Monthly Archives: January 2012

Texas Auto Insurance Rates Are Increasing

Written On January 31, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Apparently the weak regulation and poor oversight of Texas insurance companies that has kept us at number one or number two in the nation for highest homeowner insurance premiums is not enough punishment for Texas consumers. Now we may be in a race to have the highest automobile insurance premiums in the country also. The [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

The Troubled Relationship Between Motorists and Pedestrians

Written On January 30, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This guest post is from the New Jersey car accident law firm of Console & Hollawell. While the article specifically addresses the auto/pedestrian problem in New Jersey, the principles are the same for Texas.
There has always been a troubled relationship between New Jersey motorists and pedestrians. New Jersey is the fifth most dangerous state in [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Friday Fun

Written On January 27, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The Web site NeverLikedItAnyway is a clever one. It’s basically a resale site, where people list items of jewelry or clothing, among other things, and visitors can buy those items directly from the sellers. The clever part is that the items are gifts from former spouses or significant others. After the relationship breaks up, the [...]

Posted in Friday Fun

Only Three 2012 Trucks Receive Highest Safety Scores From IIHS

Written On January 26, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Newsday/Tribune Media Services reported, “Only three pickup trucks — the Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra and Honda Ridgeline — have been named Top Safety Picks for 2012 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).” According to the IIHS, “The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rollover and [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

AAJ Assails Supreme Court Ruling That Credit Repair Firms Can Require Binding Arbitration

Written On January 25, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The ABA Journal reported that the Supreme Court “has ruled that consumers who received the Aspire Visa credit card are bound by a mandatory arbitration provision in their applications.” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in the case, CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only dissenter. The class-action lawsuit under [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Texas’ New Insurance Chief Being Watched by Consumers, Lawmakers, and Industry

Written On January 24, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Texas has long had one of the weakest insurance departments in the nation — a department controlled by the insurance industry, and not at all helpful to consumers who have complaints. But now there is a new head of the department, and we can at least hope for improvement. However, so far there does not [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Political and/or Judicial

U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors

Written On January 23, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a rule that’s long overdue — make doctors disclose the payments they receive from drug companies and medical device manufacturers. Knowing that your doctor has just accepted a pile of money from a hip implant company right before he says you need a hip implant might cause you to get a second opinion.
The details [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Medical Malpractice

Friday Fun

Written On January 20, 2012 By Bob Kraft

How many of you are there? No, not how many readers of this blog, but how many of YOU? How many people in the United States have your name? I can tell you there are 394 guys named Robert Kraft, and to me that’s 393 too many. I wish I were like my friend Conrad [...]

Posted in Friday Fun

HHS Report Finds Most Hospital Errors Unreported By Hospital Employees

Written On January 19, 2012 By Bob Kraft

In continuing coverage, ABC News reports on its website, “A new report released Friday by the inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services found that more than 80 percent of hospital errors go unreported by hospital employees.” The new “report, which looked at data from hospitalized Medicare patients, also found that most [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

CDC Report Highlights Drunk Driving Epidemic

Written On January 18, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This guest post is from the New Jersey car accident lawyer firm of Console and Hollowell.
A Center for Disease Control and Prevention report showed just how often drivers are taking their lives and the lives of others in their hands by driving while under the influence of alcohol. The report shows that in 2010, legally drunk [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Texas Homeowners Pay Highest Insurance Premiums (Again)

Written On January 17, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written many times about the ridiculous and unfair system in Texas where the insurance industry controls the regulatory department that sets the rules for insurance rates. The not-so-unexpected results of such a system include Texas leading the nation in homeowner insurance rates year after year. And even worse, the homeowner policies being written today [...]

Posted in Insurance Information

The “I Have A Dream” Speech

Written On January 16, 2012 By Bob Kraft

It is difficult to comprehend the profound impact on millions of people that a 16-minute speech delivered almost 50 years ago has had. We need to listen to this speech more often than once per year. Here are links to the text and to the audio.
Please take a few minutes on Martin Luther King, Jr. [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous, Political and/or Judicial

Friday Fun

Written On January 13, 2012 By Bob Kraft

My wife is one of the world’s great bakers. I can’t even cook toast. But if all recipes were presented in stop-motion video as this one is, I think even I could learn to bake.

Stop-Motion Biscuit Cake from Alan Travers on Vimeo.

Posted in Friday Fun

AAJ, Others Point Out Flaws in Chamber’s Lawsuit Abuse List

Written On January 12, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The Jersey Journal reported, “The US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute of Legal Reform published a list of 2011’s most ridiculous lawsuits as compiled by FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org.” The website also features “a poll in which readers were able to vote on the lawsuit they felt was most ridiculous.” However, the Jersey Journal noted, American Association for Justice spokesperson [...]

Posted in Tort Reform

Window Blind Manufacturers Urged to Improve Safety of Products

Written On January 11, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written many times about the hazards to children of window blinds, and specifically the cords on the blinds. Consumer groups are losing patience with the manufacturers repeated promises to make their products safer, and the inevitable delays in implementing those promises. A story in the Seattle Times goes into detail about the dangers, and [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

AAJ President Praises New Guidance on Medicare Secondary Payer Program

Written On January 10, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Everyone involved with personal injury claims knows that dealing with Medicare has become a nightmare over the past several years. Without going into detail, following the convoluted process required by Medicare in order to get a verified amount owed (or a statement that nothing is owed) takes months after a settlement is made with the [...]

Posted in Medicare

Study Reveals More Deaths By Poisoning Than Car Crashes

Written On January 9, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a story that took me by surprise — deaths by poisoning have overtaken deaths by auto collision in the United States. The latest statistics are from 2008, and were reported by the National Center for Health Statistics. The report was detailed in an article in the New York Times. Here are excerpts:
An analysis published [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Friday Fun

Written On January 6, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This short video of birds flocking is fascinating. It looks choreographed.
Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Posted in Friday Fun

FDA Tells Consumers Not to Use ShoulderFlex Massager

Written On January 5, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a rather alarming story about a massager that could strangle a user. As reported in the Boston Globe, The FDA is telling consumers who own the ShoulderFlex Massager not to use it. Here are details:
If you own a ShoulderFlex Massager, get rid of it, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The device — [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Governor Perry’s Texas Supreme Court Picks Criticized as Too Business-Friendly

Written On January 4, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Anyone in Texas who is involved in consumer rights or plaintiff law has had concerns for years about the makeup and the big-business proclivities of the Texas Supreme Court. So it came as no surprise to us to read a recent article in the Dallas Morning News regarding Governor Rick Perry’s appointments to the Court. [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial