The complaint claims that during his time of employment with Pure Oil, now known as Unocal and Chevron, Kleepsies was exposed to benzene and benzene containing products.

The complaint claims that Kleepsies’ workplace exposure to carcinogenic benzene caused him to develop multiple myeloma and an eventual “painful and terrible death.”

The complaint claims that despite the company’s knowledge of potential dangers associated with benzene exposure, Pure Oil failed to exercise adequate safety precautions to ensure that employees were not exposed to carcinogenic materials.

BP called the Houston court the appropriate forum the cases according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The fact that BP’s Gulf of Mexico Drilling operations are based here in Houston does seem to make it a logical venue for the cases; however, in reality Houston would be an extremely favorable venue for BP because many potential jurors may be more sympathetic to big oil due to Houston’s oil driven economy and the historically conservative approach demonstrated by Texas courts.

Attorneys representing local businessmen who have been affected by the oil spill have asked that the litigation be consolidated before one of three federal judges in Louisiana.

The multidistrict-litigation panel will hear arguments on the matter at their July session in Boise, Idaho.

Trail lawyers throughout the nation have filed hundreds of lawsuits over tendon ruptures suffered as a result of taking Levaquin, but thousands of others that have been harmed by the drug have no such recourse available to them.

People taking Levaquin have experienced everything from tendon and joint pain to depression and seizures. I read quite a bit about adverse drug reactions and I am truly astonished at the number of people who have reported to be affected by Levaquin.

Want to see for yourself? Take a look at Medications.com’s 2,700 side effect posts made by people who have been experienced Levaquin side effects. Need more evidence? There are thousands more posted on Medical News Today’s opinion forum. That’s only two website and what has to be several thousand adverse event claims.

Several other websites are devoted to the dangers of Levaquin and other similar drugs in the class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones. Websites like the Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Victim Community, FQResearch.org, FQVictims.org, and a Yahoo Health Group called Quinolone Survivors, among others allow people who have been affected to tell their stories and connect with others who have suffered similar reactions.

Unfortunately the legal community does not have the scientific foundation at this time to pursue claims for many of the alleged side effects and the FDA apparently does not have enough data to force additional labeling changes or as many suggest, pull the drugs from the market.

Most of the online forums and support groups do encourage individuals who have suffered adverse events to report their reaction to the FDA’s Medwatch system, but I would not be surprised to learn that many never actually file an Adverse Event Report. The Medwatch program is one of the best resources the FDA has at its disposal to help police the pharmaceutical industry.

It is extremely important that if you suffer an adverse reaction to a medication that you report it to the FDA, as this how the agency collects data that eventually leads to labeling changes and recalls.

Hopefully the future will bring about a new class of medications that can be used to treat the ailments currently treated by fluoroquinolones, sparing thousands from terrible side effects that have been associated with these drugs, but for now those suffering should seek comfort in the abundant and available community of others who have experienced similar reactions.

Sometimes just knowing you’re not alone can really help.

The hour long documentary addresses one of the most serious and frightening issues facing the health care system, preventable medical errors. With an estimated 100,000 deaths attributed to medical errors each year, it’s about time for a documentary like this.

The film stars actor Dennis Quaid, whose newborn twins were accidentally given a 10,000 unit dose of the blood thinner heparin, rather than the normal 10 unit dose recommended for newborns. Thankfully the Quaid twins survived the life threatening ordeal but thousands of others have not been as fortunate.

The documentary will air on the Discovery Channel this Saturday and is available online here. Thousands of copies will also be distrusted to hospitals throughout the nation in hopes of spurring awareness and adoption of safer practices.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to see this powerful and moving film. The general public has no idea how serious this issue is or how often these types of errors occur, but films like Chasing Zero are doing their part to change that.

In the words of Charles Denham, the physician and patient safety expert who oversaw the production of Chasing Zero, “Zero is the number, and now is the time.”

CPSC has received a report of a one-year-old child from North Attleboro, Mass. who suffocated when he became entrapped between the crib mattress and the crib frame in April 2008. CPSC is aware of 13 additional incidents involving the recalled cribs collapsing due to the metal mattress- support frame bending or detaching, including one child entrapment that did not result in injury, and one child who suffered minor cuts to his head when his mattress collapsed and he fell out of the crib.

The cribs were sold at Wal-mart, Target, Babies-R-Us, and other retail stores for $150 to $300. Since Simplicity is no longer operating the CPSC has very little information about the number of cribs that were sold. Below is a list of some models that are included in the recall.

For more information please visit the CPSC website here.

While the Texas gulf coast is not yet subject to the fishing ban that has been instituted for the Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and a portion of the Florida gulf coast, some Texans who depend n the seafood for their livelihood are expecting to feel the repercussions.

Stephen Barreth, the owner of Houston-based Airline Seafood, believes that ripple effect from the BP oil spill will echo throughout the seafood industry.

BP has begun the 3 month process of drilling a relief well to relieve the pressure that is forcing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the gulf waters each and every day. Crews are working to contain the oil offshore, but high winds and rough seas have made the task more challenging.

When all is said and done the BP oil spill could be the one of the worst environmental disasters the world has ever seen and could have catastrophic effects on the U.S. seafood market.

Only time will tell the true ramifications of this massive oil spill, but for now I think we should all be living by the old adage, “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”