Walgreens, which is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, IL, owns and manages 620 Walgreens pharmacies in California. The California State Board of Pharmacy informed the three district attorneys’ offices of the health risks posed to consumers as a result of pharmacists’ failure to give the requisite consultations. Officials stated that incorrect use of prescription medications causes harm to approximately 150,000 individuals in California every year, and adds to $1.7 billion in financial losses for the state.

The state Board of Pharmacy had implemented rules mandating that a pharmacist is to give a patient a personal consultation if that patient has been prescribed a medication that was not given to him or her on a prior occasion. A personal consultation must also be provided if the drug was prescribed in a different dosage, form or strength, or at the request of the patient.

The three district attorneys’ offices worked in conjunction with the Board of Pharmacy to carry out an undercover investigation of the consultation practices of some large pharmacy chains in California. In the judgment issued against Walgreens, the pharmacy chain must comply with an injunction that requires it to follow California regulations for providing patient consultations, and must start an internal compliance program.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Pravin Varughese went missing the night of February 12, and his body was found in the woods off of Main Street in Carbondale on February 18. Police say they later learned that Varughese got a ride from the driver of a pickup, but ran into the woods after an altercation. The temperature reached 14 degrees overnight, and the Jackson County coroner said that hypothermia appeared to be the cause of death. However, the Varughese family commissioned another autopsy, which showed blunt force trauma to the head.

The family claims that Carbondale police mishandled the investigation of the student’s death. The family was initially told that Varughese ran into the woods after a night of drinking. However, the autopsy commissioned by the family showed no alcohol in the student’s system. Police Chief Jody O’Guinn was fired over the mishandling of the case, and she is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Carbondale police were unaware of the altercation with the pickup truck driver until the driver himself came forward. The driver said that a man asked him for a ride and for money, but then punched him in the face and ran into the woods.

Bob Briskman is a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago, IL with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

The family of Ryan Flannigan, 26, filed the lawsuit against Michael Platt, 35. Authorities said that Platt punched Flannigan on the night of July 18, outside of Pop’s Bar and Grill in Palatine. According to witnesses, Flannigan was attempting to defuse an altercation. Police said Platt’s attack was unprovoked. Flannigan died 10 days later. Platt was charged with first degree murder and is free on bond.

Trazom Inc., the corporation that owns Pop’s Bar and Grill, was also named as a defendant, under the Illinois Dram Shop Act, which provides for the liability of a business that continues to serve a patron who is intoxicated. According to the lawsuit, the bar also failed to protect Flannigan. The family seeks in excess of $50,000 in damages.

The Flannigan family’s attorney said that discovery in the case would proceed during the pendency of the criminal case, but the wrongful death lawsuit will likely not be resolved until the conclusion of the criminal case. If convicted, Platt faces up to 60 years in prison.

Bob Briskman is a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago, IL with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Robert J. Keach, the trustee, said that the plan, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor, Maine on January 29, “will go nowhere” and is “facially non-confirmable,” according to Bloomberg News.

A group of wrongful-death claimants submitted the plan, which would allocate 75 percent of $25 million in insurance to the families of people who died in the July accident in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Claimants seeking compensation for property damaged in the derailment and subsequent fire would receive the other 25 percent.

Keach said that the plan relies on the assumption that insurance proceeds, a Canadian asset, could be transferred to the United States. An attorney for the official victims’ committee said that proceeds from the Canadian insurance policy would not be turned over to a U.S. court without an agreement between both countries’ courts.

Keach also said the plan would be a bad deal for the majority of claimants. He said the plan was proposed by a “splinter group” not participating in the official victims’ committee, and that it was a tactical move related to their resistance to Keach’s plan to move the wrongful death lawsuits from Illinois to Maine.

Bob Briskman is a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago, IL with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Jarrod Horton filed the lawsuit in Chicago’s U.S. District Court, claiming that police did not have any reason to arrest or shoot his brother, Marlon Horton, after he left the building as a security guard had requested.

According to authorities, the off-duty police officer, who was working as a security guard, came to the building to assist a female security guard in removing Marlon Horton from the lobby, where he was sleeping.

Authorities say that Horton left, but that the guards confronted him again when they saw him urinating on a truck outside. During the confrontation, Horton allegedly knocked the officer over and pulled the guard’s hair, and when it appeared that he could reach the guard’s gun, the off-duty officer shot him in the chest.

The lawsuit claims that police had no reason to arrest Horton and that excessive force was used against him. The suit claims false arrest, wrongful death, emotional distress and civil rights violations.

Bob Briskman is a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago, IL with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Dot Foods is being sued along with the truck driver who crashed into trooper, Kyle Deatherage, in November, killing him. The defendant argued that the case has no connection to Madison County and should be heard in Montgomery County where the accident occurred.

The plaintiff, Sarah Deatherage, argued that the defendant had failed to show that plaintiff’s choice of venue was improper. The plaintiff’s attorney said that Dot Foods and its subsidiary Dot Transportation moved nearly $130 million worth of goods from warehouses in Madison County during the last four years. The plaintiff argued that the defendant failed to prove that it does not do business in the county for the purposes of venue.

According to the plaintiff, Kyle Deatherage worked and resided in Madison County and his family has the right to file the lawsuit there.

The lawsuit seeks damages for grief, depression and mental anguish for Sarah Deatherage and her two children. According to the complaint, Dot Foods negligently hired a truck driver who the company knew was a danger, and the driver operated the truck when he was not fit to do so, due to an unspecified medical condition.

Bob Briskman is a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago, IL with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.