Mealey's Personal Injury
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October 13, 2025
Finding ‘No Coverage,’ Florida Panel Affirms Judgment For Insurer In Collision Row
MIAMI — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s judgment for an insurer in a dispute over coverage for injuries its insured purportedly sustained in an auto accident, finding that there was “no coverage” because evidence in the lower court showed “that the Insured made a material misrepresentation” regarding his address on his policy application.
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October 10, 2025
Los Angeles Seeks New Trial After Jury Awards $48.8M To Man Struck By City Truck
LOS ANGELES — After a trial conducted solely on the question of damages because the city of Los Angeles stipulated to its liability, the city moved for a reduction of a $48.8 million verdict or, in the alternative, a new trial after the jury found in favor of a man who has been in a coma since he was struck by a city garbage truck.
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October 10, 2025
Judge: Man Injured By COVID Vaccine May Not Sue HHS To Put Shot On Injury Table
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Finding that a man claiming to have suffered a blood clotting disorder as a consequence of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine could achieve redress only via an act of Congress and, therefore, had no standing to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to force it to add the vaccine to the Vaccine Injury Table (VIT), a District of Columbia federal judge granted the federal government’s motion to dismiss.
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October 09, 2025
Judge: Expert Can Testify On Certain Topics In Construction Site Injury Case
MONROE, La. — An expert can opine on what caused a scaffolding system to collapse at a construction site, leading to an injury, a Louisiana federal judge held, but the judge limited his testimony to topics beyond a juror’s understanding.
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October 07, 2025
High Court Won’t Address Whether Uber Had Duty Of Care Toward Driver Or Customer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied the petition for writ of certiorari of a rideshare company seeking review of a pair of Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decisions reversing federal district court rulings that the company did not owe a duty of care to two victims, one a victim of rape by someone posing as a rideshare driver and the other a victim of murder by rideshare customers.
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October 07, 2025
Woman Says Dupixent Caused T-Cell Lymphoma, Death Of Her Mother, Sues Drugmakers
NASHVILLE — A daughter has sued the manufacturers of Dupixent, a prescription medication used for the treatment of asthma and inflammatory skin conditions, in a Tennessee federal court, alleging that her mother died of T-cell lymphoma that was caused by the injection of the drug and that the drugmakers failed to warn about the risk.
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October 03, 2025
Hawaii Smoker May Seek Punitive Damages For Personal Harm Only, Judge Says
LIHUE, Hawaii — A Hawaii state judge granted in part and denied in part two tobacco companies’ motion to dismiss a personal injury lawsuit filed against them by a smoker with bladder cancer and his wife, dismissing the smoker’s claim for fraud and partly dismissing his claim for punitive damages, writing that the smoker may seek punitives for “harm to himself,” but not harm to “society.”
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October 02, 2025
Judge Awards $10 Million In Punitive Damages In J&J Asbestos-Talc Case
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut judge on Oct. 1 added $10 million in punitive damages to a $15 million verdict, saying the evidence showed that the company employed sub-standard testing and choose to accept only evidence that supported the conclusion that its products were free of asbestos.
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October 01, 2025
Insurer Argues 7th Circuit Should Affirm Judgment, Find Exclusion Applies
CHICAGO — An insurer asked the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a lower court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings to the insurer in its suit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify a roofing contractor in an underlying suit alleging that the contractor’s negligent repair work contributed to the collapse of a building’s façade, which killed two people, arguing that a Prior Work Exclusion applies to bar coverage for the underlying action.
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September 25, 2025
Oral Arguments Held In Appeal Of $475K Punitive Award For Smoker’s Estate
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Attorneys representing a tobacco company urged the Fourth District Florida Court of Appeal during oral arguments on Sept. 24 to reverse or order remittitur of a $475,000 punitive damages verdict awarded in favor of the estate of a dead smoker, arguing that the award is excessive because it is 11 times greater than the compensatory damages the estate was awarded.
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September 25, 2025
Character Technologies Facing 3 More Suits Over Chatbots’ Harm To Minors
Character Technologies Inc., its founders and related companies were hit with a trio of strict liability and negligence lawsuits claiming that the company’s artificial intelligence chatbots caused mental and physical harm to minors. The suits, filed in federal courts in Colorado and New York federal courts, bring to six the number of known suits claiming harm to minors from the company’s chatbots.
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September 24, 2025
Plaintiffs With Cancer Say Monsanto Misrepresented Evidence Of Roundup’s Toxicity
WILMINGTON, Del. — Individuals who have cancer sued Monsanto Co. and one of its affiliates in Delaware state court alleging that the companies are liable for causing their injuries because they negligently misrepresented the evidence regarding the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of the herbicide Roundup.
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September 23, 2025
Motorists Struck By Speeding LAPD Officer Receive $18M Settlement From City
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles and two motorists injured in a collision with a police car driven by a city officer, who was driving 80 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone without lights or sirens “trying to catch up” to a speeder, reached an $18 million settlement several days after the start of a trial on their state court lawsuit.
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September 22, 2025
Appellants Argue Reinsurer Was ‘De Facto Insurer’ In $844M Crash Coverage Appeal
MIAMI — Survivors of a 2016 plane crash and representatives of the deceased filed a brief in a Florida appellate court, arguing that a reinsurer acted as a “de facto insurer” and that state law accordingly permits them to pursue independent bad faith and coverage claims despite a trial court’s dismissal of their amended complaint that sought to enforce approximately $844 million in consent judgments.
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September 22, 2025
Illinois Federal Judge Agrees To Limit Life Care Planning Expert’s Testimony
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A life care planning expert retained in a medical negligence case can opine on the costs associated with the future care of a woman who alleges that her medical treatment was inadequate but cannot base that testimony on her selection of necessary medical codes, an Illinois federal judge ruled Sept. 19.
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September 19, 2025
Prison Doctor Wins Summary Judgment After Expert Out In Deliberate Indifference Case
RICHMOND, Va. — An expert retained by a former inmate who alleges that delayed medical care worsened his injuries cannot testify after a federal judge in Virigina found that his report does not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 and that his medical opinions are inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
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September 19, 2025
Tobacco Defendants Object To Opening Statements In Widow’s Wrongful Death Suit
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Two tobacco companies and a local retailer filed objections to certain allegedly improper comments in the opening statement of a smoker’s widow after her wrongful death trial kicked off in Massachusetts state court, where the widow claims that her husband was deceived by the tobacco companies into believing filtered cigarettes were safer before he died from lung cancer at age 55. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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September 19, 2025
Experts Out In Gun Design Defect Case; Manufacturer Wins Summary Judgment
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge granted summary judgment to a gun manufacturer after excluding two experts retained by a man who claims that his firearm accidently discharged and caused injuries.
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September 18, 2025
Case By Prisoners Alleging Prison Mismanagement Of COVID-19 Settles
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Having been informed that the parties settled the case, a Michigan federal court dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by prisoners alleging civil rights violations by prison officials stemming from their management of the prison in response to COVID-19.
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September 18, 2025
Arizona High Court Strikes Down Limited Immunity For COVID-19 Treatment Providers
PHOENIX — A divided Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of a state appellate court, which held that a state statute enacted to grant medical providers immunity for ordinary negligence in treating patients with COVID-19 was unconstitutional as violative of Arizona’s anti-abrogation clause.
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September 17, 2025
California Bill Seeks To Curb Harm To Minors From AI Chatbots
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the number of lawsuits alleging that minors were harmed by the use of artificial intelligence chatbots continues to grow, the California State Legislature passed a measure designed to ensure AI companions will not promote self-harm.
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September 16, 2025
Philips Recalls Batch Of Sleep Apnea Devices, Citing Software Issues
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Philips Respironics has recalled certain continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive air pressure (BiPAP) sleep apnea devices because of a software error, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.
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September 16, 2025
Character Technologies Defendants Belong In Florida Court, Family Says
ORLANDO, Fla. — Character Technologies Inc.’s cofounders knew the danger artificial intelligence chatbots posed, dominated management of the company and actively participated in the misconduct that led to a child’s suicide, a mother tells a federal judge in arguing that the court has jurisdiction. In a Sept. 15 docket entry the court granted the defendants leave to file reply briefs.
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September 16, 2025
Parent Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Roblox, Discord Over Teen Son’s Suicide
SAN FRANCISCO — The mother of a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide after purported sexual exploitation through online apps filed suit in a state court against Roblox Corp., which describes its app as “a platform for communication and connection,” and Discord Inc., whose app is described as “a voice, video, and text communication platform,” alleging negligence and other claims for their failure to protect her son from harm by a child predator using the platforms.
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September 16, 2025
Benton Harbor Residents Say Water Plant Operator’s Conduct Was ‘Shocking’
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Residents who have sued Benton Harbor, Mich., and its officials over lead contamination in drinking water have filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that Benton Harbor Water Plant operator Michael O’Malley’s conduct was “deliberately indifferent and shocking,” therefore his motion for summary judgment dismissal of the lone remaining claim against him should be denied.