Blog - California-based Asbestos Attorney

OSHA Creates Enforcement Initiatives to Protect Engineered Stone Workers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced an enforcement and compliance initiative directed at the engineered stone industry. OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recognize that silica dust exposure is a health hazard for...

Defective Medical Devices

Philips agrees to pay over $400 million to users over recalled CPAP devices

Philips Respironics, who makes CPAP sleep apnea machines, has agreed to pay at least $479 million in a settlement over health risks from their toxic sound reducing foam. The settlement will go toward users who bought or rented the recalled devices....

Defective Medical Devices

3M to Pay $6 Billion in Military Earplug Settlements

3M has decided to pay $6 billion to settle 300,000 cases relating to their combat earplugs over the next five years. Use of these earplugs in the military resulted in permanent hearing loss and tinnitus injuries. 3M’s Combat Arms earplugs...

Chemicals and Toxic Substances

Camp Lejeune Claims Piling Up

Claims are piling up with the U.S. military from exposure to toxins in the water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, but no restitution has been made. The Marine base exposed many military members and their families to dangerous chemicals...

Asbestos

Johnson & Johnson $18 Million Verdict for 24-Year-Old

Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $18.8 million to Emory Hernandez Valadez who developed cancer from their baby powder. Valadez filed suit last year in California state court against J&J, seeking monetary damages. Hernandez, 24, developed mesothelioma around his...

Asbestos

EPA Reaches Final Decision for Asbestos Reporting Rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final Asbestos Reporting Rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act. In March 2023, the EPA released additional data related to the proposed risk management rule for public comment. These additional data concern chrysotile asbestos...

Benzene

Dry Shampoo – Benzene – Leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia

Testing via gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and other methods, as well as numerous product recalls, have demonstrated dangerously high levels of benzene in dry shampoo products, including but not limited to the following brands: Tresemme, Dove, Nexxus, Sauve, and BedHead....

Uncategorized

Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Silicosis Epidemic

California, and several other states, are experiencing an epidemic of advanced silicosis, progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), accelerated silicosis, acute silicosis, and/or pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, among fabricators, cutters, polishers, and installers of engineered stone countertops. Silica is an abundant mineral found...

Asbestos

Asbestos-Containing Gemstones Sold at New-Age Stores

Gemstones sold at new-age stores in Australia have been recalled due to the inclusion of asbestos. A green-black gemstone, serpentine, that some believe can “detox the body and alleviate diabetes,” has been recalled due to it containing asbestos. The gemstones...

Asbestos

Swiss Billionaire Sentenced for Hundreds of Asbestos-Related Deaths in Italy

Stephan Schmidheiny, a Swiss billionaire, was sentenced to 12 years in jail for aggravated manslaughter after his company exposed hundreds of people to asbestos. Schmidheiny was a main shareholder in the cement production company Eternit Italia. He was found guilty...