An Illinois woman who suffered a broken leg during a train crash in 2005 will receive a $1.45 million settlement from Metra, the Illinois commuter rail system. The train derailed near downtown Chicago after speeding through a 10 mph crossing at 69 mph. Two other passengers died in the accident, and their families reached a separate $11 million settlement with Metra in 2008.

A lawsuit has been filed over the fatal beating of a man at a Jacksonville, Fla., Waffle House in 2009 during a robbery. The suit claims one of the waitresses on staff called her boyfriend to come rob the man because “he was carrying a large amount of cash,” but the waitress was not charged in the crime. The suit says the Waffle House owners “should have known there was a risk of such a robbery and taken steps to prevent it.” The suit is seeking unspecified damages related to the death.

The FDA is cracking down on claims made by electric cigarette companies that their products can help people quit smoking. The agency sent out warning letters earlier this month to five e-cigarette companies, saying many of their claims were in violation with various parts of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In 2009, the FDA released findings that show that e-cigarettes contain “carcinogens and toxic chemicals, in one case including diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.”

The U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission has announced a recall of more than 200,000 glass vases over reports that the vases shatter and have cut consumers’ hands. The vases were sold at Michael’s stores across the country. There have been nine reported cases of injuries among customers.

A recall has been issued for 2.2 million Siemens and Murray circuit breakers that may temporarily overheat and pose a fire hazard. The circuit breakers “include a spring clip that can break during normal use, which can result in an insufficient electrical connection in the panel board.”

A U.S. District judge has awarded a Florida couple $10.2 million in a wrongful death suit they filed against a U.S. Naval Hospital in Jacksonville over brain damage their son suffered at birth, attributing to his death. The suit claimed doctors at the hospital were negligent and failed to realize the boy’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck at birth, leading to brain damage. The damages were brought down from an initial $60.5 million ruling after an appeals court ruled that damages “could not exceed the highest affirmed wrongful death verdict in the state appellate district where the death took place.”

A widowed Connecticut woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a local landlord for allegedly throwing her husband down a flight of stairs, causing his death. The suit claims the landlord forced the man from the apartment complex by pushing him down the second-story stairs instead of using “proper legal procedure.” The man died from internal injuries sustained in the fall, the suit says. The suit is seeking to regain medical and funeral expenses as well as damages for “loss of companionship.”

A recall of 5 million cans of certain Similac-brand powder infant formulas has been issued over beetles and beetle larvae found in some of the cans. The FDA has announced that ingesting the beetles poses no serious health risks, but that infants could experience gastrointestinal discomfort. The recall affects only the Abbott powder formulas, not the liquid versions.

The F.D.A. has announced a severe restriction of the diabetes drug Avandia, which can be linked to an estimated 47,000 people who suffered heart attacks while taking the drug between 1999 and 2009. The drug is banned in Europe, and patients in the U.S. can only be prescribed it if their doctor determines “they have tried every other diabetes medicine and that patients have been made aware of the drug’s substantial risks.” Questions were raised about the popular drug as early as 2007 after studies began to connect Avandia to heart problems. The decision marks a much harder line taken by government agencies on drug safety issues.

A lawsuit has been filed over the death of a 2-year-old in St. Louis when a stove tipped over in the family kitchen and crushed him. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that “at least 34 people have been killed in similar accidents across the country since 1980.” The lawsuit, filed by the family against the apartment complex they live in, claims the stove should have been better secured. Experts say a simple bracket installed on the stove could have kept it from tipping over, but the brackets are not required on stoves in St. Louis County to pass inspection.