Author: Angela Leone

CONSUMER ALERT – CHILD SAFETY SEAT PERFORMANCES ARE UNDER PAR

“In a government crash-test video, the infant car seat flies off its base, smashing the baby dummy – still strapped into the carrier – upside down and face-first into the back of the driver’s seat.” (Patricia Callahan, Chicago Tribune).

A deep look into the data of several tests carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission (NHTSA) has revealed an industry-wide problem regarding the testing of safety for child car seats.

In a crash test study by the NHTSA, a total of 31 child safety seats flew off their bases or exceeded injury limits in a series of frontal crashes. These results however, were never released to the public. Why? Because the performance of these child safety seats was not the primary concern of the testers; they were only concerned with the general safety of the vehicles being crashed. It took a Chicago Tribune investigation to unearth these troubling results, and bring it to the public attention.

What this newspaper investigation has revealed a possible lack of rigor in the safety testing for child safety seats. Perhaps more important however, is the revelation that parents simply are not given any information they need in order to make an educated purchase. “You can compare the safety ratings for cars, but not for the safety of car seats. Parents often have no way which seat fits best in their car and whether conventional wisdom is accurate.” (Patricia Callahan, Chicago Tribune)

Joan Claybrook, president emeritus of the advocacy group Public Citizen and former administrator in the NHTSA was straightforward in her response, stating, “What you’ve uncovered totally reveals the flaws in the current safety standard and also NHTSA’s negligence in not reporting this to the public.” Fortunately however, this recent uproar has come to the attention of the newly installed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who in a written statement said he ordered a, “complete top to bottom review of child safety seat regulations,” while also directing the staff of the NHTSA to make results “more available” to the public.

At this point, it appears that the Federal Government has gotten the message, responding that it will toughen safety standards and increase public accessibility to results when testing child safety seats. Unfortunately, the corporate world has not gotten the message. Among the failing restraint systems in the federal test was a product called the “SafeSeat,” by the Graco Corporation. In a response to the Tribunes investigation, Graco released a written statement explaining that the failed seat was, “anomalous, not a repeatable event,” and that the tests were, “worthless for the purposes of evaluating and comparing infant restraint system performance.”

It appears that there is a lot left to accomplish in order to get the government to properly regulate the safety of infant restraint systems, and to get corporations to live up to those standards. In the mean time however, the best weapon a parent can have while purchasing a child safety seat is knowledge of important safety factors and an ability to compare across brands. If you are currently searching for a child safety seat for your family, please visit KeepKidsHealthy’s website on child safety seats.

If your family has been victim to a failing child safety seat, please do not hesitate to contact an attorney immediately.

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Chrysler Removes Body from Funeral

A graveside subpoena has kept a New Jersey man from his final resting place, and now members of his family are venting their outrage. Unfortunately, the family of the late Harold St. John is the most recent victim of the corporate legal machine.

In a desperate attempt to gain some ground in an ongoing lawsuit, the Chrysler Automobile Company demanded the body of Harold St. John be removed from his funeral service so additional tests could be performed. His remains have unfortunately become part of the legal tug of war surrounding a lawsuit Harold St. John’s exposure to asbestos while working for his father’s auto shop.

Harold St. John was diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a rare disease that is most commonly linked to asbestos exposure. While installing brake liners in his youth, Harold was constantly exposed to the dangerous chemical. As a result of his illness, he sued both Chrysler and Honeywell.

According to the family, the removal of the body was completely unwarranted. Chrysler’s claim was that the body needed to be removed in order to attain tissue samples, and discover the cause of death. However, Harold had undergone several extremely painful biopsy procedures to provide sufficient tissue samples while he was still alive.

Thus, the family has been left confused, only able to speculate why the Chrysler Corporation would get a court order for the remains of their father the day of his service.

“They waited until we all left, I don’t get it,” stated his son.

“The have all the evidence they need,” reports his late wife. “It’s a stall tactic. They’re ruthless.”

(WCBS-2, Cranbury, New Jersey)

Indeed, it would seem that respect for the dead and mourning don’t apply when it comes to Chrysler’s corporate agenda.

AIG – Arrogant, Ignorant, and Grossly Immoral

We have all read the headlines over the past months worthy of making an individual sick. Constantly we are told of how drastically irresponsible some insurance and financial institutions have been with the bailout money they have received from the Federal Government. At the top of that list sits AIG.

You may remember this, from an article in the Washington Post, dated October 8th, 2008:

Only one day after it was revealed that AIG had sprung for a $440,000 spa vacation shortly after getting an $84 billion government-loan bailout comes this report: The government is loaning AIG another $38 billion.

If that wasn’t enough to make you gag, wait until you hear this. While spending exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars on pedicures and vacations, AIG has been simultaneously dragging a suffering family through the mud for over a decade. After a fatal fire killed two Brooklyn firefighters in a, “fireproof,” building insured by AIG, the families of Lt. Joseph Cavalieri and Christopher Bopp were awarded several million dollars in damages by a unanimous jury decision.

AIG however, has continued to refuse to pay. By exploiting the appeals system of the courts, AIG has dodged payment for over 10 years.

“How do you possibly appeal something like this?” Mother of Christopher Bopp, Deloris Bopp recalled saying when she first heard of the appeal. Indeed, it seems hard to find grounds on which to appeal when the jury only needed an hour to award the families with $10 million dollars.

As the appeal was moving forward, the wheels began to fall off the oversized AIG corporate machine. When Ms. Bopp found out that AIG would be receiving $85 billion in bailout money, she became furious, and rightfully so.

How can a company pay millions of dollars in bonuses and all expenses paid vacations for its employees, while denying payment of the $10 million dollars that is rightfully owed to the victims under their policy? Easy: by taking massive amounts of taxpayer’s dollars and ignoring all moral responsibility to the public.

Both Parties Agree: Corporate Civil Justice Myths are Bogus

Recently released data from the Bush Administration’s Department of Justice has confirmed what politicians on both sides of the aisle already knew: Corporate attacks on the validity of the civil justice systems are unwarranted and false.

As part of an ongoing lobbying campaign, the Chamber of Commerce has continuously hassled politicians trying to get them to, “pull in the reigns of greedy trial lawyers who exploit our courts.” They however have been surprised to find out that Democratic President Barack Obama and Former Republican President George W. Bush both agreed that their tales of, “jackpot justice,” practiced by, “opportunist attorney’s,” were bogus.

Recently, the Chamber of commerce, through its political action committee, The Institute for Legal Reform, had pressed President Obama to reform the legal system to benefit corporate interests and make it more difficult for citizens to sue (See our December 23rd article for more information.) Fortunately for President Obama, he only had to look as far as former President George W. Bush for some data on the chamber’s claims.

The Department of Justice, under the Bush Administration, released a study confirming that the Chamber of Commerce’s claims were drastically over exaggerated. The study supplements a recent American Association for Justice study, which discovered the following facts:

Tort Cases make up only 6 percent of civil filings in state courts.

Tort cases represent less than one percent of civil filings in federal court

Manufacturing companies ranked “fear of litigation” as their lowest concern, well behind material costs, energy prices, foreign competition, and taxes.

Median legal expenses of individuals who incurred them were not exorbitant, and usually ranged between $5,000 and $4,000.

Although it is rare, both parties in Washington can agree that the Chamber of Commerce’s claims are not to, “protect the legal system from greedy attorneys,” but instead to bolster corporate image and interest at the expense of the people and the legal system established to protect them.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: Hospitals can be Held Liable for the Negligence of Non-Employees

Hospitals are vicariously liable for the negligence of their employees. However, much of the time, due to a variety of reasons, the doctor seeing you at the hospital is not actually a direct employee of the hospital. Many hospitals would like to make you believe that they are not responsible for the actions of non-employed doctors. Could it be true that hospitals are protected when a visiting doctor makes a life changing error?

The answer is no. First cited in New Jersey in the case, Arthur v. St. Peter’s Hospital, the doctrine of apparent employment establishes that hospitals are generally not liable for the acts of physicians who are not employees but rather independent contractors. However, because the hospital holds out a physician as its employee, the, “…plaintiff had a right to assume that the treatment was that was being received was being rendered through hospital employees and that any negligence associated with that treatment would render the hospital responsible.

If you have been subject harm due to the negligence of a visiting physician, do not let the hospital fool you into thinking you have no case. Please contact an attorney immediately to find out just who is responsible.

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New Jersey Health Care Audits Go Too Far

The New Jersey State Board has found another way to cut the budget – to sell short its employees. State workers are appalled at a recent audit released by the state in order to crack down on what it calls, unqualified dependents, who are receiving health care through the state.

According to some employees, letters were sent asking them to gather copies of birth certificates, marriage or civil union licenses, and 2007 income tax returns. They were told to send the information to a post office box in Illinois.

Union leaders say workers were asked for extremely invasive, personal information with little or no advance notice. The letters warned that failure to provide the information Feb. 20 would result in terminated benefits.

The current economic turmoil requires compromise and spending cuts for all Americans, however denying state employees and their families their rights to basic health care is not the answer.

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Supreme Court Overrules Public Safety

A Supreme Court ruling last year has begun to show its true colors, as many federal cases against Medical Technology Corporations will go unheard. In February of 2008, the high court decided to restrict the legal options for patients who claim they have been injured by a defective device. If the Food and Drug Administration has approved the device after, “rigorous review,” than a suit cannot be filed under state laws.

This unjust ruling will prevent many individuals who have been subject to hard due to faulty design from collecting the compensation they need to maintain a reasonable quality of life.

Devices that are not properly engineered can have catastrophic effects when implanted in a patient. Janet Moore, of the Star Tribune, provides us with an example:

“Make it stop,” Liz Fossum remembers thinking.

For about an hour early that November morning two years ago, Fossum’s implanted defibrillator repeatedly shocked her heart — 54 times all told. It felt like a horse was kicking her in the chest.

The 68-year-old grandmother from Golden Valley now knows that part of her heart device, an insulated wire made by Medtronic Inc., had been recalled by federal regulators because a small number had malfunctioned, occasionally causing unnecessary shocks.

Unfortunately for people like Ms. Fossum, there is little she can now do under the new law. Several Hundred cases had been filed against Sprint Fidelis, all of which were subsequently dismissed as a result of the Supreme Court decision. Obviously, all those affected by the faulty product were outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision to protect corporate interests over the interests of the public.

This new decision has left consumers without any means to remedy the harmful situation they were put in by a lack of vigilance on the part of the FDA. Henry Waxman, a Representative from California, believes that the Supreme Court puts too much faith in the FDA testing process. He stated that, “The Supreme Court assumed that FDA approval ensures medical devices are safe, but many recent stories of patients harmed by faulty devices have proven those assumptions false.”

Waxman along with New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone plan to introduce legislation that would circumvent the Supreme Court ruling and protect Americans from dangerous medical devices. Until that time however, citizens must remain vigilant. If you are in need of or considering the possible use of a medical device, please research all companies and available options fully. Until the government decides to protect consumers again, self-education is the best defense.

If you have been subject to a faulty medical device, please contact an attorney immediately. There are several possible options, which may allow you the compensation you deserve.

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Cigarette Companies and Their Red Handed Researchers

In 2006, a study by Dr. Claudia I. Henshke of the Weill Medical College at Cornell University shocked the medical professional world by reporting that the widespread use of CT scans could help prevent 80% of lung cancer deaths. The study was published in the renowned New England Journal of Medicine, and sent shock waves of hope through the medical profession. Unfortunately, the good news would be tainted by the discovery of a crippling conflict of interest: The study was funded almost entirely by the cigarette industry.

After Ms. Henshke reported her study to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, an investigation revealed a long string of deceivingly named non-profit funding, leading all the way back to big tobacco. After its startling discovery, the council wrote to the Journal, explaining its concern over the validity of Ms. Henshke’s findings.

The study failed to disclose that Dr. Henshke’s work had been underwritten in part by a $3.6 million grant from the parent company of the Liggett Group, a cigarette maker, something the journal editors said they had been unaware of.

The council’s criticism was received quickly by the Journal, who quickly moved into damage control mode. A letter in response from the Journal stated, “When we published Dr. Henschke’s article in 2006 it was not routine NEJM editorial policy to publish details about… funding. Since that time our thinking on this issue has evolved.” The journal now asks authors to disclose all royalties related to their research, and it publishes the information with the studies. The letter was signed by Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen, the journal’s editor in chief, as well as Corinne Broderick, executive vice president of the medical society.

The New England Journal of Medicine has taken the proper steps to remedy this immoral conflict of interest. Unfortunately, not every journal has taken the hint. When reading a medical study that might effect your decision making process, remember to read the fine print. Don’t let your well being be effected by corporate influence on greedy doctors.

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A Quarter of Nursing Homes Flunk the Test

In mid December, the federal government unveiled its new rating system, which it uses to help advise the public on the quality of care they are receiving from their local area nursing homes. This system will help individuals make informed decisions about the institution they trust with the care of their loved ones.

Under the new system, five stars means a nursing home ranks “much above average,” four stars indicates “above average,” three means “about average,” two is “below average” with a one indicating “much below average.” The rankings will be updated quarterly. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin stated that the new ranking system would help bolster transparency, which is, “…the key when it comes to nursing home quality.”

Unfortunately, along with the progress of informed decision making came the shocking realization that almost a quarter of all nursing homes in the country have been given the federal government’s lowest possible rating: one out of five stars. Receiving such a low rank in particular had to do with the high percentage of patients with bedsores after their first 90 days in the nursing home and the number of residents whose mobility worsened after admission.

When nursing homes are understaffed, over worked, and improperly trained, the results can be catastrophic. Where there is lack of individual patient attention, pressure sores and decreased mobility are sure to follow. When it comes to protecting your loved ones, please pay strict attention to the federal rating system. Alice Hedt of the Insititute for Nursing Home Reform states that, “Our initial reaction is that consumers should probably avoid any facility with a one- or two-star rating and even a three-star rating unless people they trust convince them that the rating is inaccurate or unfair.” However, the rating system alone is not enough to properly judge. Ms. Hedt advises that, “…Nothing should substitute visiting a nursing home when making a decision.”

If you are in the process of finding a nursing home for your loved one, please pay strict attention to the federal ranking system. If you have a family member already in a nursing home, please remember to check on them regularly. Bedsores are a life threatening injury, and should be checked for regularly. If your family member has been subject to bedsores due to a lack of proper care, please contact an attorney to help remedy the situation as fast as possible.

Related Information:

New Jersey Lawyers – Nursing Home Abuse

Sleepy Doctors Increase Harm to Patient by 700%, and Death Up by 300%

It doesn’t take a genius to know that without the proper amount of sleep, job performance drastically decreases. Sleep deprived workers in any profession increases the risk of error, and injury. When sleep deprivation occurs in the practice of medicine however, lives can be lost. So why is it that in a majority of hospitals around the country, studies have found that resident doctors are simply not getting enough sleep to provide proper care to their patients?

According to recent study by the Institute of Medicine, doctors in training should work no longer than 16 hours in a row without a five-hour nap to reduce risk to patients. The study was performed after increasing alarm amongst researchers who observed a majority of hospitals allowing 30-hour shifts without a required amount of sleep. To make things worse, Resident doctors, who are under paid and overburdened with student loans, usually end up having to supplement their income by moonlighting at other hospitals.

When the individual in charge of your well-being has not slept for 30 hours, they become a danger to themselves, and that danger passes on to you. According to a study by the Public Library of Public Medicine, it has been found that, “…sleep-deprived doctors are at high risk of making mistakes that injure or kill patients. When residents reported working five marathon shifts in a single month [30 straight hours or more], their risk of making a fatigue-related mistake that harmed a patient increased by 700%, and the risk of an error that resulted in a patient’s death shot up 300%.”

Figures of this size are unacceptable. The recent study demanding 5 hours of sleep per 16 hours of work is indeed a step in the right direction, however it is not enough to solve an epidemic problem in our health care system. Simply put, at current rates, residents are not getting enough sleep to properly care for patients. Although all residents have only the highest of intentions, they can easily make mistakes when hospitals force them into these marathon shifts.

If you or a loved one is currently in the care of a hospital, and you suspect they have been have not received proper care due to a sleep-deprived staff, please inform the hospital immediately. Hopefully mistakes and accidents can be avoided by bringing it to the hospital’s attention. If you suspect wrongful death or injury due to a sleep deprived hospital staff however, please do not hesitate to contact an attorney. You may be entitled to compensation.

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