A helicopter rotor blade manufacturer has agreed to a $5.6 million settlement with the family of a flight nurse who was killed in a helicopter crash in August 2008 near Indianapolis. Sandra Pearson and two others were killed in the crash that was caused by a flawed main rotor blade had broken apart just after take-off, the lawsuit claimed. The settlement money will go into trust accounts for Pearson’s young children until they turn 18.

Eighteen state attorney generals across the country have thrown their support behind a lawsuit filed by the family of a fallen solider who were taunted and harassed by a radical church group at their son’s funeral. The Snyder family filed the lawsuit in 2006 against the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and publication of private facts. Members of the church protested Matthew Snyder’s funeral in Maryland, holding up signs saying “Thank God for Dead Soliders.” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said she is supporting the lawsuit in order to protect the citizens of Massachusetts and their right to peacefully bury their family members under state law.

A Dover woman has filed a lawsuit against two Wentworth-Douglass Hospital surgeons over a botched surgery they preformed with a da Vinci robot. In her lawsuit, Sherry Long claimed the doctors severed her ureters during the surgery and that neither doctor was fully qualified to use the robotic device. The suit is seeking unspecified damages.

A lawsuit has been filed by the family of one of the survivors of a fatal accident in Utah in which a car was hit by a TRAX train. The family of Kristine Velasquez has filed suit against the family of Alex Amundson, who was driving the car and died in the accident. The lawsuit claims that Alex drove around the flashing arms at a railroad crossing and the car was struck by the train. Alex’s father knew of his son’s tendency to “disobey traffic regulations” and his bad driving record, and should not have loaned him the car, the suit states. The family is seeking unspecified damages.

Former New York Yankee Jim Leyritz has reached a settlement with a Florida family over the wrongful death of Fredia Ann Veitch, who was hit by Leyritz in December 2007 while he was driving drunk. As part of the settlement, Leyritz will pay the family $250,000 and, starting next April, $1,000 a month for 100 months. Leyritz is still awaiting a criminal trial on charges of manslaughter.

Raw alfalfa sprouts have been recalled by the F.D.A. due to their link to Salmonella. Twenty-two cases of Salmonella have been reported in 10 states in various parts of the country, reportedly caused by the alfalfa sprouts. The recall affects sprouts distributed by Caldwell Fresh Foods of Maywood, Calif., under the brand names Caldwell Fresh Foods, Nature’s Choice and California Exotics alfalfa sprouts.

A Green Bay man has filed a lawsuit against the city and local police department after he was hit with a stray bullet during a 2007 shooting of another man in front of a night club. Officers had chased Ben Sonnenberg to the front of Studio 720, and opened fire on him when he appeared to draw a weapon. One of the bullets hit Cesar Grijalva-Ortiz, who was standing near the door, his lawsuit states. Grijalva-Ortiz required surgery as a result, and doctors were unable to remove the bullet near his lung. He accuses the officers of negligence in opening fire toward the front of a public building and is seeking unspecified damages.

A Chicago man filed a lawsuit against NBC Universal Inc. over an injury he sustained while walking through the set of the movie “Public Enemies” in the streets of Chicago in 2008. In his lawsuit, John McManus said he tripped on one of the fake rubber cobblestones installed by set designers and sustained serious injuries. No signs, barriers or warnings existed to alert McManus to the fake stone and tracks, the lawsuit alleges. He is seeking $50,000 in damages.

A California woman whose car was crushed by a counterweight on a Sacramento-area bridge has been awarded $380,000 for injuries sustained in the incident, the Sacramento Bee reports. Shannon Raymond drove onto the Walnut Grove Bridge just as it was rising to let a barge pass. She said in her lawsuit that the bridge operator told her to stay in her car, and he would lower the bridge to let her pass. In doing so, the counterweight crushed the roof of her car, causing her injury, the lawsuit stated. She was forced to undergo a painful lumbar fusion due to the crash.

It appears that in the next few years, cars will be equipped with black boxes, much like in airplanes, that can record data during a crash. The debate now, between Congress and safety groups, is how much and what type of data these boxes should record. Lawmakers and automakers are struggling to agree on how durable the boxes should be as well, with automakers balking at the idea of an extremely expensive piece of equipment being required in all vehicles. One proposal suggests that the boxes be able to withstand a rollover crash as well as fire and water immersion, and record 60 second before a crash and 15 seconds after.