Safety News Article Excerpts 2003

Sunday News (Lancaster, PA), "Lancaster County law firm sues makers of rods used for welding"

          A Lancaster law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against 21 national manufacturers of welding rods, alleging the rods produce harmful fumes that can lead to personal injuries such as Parkinson's disease and manganism. More...

Miami Daily Business Review, "Jury awards $1 million in suit over welding fumes"

          An Illinois jury has become the first in the nation to hold manufacturers of arc welding rods liable for a fume-induced Parkinson's-like disease. The trial, which produced a $1 million verdict, was the first win for plaintiffs in nine tries. More...

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, "Man Who Blames His Parkinson's on Welding Wins Suit; Many More Pending"

          Larry Elam went to court to prove that welding had ruined his health. Elam said he suffered from Parkinson's disease that stemmed from years of using welding rods made and sold by companies across the country. The companies denied any link between welding and Parkinson's. More...

Associated Press, "Lawsuits claiming welding causes Parkinson's consolidated in Cleveland"

          A federal panel has ordered federal lawsuits from across the country consolidated in Cleveland before U.S. District Judge Kate O'Malley to simplify legal issues. Attorneys expect more lawsuits to be added. About 1 percent of the more than 500,000 welders nationwide are involved in federal lawsuits. More...

Financial Times (London, England), "BOC appeals against US health verdict"

          BOC, the industrial gases group, has begun the appeal process against a US court decision linking its manganese welding rods to Parkinson's disease. The announcement came as the group yesterday reported an 18 per cent rise in pre-tax profits. More...

Chicago Sun Times, "Power windows' deadly risk to kids"

          But as he leaned out the front driver's side window -- possibly to spit out a sunflower seed shell -- Mitchell apparently hit the power window switch. The window quickly rose, and within seconds it was closing around Mitchell's neck. More...

Chemical Week, "BOC Shares Fall After Adverse Court Ruling"

          Shares in BOC Group fell more than 7% last Wednesday to 821.5 pence/share ($ 13.92) after the company lost a suit charging that fumes from welding rods caused Parkinson's disease. A jury in Madison County, IL awarded a $ 1-million judgment to a former welder who claimed he developed Parkinson's-like symptoms from working around fumes from manganese-based welding rods. More...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), "Jury Awards $1 Million in Welder's Suit; He Blamed Fumes for Illness"

          A Madison County jury awarded $1 million on Tuesday to a Granite City man who claimed that inhaling welding fumes gave him Parkinson's disease. More...

Philadelphia Inquirer, "Drugmaker's quarterly earnings mixed"

          Wyeth said third-quarter earnings were depressed by a $2 billion diet-drug litigation charge, bringing to $16.6 billion charges taken related to its fen-phen diet-drug combination. More...

The New York Times, "Tough Questions Are Raised On Fen-Phen Compensation"

          The trust set up to compensate people injured by fen-phen, the formerly popular diet drug, says that an alliance of doctors and lawyers filing invalid claims threatens to drain its coffers. Some plaintiffs' lawyers contend that the trust simply wants to delay making payments to deserving people who are sick. More...

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, OH), "Mom on crusade for safer power windows"

          Mansfield resident Rebecca Hergatt spoke at the National Press Club last month in Washington, D.C., before a room full of journalists. Hergatt's son Mac, 5, survived a near-fatal accident June 13 when he put his head out a window of the family's 1992 Buick Regal. More...

USA Today, "Driven to make cars safe for kids"

          After 17 years in sales and marketing for Kodak and personal care product-maker Helene Curtis, Janette Fennell knows how to sell. But she says she was a babe in the woods when she started trying to sell her brand of safety to Detroit automakers in the late '90s. More...

Chicago Sun-Times, "Ephedra No Magic Pill"

          The long search for a simple pill that melts away fat has largely failed so far. Researchers are learning just how difficult it is to change the body's metabolism or disrupt the brain's appetite circuits without producing serious side effects. More...