After 11 out of 12 jurors agreed that Ford Motor Co. was at fault for the car accident that left 22-year old Brian Cole dead, they agreed to a settlement with the minor league baseball player's family.  Ford agreed to pay $131 million to the family before the jury could decided on any punitive damages.

Cole, a New York Mets AA player, was returning home from spring training in March, 2001 in his Ford Explorer Sport, when it veered off the Florida highway and rolled over.  Cole was ejected from the vehicle and incurred serious injuries, which he later succumbed to at Saint Luke's Hospital. 

In the case, Cole's family alleged that the Ford Explorer he drove was unstable and did not perform to the way in which it was marketed.  Additionally, they believe that there was sufficient evidence that Cole was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, and that the Ford's defective seat belt failed to prevent him from being thrown from the vehicle.   

An Ohio couple, Sara Tschop and her husband Kenneth L. Tschop Jr., have filed a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Linda Savoy and University Physicians & Surgeons in Huntington, West Virginia.  

Sara Tschop went to see Dr. Savoy on May 5th, 2008 with pain on her left side and back and nausea.  Savoy and technicians at University Physicians & Surgeons administered a CT scan which revealed "bilateral non-obstructing renal calculi and mild left hydronephrosis".  Tschop then had two follow-up appointments in May and June where Savoy prescribed a narcotic pain medication for the renal stone.  Savoy also referred Tschop to an endocrinologist for further evaluation.

Tschop later saw a urologist and underwent multiple surgeries for the stone.  In March 2009, almost seven months after her surgery, test results showed that her kidney was only functioning 6.6 percent.  In May 2009, Tschop had to have her non-functioning kidney removed through a robotic laparoscopic left nephrectomy.

The Tschops argue that Savoy and her practice failed to properly treat and monitor her left kidney stone.  In addition, they believe Savoy failed to refer Sara to a urologist in a timely manner. 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of medical malpractice, contact the Green Bay medical malpractice attorneys of Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. at 800-242-2874 to learn more about your rights.

The Food and Drug Administration's egg recall has expanded to 550 million eggs.  The initial recall only included 228 million eggs from three Wright County egg farms in Iowa.  However, the recall expanded after epidemiologic investigators found that the two other Wright County farms and Hillandale Farms also contained salmonella bacteria.

The recalled eggs were distributed to stores on May 16th.  Since May, there have been 1,200 reported cases of salmonella food poisoning in connection with the recalled eggs.  The majority of cases of food poisoning are clustered in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.  

If you or someone you know has suffered from a defective food product, contact the Green Bay defective food products lawyers of Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. at 800-242-2874 to learn more about your rights.

19-year old Brett Baumgartner of South Wayne was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident last Thursday night.

According to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department office, Baumgartner was driving an ATV southbound on Larse Road when he swerved off the road and ran into a culvert around 8:45 PM.  The 19-year old was taken by Med Flight to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.  Baumgartner later passed away at the hospital.   

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Baumgartner's family and friends during this difficult time. 

The Valley Meat Company and the USDA have declared a recall of one million pounds of ground beef produced by the California-based meat processor.  The two announced the recall after several reported cases of E. coli bacteria found in the beef.  

The recalled meat products are mostly frozen ground beef patties made between October 2009 and January 2010.  Because the products are frozen it is very likely that some grocery stores and consumers could still have the product in their freezers.  

So far, there have been seven cases of E. coli poisoning from the Valley Meat Company product.  The USDA will investigate what caused the bacteria.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of food poisoning, contact the Green Bay defective food products attorneys of Habush Habsuh & Rottier, S.C. at 800-242-2874 to learn more about your rights.

An accident occurred this afternoon around four o'clock in Boscobel, Wisconsin leaving an police officer and young woman injured.

44-year old police officer Todd Stenner was traveling northbound on Elm Street in Boscobel when 21-year old Jordana Weber's vehicle struck Stenner's squad car.  Weber was attempting to turn east onto Kansas Street when the two collided.  Both vehicles were totaled in the accident.

Both Stenner and Weber were taken to Boscobel Area Health Center with head and neck injuries.  Their conditions were not released. 

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, contact the Green Bay motor vehicle accident attorneys of Habush, Habush & Rottier, S.C. at 800-242-2874 to learn more about your rights. 

Last Wednesday, 70-year old Adopt-A-Highway volunteer Cornelius "Corky" Van Handel was killed in a tragic pedestrian accident.

Van Handel was hit when clearing litter on the side of U.S. 41 when he was hit and killed by 31-year old Lucia Torres-Bisarraga's Toyota Corolla.  Bisarraga claims she was cut off by a black car before she ran into the shoulder of the road and hit Van Handel.  She told police officials that in trying to avoid the black car she slammed on her brakes, causing her to swerve into the shoulder where Van Handel was working.  

State Patrol authorities continue to ask for witnesses to the accident.  One of the two passengers with Bisarraga mentioned a black car, however neither could provide a specific description of the vehicle, none of the people in the car saw Van Handel before the accident, and no witnesses mentioned a black car when interviewed after the accident.  

Bisarraga has been charged with operating a vehicle without a license causing the death of another and failure to control her vehicle.  

Accident reconstruction experts and investigators continue to look into the accident to determine exactly what happened.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Van Handel's family and friends during this difficult time.