A jury has awarded $2 million to a South Carolina woman who had 13 teeth removed by mistake, the New York Daily News reports. According to an attorney for the plaintiff, the dentist was only supposed to have pulled three teeth. Instead, he removed all of the woman’s top teeth and then tried to cover up the error. It is unclear whether the clinic plans to appeal the verdict.

A federal magistrate judge has awarded $18 million to a man severely injured in a 2008 accident on Interstate 64 that killed three people. Following a one-day bench trial, Magistrate Judge David D. Noce ruled that it was more likely than not that the truck driver blamed for the crash was negligent. An attorney for Mark Tiburzi said the plaintiff now requires constant care in a nursing home.

A jury has ordered Altria Group Inc. to pay $13.8 million in punitive damages to the daughter of a smoker who died of lung cancer, Bloomberg reports. According to the original lawsuit, the cigarette maker misrepresented the risks of smoking in its advertising. In 2002, a jury awarded $28 million to the plaintiff. That award was later reduced and eventually thrown out prior to the most recent trial.

A Maine jury has awarded $21 million to a woman who claimed that Cuban officials were responsible for the death of her father more than 30 years ago. The lawsuit alleged that Geoffrey Sullivan was imprisoned and executed in 1963 after participating in anti-Castro covert operations in Central America and Cuba. Experts remain uncertain whether the plaintiff, Sherry Sullivan, would be able to collect the damages.

Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. may be able to pay a temporary fee to plaintiff attorneys while the state-run property insurance company attempts to appeal a $95 million Katrina-related verdict, an attorney familiar with the matter said. The proposed temporary payment stems from various court rulings that said Citizens must post a cash bond before it can appeal the judgment. Insurance officials have complained that such a cash bond would leave the company financially exposed during the height of hurricane season.

The area of product liability litigation has expanded in recent years as the definition of what a product is has also grown. Product liability cases may now include a wide range of “products” including transfused blood, sperm, information technology, computer software and electricity. As a result, such cases have become more complex than previous product liability litigation.

A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled against the descendants of Armenian genocide victims involved in several class actions against life insurance companies. In a 2-1 ruling, the court held that a California statute that prompted several multimillion dollar settlements was pre-empted by U.S. foreign policy. Companies including New York Life Insurance Co. and AXA S.A. had previous settled genocide-related claims for amounts in excess of $15 million.

A Texas jury has ordered a hospital, a doctor and a physician’s assistant to pay $3.5 million to a woman who died of misdiagnosed cancer. In the lawsuit, the family of Melissa Hendricks accused Highland Family Medical Center, Dr. Stephen Glaser and Jason Maris of medical malpractice and wrongful-death for failing to test a sebaceous cyst removed in 2002. State caps on awards in medical cases will reduce the size of the award to $1.5 million.

A Florida woman is scheduled to testify Monday in a medical malpractice trial that accuses three doctors of negligence that caused her to become quadriplegic. According to the lawsuit, doctors at NCH North Naples Hospital failed to diagnose a rare progressive neurological condition that led to severe and permanent injuries. The lawsuit seeks at least $4.7 million to cover medical care for the remainder of the plaintiff’s life.

After reports of wheels loosening and falling off of child bicycle trailers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of 2,700 trailers manufactured by Burley Design LLC. The models covered by the recall are the 2009 d’lite ST and Solo ST trailers with serial numbers beginning with D939 or D948, and were sold nationally from November 2008 through June of this year. To date, no injuries have been reported as a result of the defect.