Monthly Archives: September 2009

Toyota Recalls Almost 4 Million Vehicles for Floor Mat Dangers

Written On September 30, 2009 By Bob Kraft

I  have written before about dangers presented by floor mat design in certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota has now recalled almost four million vehicles because of this defect. If you have one of the affected vehicles, you need to remove the floor mats until Toyota comes up with a solution to the problem. Here [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Vehicle Law or News

The Real Reason for “Excessive” Medical Tests

Written On September 29, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Today’s Dallas Morning News has an editorial regarding medical testing that is relevant to the current health care debate. In my experience, “excessive” medical testing has more to do with medical professionals wanting to profit from the tests than with the defensive medicine so often mentioned by proponents of tort reform. That doesn’t mean the [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Surgical Sponge Cases to Test Time Limits on Texas Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Written On September 28, 2009 By Bob Kraft

An article in the Austin American-Statesman details two cases before the Texas Supreme Court. The cases will give the Court an opportunity to correct one glaring injustice in medical malpractice law. Many plaintiff lawyers are not too optimistic that our ultra-conservative, pro-insurance Supreme Court will even recognize that there is an injustice, much less take [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial

Another Great PILMMA Conference

Written On September 26, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Today is the last day of the Fall 2009 PILMMA Marketing and Management Summit, and it’s been the best one yet. I’ve been in the group since the first meeting in April 2005, and it just keeps improving.
We’ve had great speakers, fun and informative networking, and best of all was the two-day Platinum Level Mastermind [...]

Posted in Bar Associations and Legal Groups, Practice Tips

Lawyer’s “Negligent Stapling” Causes Judge to Dismiss Motion

Written On September 25, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Ouch! Check your paperwork before submitting it to a court. As reported at Law.com, a New York judge dismissed a motion for summary judgment in a car wreck case because the plaintiff’s petition was stapled in such a way as to twice stick a court clerk and draw blood. The judge said the papers were [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

Friday Fun

Written On September 25, 2009 By Bob Kraft

If everyone drove as badly in real life as I do in Parking Lot 3, my law firm would have a lot more car wreck business!

Posted in Friday Fun

Tort Reform: A Bad Bargain That Won’t Fix Health Care

Written On September 25, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In an excellent blog post at The Huffington Post, AAJ president Anthony Tarricone makes the case that tort reform is bad for Americans and will not solve the health care dilemma. The entire article is well-worth reading, but here are the opening paragraphs:

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that a southern Illinois woman died after [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

U.S. Bill Would Apply Antitrust Law to Medical Insurers

Written On September 24, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Reuters news agency reports there is legislation introduced in the House and Senate that would at long last end the antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies. This comes in the midst of a vigorous, to say the least, debate over health care reform and concerns about health premiums rising far [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance

Featured Link – National Punctuation Day

Written On September 24, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Today is National Punctuation Day, and it couldn’t come soon enough for me. I get so tired of seeing improper punctuation coming from people who should know better. Misplaced quotation marks and unnecessary apostrophes just drive me crazy. Do yourself a favor and visit this site or buy a book on grammar and punctuation. You [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Practice Tips

Survey Suggests Fatigued, Stressed Hospital Residents Make More Major Medical Errors

Written On September 23, 2009 By Bob Kraft

MedPage Today (9/22, Walsh) reported, “Internal medicine residents who report higher levels of fatigue, sleepiness, and distress are at greater risk for reporting major medical errors,” according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers issued questionnaires to residents who had enrolled in a “Mayo Internal Medicine Well-being Study between July [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Health Care and the Myth of Tort Reform

Written On September 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an interesting editorial commenting on the recommendations of some politicians to make “tort reform” a part of any new health care legislation. Those of us who have spent years involved in the medical malpractice claims process and have read many studies on the subject understand that medical malpractice claims amount [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Tort Reform

Access to the Courts in Washington State Remains Safe

Written On September 21, 2009 By Bob Kraft

An editorial in the Seattle Times hits the nail on the head when it comes to laws requiring medical malpractice victims to get a medical certificate of merit before being allowed to file suit and conduct discovery. This is an unreasonable burden for the potential plaintiff. How can you prove medical malpractice before you’re allowed [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial

Increasing Demand and Declining Funds for the Mentally Ill in North Texas

Written On September 21, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The current economic crisis has resulted in many more North Texans seeking taxpayer-funded mental health care as people lose both their jobs and, with it, health insurance.  At the same time, the company that runs the state program is preparing to cut its budget. Demand has increased by about 17 percent since July 2008 and [...]

Posted in Disability, Social Security Disability

Toyota Urges Dealers and Car Washes to Check Floor Mats After Fatal Crash

Written On September 20, 2009 By Bob Kraft

As reported by the Houston Examiner:
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. has urged its dealer body and that of Lexus to inspect all vehicles, new and used, as well as loaner fleet vehicles for floor mats that may interfere with the operation of the pedals in their cars after California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Vehicle Law or News

Obama To Study Medical Malpractice Claims

Written On September 18, 2009 By Bob Kraft

This article is from the New York Times, and describes a pilot program by the White House to study medical malpractice claims. Perhaps the money would be better spent studying the causes of medical malpractice itself, and studying the profits earned by insurance carriers who charge enormous premiums for medical malpractice insurance. Here are excerpts [...]

Posted in Government, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Free Discount Prescription Card Available Now For Dallas County Residents

Written On September 18, 2009 By Bob Kraft

There is a new free discount prescription card available to all residents of Dallas County, and to many others around the country. The card, called Coast2CoastRX,  is the product of Financial Marketing Concepts, Inc., of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. I got one, and I didn’t see any “catches” to the plan. The card is accepted [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Medical and Health Resources

Friday Fun

Written On September 18, 2009 By Bob Kraft

That enemy of productivity Tom Mighell has given us another time-waster. Here’s Tom’s description: “Galactrix is a little like Bejeweled, in Space, with Bombs.  So of course it’s totally addictive.”

Posted in Friday Fun

FDA Requires Strong Amputation Warning on Sedative Promethazine

Written On September 17, 2009 By Bob Kraft

As reported by the Associated Press, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring manufacturers of injected promethazine, a sedative also used to treat nausea and vomiting, to put the strongest warning possible on the product because it can cause tissue damage leading to amputation. Here are excerpts from the aticle:
The drug, previously sold by Wyeth [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims

Featured Link – HealthBase.com

Written On September 16, 2009 By Bob Kraft

HealthBase is a new Web site that aggregates medical information from across the Internet. It’s still in beta release, but certainly looks promising. If you need information on causes, treatments, or complications of any health condition, check out HealthBase.

Posted in Featured Link, Medical and Health Resources

Danger in Buying Cars from Rental Companies

Written On September 15, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Have you ever bought a used car from a rental company such as Enterprise? Many people believe this is a good way to get a car that has been properly maintained and has relatively few miles, and in fact there are some good reasons to buy from rental companies. But there is one big reason [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Vehicle Law or News