- Chimp Owner Says Woman Was Attacked on the Job
Posted November 30, 2009, 10:48 am by Howell and Christmas, LLC
The owner of a chimpanzee that mauled and blinded a woman is calling the attack a work-related accident. The owner says the woman's case should be treated like a worker's compensation claim. If this strategy is successful, it will drastically limit potential damages in the case and protect the chimp's owner from personal liability. The 200-pound chimpanzee got out of control when his owner, Sandra Herold, asked her fellow employee Charla Nash to help lure the animal back into her house. The...
- A Tangled Web of Greed and Deceit
Posted November 28, 2009, 5:30 am
My next three entries will discuss the exploits and complaints against OmniCare, Mariner, SavaSeniorCare, and Murray Foreman, Rubin Schron, and Leonard Grunstein who own and operate hundreds of nursing homes through a complex maze of corporate shenanigans, and were finally caught gaming the system to make millions and deprive our loved ones of the necessary care they deserve. Our taxes are going into the pocket of these greedy corrupt men. There have been numerous articles on these cases and I...
- 2009 Projected to Have Fewest Highway Deaths Since 1961
Posted November 27, 2009, 10:45 am by Howell and Christmas, LLC
Charleston accident lawyers want to share the good news with you that there is a continuing trend of fewer people dying on roadways. According to the government, deaths on U.S. highways have dropped to a record low during the first half of 2009. Last year, just over 37,000 people died in automobile accidents, which was the lowest number in 47 years. However, the government projects that even fewer motorists will die on the roads in 2009. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says...
- Quality of staff continues to be a problem
Posted November 27, 2009, 5:25 am
There are many caring and wonderful nurses and CNAs that work in nursing homes. However, because of corporate decisions to cut staffing, decrease training, and pay minimum wage which causes burn-out, frustration, high turnover rates and stories such as the ones below. Tulsa World had an article about Jason Lynn Pearl who was arrested in March on allegations that he abused patients in his role as certified nursing assistant at the Silver Lake Care Center, a 92-bed Bartlesville nursing home....
- Getting a Quicker Response in Workers Comp Cases
Posted November 26, 2009, 11:03 pm
/**/ I have been experiencing a distubring lack of response to my settlement demands in workers compensation cases. More often than not I believe it's because the insurance company hasn't given the attorney authority to settle the case and they are reluctant to call back with nothing. I've put together a standard form letter with suggested responses for the defense attorney and have received a positive response and more information about my cases. The form letter is below the fold. Please tell...
- Give Your Retail Clients a Break This Holiday Season: Ease Up on Discovery Requests, Deposition Scheduling, Etc.
Posted November 25, 2009, 11:34 pm by Christian Stegmaier
As lawyers, we can be pretty single-minded. After all, we have a job to do - protect our clients' interests. As litigators, one of our key jobs is to move discovery along. There are deadlines to observe, answers to get, documents to retrieve, etc. However, a single-mindedness possessed by counsel concerning discovery can sometimes interfere with his or her clients' business interests. In this blog entry, I'm specificially thinking about case management during the holiday season for those...
- The new age of internet sleuthing
Posted November 25, 2009, 6:01 pm by Bobby G. Frederick
I am still amazed by the internet and specifically Facebook, and I believe that it has changed our experience of the world and life like nothing else since the invention of the telephone. Social networking sites, but specifically Facebook since I am on there and most people that I know are also, have enabled us to almost constantly feel connected with hundreds of people that we know. I used to wonder at the people walking around with cell phones stuck to their heads, thinking about how people...
- Michigan prosecutor threatens to sue over budget cuts
Posted November 25, 2009, 3:36 pm by Bobby G. Frederick
Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith has threatened to sue the county if his budget is cut, saying that it would be unconstitutional - referring to a clause in the Michigan Constitution which says that every Michigan County must create and maintain a prosecutor's office. "We're looking at chaos," Smith said. "Some of our prosecutors are handling over 100 files in some district courtrooms. That's not adequate representation for the victims of crime in this county." Ok. I suspect that many public...
- An Attorney's Truest Desire: To Be a "Trusted Business Advisor"
Posted November 25, 2009, 1:09 pm by Christian Stegmaier
I defend lawsuits for a living. However, one of the things I do for our retail and hospitality clients that I like very much has nothing to do with active litigation. On any given week, I spend several hours working with our institutional clients, analyzing claims or potential claims, and creating game plans for keeping these matters out of litigation if possible. These clients have developed a relationship with me to the level that they feel comfortable to pick up the phone to chew over these...
- AstraZeneca Faces Lawsuits Over Drug Seroquel
Posted November 25, 2009, 12:22 pm by Louthian Law Firm
AstraZeneca, the U.K.'s second-largest drug maker, faces over 14,000 lawsuits claiming its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes. A U.S. District Judge said she will recommend sending all the cases back to their home courts for trial. AstraZeneca wanted the judge to send only 60 cases back to their home courts for trial as test cases in order not to needlessly burden other judges across the country. The lawsuits allege the London-based company downplayed the diabetes risks of Seroquel....
- What’s a father?
Posted November 25, 2009, 9:02 am by Gregory Forman
A lecture/article topic idea I have often considered but never been able to completely get a fixed idea on is the notion of "What's a father?" The lead article in last Sunday's New York Times magazine section, Who Knew I Was Not the Father?, highlights the confusion and resulting injustices. When women falsely lead men to believe they are biologically related to a child and then require them to continue to pay child support when the truth is discovered it seems very unjust. However it is also...
- Links
Posted November 24, 2009, 6:27 pm by Bobby G. Frederick
Right and Left unite in opposition to overcriminalization and government intrusion: the NY Times reports that in upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases, civil liberties groups and defense lawyer associations stand shoulder to shoulder with conservative, libertarian, and business groups in filing amici briefs on the side of the accused. "It's a remarkable phenomenon," said Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "The left and the right have bent...
- Perspectives
Posted November 24, 2009, 5:33 pm by Bobby G. Frederick
Today someone implied that I hate cops and prosecutors; they seemed to accept this as a matter of course. I don't hate anyone, and certainly not cops and prosecutors - I suppose every so often I need to take a moment to say so. We need police and we need prosecutors to enforce the law; although I may confuse some from time to time, I am not a complete anarchist and I know that we need laws and that they need to be enforced. We don't need a law for everything under the sun that any person...
- Golfer Loses Arm in Gator Attack on S.C. course
Posted November 24, 2009, 10:38 am by Howell and Christmas, LLC
South Carolina golf course accidents can cause significant injuries and those hurt by the negligence of a property owner may be able to bring a lawsuit to recover for the damages they suffer. An alligator bit off a golfer's forearm as he reached into a pond to retrieve his golf ball on a private South Carolina golf course. 77-year-old James Wienzek was golfing at Ocean Creek Golf Course on Fripp Island when the gator attacked him. Wildlife officials were called to the scene where they killed...
- State investigators fail to provide oversight
Posted November 24, 2009, 5:45 am
The Contra Costa Times had a good article from the Oakland Tribune's review of records from California's Department of Public Health which is the watchdog that oversees the quality of care in California nursing homes. They have allowed facilities to continue operating despite serious problems that persisted over years, a review by the Tribune revealed. Consistent problems include urine-soaked mattresses, festering bedsores, patients lying in feces or restrained in wheelchairs without...
- FDA Starts Safety Review Of Weight Loss Drug Meridia
Posted November 24, 2009, 1:25 am by Greg Jones
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun an expedited safety review of sibutramine based on a recent study showing that some patients have a higher rate of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events after taking the weight loss drug. Abbott Laboratories markets sibutramine as the popular weight loss drug Meridia. Although the FDA has not made any conclusions, it is studying the initial data from a six-year study referred to a s the SCOUT study which examined the effects of...
- Jury tags Pfizer another $28M In Punitive Damages For Prempro
Posted November 24, 2009, 1:11 am by Greg Jones
Three days after awarding $6.3 million in compensation, a Pennsylvania jury determined Pfizer Inc. will have to pay $28 million in punitive damages to a 66-year-old Donna Kendall claiming that the menopause drugs Prempro and Provera caused her breast cancer. Kendall took the hormone replacement drugs between 1991 and 2002. Ms. Kendall was diagnosed with breast cancer that would lead to her double mastectomy. Pfizer said it would appeal the Kendall verdict as well as a jury verdict in the same...
- Philip Morris Ordered To Pay $300 Million To Former Smoker
Posted November 23, 2009, 12:17 pm by Louthian Law Firm
The $300 million awarded to an ex-smoker who needs a lung transplant would be the nation's largest award to an individual suing a tobacco company, if the award survives appeal, reports the New York Times. The award could also encourage thousands of other smokers to file suit in Florida since a supreme court ruling a few years ago made it easier to pursue the suits there than in other states. In 2006, Florida had a legal ruling which lowered the plaintiff's burden of proof against a tobacco...
- Malpractice Myths Debunked
Posted November 23, 2009, 5:37 am
The following is a press release from the AAJ. New Paper Debunks Malpractice Myths As enemies of health care reform spread lies and mistruths about medical negligence, a new white paper tackles the issue head-on, debunking the most common myths with sound science and research while refuting the hyperbole and empty rhetoric. Five Myths About Medical Negligence, one in a series of reports from the American Association for Justice on this issue, examines the errors and faults behind the most...
- Pfizer Popped With $6.3M Prempro Verdict
Posted November 23, 2009, 3:14 am by Greg Jones
A Pennsylvania jury has ruled that two Pfizer Inc. units areliable for at least $6.3 million in compensatory damages to an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after she began taking the menopause drugs Prempro and Provera. The jury has yet to decide on punitive damages. On Friday, that the jury in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas had issued the verdict after finding that the combination of Wyeth's Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn's Provera substantially contributed to...