Liable For ‘Wanton’ Conduct That Tainted Water With PFAS

    MADISON, Wis. — Residents have filed a putative class action against 3M Co. in Wisconsin federal court seeking punitive damages for groundwater contamination they say is the result of  “willful, wanton, malicious, and/or reckless conduct” in connection with 3M’s operation of a quarry and a facility where roofing shingles containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been created and disposed of for decades.

  • December 05, 2024

    Minnesota Supreme Court Issues Warning After Brief Contains AI-Created Fake Cites

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Supreme Court denied leave to file an amended petition for review to correct fake citations created by artificial intelligence ChatGPT, saying the attorney failed to file an accompanying motion.  The court went on to decline review of a ruling affirming dismissal of a personal injury action.

  • December 03, 2024

    Estate Of Decades-Long Daily Smoker Wins Nothing For Lung Cancer Death

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida state court jury returned a defense verdict and awarded no damages to the children of a woman who died from lung cancer in her late 70s after smoking cigarettes for more than six decades, rejecting Engle claims that two tobacco companies concealed the risks of smoking and caused her death. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.

  • December 02, 2024

    Vaper Seeks Rehearing Of Claim For Exploding Battery That ‘Ruined His Hand’

    SAN FRANCISCO — An e-cigarette user has petitioned the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing en banc after it affirmed the dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of his lawsuit against a South Korean battery maker for manufacturing and distributing a battery that allegedly exploded in his e-cigarette device, saying the Circuit Court’s decision was based on flawed “new precedent” that requires en banc review.