News

July 2, 2009 By Cory Watson Crowder and DeGaris, P.C.

With suicide reports on the increase, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered Pfizer, Inc. to place a “Boxed Warning” on its smoking cessation drug, Chantix. The July 1, 2009 order for a so-called Black Box Warning comes on the heels of Adverse Events Reports and lawsuits...

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

A federal judge sentenced Bernard Madoff to spend the rest of his life in prison for an extraordinarily evil fraud. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin described the toll the multibillion-dollar fraud had on its victims as he sentenced Madoff to the maximum of...

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, has won temporary guardianship of her late son's three children and of her son's estate, which includes the Neverland ranch and rights to many Beatles songs.  L.A. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children on Monday. He also...

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled in favor of a group of white firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut who sued over reverse race discrimination. The firefighters alleged that the city violated their rights when it threw out the results of a test on which few minorities scored well.

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Various media outlets have identified South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s love interest as Maria Belen Chapur, but she still remains an enigma to many.  She is a 43-year-old, divorced mother of two teenage boys who...

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

“Famous TV pitchman Billy Mays probably died of a heart attack”, a Florida medical examiner said yesterday. Mays, 50, was found dead by his wife in their Tampa, Florida condominium Sunday morning. Some in the media had speculated that a head bump during a rough airplane landing that day contributed to Mays’ death...

June 25, 2009 by Matt Placek-Updated June 29

On May 1, 2009, the FDA ordered the recall of Hydroxycut from stores nationwide due to reports that Hydroxycut causes liver damage...

June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Bank of America Corp has inherited trouble following its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co on January 1, 2009.   A federal lawsuit filed in Manhattan alleges discrimination against female brokers by offering them lower retention bonuses than male counterparts...

June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Experts say that the fate of Michael Jackson's fortune and the custody of his children are likely to prove contentious.  Jackson’s children were in Jackson's sole custody following his 1999 divorce...

June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Matthew Matyuf, Superintendent of the Automatic Train Control Division for Washington D.C.’s Metro transit system, has been temporarily assigned to a "special project," Metro officials said. The reassignment is not an indication of any wrongdoing...

June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Federal safety officials said Thursday they are investigating two incidents in which airspeed and altitude equipment on Airbus A330 planes may have malfunctioned.  The incidents include one that took place ten days before the same type of plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 aboard.

June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Michael Jackson’s sudden death last week was not completely unexpected to those familiar with the singer’s history of mysterious ailments and struggles with pain.  A series of accidents, frequent plastic surgery, and the intensity of his performing meant that Jackson was constantly in pain.

June 26, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Bernard Madoff, 71, convicted of masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme of all time, will be sentenced by Judge Denny Chin of the U.S.

June 26, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Four-year-old Haylee Donathan is now in the custody of her grandmother, Mary Watson, who says that she will not give the girl back to her mother.

June 26, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Tennessee resident Michael Wayne Campbell is accused of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor for placing photos of the faces of three young girls on the nude bodies of adult females.

June 26, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Middle School student in Arizona was illegally strip-searched in 2003.

June 26, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Wednesday, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, a potential Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential campaign, admitted to having a year-long affair with an Argentine woman known only as “Maria.”

June 25, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Ed Thomas, 2005 NFL high school football coach of the year, was shot and killed at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Iowa early Wednesday.  The gunman, who has been identified as Mark Becker, 24, was arrested at a residence in Parkersburg shortly after the shooting...

June 25, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

A newborn baby, less than a day old, was found in a shoebox in the lobby of an apartment building in Hempstead, Long Island on Sunday night.  The police were contacted by a resident who heard sounds coming from the shoebox and discovered the infant...

June 25, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

On September 27, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.  A major provision of the act, which will result in loan forgiveness for some borrowers, goes into effect July 1, 2009.