CANADA – A class action lawsuit was filed in Canada against the manufacturer of the weight-loss aid drug Hydroxycut.
The lawsuit comes less than a week after a recall was issued on all Hydroxycut products because of liver damage and other injuries that might result from its use.
The suit claims that the manufacturer failed to provide warnings and properly label the product as unsafe.
The recall was issued on May 1, 2009 by the FDA and told consumers to stop using the product because of reports that the weight-loss aid caused 23 …

CHICAGO – A woman sued a zoo in Chicago after she slipped and fell on a wet surface caused by the dolphins.
According to the lawsuit, Allecyn Edwards was injured when she fell near the dolphin exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo in 2008. She claims zoo officials encouraged the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins to spectators causing the floors to get wet. Edwards said that the zoo failed to warn the public of the wet floors by posting signs or lay down protective mats.
The lawsuit is seeking $50,000 for lost wages, medical expenses …

A 17-year old boy is dead after he was fatally shot by a homeowner for refusing to leave his property.
69-year old Dwayne Austgen confronted the teenager when he noticed the boy in his front yard of his Harris County home and told him to leave. After the teen left, Austgen found a crack cocaine pipe that the boy had left and took it home with him.
A short time later, the 17-year-old Vidal Herrera came back and asked about the crack pipe. Austgen ordered the teen to leave again but …

JOPLIN – Police are looking for two women who pulled a daring theft of a Samsung 52-inch flat screen T.V. from a Wal-Mart store.
Police said that one of the suspect dressed up with a blue shirt and tan slacks and pretended to be a Wal-Mart employee. She even had a communication device on her belt. The other woman posed as a customer.
The woman posing as an employee even asked store workers to help her load the television set on a cart.
The television set was worth $1,300.
Police are investigating the connection …

Clothing giant Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has filed a lawsuit against singer Beyonce Knowles for her upcoming fragrance.
According to the federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, the soon-to-be launched fragrance by Beyonce under the name Sasha Fierce may interfere with the sales of Abercrombie’s own fragrance called Fierce.
Abercrombie said it has sold more than $190 million worth of fragrance under the Fierce name and is expecting $69 million in sales for 2009.
The lawsuit is seeking to stop the launch of Beyonce’s fragrance because of potential trademark infringement, …

Customer’s of T-Mobile who canceled their contract and had to pay for a flat-rate early termination fee may be entitled to some money back or other benefits.
If the proposed class action settlement is approved, customers from July 1999 through February 19, 2009 can submit a claim form to receive any compensation they are entitled to.
T-Mobile’s early termination fees are now pro-rated on how far along in a contract a customer is when canceling.
A customer has filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile that the cellphone service provider violated her rights under the …

LA GRANGE – A 30-year old woman was killed Tuesday after she was hit by a car while trying to get a stroller onto a curb.
Cari Cook of Countryside was taken to LaGrange Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m.
Cook was carrying her 4-month old son when the accident happened. The child suffered a broken leg. Cook’s 2-year old daughter in the stroller was not injured.
Cook crossed the intersection of 47th Street and 8th Avenue with her kids when she bent down to lift the stroller onto the …

A school bus crash near Hamilton, New York injures those on board. On December 11, 2009, around 1:30pm, a yellow international school bus from Hamilton Central School District was travelling north on State Route 46, when it left the road, causing minor injuries to both the driver and assistant on board. There were no students on the bus at the time.Both the driver, Laurence Keenan, age 67, and the assistant, Laura Russin, age 38, were taken to Community Memorial Hospital.The State Police in New …

The a class action lawsuit involving stolen laptops containing sensitive information has been settled. The Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to pay $20 million to the servicemen whose personal data was on the laptop stolen during a burglary in 2006.
The laptop and an external hard drive contained the names, date of birth and Social Security numbers of 26.5 million troops and veterans.
“We are committed to being the ‘gold standard’ in data security, just as we are a leader in the health care industry. We want to assure veterans there …

BALTIMORE COUNTY – A pharmacist is arrested and charged for selling over 23,000 prescription pills in Reisterstown.
47-year old Ketankumar Arvind Patel illegally sold the depression medication Xanax, as well as Oxycontin and Percocet pills.
The DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with the Department of Health and Human Service and local police conducted the investigation on Patel after an unknown source admitted to buying fraudulent prescriptions from him for more than a year.
If convicted, Patel could face up to a combined maximum of 86 years in prison and his business …