3M has settled a lawsuit with the State of Minnesota for $850 million after it was alleged that chemicals polluted state waters leading to injuries and birth defects among citizens. The settlement was announced in February. We reported about the lawsuit last November. According to Bloomberg, money from the settlement will be used to pay for water and sustainability projects moving forward. The chemicals allegedly came from Scotchgard ingredients. The state said it found that it had higher levels of cancer and premature births outside Minneapolis and would seek punitive damages prior to filing the lawsuit. Originally, the issue was argued among environmentalists who claimed pollutants were impacting fish and waterways in 2010. The main chemicals allegedly involved in the pollution are PFOS and PFOA, as well as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) which are used in waterproof treatments and are found in some food packaging. The state pursued funds to “relieve…
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3M Settles Pollution Lawsuit Involving Alleged Birth Defects
March 21, 2018Serena Williams Discusses Life-Threatening Birth
February 21, 2018Tennis star Serena Williams recently shared her frightening birth story with CNN, saying she almost died after delivering her daughter Olympia. The star said her child was born via emergency C-Section after the baby’s heartrate dropped dramatically during contractions. She said the surgery went well and she was able to hold her daughter following the procedure. However, everything that followed was messy. Williams noted that she had suffered a pulmonary embolism and a slew of other health complications after the birth, including her surgical wound opening due to intense coughing. She eventually had to have an emergency procedure to prevent clots from traveling to her lungs. Williams said she was grateful for her excellent care after she sustained complications following the birth. However, she made note of how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that black women in the US are three times more likely to die during…
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Doctors Leave Forceps Inside California Woman During Surgery
January 20, 2018A California woman is suing a hospital alleging that an 8-inch long forceps device was left inside her following a surgical procedure. According to King5.com, a Seattle television station, the lawsuit claims the woman had to have 18-inches of her small intestine removed following the alleged medical malpractice. The woman allegedly went in to have a tumor removed from her abdomen and after the procedure she began to experience severe pain. It was later discovered during an ER visit that forceps were left inside of her. The network reported that out of about 28.4 million inpatient surgeries performed annually in the United States, there were 1,500 cases where foreign objects are left after surgery. This stat comes from a study done in the New England Journal of Medicine. Often these situations are described as “never events” in the medical community, as they are entirely preventable and there are often measures…
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