Asbestos News Roundup: 7.8.11

July 8th, 2011. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Asbestos Lawsuits 

Jefferson County, TX: Three defendant companies have been named in an asbestos lawsuit filed by Willis Mareceaux this month. Mareceaux filed the lawsuit on behalf of his late wife’s estate, alleging that his asbestos exposure while working in various refineries indirectly caused the death of Yolande Mareceaux.

The named defendants in Willis’ asbestos lawsuit are Atlantic Richfield, Chevron USA and Oxy USA. He filed the lawsuit on June 28 in Jefferson County District Court.

In his lawsuit, Mareceaux, who worked as a pipefitter, boilermaker and carpente, claims that Yolande was indirectly exposed to asbestos through his employment. “During the time decedent lived at home with her husband, she was exposed to asbestos containing products,” the lawsuit states. “Decedent was exposed to asbestos dust brought home on her husband’s clothing while … working on defendants’ premises.”

Mareceaux’s lawsuit also claims that the defendants should have warned the Mareceaux family of the dangers of asbestos dust on clothing, including the risk for secondary asbestos-related disease. Mr. Mareceaux is suing for exemplary damages. (SETexasrecord.com)

Jefferson County, TX: Texaco and Chevron USA are facing another asbestos lawsuit, this time filed by the widow of Homer Fitts, who, the lawsuit claims, was negligently exposed to asbestos throughout his career working for the defendants. Eunice Fitts filed the lawsuit June 23 in Jefferson County District Court, on behalf of her late husband.

Homer was, according to the asbestos lawsuit, employed by Texaco at its Port Arthur refinery, working as a pipefitter and painter—during which time, and as a result of those occupations, he was exposed him to deadly asbestos dust and fibers. “As a result of such exposure, Homer Fitts developed an asbestos-related disease, asbestosis and lung cancer, for which he died a painful and terrible death on March 10, 2010,” the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants were aware of the health hazards associated with asbestos yet still allowed their employees to work with asbestos products in the workplace. The plaintiff is suing for exemplary damages. (SETexasrecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements

New Orleans, LA: An Orleans Parish Civil District Court jury hearing an asbestos lawsuit has found in favor of the plaintiff, and awarded him a $1.5 million settlement in general damages.

Leopold Granier Jr., developed asbestos mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos, the lawsuit claimed. Granier was exposed to asbestos through the negligence of Avondale Shipyards, Cajun Insulation and Union Carbide Corp. The jury’s four page verdict also found that Avondale, Cajun and Union Carbide were strictly liable and that the products in their possession were a “substantial and contributing cause” of Granier’s mesothelioma.

The jury also found that Union Carbide, in particular, was strictly liable because asbestos materials incorporated into the company’s Taft, La., plant were a “substantial and contributing cause” of the man’s cancer, the jury found.

Avondale shipyard was, at one time, the largest employer in the state of Louisiana, employing more than 20,000 people. The shipyard was acquired by Northrop Grumman Corp., and is now slated to close in 2013. Northrop Grumman made the decision as a result of a reduced order for warships from the US Navy. (Legalnewsline.com)

The jury also awarded Granier $104,160.77 in special damages, in addition to the $1.5 million in general damages.

Asbestos Hot Spots

Libby, MT: Perhaps the most infamous superfund site in the US, Libby finds itself in the news again, and its residents in danger of deadly asbestos exposure, resulting from a recent discovery of asbestos-contaminated woodchip piles littering the grounds around the town.

Some reports suggest that the federal government has been aware of the situation for as long as three years, without doing anything to mitigate the associated health hazards.

According to a report in the Huffington Post the contaminated bark and wood chips were a popular item for residents of the town who were landscaping their properties, as well as contractors who packaged the product and sold it around the country.

To date, the government has spent $370 million cleaning up the town, an operation that has been underway since 2009, when Libby was given a public health emergency designation under the federal Superfund law. Libby was the home to the now defunct WR Grace Vermiculite Asbestos Mine, which produced Zonolite asbestos insulation for many years.

Many an asbestos claim has been filed, and Libby residents continue to be treated at a local clinic for exposure to asbestos that can lead to asbestosis lung disease.

Medtronic Under Fire with Questions of Financial Conflict

July 7th, 2011. By Hunter West

A blockbuster investigation by some print media outlets has spurred a US Senate Finance committee to start beating the bushes once again around the medical devices industry.

There are many questions:

How safe are the products that wind up in your body?

What do the manufacturers know about potential safety issues, but aren’t telling?

Why is it okay for a doctor or surgeon to be paid by a medical device manufacturer? And can you really trust what a doctor [who is paid by the device maker] says about that device?

Do you feel like a guinea pig?

It was revealed yesterday through a series of articles published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MedPage Today that there is some controversy surrounding Medtronic Infuse, a popular bioagent known as bone morphogenetic protein-2, designed to foster bone growth required for spinal fusions.

Infuse was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 and doctors love it. It’s easy to work with. And you don’t have to harvest a patient’s own bone from elsewhere, in order to accomplish the surgery. You have to love something that allows a surgery to proceed faster, and more easily.

But here’s the rub—and the reason for the Senate Committee investigation. It seems that a cadre of surgeons around the country were paid by the device manufacturer, Medtronic. Those same surgeons with financial ties to Medtronic were involved both in the clinical trials for Infuse, Read the rest of this entry »

InSecurities: Securities Fraud Roundup 7.5.11

July 5th, 2011. By LucyC

Top Securities Fraud Stories

By now you know the script. InSecurities takes a look at some of the latest securities fraud happenings—where folks who thought they’d made some secure investments have found those investments, well, a bit insecure due to fraudulent—or alleged fraudulent—activity. So be prepared for those omnipresent words and phrases—like “materially false and misleading statements”. They tend to pop up here with some regularity, as you’ll see…

New Securities Lawsuits Filed

Our first Madoff Meter contender is Deutsche Bank AG. And DB brings us another of those omnipresent securities fraud phrases: “mortgage-backed securities” (you’ve heard that one before, right?)…

 

Company:                                        Deutsche Bank AG

Ticker:                                             DB

Class Period:                                  Jan-3-07 to Jan-16-09

Date Filed:                                      Jun-21-11

Lead Plaintiff Deadline:                  Aug-20-11

Court:                                             Southern District of New York

Madoff Meter:                      

The Allegations:

Not to be left out of the fray, Deutsche Bank (DB) is facing a securities class action brought on behalf of an institutional investor. Details above, and we’re talking big bucks, allegedly lost on ordinary shares during the period between January 3, 2007 and January 16, 2009 (the “Class Period”).

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, DB issued materially false and misleading Read the rest of this entry »

Asbestos News Roundup: 6.30.11

June 30th, 2011. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map. 

Asbestos Lawsuits 

Houston, TX: An asbestos lawsuit has been filed by the estate of Milan Arthur Barackman by Michael Grant Mason. Mason filed the lawsuit thirty years after Barackman was exposed to asbestos on a United States Navy vessel. The lawsuit claims that Barackman was exposed to the material during the late 1960s and early 1970s and that he inhaled asbestos during these years, later resulting in his developing asbestos mesothelioma.

The estate of Barackman has filed a wrongful death suit against Foster Wheeler, Owens-Illinois Inc., General Electric Co., Uniroyal Inc., Riley Power Inc., Rapid American Corp. and Viacom Inc. with U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey presiding over Case No. 2:11-cv-01309. The lawsuit claims that Barackman’s diagnoses with asbestos mesothelioma last year was a direct result of asbestos exposure.

Plaintiffs in the case argue that the defendants were allegedly manufacturing a dangerous product and yet gave no warning to Barackman or others of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos. This is not a single case. There Read the rest of this entry »

Topamax Weight Loss a Risky Diet

June 30th, 2011. By AbiK

It’s not news that Topamax is prescribed for a number of conditions—migraine is one. And, given that migraines typically affect women more frequently than men, a Topamax prescription should raise a questioning eyebrow in women of child-bearing age. After all, Topamax has been linked to birth defects—oral defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate. So much so that the FDA recently switched the Topamax pregnancy category from a Pregnancy Category C to a Pregnancy Category D drug.

The beauty of pregnancy migraines, however, is that for many women, they cease to exist or at least diminish in their frequency or severity. And, ideally, a woman who has been given a Topamax migraine prescription then stops taking the drug as there is no apparent need for it. Unfortunately, as any migraine sufferer will tell you, it’s not that simple. If you get migraines, you know that the pain and nausea is enough to make you wish for a fate not less than death at times—just for the anticipated peaceful relief. So would a woman who wants nothing less than to avoid a migraine willingly stop taking Topamax on the mere hope that her migraines have subsided due to temporary hormonal changes from pregnancy? It’s questionable.

And, keep in mind, unlike some migraine medications, Topamax is taken daily to prevent the headache—it’s not taken ad hoc once a migraine starts to relieve pain. Once you’re on it, you’re on it.

Migraines aside, one condition that most all women have a hard time with during pregnancy is weight gain. There is no way around it. And chances are, if you’ve been pregnant yourself, you Read the rest of this entry »