Monthly Archives: September 2010

Featured Link – U.S. News Best Hospitals 2010-11

Written On September 30, 2010 By Bob Kraft

U.S. News has released its latest hospital rating report. There are so many variables to consider that I don’t put a great deal of stock in this type of rating system, but there is helpful information provided. Here is a description from the article:
U.S. News evaluated almost 5,000 hospitals to rank the best in 16 [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Medical and Health Resources

Auto Rental Companies Buy Cars Without Side Air Bags to Save $175

Written On September 29, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Be very careful when renting a car from Enterprise Rent-A-Car or one of its subsidiaries, and especially careful if you are considering purchasing a used vehicle from Enterprise. The company has been buying vehicles that normally come equipped with side curtain air bags as standard equipment. But Enterprise worked out a deal with the manufacturer [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

At Distracted-Driving Conference, LaHood Calls for Crackdown

Written On September 28, 2010 By Bob Kraft

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opened this year’s National Distracted Driving Summit last week by announcing new anti-distracted driving regulations for commercial truck and bus drivers. One of the primary changes in the law is that it is now illegal for bus and truck drivers to use a cell phone or other devise to send [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Cell Phone Use in School Zones Still OK in One North Texas City

Written On September 27, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Texas Legislature passed a state-wide law about two years ago that bans hand-held cell phone use in school zones. I applaud this, but wish the state had also banned the use of hands-free phones. Both are distracting. There is a loophole in the law though. It’s not effective unless cities post warning signs that [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Friday Fun

Written On September 24, 2010 By Bob Kraft

You just never know what the Google Street View camera will find.

Posted in Friday Fun

Regulators Impose Tight Restrictions on Diabetes Drug Avandia

Written On September 23, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The New York Times reports today that distribution of the diabetes drug Avandia will now be very tightly regulated. Here are the opening paragraphs of the article:

In a highly unusual coordinated announcement, drug regulators in Europe and the United States said Thursday that Avandia, the controversial diabetes medicine, will no longer be widely available.
The drug’s [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims

Johnson & Johnson Claims to Have Informed FDA on Purchasing Defective Motrin Packages From Stores

Written On September 23, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal reports on the allegation that Johnson & Johnson tried to avoid a recall on defective Motrin packages by purchasing the packages without the FDA’s knowledge. According to emails and letters reviewed by the Journal, staff at Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit messaged each other in the spring and summer [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Having Surgery in Las Vegas is a Big Gamble

Written On September 22, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Many people consider Las Vegas a great place to take a vacation or attend a conference. After reading an article in the Las Vegas Sun though, I strongly recommend that you not become ill or injured there. Apparently surgical injuries occur at higher rates in Las Vegas than in other parts of the country. This [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Physicians More Likely to Accept Industry Gifts if They Feel a Sense of Entitlement Because of Sacrifices Made

Written On September 21, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (9/15, Kalson) reports, “Telling physicians they shouldn’t accept gifts from drug companies is all well and good. But convincing them that doing so is wrong is another matter.” Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University “found that physicians rationalize such gifts as payback for all the sacrifices they made to get their education — [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Prescription Drug Claims

Contract Reveals VA Knew About Prudential’s Death Benefit Account

Written On September 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

CBS Evening News (9/14, story 4, 3:00, Couric) said “earlier this summer,” revelations that Prudential, the “country’s second-largest life insurer,” was “profiting from the death benefits of fallen soldiers was news to almost everyone.” Now, however, a “major development” in the story “points out that this was not the case at the US Department of [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Veterans Benefits

Federal Panel Split on Ban of Weight-Loss Drug Meridia

Written On September 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The New York Times reports that a federal advisory panel was divided this week over whether to recommend banning a weight-loss drug made by Abbott Laboratories,  even though a majority agreed that the drug’s heart risk cast a shadow on its future use. Excerpt:
Eight of the 16 members of the Food and Drug Administration’s panel of [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims

Study Finds Industry Ties Go Undisclosed in Medical Journal Articles

Written On September 17, 2010 By Bob Kraft

New York Times (9/14, B1, Wilson) reports, “Twenty-five out of 32 highly paid consultants to medical device companies in 2007, or their publishers, failed to reveal the financial connections in journal articles the following year, according to astudy ” published online Sept. 13 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “The study compared major payments to [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Prescription Drug Claims

Friday Fun

Written On September 17, 2010 By Bob Kraft

You just won’t believe how funny this is until you see it. It’s an episode of Judge Judy slowed to half-speed. Everyone looks and sounds totally wasted. And to top it off, the dispute is about a broken toilet!

Posted in Friday Fun

Malpractice Reform Is No ‘Silver Bullet’ For Skyrocketing Healthcare Spending

Written On September 16, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Healthwatch, the healthcare blog of The Hill’s Web site, ran an article this week quoting a local North Texas politician. Representative Michael Burgess is the chairman of the Republican Congressional Healthcare Caucus, and he said that medical liability reform is no cure for the nation’s skyrocketing healthcare spending. That was a surprising statement because Representative Burgess [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Medical Errors Continue Despite Advances in Medicine

Written On September 15, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Kansas City Business Journal has an interesting short article this week about the continuing problem of medical errors at hospitals. Here are excerpts:
Today, surgeons can operate on a beating heart and use robotic arms to remove kidneys through belly buttons.
But even as medicine has advanced, the number of medical errors — conditions and injuries obtained [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Do You Have a Roadside Emergency Kit in Your Car?

Written On September 14, 2010 By Bob Kraft

As our kids return to college, this is a good time to think about an emergency roadside kit for the car. There are plenty of lists around for what to include in an emergency kit, including one at our firm’s Web site specifically for winter driving. But I thought a recent article in the Augusta [...]

Posted in Safety Tips, Vehicle Law or News

Featured Link – FactCheckers.info

Written On September 14, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Most of us know about the fact-checking site Snopes.com, and many of us use it to refute those stupid e-mails other people send us. But there are many more such fact-checking sites on the Internet, and now someone has compiled a list. You can see it at FactCheckers.info. This is very helpful stuff — check [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link

Traffic Deaths and Injuries Plummet in 2009

Written On September 13, 2010 By Bob Kraft

There was a surprising and very welcome drop last year in traffic deaths and injuries across the nation. Unfortunately, the primary cause of that drop may have simply been the poor economy — people aren’t driving as much as they did in previous years, other than going back and forth to work. An article in [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Friday Fun

Written On September 10, 2010 By Bob Kraft

How could anyone not want to watch Stuff Hitting Other Stuff?

Tempus II from Philip Heron on Vimeo.

Posted in Friday Fun

Wyeth Paid Ghostwriters to Promote Hormone Therapy Drugs

Written On September 10, 2010 By Bob Kraft

This is really shameful behavior, and (almost) hard to believe. I say “almost” because there was a drug company involved, and we have learned over the past 10-15 years there is apparently nothing they won’t do for a profit. Here are excerpts from a Reuters article about how the drug company Wyeth used ghostwriters to [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims, Vioxx