Category: Toxic Chemical Poisoning

A Northern California man has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) alleging that the company has known for many years that glyphosate, the active ingredient in its Roundup weed killer, can cause cancer. According to a report in the Redding Record Searchlight, the plaintiff, Fred Pulice, found out in 2018 that he had developed cancer in his lymphatic system called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Pulice has joined dozens of others in California and across the country suing Monsanto over Roundup. The lawsuit also names Orchard Supply Hardware as a defendant because Pulice purchased the product from the store. …Read the rest »

A California jury returned an unprecedented $2-billion verdict against Monsanto in favor of a couple who said their cancer was caused by long-term exposure to Monsanto’s popular weed killer, Roundup. According to a CNN news report, the verdict in Oakland includes more than $55 million in compensatory damages to the couple and $2 billion in punitive damages. This verdict is in line with several recent jury verdicts against Monsanto involving Roundup. Thousands of similar cases are also pending at the federal or state level. …Read the rest »

Eight people were hospitalized after being exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning at a Bell Gardens home the morning of Jan. 15, including two children who were said to be in critical condition. According to a KTLA news report, the incident was reported at a home in the 5500 block of Clara Street. Two patients described as minors were in critical but stable condition. Another minor and five adults were hospitalized in fair condition. Officials initially described the incident as involving nine patients, but eventually said eight patients were treated. …Read the rest »

The brother of Richard Westgate, a British Airways pilot who claimed his fatal illness was caused by toxic fumes in the cockpit, said Westgate was let down by doctors who did not believe him. According to a news report in the Daily Mail, Westgate had a number of medical issues, but became extremely angry and disillusioned when British doctors were unable to cure him. …Read the rest »

Lawyers defending Johnson & Johnson in a trial over claims that its talcum powder products should have warned of a link to ovarian cancer told an expert witness who took he stand that they have never before seen a cancer warning on red meat or alcohol at the store. According to a report by Law 360, the testimony is ongoing in a trial involving cancer survivor Nora Daniels, a longtime talcum powder user, who blames J & J for the tumor she developed and had removed in 2013. …Read the rest »

A Missouri Court of Appeals judge has rejected Johnson & Johnson’s bid to delay thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talcum powder products are linked to ovarian cancer. According to news reports, Johnson & Johnson filed a bid to put off the trials, alleging that the lawsuits were filed in Missouri out of jurisdiction. A Missouri Court of Appeals has rejected that motion, allowing the lawsuits to move forward in Missouri, the jurisdiction where they were filed. …Read the rest »

Doctors in Manhattan have discovered a small, but statistically significant link, between women’s talcum powder use and ovarian cancer. According to a report on Newsday.com, researchers at The Tisch Cancer Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital reported their findings in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention. The study and its results were drawn from a meta-analysis and also re-examined several so-called prospective studies that involved 302,000 patients with ovarian cancer. …Read the rest »

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are threatened by the presence of chromium-6, a heavy metal known to cause cancer in humans and animals. According to a news report in The Guardian, a new report released this week by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, says 200 million Americans across all 50 states are exposed to unsafe levels of chromium-6 or hexavalent chromium, a toxic metal that became known after Erin Brockovich, a paralegal who helped her law firm get a $333 million settlement from PG & E for poisoning residents of Hinkley, California. …Read the rest »

The Newport Beach personal injury law firm of Bisnar Chase has released a comprehensive graphic, which can help readers understand the Porter Ranch methane gas leak, which has displaced thousands of people in the upscale Porter Ranch neighborhood. Students in the area have had to move to alternate campuses. Many have also complained about health issues including headaches, nausea and respiratory problems.

The Scope of the Damage

The damaged gas well at the Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon storage facility has been releasing environmentally damaging methane since October 23, 2015. The company has tried, unsuccessfully, to plug the well several times now. Since December 4, the utility company has been drilling a relief well to intercept the damaged one, which is one of 115 wells on the reservoir.

Sealing the well is viewed as a long-term measure, but that work won’t be done until late February or March. Complaints about the fumes from the leak have drawn national attention. This leak has produced more greenhouse gas emissions than what 20,000 cars produce in an entire year. …Read the rest »

 The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is seeking an order asking Newport Beach-based Hixson metal finishing plant to reduce chromium 6 emissions as soon as possible. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, the facility poses an “unacceptably high” cancer risk to nearby residents. AQMD is asking its independent hearing board to order the company to reduce its chromium 6 emissions “on an expedited schedule.”

The Times article states that the metal finishing plant is located next to an apartment building in a neighborhood with homes and businesses near the border with Costa Mesa. The AQMD monitored the emissions and found a cancer risk of as much as 540 in 1 million. From the roof of the carport at the apartment building, the risk was as high as 375 per 1 million. AQMD officials say that risk level is “unacceptably high.” Hixson officials have said that the company will work with the air district to comply with pollution rules. …Read the rest »