Category: blog

Supreme Court Decision Allows for Compensation

A March 4th Supreme Court decision has allowed juries to award damages for the harmful side effects of drugs, even if the drug had the proper FDA approved warning labels. This ruling comes in the wake of recent discovery that many drugs widely used on the market over the past decade were the result of falsified medical research.Thousands of cases against the makers of drugs like Vioxx, will now have a higher probabilty of settling, after the drug has been shown to cause serious heart related problems, as well as hinder bone growth.

If you or a loved one has had their quality of life decline due to the harmful side effects of a prescription medicine, then they may be entitled to compensation. Please contact an attorney immediately.

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New Jersey Senator Lends an Ear to the Victims of Insurance Company Tactics

“As far as Kia Moore is concerned, the health insurance system miserably failed her and her 20-month-old son. Xavier Hylton was born at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden with two malfunctioning kidneys and requires daily dialysis treatments as he awaits a transplant. He had grown enough to medically qualify for that transplant by March, but Moore said the procedure was delayed at least six months by a struggle over insurance coverage. Today, she said, her son should already have a functioning kidney and be on his way to living a near-normal life.” (Maryann Spoto, The Star-Ledger)

Last week, citizens of New Jersey who have fallen victim to the ruthless tactics of insurance companies were given time to fume their anger to US Senator Bob Menendez. The stories Senator Menendez would hear would appall him, and only add to his arsenal to bring to Washington with the hopes of sparking health care reform. Although invited, no representatives from the insurance agencies were present for the meeting.

“It’s no secret to anyone that our health care system is badly in need of reform,” Menendez said. “There are few things more important to the families in this state than fixing it, making sure in this great nation of ours that no one goes to sleep without health coverage, that no one has to choose between paying for heat in the winter and paying for medication that keeps them alive.”

Senator Menendez called the meeting in light of a new health care system proposal authored by Senator Max Baucus of Montana. Central to the Baucus proposal is the creation of a Health Care Exchange composed of a nationwide group of private insurance companies that would be prohibited from discriminating against pre-existing conditions.

Currently, under the existing set up, patients who visit emergency rooms due to lack of coverage end up being burdens of the tax payer. In Camden alone, more tha $460 million has been spent over the past five years on charity cases. Because the proposal would require every resident to obtain health insurance, it also provides for federal subsidies for families and small businesses unable to afford coverage through the exchange.

This new proposal has received the plaudits of Jeffery Brenner, a local Camden physician. Brenner advocates a system that brings those emergency room patients into the system for follow-ups so they can receive the appropriate care and are less of a financial drain on the system.

“Somehow we lost sight of the fact that the purpose of the home-care delivery system is to heal the sick, care for wounded and prevent illness,” he said. “It’s not to make physicians wealthy or pharmaceutical representatives wealthy or stockholders or insurance companies wealthy. The patient should be at the center of the system and indeed should be our top priority.”

Until serious reform has occurred however, the best ally a patient can have when dealing with their insurance carrier is an experienced attorney.

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THE RESEARCH RECESSION: 12 years of Anesthesiology progress in question

Over the past 12 years, anesthesiologist Scott Reuben revolutionized the way physicians provide pain relief to patients undergoing orthopedic surgery for everything from torn ligaments to worn-out hips. (Brendan Borrell, Scientific American)

Rueben’s drug studies were responsible for convincing orthopedic surgeons to move away from the first generation of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs to a new method, known as COX2 inhibitors. He claimed that these new drugs, made popular under the names Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra, in combination with anticonvulsants could be effective in decreasing postoperative pain and reduce the use of addictive pain killers, such as morphine, after surgery. What seemed to be a break through, Reuben’s findings were hailed as a great step forward in redesigning anesthesiology.

12 years later however, the profession is in a state of crisis after an investigation by the Baystate Medical Center revealed that at least 21 of Reuben’s papers were entirely made up, faking the beneficial results and in some cases, masking possible dangers. The investigation found that the data in these 21 studies had been partially doctored, and in some cases, entirely fabricated by Dr. Rueben.

Although this most recent investigation has brought the wall tumbling down for Dr. Rueben, signs of cracks had leaks had begun to rear their ugly head over the past five years. In the early part of the decade, orthopedic surgeons began to distrust Rueben’s COX2 inhibitors, when animal testing found that the drugs might actually hinder bone healing. Soon there after, in 2004, Vioxx and Bextra, and Celebrex were pulled from the market because of their link to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. All the mean time, Dr. Rueben continued to present positive “findings” for the use of these COX2 inhibitors in his research.

So, even with the public at risk, what motivated Dr. Rueben continue his campaign for these drugs? Simple. Money. It was discovered during the course of the Baystate investigation that Dr. Rueben’s research was entirely funded by Pfizer; the maker of both Celebrex, and the anticonvulsants lauded by Dr. Rueben’s study to be used in conjunction with the COX2 inhibitors. Baystate however could not find any records of the payments, suggesting that the payments were made not to Dr. Rueben’s research group, but instead directly to Dr. Rueben.

Although we may think of doctor’s as always having the best intentions, one must always remember the power of money. Pharmaceutical corporations are some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and they need doctors on their side. It is much easier today for these drug companies to pay off a doctor to get the results they need rather than go back to the drawing table and leave behind an unsuccessful product. Because of this, remember to always remain informed when consulting with your doctor about possible medication options. An informed patient is always the safest patient.

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CONSUMER ALERT – State Farm Recalls “Good Neigh Bears” Due to Choking Hazard

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced a voluntary recall by State Farm concerning a children’s toy bear. The bear figures, manufactured in China, were handed out by State Farm agents and given away at State Farm sponsored events over from 2005 on to the present.

The eyes on the toy bear can be removed, posing a possible choking hazard to children.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests that consumers should immediately take these toys away from children and discard them.

For additional information, contact State Farm toll free at (877) 226-8079.

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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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