Without much fanfare, President Obama finally signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act into law. The Zadroga Act will provide health care and compensation to responders and volunteers sickened by toxic dust at Ground Zero in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“We will never forget the selfless courage demonstrated by the firefighters, police officers and first responders who risked their lives to save others,” the president said in a statement announcing the Zadroga Act’s signing. “I believe this is a critical step for those who continue to bear the physical scars of those attacks.” (more…)

A petition has been filed with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation seeking to consolidate all federal Darvon and Darvocet lawsuits in a single federal court. Darvon and Darvocet recall was announced in November by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. after they were linked to serious and often fatal heart rhythm problems.

A multidistrict litigation would allow all Darvon and Darvocet lawsuits to be coordinated under one judge for pretrial litigation to avoid duplicative discovery, inconsistent rulings and to conserve the resources of the parties, witnesses and the court. When lawsuits are consolidated as a multidistrict litigation, each retains its own identity. If the multidistrict litigation process does not resolve the cases, they are transferred back to the court where they originated for trial. (more…)

After being declared all but dead, it seems there’s still a slim chance the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would provide long-term help to World Trade Center responders who became ill because of exposure to toxic dust at Ground Zero, could still become law. Republicans in the Senate blocked debate on the Zadroga bill last week, but now a few key GOP Senators have said they will vote for the bill if it is introduced again.

Advocates for our 9/11 heroes are now asking voters in every state to contact their Senator – regardless of their party affiliation – and insist that they pass the Zadroga bill. Information on how to contact your Senator is available at the US Senate website. (more…)

A 31-year-old New York woman says Darvocet, one of two painkillers recalled by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals last month, caused her to suffer a near-fatal heart arrhythmia. She is now suing the drug maker in federal court.

Darvocet is made with Propoxyphene and acetaminophen. Propoxyphene is an opiod painkiller that was already known to be highly addictive. In November, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. had agreed to pull the Darvocet, as well as Darvon (Propoxyphene alone) because of their association with heart rhythm problems. The agency said it was also asking the manufacturers of generic Propoxyphene-containing products to remove those products from the market. (more…)

Lieutenant Steve Mozes, a firefighter from South Trail, Florida, volunteered to work at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2004, Mozes was diagnosed with leukemia, a possible result of his exposure to toxic dust at the site. According to Fox4Now.com, Mozes now must deal with huge medical bills left over from his chemotherapy treatment.

Unfortunately for Mozes and more than 300 other Ground Zero heroes, an arbitrary deadline has made them ineligible for the World Trade Center toxic dust lawsuit settlement that was approved last week. Mozes missed that deadline by just two weeks – mainly because he was preoccupied with fighting his illness. (more…)

A lawsuit that could impact the legal rights of people who lived and worked at the Camp LeJeune Marine Corps base between the 1950s and 1980s is being allowed to go forward. Last week, a federal judge for the second time rejected the US government’s request that a lawsuit filed by an Iowa woman that alleges she developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma because of toxin-laced water at Camp LeJeune.

Laura Jones, who hails from Iowa, lived at Camp LeJeune in the 1980s when her husband was stationed there. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2003. Jones attests in her suit that she only learned in 2005 about the toxic chemicals and organic solvents that were in the water she drank on base could have caused her cancer. (more…)

There’s been a big breakthrough in the litigation involving Chinese drywall. A settlement announced yesterday involving Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. could eventually lead to resolution of thousands of cases.

Under the proposed settlement, Knauf, along with a group of builders and suppliers, will pay to remediate 300 homes in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. The remediation program will follow guidelines established by the Consumer Products Safety Commission, which call for the removal of the tainted drywall, ad for replacements made for electrical wiring, appliances including air conditioning, and fixtures damaged by drywall fumes. In addition, homeowners under settlement will receive $8.50 per square foot to cover any additional expenses such as moving costs and temporary housing. (more…)

Two environmental groups are trying to force the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban a pesticide commonly used in agriculture. The household form of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, sold by Dow Chemical under the brand name Dursban, was already banned in 2001. The agricultural version, Lorsban, is still on the market.

In June 2000, after a lengthy review, the EPA reached an agreement with Dow Chemical to ban most home and garden uses of Dursban, citing health risks to children. The agency also required that Dursban use be phased out in areas where children would be most likely to be exposed – schools, daycare centers, parks and recreation areas, stores and malls. (more…)

A Superior Court judge in Sacramento just upheld a $29 million verdict in a nursing home abuse case. Judge Roland Candee rejected Horizon West Healthcare’s arguments seeking a new trial or “significantly reduced damages” in a case involving Frances Tanner, 79, a retiree who worked for the FBI and the IRS, said The Bee.

Tanner suffered from mild dementia when she moved into Colonial Healthcare. Seven months later, following a fall and an undiagnosed hip fracture, she was dead due to an infected bedsore, said The Bee. (more…)

A group of Nigerian families will be able to sue Pfizer Inc. in a US courtroom for injuries and deaths they claim were the result of a non-consensual drug trial involving the antibiotic Trovan. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Pfizer’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to let the Trovan lawsuit proceed.

The families of around 200 Nigerian children wanted to have the case heard in the US, citing widespread corruption in their home country. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the suit was filed under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a 200-year-old law which empowers federal judges to hear civil lawsuits filed by non-US citizens for violations of the “law of nations.” (more…)