A preservative containing mercury and once widely used in childhood vaccines becomes the topic of a U.S. lawsuit this coming week as two Oregon families seek to prove that the substance caused two 10-year-old boys to develop autism.

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor

John Ritter’s widow lost her $67-million lawsuit against the doctors who treated the comedic actor before his death in 2003, but Amy Yasbeck feels she has accomplished her purpose — to educate others about aortic disease.

A Los Angeles jury voted 9-3 in favor of a cardiologist who treated Ritter on Sept. 11, 2003, after he complained of nausea and chest pains on the set of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter.” A radiologist who had performed a body scan on Ritter two years before he died was also found not liable in the death.

EVERETT, Wash. - A man has been awarded $40.1 million after his heart was damaged so badly by a malfunctioning machine during an operation that he had to undergo a heart transplant.

Paramjit Singh, 54, also suffers other problems as a result of the injury and anti-rejection drugs he must take, his lawyers said. They had sought as much as $38 million.

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What has your experience been with Ortho Evra?

WASHINGTON -- Another lawsuit has been filed against the maker of the birth control patch Ortho Evra, the Legal Leads Network reports.
The lawsuit claims 43 women developed blood clots and other health problems since taking the prescription contraceptive.
The suit also claims a Maryland woman died from blood clots after wearing the patch.
According to lawyers, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Co. should pay
substantial financial damages to their clients for the health problems suffered.
Similar lawsuits have been filed on behalf of 400 women nationwide. The company is not commenting.

NEW YORK — A multimillionaire financier once engaged to marry President Bush's former sister-in-law is suing her for the return of an 11-carat diamond engagement ring that he says is worth $434,000.

Gerald Tsai Jr., 78, says in his lawsuit that after he and Sharon Bush, 55, agreed to marry in October 2006, he bought her the rectangular yellow diamond ring from Saks Fifth Avenue for $243,000. It is now worth much more, he said.

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