Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Beasley Allen has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ford Motor Company in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, Hattiesburg, on behalf of a Mississippi family whose 2002 Ford Explorer XLS rolled over after being struck by another vehicle.

The Riley family, represented by Beasley Allen attorney J.P. Sawyer, alleges that the vehicle’s restraint system and door latch were defective and failed to protect them in the rollover. In result, Matthew and Carmen Riley and one of their daughters received severe injuries. Another daughter, Alyssa Riley, was killed in the rollover.

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A freelance photographer was working on assignment for the New York Times, covering an H.I.V. scare at a St. Louis high school and trying to build a rapport with teenagers involved with the story. Sitting in the back seat of a car, photographer Dan Gill happened to snap a picture of the teenage driver texting on her cell phone while driving about 60 miles per hour, both hands off the wheel, as someone in the front passenger seat steered. Gill didn’t intentionally seek such a controversial picture. It was just one of the scores of photographs he took in documenting the daily lives of some teenagers.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying health care professionals and their patients about dietary supplements marketed as an alternative to anabolic steroids for body building and increasing muscle mass and strength. The products are sold both online and in retail stores and promoted to athletes to improve sports performance and aid in recovery from training and sporting events. Although marketed as dietary supplements, the FDA says the products are not dietary supplements but rather unapproved new drugs that have not been reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness.

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Recent studies conducted in various laboratories around the world have yielded some disturbing findings that the “inert” ingredients found in common pesticides and herbicides are not as harmless as they were once thought to be. New evidence that emerged recently from studies conducted by the University of Caen in France suggest one ingredient in Roundup, a popular herbicide manufactured by Monsanto of St. Louis, Missouri, can damage and kill human cells. Polyethoxylated tallowamine (POEA), an “inert” ingredient in Roundup, was found to be particularly destructive of human reproductive cells, especially embryonic, placental, and umbilical cord cells.

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Battery operated cigarette devices marketed toward and sold to young people have been found to contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethyele glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze that could be harmful to humans, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA issue a warning this week to pediatric health care professionals and consumers about the electronic cigarettes, also known as “e-cigarettes,” following a laboratory analysis on a sample of the e-cigarettes.

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Sevca LLC announced a recall of Sevylor brand inflatable Tow Behinds today. According to the CPSC’s announcement, the plastic hitch that connects the inflatable float to the boat, which Sevca calls the “Quick Hitch,” can break and project fragments back toward the person or persons riding the Tow Behind. Serious injuries may result if the hitches break.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it is evaluating interim safety findings from an ongoing study of the asthma treatment Xolair (omalizumab), which suggest those who use Xolair experience a disproportionate increase in ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy and cardiac failure, pulmonary hypertension, cerebrovascular disorders, and embolic, thrombotic and thrombophlebitic events compared to those not treated with the drug.

Xolair is approved for use by adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older) with moderate to severe persistent asthma who test positive for reactivity to a perennial airborne allergen, and whose symptoms are inadequately controlled with inhaled corticosteroids.

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A California produce grower has recalled romaine lettuce that was distributed throughout 29 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico because of salmonella contamination. Tanimura & Antle, Inc. of Salinas, Calif., issued the recall after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture detected salmonella on the lettuce in a randomized test.

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A 50-year-old Pennsylvania man, described by the Philadelphia Daily News as a “Softhearted ex-Marine” and father of two, recently settled a negligence lawsuit mid-trial against his employer and Caterpillar, Inc., the manufacturer of industrial construction equipment, for $16.25 million. Scott Skirpan of Easton, Penn., lost both of his legs at the Northampton County landfill in a grisly accident in May 2006. Skirpan’s injuries were so horrific that he died twice before being resuscitated.

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Seventeen-year-old Aaron Bullock, an Oklahoma resident, was critically injured in an ATV accident in 2005. The boy was riding an ATV at the home of his friend’s grandparents when the accident occurred. Sadly, Bullock was not wearing a helmet at the time. Among other injuries, including a broken leg, Bullock suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that left him comatose for more than 2 months. When he emerged from the coma, it was clear that the TBI had a devastating impact on Bullock’s eyesight, mental abilities, and muscle control. Doctors weren’t optimistic about his recovery.

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