A Japanese brake manufacturer must face an Illinois lawsuit alleging that asbestos in its products caused a dealership worker’s son to develop fatal mesothelioma, an Illinois appeals court ruled. In Taylor v. Japan Brake Industrial Co. Ltd., the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that Illinois courts have specific jurisdiction over Japan Brake,…
The estate of a Kanawha County kindergarten teacher has sued CAMC, several physicians, nurse anesthetists and health care staffing companies, alleging an unrecognized internal hemorrhage after hip surgery caused her death. Franklin Harman, administrator of the estate of his mother, Cynthia Ellen Harman, filed the medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit August 25 in Kanawha Circuit Court. In addition to…
A federal jury has sided with Mead Johnson & Co. in a high stakes trial, finding the company can’t be held liable for the death of a premature infant, who allegedly became severely ill after the child was fed an Enfamil-brand cow’s milk-based formula in the hospital a few weeks after birth. The trial, which was the first in Chicago…
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed and vacated in part a district court ruling granting qualified immunity to state correction officers accused of violating an inmate’s Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment during some transport rides. Appeals Court Judge Doris Pryor stated in vacating part of the lower court ruling that any reasonable jury could conclude that…
Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $670 million to end 2,000 lawsuits brought by parents who claim their children were harmed or died after drinking Abbott’s Similac-brand baby formula. The settlement, announced Aug. 20, will include a Missouri case in which a St. Louis jury had ordered Abbott to pay one family $495 million. In announcing the settlement, Abbott appeared…
A couple will be allowed to continue suing tobacco companies and Walgreens in Cook County court after a federal judge found they did not fraudulently add Walgreens as a defendant in the lawsuit merely as a legal tactic to keep their lawsuit out of federal court and in Cook County’s famously plaintiff-friendly courtrooms. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis sided with…
A chemical company with a manufacturing plant in north suburban Gurnee has agreed to pay to settle hundreds more lawsuits claiming emissions from its manufacturing process caused people living nearby in Lake County to develop cancer. On Aug. 4, attorneys representing hundreds of plaintiffs asked a Cook County Circuit Court judge to sign off on the settlement involving more than…
An Illinois appeals court has agreed a Florida woman isn’t entitled to cut of the proceeds resulting from a settlement paid to her Alabaman father’s estate from an asbestos-related wrongful death lawsuit. The underlying lawsuit began in January 2023 when William Steeves, through the firm of Simmons Hanly Conroy, filed a Madison County lawsuit against multiple corporate defendants regarding a…
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….
