A Michigan doctors group agreed to pay $9.5 million in a settlement to the federal government and the state of Michigan in a lawsuit that alleged they submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE. According to the lawsuit, the Visiting Physicians Association sent in false reports regarding unnecessary home visits, tests and procedures and services that were never provided. The four whistleblowers that filed the original lawsuit will receive a total of about $1.7 million, the Detroit Free Press reports.

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Galveston, Texas, against owners of a convenience store whose clerk was killed during a January 2008 robbery. The lawsuit, filed by the family of Abdul H. Meje, claims the store owner did not provide adequate security for Meje, who was shot while behind the counter. The family is seeking compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and funeral and burial expenses.

A lawsuit was filed last week by a Las Vegas woman against University Medical Center and Valley Hospital, claiming the hospitals refused to admit her for severe abdominal pains that turned out to be labor. According to the lawsuit, employees at both hospitals ignored Roshunda Abney, who did not know she was pregnant, for hours before she decided to leave without help. She gave birth at home, but the 26-week old child died within moments. The lawsuit states both hospitals violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

The family of a boy who was killed in a car accident in St. Charles, Ill., in June while riding in the passenger seat filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver, Onofrio J. Lorusso. The lawsuit states Lorusso was driving negligently and without regard for the safety of the passengers. The Daily Herald reports the Lorusso was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. The family is seeking $6.175 in damages.

A lawsuit settlement in Texas Tuesday is forcing the state to destroy more than 5 million blood samples taken from newborns since 2002. According to the lawsuit, the blood samples, while legally taken, were kept without parental consent and violated privacy laws. The Houston Chronicle reports that the state will seek consent for about 400 of the samples because they tested positive for rare blood diseases.

A lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Troy, Mich., man against a Rite Aid pharmacy that allegedly filled an incorrectly written prescription that resulted in his death. According to the lawsuit, John Sheridan was prescribed 10 times the recommended dosage of Temodar in September 2007, and the pharmacist should have recognized the error before giving Sheridan the medication. The Detroit Free Press reports that the family privately settled with Sheridan’s oncologist. They are seeking unspecified damages from the pharmacy.

A Missouri woman received a $2.5 million settlement from University Hospital in Columbia, Mo., stemming from a 2005 medical malpractice lawsuit. According to the suit, doctors improperly placed an IV in Susan Martin’s upper chest instead of her wrist, which caused fatty blockages to travel to her brain, resulting in strokes and brain damage. Her lawyers say she is mentally and physically handicapped as a result.

A Boston jury awarded $15 million to the parents of a 3-year-old Pennsylvania child whose 2004 death at Children’s Hospital Boston was the focus of a malpractice lawsuit. The jury found that former physician-in-chief at Children’s Dr. James Lock and anesthesiologist Dr. James A. DiNardo were negligent in the death of Jason Fox during treatment him for congenital heart disease. The lawsuit claims that the doctors lied to the Fox family about the treatments Jason was receiving at Children’s. The actual damages received will be less, due to an agreement reached while the jury was deliberating, but the exact number has not been specified.

A Staten Island, N.Y., woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Staten Island University Hospital and two doctors for a piece of gauze allegedly left inside her abdomen during a 2000 surgery. According to the lawsuit, the gauze caused in infection in Margaret Palombo’s belly, requiring another surgery to clean up the infection. Palombo also claims that she did not discover that the gauze had been left in her abdomen until she reviewed her medical records in 2008. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Contract workers at British Petroleum’s Texas City oil refinery were awarded $100 million by a federal jury Friday in a lawsuit alleging the workers were exposed to toxic substances in April 2007. According to the lawsuit, the 10 plaintiffs were exposed to carbon disulfide, a harmful compound that allegedly gave them flu-like symptoms, while working two of the plant’s refining units. The Texas City refinery has been under intense scrutiny for lack of safety since a 2005 explosion that killed 15 and injured hundreds