Paul Johnson sustained severe injuries while using a drain-cleaning machine manufactured by Ridge Tool Manufacturing Company, Inc. The machine, designed to minimize user risks, included a warning label, an instruction manual, and specially designed gloves. Johnson did not read the manual or use the provided gloves, instead choosing an oversized pair from his employer. While operating the machine, his glove…
Mead Johnson, one of the country’s largest makers of infant formula, can’t use a recent Supreme Court ruling that ended legal claims over weed killer Roundup to similarly pull the plug on an upcoming high stakes trial over claims Mead Johnson’s baby formula was defectively designed and caused babies to become severely ill, a federal judge has ruled. On Aug….
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Friday that makes significant changes to workers compensation medical reviews, insurer assessments and penalties for licensed businesses that fail to maintain coverage. H.B. 5228, which took effect immediately and passed both chambers in April and May, requires that adverse utilization review determinations for services delivered or recommended by a physician be made by a…
An employee of High Performance Alloys, Inc. died while working at the company’s facility. The deceased employee’s estate sued the company for wrongful death, alleging gross negligence, willful and wanton conduct, disregard of safety regulations, and actual intent to cause injury. The complaint referenced prior safety violations, knowledge of hazardous conditions, failure to implement available safety measures, and a claim…
A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court ruling that an insurer doesn’t have to provide coverage for a Tipton County employer facing wrongful death litigation. High Performance Alloys Inc. is facing a lawsuit from the estate of plant manager Elliot Sullivan over injuries from a 2022 accident at the plant that led to his death. In an opinion…
Injured workers’ prescriptions filled outside pharmacy networks cost an average of 67% more than comparable in-network medications, according to an analysis released Friday by Enlyte. The report analyzed calendar-year 2025 retail pharmacy, mail-order and paper medical bill prescription transactions across workers compensation and auto casualty claims, comparing utilization and spending between in-network and out-of-network channels to provide a broader picture…
Several parents whose premature infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after being fed cow’s milk-based formula at Pennsylvania Hospital sued the manufacturers of the formula, as well as the hospital, in Pennsylvania state court. The parents alleged that the manufacturers’ products caused NEC and that the hospital failed to warn of the risks and implement policies to protect patients. Some plaintiffs…
A West Virginia woman whose baby died from a disease allegedly caused by consuming cow’s milk-based infant formula won’t get the chance to revive her lawsuit against Abbott Labs, the maker of the formula, because the “alternative warning” she and her lawyers proposed wouldn’t have made a difference, a federal appeals court has ruled. On July 24, the U.S. Seventh…
Faced with the prospect of a potential landmark appellate court ruling against them, the American Association of Pediatrics has moved to drop altogether their bid to use Chicago’s federal courts to block Florida’s state attorney general from using Florida’s courts to press his claim the AAP violated a Florida state law by allegedly misleading the public about the safety of…
An Illinois appeals court has thrown open a new avenue for personal injury lawyers and others to claim potentially massively enhanced verdicts, as the court upheld a $45 million verdict awarded by a Cook County jury to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma, allegedly caused by exposure to talc in Johnson & Johnson baby powder — a…
