- Bob Carroll | May 31, 2006 6:29 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsFinally, experts are saying drug companies need to provide less advertising hype and more data about their products. Maybe now we will hear less about how purple a pill is and more about its potential harm.US experts say patients, doctors need clearer dataWhen it comes to drug safety, U.S. patients and doctors need less advertising hype and more data to help decide whether to use prescription...
- Bob Carroll | May 30, 2006 5:42 AM |
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MiscellaneousPicking a doctor is not always easy. Apparently, doctors have a similar problem - when they a picking a candidate for political office. The St. Pete Times tells us where the support of chiropractors and other physicians is going in one State Senate race. Medical groups pick sides in state Senate raceChiropractors and physicians clash in the GOP primary between Frank Farkas and Kim...
- Bob Carroll | May 26, 2006 4:42 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeA news story from the Gulf Coast of Florida tells us how a dental malpractice case uncovered two secrets that should never have been kept from a patient. We ought to be able to trust our healthcare providers. But, this North Florida patient is living in pain and the fear of AIDS because that trust was betrayed.Betrayal of Trust?Putting your trust in a medical professional is one of the most...
- Bob Carroll | May 25, 2006 8:17 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsDo not share your home with a portable generator. Using a generator indoors will kill. That is the strong message from the Consumer Product Safety Commission as reported in the St. Pete Times.Generators to carry a warningAfter a record number of carbon monoxide deaths, federal regulators require a label for gas-powered portable generators.Portable generators can be a lifesaver in the aftermath...
- Bob Carroll | May 24, 2006 5:56 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeAccording to the American Prospect, your guess may be as good as mine (and your doctor's) about your medical problem.It's easy to forget how much of American medicine is a guessing game, how your treatments are a composite result of your doctor's experiences, biases, treasured anecdotes, and personal reactions to his own training. Most folks think medicine operates off a rigidly defined set of...
- Bob Carroll | May 23, 2006 4:53 AM |
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Property Owner's Liability (Slip & Fall)BrainInjury Blogs has just posted a very timely reminder about the importance of pool safety. Every summer there are Tampa Bay news reports of drownings and serious brain injuries as a result of swimming pool incidents. Most of the victims are children. The full article is well worth a read.Swimming Pool SafetyWith the approach of the memorial day weekend, it's important to focus on swimming...
- Bob Carroll | May 23, 2006 4:29 AM |
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MiscellaneousIn 1965, Ralph Nader published his book, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile His purpose was to protect the consumer. Today, 41 years later, Ralph writes about AutoZone at CommomDreams.org. His purpose is to protect the coerced employee. And, to underscore the vital role of our civil justice system in America. Ralph continues to be a national treasure.In...
- Bob Carroll | May 22, 2006 5:50 PM |
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MiscellaneousSo...You thought briefly about becoming a lawyer. But, your sanity was restored before you could register for your first law school class. If you still have that hankering for the practice of law take a brief trip through Blawg Review #58. Some pretty good stuff.
- Bob Carroll | May 21, 2006 5:26 AM |
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MiscellaneousAz calls itself the Blog For Arizona. But, after reading these excerpts from its article on what it calls Tort Reformâ„¢ maybe it should be the Blog For America. The rest of the article is well worth a side trip.Tort Reformâ„¢ is an Attack on Constitutional RightsI wrote yesterday on damage awards, marketed under the trade name Tort Reformâ„¢ by the GOP, and the damage it does to those harmed...
- Bob Carroll | May 20, 2006 6:31 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeBoth Florida and federal law against patient dumping (EMTALA) may have been violated at a hospital in Daytona Beach, FL. My experience with EMTALA cases is that violations are often an easier route to compensation if the patient victim has suffered harm than a medical malpractice action. This is particularly true because of recently enacted protections for emergency rooms and the doctors who...
- Bob Carroll | May 20, 2006 5:32 AM |
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Workplace DiscriminationSuzette Witmer of Bartow, Florida, knows the full meaning of three strikes and you are out. She claims her age, her gender and her disability combined to get her fired. U.S. Foodservice Sued in FiringA 58-year-old Bartow woman is suing a multibillion-dollar company that purchased the Lakeland-based Mutual Wholesale Co. five years ago, claiming she was fired because she was an older woman with...
- Bob Carroll | May 20, 2006 5:17 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsGunsmoke brand cigarettes part of smokescreen. That should be the headline of this news story.Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist announced yesterday that his office has moved to have one of the nation's largest tobacco manufacturers held in contempt for violating Florida's historic multi-billion-dollar 1997 tobacco settlement. Crist said Brown & Williamson Holding Inc. failed to report the...
- Bob Carroll | May 20, 2006 4:58 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThis will be a test of your ability to spot the moment in this trial when the Defendant, Donald Clawson, lost the jury. Fort Myers woman wins $1 million in DUI court caseA Collier County jury awarded the victim of a drunk driving accident a little over $1 million Friday.Kimberly Carpenter, 37, of Fort Myers won the $1,050,979 verdict against Donald Clawson of Naples, after a four-day...
- Bob Carroll | May 19, 2006 7:11 AM |
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MiscellaneousIf you have neck pain and want relief fast, you should read this article. Manual therapy speeds recovery from neck pain For patients with neck pain, manual therapy yields faster recovery than general practitioner treatment or physical therapy, reports a randomized trial in the May issue of The Clinical Journal of Pain.The study included 183 patients visiting their general practitioner for...
- Bob Carroll | May 19, 2006 6:31 AM |
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MiscellaneousI will be at the University of Florida in Gainesville today.While I am on the campus I will spend several hours at the medical school library and the medical school bookstore. Why? Because that is what I need to do regularly to keep abreast of the medicine that is so important in the evaluation and preparation of my cases.A lawyer who represents the wrongfully injured probably reads more...
- Bob Carroll | May 19, 2006 6:01 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeRepresenting the victims of medical malpractice today is much more difficult because of the continuous efforts to cap the damages of the most severely injured patients. Love Ministries has posted an email from Heather Lewinski, a young victim. Medical Malpractice Legislation - People Over ProfitsPlease read the below email from medical malpractice victim Heather Lewinski. As the Senate prepares...
- Bob Carroll | May 18, 2006 8:53 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsThree drug companies have three different approaches to the claims being made by injured victims over their products. The Drug Law Blog gives us a guided tour of their strategies. Vioxx, ReNu and Ortho Evra: A Look at Three Responses to Problematic DrugsHere is a comparison of what we know about three companies -- Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Bausch & Lomb -- and how they are responding to...
- Bob Carroll | May 18, 2006 2:21 PM |
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Workplace InjuriesAn injured worker is legally entitled to file a worker's compensation claim without fear of retaliation by his employer. Sometimes, however, the employer decides to retaliate by firing the injured employee or by taking some other adverse action. When that happens, the law provides for a cause of action against the employer. Ex-UPS driver to get $6 million over firing for being 'injury...
- Bob Carroll | May 17, 2006 6:40 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeIt is a medical miracle that organ transplantation has progressed so far. The New York Times reports on two transplants that transmitted the West Nile virus. The article raises difficult questions of screening and testing that deserve serious study and discussion.In the antiseptic prose of medical journals, he was "the lung recipient," she "the liver recipient." In real life, they were two...
- Bob Carroll | May 17, 2006 6:17 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsThe FDA has discovered 35 ReNu-related fungal infections in Singapore in mid 2005. But, the lips of Bausch & Lomb were sealed. See no evil is not a good drug company motto.FEDS FOCUS ON EYE-FUNGUS FIRM'S SILENCEMay 17, 2006 -- Bausch & Lomb Inc. failed to promptly notify federal regulators about 35 cases of a potentially blinding fungal infection among contact-lens wearers in Singapore who...
- Bob Carroll | May 16, 2006 7:56 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsToday may be a good day to put a lock on your medicine cabinet if you have a teenager in your home.Teens seek 'safer' high, get hooked on pain pillsStudy finds drop in smoking, drinking as more kids abuse prescription drugsTeen smoking and drinking continued to drop, but teenage abuse of prescription drugs has become "an entrenched behavior" that many parents fail to recognize, a survey released...
- Bob Carroll | May 16, 2006 7:42 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsOne benefit of the civil justice system is that some verdicts remind us to inspect or maintain the safety devices that otherwise are unnoticed and ignored for years.Jury Awards Family $7M For Injuries; Death Caused By Defective Smoke AlarmSheila Hackert, et al. v. First Alert Inc., et al. Case number: No. 1:03-cv-216 Court: N.D. N.Y.
- Bob Carroll | May 14, 2006 9:31 AM |
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MiscellaneousA trial lawyer has taken on four major insurance companies over their refusal to pay claims for hurricane damage. Scruggs sues Allstate for denying claimsRenowned Mississippi lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs filed a lawsuit Friday against Allstate Insurance Co., the second major insurer he's sued this week for allegedly denying rightful claims of hurricane-damaged homes.The Scruggs Law Firm...
- Bob Carroll | May 14, 2006 7:06 AM |
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MiscellaneousSince man first peopled the Earth, mothers have enjoyed special esteem. The Greeks revered Rhea, mother of many of their gods, as the Romans did their Cybele. Early Christians during Lent honored Jesus' mother, Mary. In England this was expanded to include all mothers, and was called Mothering Sunday.I have all of this information, and more, from montgomeryadvertiser.com and a retired attorney. ...
- Bob Carroll | May 12, 2006 8:11 AM |
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MiscellaneousToday is a travel day for me. I am going to Miami to attend the law school graduation tomorrow of a wonderful young man I have known since he was born. Josh Chilson is completing a journey he has planned almost his whole life. As soon as he passes the Florida Bar examination in a few months he will become an Associate in my law firm. I am proud of his accomplishments and very pleased we...
- Bob Carroll | May 11, 2006 7:07 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeMedical News Today has posted an article about the efforts of some hospitals to reduce errors through "innovative" facility designs.The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined how some hospitals are "factoring hospital layout and design into the patient-safety equation" in their efforts to reduce medical errors. At least 35 health organizations are building new facilities with architectural and...
- Bob Carroll | May 10, 2006 6:57 PM |
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MiscellaneousVaccine-makers, Senator Bill Frist and The White House shared an unusual intimacy. I wouldn't care if it involved late night parties. This intimacy, however, resulted in secret legislation. Truthout.org posts the story: Vaccine industry officials helped shape legislation behind the scenes that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist secretly amended into a bill to shield them from lawsuits,...
- Bob Carroll | May 10, 2006 5:44 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeRandi McGinn, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, attorney who says he has represented both patients hurt by medical malpractice and an occasional doctor sued unfairly, has written the clearest, most convincing argument against caps on medical malpractice I have seen to date. I have posted the entire article because it is that good. I hope Randi understands.Malpractice Caps Limit Care When it...
- Bob Carroll | May 10, 2006 8:57 AM |
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MiscellaneousOn a blog that calls itself Overlawyered there is a post by Walter Olson that ridicules the continuing efforts of consumer organizations and parents to avoid the tragedy of TV tip-over deaths of toddlers. Warning label demanded: TVs subject to gravity Following three accidents in New York City, some grieving parents are asking for legislation mandating that TV sets carry warning labels that...
- Bob Carroll | May 10, 2006 7:04 AM |
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MiscellaneousA post by Tim Moore, a former disability claims examiner, at ABB Retirement discusses the Social Security Disability Benefits Program. Tim knows what he is talking about.Social Security: It's More Than Just Retirement BenefitsMost of us when we hear the term, social security, tend to think of the elderly, or get a brief pre-cognitive flash of the days ahead when we, too, will be "older" and...
- Bob Carroll | May 10, 2006 6:33 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsAnother prescription drug is being linked to serious complications. Fosamax, Merck's other drug problemWith thousands of Vioxx cases already in the courts, the drugmaker faces 15 suits over an osteoporosis drug blamed for rotting the jaw bone.Merck, already in a long fight against thousands of Vioxx lawsuits, will soon face a two-front war, as plaintiffs begin to file suit over a different drug:...
- Bob Carroll | May 07, 2006 1:48 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsA foreign news report reminds us that cell phones are not the only distractions that contribute to automobile accidents.Jury out on cell phones Calls are growing for a ban on cell phone use while driving, after a crash killed a cyclist in Chilliwack this week. The woman was hit by a 17-year-old motorist who was reportedly looking down at her cell phone.The tragedy follows the 2004 death of...
- Bob Carroll | May 07, 2006 11:13 AM |
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MiscellaneousThere is now solid evidence that America, the Home of the Brave, may also be the Home of the Sick, at least for middle-aged Americans. The British National Health Service must be doing something right.Middle-aged English people are healthier than their American counterparts, according to a collaborative study issued today by English and US researchers. Americans aged between 55 and 64 suffer...
- Bob Carroll | May 06, 2006 5:21 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeLet us pronounce the death and burial of compassionate conservatism. And, let us admit that when a governmental entity or employee kills or seriously injures someone through reckless, willful or negligent conduct the victims will not be given a fair hearing in the Florida Legislature.State Senate President Tom Lee thinks claims filed by the unfortunate victims of state misconduct are "way too...
- Bob Carroll | May 06, 2006 4:28 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsOver 100 cases of a serious eye infection have been confirmed by the CDC. Among contact lens wearers, multiple products manufactured by Bausch & Lomb and other companies have now been implicated as potential sources of the infections.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday reported a 19 percent increase in the confirmed cases of a serious eye infection that has prompted eye...
- Bob Carroll | May 05, 2006 1:48 AM |
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MiscellaneousErnestine and Thurman Townsend were an elderly couple. They both had medical conditions and problems. But, what happened to them after a plumbing problem in their home made their lives a lot worse. They found out they were not in Good Hands® with Allstate. From the West Virginia Record we have the story:One night, the water supply line to a commode burst, and water flowed into their home or...
- Bob Carroll | May 03, 2006 4:54 AM |
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MiscellaneousDuring a lawsuit an injured victim may be required to attend a compulsory examination by a physician chosen by the defense. Although these examinations are sometimes called Independent Medical Examinations (IME's) there is nothing remotely independent about them.It is common for the examining doctor to be carefully selected by the defense because he has been a reliable fellow in past cases,...
- Bob Carroll | May 02, 2006 6:27 AM |
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MiscellaneousDuring the last few years, I have met some of the nicest people ever during interviews with potential new clients. These conferences are always different because of the differences in the potential claims and injuries and the personalities in the room. But, for some reason, many of these conferences have been especially unique and satisfying. It may be that more victims are preparing...
- Bob Carroll | May 01, 2006 5:43 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe Simply Appalling Blog which provides "A jaundiced eye on the news" wonders why everyone tip-toes around one of the most obvious reasons for the high cost of medical care in the U.S. Healthcare costs: The deception continues focuses on physician income. An editorial in the British medical journal The Lancet casts a skeptical eye on the universal health insurance plan recently enacted by the...