Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| The Brief for April 26 |  | In today’s Brief: A deeper look into Travis County's indigent defense system, the state’s health agency sent a box of confidential information to a former employee, and a terse letter from the governor to Blake Farenthold.
Cassi Pollock , Texas Tribune 04/26/2018    | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| Johnson & Johnson Wins Appeal to Overturn $151M Hip Implant Verdict | | Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday secured a favorable U.S. appellate court ruling, overturning a verdict that had awarded $151 million to five people who blamed injuries they suffered on the company’s Pinnacle hip implant devices. U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, writing for the three-judge panel, said U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas erred in allowing the hip implant recipients’ lawyers to present certain inflammatory character evidence about J&J.
Nate Raymond, Reuters 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Ambulance Co.’s Trial Win In Injury Suit OK’d By La. Court | | A Louisiana appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a jury’s decision to clear an ambulance service company driver of liability in a personal injury suit over a two-car collision, saying the driver did not act recklessly and therefore is entitled to immunity under a state law shielding emergency vehicle drivers. A three-judge Court of Appeal panel for the Third Circuit upheld the verdict in favor of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. in a suit brought by Gerald Janise.
Y. Peter Kang, Law360 ($) 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: Law360 ($) |
| Jury awards $67M to Ex-Miners Who Used Defective Dust Masks | | Two former coal miners in Kentucky who claimed defective dust masks led to their debilitating black-lung disease were awarded $67.5 million in damages in their civil lawsuit. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Wednesday that a Knott County jury awarded $62.5 million in punitive damages against the mask maker, 3M Co. The remaining amount is to compensate brothers Leslie and Michael Cox for past and future pain and suffering. The verdict form says the 3M respirator was defective and unreasonably dangerous.
Associated Press, Miami Herald 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: Miami Herald |
| Damages Sought in Alleged Excessive Force Case in Pasadena | | A lawsuit alleging two Pasadena police officers used excessive force to restrain a man while a phlebotomist drew blood as he allegedly was unconscious was filed Wed in the U.S. Southern District Court of TX. According to the lawsuit, Nelson Onyinyechi in March 2015 was falsely arrested by police for driving while intoxicated after his car experienced brake issues, crashing into a ditch. Onyinyechi alleges the officers detained him because they believed he was intoxicated =E2=80=94 a charge that was later dismissed by Harris County. Attorneys in Onyinyechi’s federal lawsuit say he was disoriented from having just experienced a car crash in the wee hours of the morning. Following his arrest, Onyinyechi alleges he was tased twice and taken to a medical center for blood work, which the lawsuit states was performed without his consent.
John D. Harden, Houston Chronicle 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Woman Suffers Horrific Death at GA Nursing Home | | An 11Alive investigation uncovered a Georgia nursing home resident died from a scabies infestation. A forensic pathologist who reviewed the case estimates millions of parasitic mites essentially ate her alive over several months or possibly years. According to a pending lawsuit filed by the family, 93-year-old Rebecca Zeni died in 2015 from scabies at the facility. The autopsy report shows the cause of death as septicemia due to crusted scabies. State health officials were notified about a scabies outbreak at the nursing home multiple times, but did not inspect the LaFayette, Ga. facility.
Andy Pierrotti, 11Alive, WFAA.com 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: WFAA.com |
| USA Gymnastics Settles Case That Led to Child Abuse Investigation | | USA Gymnastics has reached a settlement in the lawsuit filed in Georgia which triggered an investigation into the group's child abuse reporting practices. The lawsuit was filed by a former athlete whose coach secretly videotaped her while she was undressing as a child. USA Gymnastics was accused in the complaint of failing to protect the child after it received at least four warnings about the coach. An investigation following the lawsuit revealed that the organization kept sexual abuse complaint files on at least 54 coaches during a 10-year period.
Marisa Kwiatkowski and Tim Evans, Indianapolis Star 04/20/2018 | | Read Article: Indianapolis Star |
| San Luis Obispo Nursing Home Resident 'Engulfed in Flames' | | A lawsuit filed this week in San Luis Obispo Superior Court in California accuses a local nursing home of negligence in an incident that resulted in a resident being "engulfed in flames." The lawsuit was filed by the father of the 55-year-old mentally impaired man who was found on fire at the home. The complaint states that an employee of the nursing home negligently gave the resident a cigarette and lighter and left him alone in the resident smoking area. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages for dependent adult abuse and neglect, negligence and violations of resident rights.
Matt Fountain, San Luis Obispo Tribune 04/25/2018 | | Read Article: San Luis Obispo Tribune |
| Tesla Fan: Autopilot Glitches Brought Peril to Road Trip | | As You You Xue completed a whirlwind cross-country trip in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 earlier this year, the 20-year-old Californian racked up some impressive statistics. In 21 days, he drove about 13,000 miles, through 36 states and three Canadian provinces. Xue also had problems with the Autopilot feature, which has since come under scrutiny because of a fatal crash in March. On multiple occasions, we came within half a second, maybe, of either crashing into another car, rear-ending another car, T-boning someone, running off the road or hitting a guardrail, Xue told Reveal in a January interview at the end of his trip. And that happened probably about a dozen times within the first thousand miles of driving.
Will Evans, The Center for Investigative Reporting 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: The Center for Investigative Reporting |
| Honeywell Recalls Hard Hats Due To Risk Of Head Injury | | Rhode Island-based Honeywell Safety Products USA Inc. has recalled about 148,050 defective hard hats sold to consumers in the U.S. and Canada that apparently fail to protect users from impact and pose a risk of head injury, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday. Honeywell will recall about 82,500 of its Fibre-Metal E2 and North Peak A79 hard hats that were sold in the U.S., as well as about 65,550 sold in Canada.
Darcy Reddan , Law360 ($) 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: Law360 ($) |
| 31 More Sick in Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak | | The total number of cases now stands at 84 and the outbreak has spread to 19 states, the CDC said Wednesday afternoon. Forty-two patients were hospitalized and nine developed a form of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported. Investigators have not yet identified a grower, supplier, distributor or brand responsible for the outbreak, the CDC said, although it has been traced to the Yuma, Arizona, region. The CDC warns people not to eat any form of romaine lettuce from Yuma area. Romaine confirmed not to be from the Yuma area is OK to eat.
Sean Rossman, USA Today 04/26/2018 | | Read Article: USA Today |
| American Airlines Ignored Doctor's Request to Land Flight For Dying Woman, Lawsuit Alleges | | American Airlines is facing a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a passenger who died after suffering an embolism on a flight to Honolulu. The 25-year-old woman died in a Texas hospital after she suffered an embolism and cardiac arrest on the American Airlines flight. According to the lawsuit, the flight crew ignored a doctor's request to divert the plane to the nearest airport so that the woman could receive medical care. The lawsuit seeks damages in an amount to be determined by a jury for severe emotional distress, anxiety, grief, and sorrow.
Noah Feit, News & Observer 04/25/2018 | | Read Article: News & Observer |
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