Monthly Archives: January 2009

Study Shows Basic Checklist Cut Surgical Deaths in Half

Written On January 31, 2009 By Bob Kraft

We see way too many instances of medical malpractice at our law firm. It's a shame, because 90+ percent of the doctors I've known have been careful, caring professionals. Like lawyers, doctors are sometimes ill-served by staff, and of course it's the doctors who get the blame.
A recent article from the Associated Press points out [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Obama Signs Equal-Pay Bill Into Law

Written On January 30, 2009 By Bob Kraft

President Obama yesterday signed his first bill into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. USA Today (1/30, Jackson) reports the new law "makes it easier for workers to sue companies for pay discrimination and effectively reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that had given workers 180 days to file a lawsuit after the pay [...]

Posted in Employment Law

Tainted Peanut Butter Recall May Become Largest Product Recall In History

Written On January 30, 2009 By Bob Kraft

News sources quickly picked up on the implications of Tuesday's revelation that the Peanut Corporation Of America had been knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter since the beginning of 2007. NBC Nightly News (1/28, story 4, 2:10, Williams) reported early in its broadcast that the tainted peanut butter "problem goes back further and is much larger [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Friday Fun

Written On January 30, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Twenty REALLY thin houses and buildings in Japan.

Posted in Friday Fun

Social Security Expands Fast-Track Disability Processes

Written On January 29, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Social Security Administration has announced this week that more than 100,000 disabled applicants are to get quick decisions in their claims. This is of course great news for those in the small percentage who have managed to get their claims on the fast-track. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of claimants, the wait between initial [...]

Posted in Government, Social Security Disability

Dallas County to Block Vehicle Registrations for Unpaid Tickets

Written On January 29, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Dallas County is owed more than $200 million by drivers with unpaid traffic tickets. Beginning within a few days, Dallas County will start refusing to renew vehicle registrations for owners with unpaid fines. So if you owe money, you need to pay up before your current registration expires. Here are details in excerpts from a [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Obama Administration Has Issued Stay to Stop Pending Preemption Rules

Written On January 28, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In a blog entry on the Huffington Post website (1/28) Les Weisbrod writes, "It has become devastatingly clear that the drug and medical device companies will do just about anything to make a buck, regardless of the effect on public health and safety. And the FDA is unable to police an industry that time and [...]

Posted in Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Local Retailers Assure Consumers That They Have Plan in Place for Recalls

Written On January 26, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Florida Times-Union (1/25, Salman) reported, "The recent recall of peanut butter products related to a salmonella outbreak that left more than 480 people sick and six dead nationally – although no illnesses were reported in Florida – has local retailers taking steps to ensure the problem is controlled." Natt Ambrosius, general manager of the [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

The Trouble With Carfax

Written On January 26, 2009 By Bob Kraft

My friend and Oklahoma attorney Louis M. Green has an interesting post on his blog about the accuracy of Carfax reports. He titles his post The Trouble With Carfax. Here are the opening paragraphs. Check it out.
Most people purchasing used cars rely solely on Carfax to let them
know whether or not the vehicle they are [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Vehicle Law or News

Friday Fun

Written On January 23, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Half the fun of watching Jack Bauer fight terrorism on the television show 24 is seeing all the hot new technology his team uses. So how would this show have worked if it had taken place in 1994? See for yourself.

Posted in Friday Fun

Just Hang Up and Drive!

Written On January 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that distracted drivers account for almost 80% of auto crashes and 65% of near-crashes in the United States. A recent Harvard study showed that approximately 636,000 car accidents happen every year because drivers are talking or texting while driving. About 2600 of these wrecks involve fatalities.
The Dallas Morning [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

President-Elect of Pennsylvania AAJ: Remain Tough on Dram Shop Law

Written On January 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In an op-ed in the Legal Intelligencer (1/20) Kevin R. Marciano, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice wrote that the people who are the fault of drunk driving related accidents and fatalities are "people who hold parties without watching for people who stumble out of their homes, the drunk drivers themselves and bar owners [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Health Authorities Confirm Source of Salmonella Outbreak

Written On January 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal (1/22, Zhang, Jargon) reports, "Federal health authorities confirmed that peanut butter and peanut paste made by a Virginia company are the sole sources of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 486 people in 43 states." The Journal adds, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 14 institutions where people [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices

As Salmonella Investigation Expands, FDA Advises Avoiding Products With Peanut Butter

Written On January 21, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Washington Post (1/21, A2, Layton) reports, "The federal government is advising consumers to avoid cookies, cakes, ice cream and crackers made with peanut butter or peanut paste while it continues to investigate an outbreak of salmonella illness that is believed to have killed six people and sickened at least 485 others across the country." [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices

President Of Georgia Trial Lawyers Association Disagrees With George Will Column

Written On January 21, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In an letter to the editor in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/19) Fred Orr, the president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association wrote, "George Will's column 'Litigious 'cult of safety' puts society at risk'…contained grossly distorted examples of lawsuits and misconstrued the fundamentals of our Constitution and America's appreciation for basic safety." Orr said, "The Constitution [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Tort Reform

Featured Link – Lupus Foundation of America

Written On January 20, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Support groups exist for almost every disabling condition. We were recently hired by an individual who needed help with a  Social Security disability appeal in a claim involving severe lupus. Because our firm speaks with many local support groups, we were able to give her a referral to the Lupus Foundation of America – North [...]

Posted in Disability, Medical and Health Resources, Social Security Disability

Pharmaceutical Plants Move Overseas, Cause Concern

Written On January 20, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The New York Times (1/20, D1, Harris) reports on the front page of its Science Times section that "experts and lawmakers are growing more and more concerned that the nation is far too reliant on medicine from abroad, and they are calling for a law that would require that certain drugs be made or stockpiled [...]

Posted in Government, Prescription Drug Claims

Obama Team Reviewing Last Minute Regulations

Written On January 20, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Chicago Tribune (1/20) reports that "Obama's team is conducting a wholesale review of scores of rules and regulations set in motion by Bush administration officials as his term wound down, the aides said, with an eye toward putting them on hold until the review is completed. Critics say some of the rules weaken worker [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Texas Legislature Sets Priorities: Me First

Written On January 16, 2009 By Bob Kraft

As reported in the Dallas Morning News, one of the first acts of the Texas House, in the biannual session beginning this month, was to vote for an increase in their personal budget. Here are excerpts from the story:

The House will
spend up to $750,000 more on staff and office costs this session
despite hard economic times [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial

Medtronic Paid Spine Surgeon $19 Million

Written On January 16, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal (1/16, Armstrong, Burton) reports, "A prominent spine surgeon and researcher at the University of Wisconsin received $19 million in payment over five years from Medtronic Inc., one of the country's largest makers of spinal devices, according to a senator who is investigating potential conflicts of interest in medicine." Dr. Thomas Zdeblick, [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices