A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against talk show titan, Oprah Winfrey, alleging that she and her lawyer made false statements that resulted in the FBI arresting him on charges that he attempted to extort Winfrey.
Keifer Bonvillain filed a federal lawsuit and is seeking $180 million in personal injury damages from Oprah, her lawyer and the FBI.
Bonvillain was arrested in December 2006 after he allegedly recorded telephone conversations with an employee of Winfrey’s production company and told another company associate that he wanted to publish a book about the recordings.
The FBI said he claimed to have offers from publishers and tabloids that ranged from $0.5 million to $3 million.
He was arrested when another company associate agreed to pay him $1.5 million, wired him $3,000 and agreed to meet with him.
Last year, charges were dismissed on the condition that Bonvillain conduct 50 hours of community service, undergo drug testing and pay $3,000 in restitution.
In the lawsuit, Bonvillain said that he did everything possible to avoid conducting illegal activity and said, “There was substantial damage done to my name and reputation on a world level … The extent of my damages is vast.”
One of Oprah’s lawyers denied the allegations in the suit.
As the week winds down, check out Total Injury’s latest articles:
Parents Protest Mandatory Flu Vaccine Policy Parents are furious that the state of New Jersey is requiring children who attend preschool or daycare to get a flu shot—especially because there are concerns about the safety of such shots.
Parents May Pursue Lawsuit against Vaccine Manufacturer A court decided that a vaccine manufacturer could be help liable for damages in a civil case involving the health of a couple’s son. The court set a new precedent with this verdict.
Insurance Company Renders Blind Man Helpless Another injured person becomes victim to an insurance company that refuses to cover his damages. Learn about one man’s fight to get the help and compensation he deserves.
New Post-Concussion Management Recommendations Studies have shown that sustaining another blow to the head before full recovery from a concussion can lead to second-impact syndrome. Second-impact syndrome is a condition in which arteries swell and pressure builds in the brain. This can often lead to the onset of a coma or death. Learn about the latest post-concussion advice.
In addition, be sure to check out the background about these recent personal injury verdicts:
–$300,000 Award Upheld for Two High School Students Who Experienced Anti-Gay Abuse
–Judge Reduces $350,000 Injury Award Against Town
–$4.25 Million Injury Verdict Against Hospital for Negligent Delivery that Caused Cerebral Palsy
–Pfizer: $894 Million to Settle Lawsuits Over Its Drugs Bextra & Celebrex
A former high school assistant principal, who was suspended for allegedly using pepper spray to break up a fight between students, has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the county schools.
The personal injury complaint asks for $100,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages because it says the school racially discriminated against him.
The main charge is that the school system didn’t discipline white coaches for more brazen physical acts against other students.
The lawsuit says that the man tried to break up a fight between two students and that he was accused of using a “chemical agent” against the students.
More than two weeks after the fight, he was told he was being suspended without pay for about eight months and was demoted to teacher status.
The personal injury lawsuit says the school system “has allowed white teachers with duties as school coaches to assault students without similar treatment as experienced by plaintiff.”
Specifically, the suit said that a white coach was allowed to refer to students by the “N” word and that same white coach had slammed a student to the floor.
More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for federal health and safety violations in 2007, according to a recent report released by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.
It was found that for-profit nursing homes were more likely to have violations than other types of homes. About 17 percent of the nursing homes had violations that caused “actual harm or immediate jeopardy” to residents.
Authorities found problems ranging from medication mix-ups, poor nutrition and bedsores to abuse and neglect. In fact, about one-fifth of the complaints inspectors received related to elderly abuse or neglect concerns.
As the week winds down, check out Total Injury’s latest articles:
NHTSA Rule Pre-Empts Seatbelt Injury Claims A new pre-emption rule means car-accident victims injured by seatbelts can’t sue auto manufacturers for their injuries.
OTC Medicines Can Injure Toddlers After bitter battles with health advocates, drug companies have finally begun to tell parents not to give some over-the-counter medicines to children under the age of four.
Dangerous Flaws in Drug Recall System When drug recalls aren’t adhered to, there can be serious, and sometimes deadly consequences. Some pharmacists and hospitals are now facing fines for failing to get bad medicine off their shelves and out of patient’s hands.
Injury Verdicts
On Tuesday, a federal judge approved a $24 million settlement for pet owners whose dog or cat was injured or died after eating poisoned pet food.
A Nov. 3 hearing has been scheduled in Canada so a judge can determine whether the settlement can also apply for victims in that country. People with animals who were affected by the tainted pet food have until Nov. 24 to file their claims.
Also, be sure to check out these other recent personal injury verdicts:
Thousands of women filed suit against Johnson & Johnson after their suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using their birth control patch, Ortho Evra.
The company, which is the world’s largest maker of healthcare products, settled the suits for at least $68.7 million. Many see this move as a way for the company to dodge high-profile trials. The settlements are confidential and the company’s investors won’t be informed of the details.
There were 562 complaints (representing 4,000 women) against the company.
The majority of the complaints related to blood clots in the legs (deep-vein thrombosis) and blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolisms). The complaints also listed 20 women who died after using the patch.
One case involved the death of a 17-year-old high school girl from St. Louis who died in 2003 after she was on the patch for six months. She is survived by her 1-year-old child. Her parents said they had no idea of the risk behind using the patch.
Millions of women have used the patch since it got on the market in 2002. With the consent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Johnson & Johnson voluntarily strengthened the warning label three times.
The current label warns that the patch exposes to women to 60 percent more estrogen than the average birth control pill, which increases side effects.
Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, an advocacy organization, petitioned the FDA in May to ban the patch within six months, even after the three label changes.
Last week, super-sized drugmaker, Eli Lilly & Co., cleared problems with its top selling drug Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic medication, by paying out $62 million to 32 states and Washington, D.C.
Eli Lilly was charged with marketing the drug for off-label uses, such as pediatric care and treatment of dementia, and not properly disclosing the full range of side effects to healthcare providers.
The company didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing. The settlement will be divided among the states based on population.
According to the Indiana attorney general, the company also agreed to appropriate its medical staff (not its marketing staff) with the responsibility for consenting to the content in “all medical letters and medical references regarding Zyprexa.”
“The one thing that’s really key here is they’ve agreed to have a much more transparent system,” the attorney general said.
As the week winds down, check out Total Injury’s latest articles:
Be sure to also check out the latest in personal injury verdicts and product recalls, which include the following:
A nationwide recall of botched tire valve stems has many drivers on edge—especially because these defective products have led to deaths.
The valve stem is on every tire and is the little rubber piece that lets air in and out of the tire. The problem with the bad stems is that they can crack all around and lose air pressure in an instant. That causes the tire to “blow” and can result in deadly accidents.
The bad valve stems came from a plant in China and were installed on millions of American’s cars between September 2006 and June 2007.
Tech International recalled nearly 6 million valve stems; however as many as 30 million more bunk stems may still be on U.S. roads, according a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation. This is because Dill Air Controls hasn’t officially recalled its product—despite a lawsuit and federal investigation launched by NHTSA.
It’s suggested that all drivers examine their valve stems for cracks or leaks.
A 39-year-old Muslim store owner has sued the government for damages he experienced because he alleges the FBI conspired with the California Alcohol and Beverage Control Board to “entrap” the Palestinian-born market owner into buying stolen cigarettes so the government could then investigate him to determine if he was providing money to terrorists.
Last year, he won the criminal case against him and charges for selling illegal cigarettes were dropped. The presiding judge said, “A reasonable person could draw the conclusion that this ABC undercover operation was a subterfuge for an FBI anti-terrorism investigation.”
The man is now filing injury suit for more than $1 million in general and punitive damages for alleged discrimination, denial of equal protection under the law, humiliation, anxiety, detriment of character and monetary loss.
He said he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and is now facing mortgage foreclosure because of the FBI’s stunt.
“I was living the American dream; my business was doing well. … Now I’m ruined … and for what? I did nothing wrong,” said the man.
A California organic farm was awarded $1 million this week for damages it experienced due to nearby pesticide sprayings.
The organic farm family, Jacobs Farm Del Cabo, said a year’s worth of organic sage, rosemary and dill were ruined when a nearby Brussels sprout farm’s chemicals blew over the fields and contaminated their pesticide-free herbs.
Western Farm Service supplied the pesticides and is reportedly planning to appeal the injury verdict. It blamed the organic farm for “coming to the conventional [farming] area with incompatible crops.”
Hmmm…when you look at the history of human food cultivating—wouldn’t organic farming be considered the “conventional” method for farming food?
“The message from the jury is pretty clear, both to industry and to regulators: It’s not acceptable to apply these poisonous chemicals and turn your back on the consequences after the point of application,” said an attorney for the organic farm.
