Alabama resident Audrey Singleton was awarded $9.45 million yesterday by a Philadelphia jury in a lawsuit against drug maker Pfizer, Inc., after she claimed that the company’s hormone-replacement drug gave her breast cancer. Singleton began taking the drug Prempro in 1997 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. A 2002 study linked the drug to cancer. Pfizer has lost seven of 10 similar cases that have gone to jury.

Four years after a man was released from prison after spending 25 years behind bars falsely convicted of rape, the city of Chicago has agreed to settle his federal lawsuit for an unspecified amount. In his lawsuit, Jerry Miller claims that an analyst in a Chicago crime lab withheld evidence during his trial that showed his blood type did not match the type of the rapist. The blood test was ruled inconclusive by the lab, something experts say would have been impossible.

A municipal judge in Brownsville, Texas, who spent the last two months at Rio Grande Valley mental health facilities, has filed a lawsuit against hospital officials, claiming false imprisonment and “grievous emotional harm.” In his lawsuit, Phil Bellamy says that he and other inmates were forced to take medication “they had a right to refuse,” and claims that his civil rights were violated. Bellamy was sent to the mental health hospital on a court order after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder

The Chicago Board of Education has agreed to settle a $14.7 million lawsuit with a man who suffered severe injuries while on a mini-trampoline at school in Chicago 18 years ago. Ryan Murray became a quadriplegic after hitting his head on the side of the trampoline during a tumbling class when he was 13. The case was set for trial after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled “if a government body shows ‘an utter indifference or conscious disregard for the safety of others,’” it is subject to liability.

Two Utah men have filed a lawsuit against Blimpie’s, claiming that their “Super Stacked” subs do not contain the double portion of meat as advertised. According to the lawsuit, Blimpie’s advertises their “Super Stacked” sandwiches as having double the meat portions as their regular sandwiches, and therefore charge a higher price. The plaintiffs say that the sandwiches in fact do not have the double portions, and seek an injunction forcing Blimpie’s to stop advertising them as so.

Dannon agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit earlier this week brought by consumers over claims that Dannon falsely advertised the health benefits of its yogurt. The $45 million settlement will be available to consumers as rebate checks up to $100. As part of the settlement, Dannon agreed to remove the words “clinically” and “scientifically proven” from labels and advertisements of Activia yogurt.

A California judge ruled that a family’s lawsuit against the Oakland police department for the beating and eventual death of their son could continue. According to Judge William Alsup, the family of Jerry Amaro was discouraged from filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the department “by affirmative and misleading statements and conduct by Oakland police.” The lawsuit claims that Amaro was severely beaten by police officers in 2000 and died a month after the encounter.

Dartmouth College recently settled a lawsuit with the family of a student who died in 2004 after sustaining severe head injuries during a university skiing class. According to the lawsuit, Christina Porter skied into a tree without a helmet during a beginners ski class, and was in a coma for six months before dying. The family had sought $20 million in damages in the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit. The actual terms of the settlement where not made public.

A recent study from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy at Resources for the Future revealed that almost 50,000 people die each year in hospitals from infections picked up during their stay. Experts say that many of the deaths could be avoided with better infection control, including handwashing, improved hygiene and better screening of patients when they arrive. The report also found that the infections translated into 2.3 million extra patient days in 2006 at a cost of more than $8 billion.

The wife of one of the men who was killed by the plane that crashed into the Internal Revenue Services officces in Austin last week has filed a lawsuit against the pilot’s wife, Sheryl Mann Stack. The lawsuit claims that Stack should have warned the IRS employees of possible danger. “Stack was threatened enough by (her husband) that she took her daughter and stayed at a hotel the night before the plane crash,” the lawsuit says. Lawyers for the plaintiff said that the lawsuit was the proper way to determine was assets, including insurance, could be available in the wrongful death suit.