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Mealey's Personal Injury

  • February 20, 2026

    N.Y. Federal Judge Limits Stairwell Expert From Opining On What Caused Injuries

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge found that some proposed testimony by an architectural expert retained in an injury case goes beyond his area of expertise and granted a motion to exclude filed by the landlord of the property at issue.

  • February 20, 2026

    Judge Continues Bellwether ‘Addiction’ Trial Against Meta, Social Media Platforms

    LOS ANGELES — A California state court judge issued a minute order continuing a bellwether jury trial against Meta Platforms Inc. and related entities and other social media companies including TikTok Ltd., Google LLC and YouTube LLC, alleging that the defendants “had a duty to disclose dangerous and defective features that cause foreseeable harm to children and teens” and should have known about the risks of “addiction.”

  • February 19, 2026

    Attorneys File 11 Cases In Delaware, Say Monsanto’s Roundup Contains Carcinogens

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An attorney in Delaware, in collaboration with other counsel, has filed 11 lawsuits against Monsanto Co. in state court, all following the same template and seeking compensation for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to the herbicide Roundup.  In one of the cases, filed Feb. 18, plaintiff William Nighland says he developed cancer because Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate and the surfactant polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA), “as well as many, many other proven, probable, and/or suspected carcinogens.”

  • February 18, 2026

    Philips, Estate Reach Settlement In Case Alleging CPAP Machine Caused House Fire

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The estate of a woman and the manufacturer of a continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) sleep apnea device have reached a settlement, according to a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice filed in a North Carolina federal court; the woman’s home burned down after a CPAP device allegedly caught fire.

  • February 18, 2026

    Plaintiffs Fail To Show HHS Used Single Cause Policy In COVID Countermeasures Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit brought by more than 200 individuals whose family members were treated during the COVID-19 pandemic with and allegedly died as a direct result of certain countermeasures such as hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, ruling that the family members had not plausibly alleged that the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was applying an incorrect standard for eligibility for Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program (CICP) benefits.

  • February 18, 2026

    Parties Announce Settlement Of Insurer’s Suit Over Injury At Cryotherapy Facility

    LOS ANGELES — Following an announcement that the entire case has settled, a federal judge in California deemed inactive the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its business owners liability insurance policy’s professional services exclusion bars coverage for a patient’s underlying action alleging that she was injured at a cryotherapy facility while receiving medical treatment from the insured, noting that the matter is moved to the inactive calendar pending the parties’ filing of a stipulation of dismissal.

  • February 17, 2026

    Parties Reach $7.25B Deal For Nationwide Settlement Of Roundup Injury Claims

    ST. LOUIS — Attorneys representing a putative class of plaintiffs who have sued Monsanto Co. in Missouri state court alleging that exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, causes cancer on Feb. 17 moved for preliminary approval of a $7.25 billion nationwide settlement with Bayer Corp., Monsanto’s parent company, which would resolve the claims.

  • February 13, 2026

    11th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Lyft In Negligence Suit Over Shooting By Driver

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment for rideshare platform Lyft in a passenger’s suit alleging negligence per se after he incurred permanent injuries when a Lyft driver shot him, finding that “there was no dispute that Lyft complied with the Georgia for-hire rideshare provision” regarding background checks.

  • February 12, 2026

    Judge Denies Remand In PFAS Case Brought By Former Pro Baseball Players’ Widows

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Feb. 11 denied a motion to remand sought by former players and widows of former players for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team who allege that the makers or suppliers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are liable for wrongful death and other harm due to the presence of PFAS in the artificial turf that was used for the surface of the baseball field in Veterans Stadium, the team’s former home stadium.  The judge said that 3M Co.’s removal of the case to federal court under the federal officer removal statute was “timely and proper.”

  • February 10, 2026

    Auto Insurer Disputes Coverage For Wrongful Death Suit Against Delivery Driver

    SEATTLE — A commercial automobile insurer filed suit in a Washington federal court seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify for an underlying wrongful death lawsuit alleging that its insured fatally shot a man while he was driving his vehicle as a paid delivery driver, asserting that the underlying action fails to allege any claim for damages “resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use” of the insured’s automobile as required by the policy and Washington law.

  • February 09, 2026

    Louisiana Panel: Assault And Battery Exclusion Bars Coverage For Shooting Death

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appeals panel held that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s assault and battery exclusion unambiguously bars coverage for a wrongful death lawsuit arising from a fatal shooting that occurred at an apartment that was owned by the insured, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.

  • February 06, 2026

    New Mexico High Court Says Strike Of Expert Affidavit Not Discovery Sanction

    SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s ruling striking a late-filed expert affidavit in a medical negligence case and its subsequent grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants for lack of causation but on different grounds than the intermediate appellate court, finding that the trial court’s action was not a discovery sanction but instead an exercise of “its authority to enforce a scheduling order.”

  • February 05, 2026

    Illinois Federal Judge Finds Claims Against Spinal Implant Maker Preempted

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge agreed to dismiss claims against the makers of a spinal implant after finding that the claims asserted against them in a medical malpractice suit are preempted by federal law.

  • February 05, 2026

    Florida Supreme Court Won’t Review Smoker’s Estate’s ‘Random Jury Box’ Appeal

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition for review of an appellate court’s affirmance of a defense verdict against a tobacco company.  The estate of a smoker who died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had sought review on the grounds that the trial court utilized the “random jury box method” for voir dire.

  • February 04, 2026

    Florida Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Sickly Smoker’s Defect Design Lawsuit

    MIAMI — A Florida state court jury returned a defense verdict in a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) brought by a former smoker of Parliament and Marlboro-brand cigarettes who says he suffers from heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), writing that PM’s cigarettes were defectively designed but also finding that they did not legally cause the smoker’s health issues.

  • February 02, 2026

    Florida Panel Reverses Damages Order In Mobile App Car Sharing Accident Dispute

    LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on Jan. 30 reversed and remanded a lower court’s ruling granting a motion to amend a complaint to add punitive damages to a negligence suit against a mobile app-based car sharing company and the owner of a rented vehicle, finding that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden under Florida law to recover punitive damages and show that the company was grossly negligent .

  • January 30, 2026

    Wash. Federal Judge Says Safety Expert Can Testify In Slip-And-Fall Case

    SEATTLE — An expert retained by a woman who says she was injured after slipping in a bank’s parking lot can testify, but his testimony will be limited to topics he previously disclosed in his expert report, a Washington federal judge held Jan. 29.

  • January 30, 2026

    Government Says Vacatur Of Tobacco Graphic Warnings Rule Was Improper

    MIAMI — The Food and Drug Administration and related parties filed an appellant brief in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a federal judge’s vacatur of the FDA’s final rule requiring graphic warnings on all tobacco products pursuant to the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), writing that the ruling was improperly based on its failure to disclose raw data underlying studies regarding the efficacy of graphic warnings.

  • January 28, 2026

    Airline Crew Seeks $30M Each In Damages From Airbus Inc. For Chemical Injuries

    NEW YORK — Two women who are members of an aircraft flight crew have sued Airbus Americas Inc. and an affiliate in New York federal court arguing that they were injured while working on an airplane as a result of a malfunction with what is called the “bleed air system.” The plaintiffs allege that they have suffered neurological injuries as well as other impairments that are characteristic of chemical exposure.

  • January 27, 2026

    Judge: Genetic Experts May Opine Only On General Causation In Asbestos Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana judge partially granted a man’s motion in limine challenging two experts, saying they may offer general causation opinions on the role genetics played in mesothelioma but not opinions about the specific cause of the man’s disease.

  • January 27, 2026

    Texas Appeals Court Reverses Med-Mal Defense Verdict, Says Expert Wrongly Excluded

    EL PASO, Texas — A Texas appeals court remanded a medical malpractice case for a new trial after finding that a woman’s expert on the standard of care was wrongly excluded from testifying.

  • January 26, 2026

    3rd Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity Grant In COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths Case

    PHILADELPHIA — Ruling that survivors of former nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 failed to show that New Jersey’s governor and public health commissioner were on notice that their actions in handling the pandemic with respect to nursing homes would violate the residents’ statutory or constitutional rights, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 23 affirmed a New Jersey federal court’s dismissal of the survivors’ lawsuit on the basis of qualified immunity.

  • January 26, 2026

    Federal Magistrate Judge Recommends Excluding Expert In Injury Case As Unreliable

    LAS VEGAS — A federal magistrate judge in Nevada recommended that an expert retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured in a Target store be barred from testifying because his opinions are unreliable under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • January 26, 2026

    7th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment For Lawnmower Maker, Allows Expert Testimony

    CHICAGO — A trial court did not consider opinions by an expert witness hired by a woman who was injured in a riding lawnmower accident who opined that an independent brake could have prevented the accident, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, reversing summary judgment for the lawnmower manufacturer and remanding the case.

  • January 22, 2026

    Mother Claims ChatGPT Twisted Son’s Favorite Book, Design Complicit In Suicide

    LOS ANGELES — A man turned to OpenAI entities’ ChatGPT for consolation after a difficult breakup, but it quickly turned his favorite book into a story about letting go and romanticized suicide despite his insistence that he was happy to be alive, his mother alleges in a Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit.