Author Archives: Bob Kraft

Friday Fun

Written On March 23, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I don’t know if this video is real, and I won’t make any comments about a husband posting this about his wife. But whatever the story behind it, this is so funny. Watch the “blonde woman” explain miles per hour.

Posted in Friday Fun

Allstate Receives State Approval to Raise Home Insurance Rates

Written On March 22, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here we go again. I guess it’s pointless for me to keep writing about how Texas has the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the country, and yet the carriers ask for increases every year. And of course they never get turned down by the agency supposedly in charge of insurance companies.
This time it’s Allstate getting [...]

Posted in Insurance Information

Featured Link — Vehicle Inspection Histories

Written On March 21, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Can you think of any reason you would want to check the Texas state-mandated inspection record of a vehicle? Well, me either, unless you maybe were trying to prove a defendant vehicle had a safety defect that had been reported in the past. It’s a stretch, but it gives me an excuse to mention a [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Vehicle Law or News

Motorcycle Accidents – Your Next Step to Recovery

Written On March 20, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This guest post is from the Orange County, California law firm of Bisnar Chase.
Although riding a motorcycle is a fun and relaxing sport and a good way to save gas money on your morning commute, motorcycle accidents are often serious–even deadly. It is important to understand your rights as a motorcycle rider and to [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Fake Avastin Shows Very Little Protection For Drug Supply

Written On March 19, 2012 By Bob Kraft

We would like to think that the medications we take are safe — protected by government standards from containing harmful ingredients. Unfortunately, that simply is not true these days. Manufacturers of counterfeit drugs are managing to stay a step ahead of the regulators, both in the United States and in other countries. The situation is [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims

Friday Fun

Written On March 16, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This is a very clever commercial that will have you waiting until the final seconds to realize what product is being advertised.

Posted in Friday Fun

NHTSA Investigates 360,000 Ford Taurus Vehicles

Written On March 15, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The Detroit News reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “said it’s opening a preliminary investigation into 360,000 2005-2006 Ford Taurus sedans over complaints of stuck throttles because of cruise control cable detachment. NHTSA said it is has received 14 complaints from Taurus owners that said the engine revved as high as 4,000 RPMs [...]

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

Trial Lawyers Volunteer To Help End Distracted Driving

Written On March 14, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The American Association for Justice and the non-profit group end Distracted Driving (EndDD) have teamed up to engage plaintiff’s lawyers in helping to spread the message about the dangers of distracted driving, and to get attorneys involved in the movement to end this dangerous practice. As April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, TTLA [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Cholesterol-Lowering Statins Could Cause Diabetes in Some People

Written On March 13, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, such as Lipitor and Crestor, have been suspected of causing serious side effects, chiefly muscle weakness and liver damage. Now a new study shows that there is a possibility that statins may cause Type 2 diabetes in some patients. Millions of Americans take statins. So if diabetes is caused [...]

Posted in Prescription Drug Claims

Something Else To Worry About When You Have Surgery

Written On March 12, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here are two articles from the American Association for Justice news brief that will give us another concern about undergoing surgery. There seems to be no end to the things that can go wrong.
The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News reports that the Food and Drug Administration “held a little-noticed workshop to address concerns” over dirty [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Friday Fun

Written On March 9, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This is a link to a remarkable digitized painting of famous people from around the world (and important objects also). When you hover over a person you get the name, and when you click, you are sent to the Wikipedia entry on that person. Very clever.

Posted in Friday Fun

You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide

Written On March 8, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This story is from England, but there’s no reason it couldn’t happen in the United States. A judge has authorized a plaintiff in a commercial lawsuit to serve one of the defendants via Facebook!
The lawsuit involves a dispute between investment managers and a brokerage firm accused of overcharging the investment managers. One of the defendants [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Survey: Fifteen Percent of Surgeons May Suffer From Alcohol Abuse or Dependence

Written On March 7, 2012 By Bob Kraft

HealthDay reports, “Alcohol use disorders are a significant issue among US surgeons,” according to the results of a new survey published in Archives of Surgery. Investigators reported that “the online, anonymous poll indicated that 15 percent of surgeons appear to suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence: nearly 14 percent of male surgeons and 26 percent [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

NHTSA Probes Side Air Bags Problem

Written On March 6, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The AP reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is “investigating a problem with side air bags that may fail to inflate in a crash.” The AP adds that the “problem already has caused recalls of more than 2,700 Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Nissan vehicles, but that number could grow if the National Highway Traffic Safety [...]

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

Allstate v. Former Allstate Adjuster

Written On March 5, 2012 By Bob Kraft

This guest post is from my friend Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Ron Miller:
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake issued a fascinating opinion this week in Allstate v. Warns, denying a former Allstate adjuster’s motion for summary judgment in a “we think you stole our documents and provided them to the plaintiffs’ lawyer” case. The [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Friday Fun

Written On March 2, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve always wanted to visit Switzerland because of the beautiful scenery. I have friends who have gone, and they say the views are breathtaking. But after watching this Swiss tourism commercial, I think I’ve changed my mind…

Posted in Friday Fun

Doctors Can’t Charge for Medical Records Needed in Social Security Disability Claims

Written On March 1, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Even though Texas law for years has clearly stated that medical providers cannot charge fees for records needed in pursuit of a Social Security disability claim, a surprising percentage of doctors and hospitals still try to make patients or their attorneys pay for the records.
We run into this problem every week. Our response is to [...]

Posted in Social Security Disability

Federal Regulators Continue Push to Require Rearview Cameras in All Cars by 2014

Written On February 29, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written before, and expressed my approval of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s effort to require back-up cameras in all cars sold in the United States. Now NHTSA is back in the news because the agency is planning to send their final draft of that rule to Congress today. Whether Congress will have the [...]

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

Hospitals Increasingly Under Pressure to Reduce Errors

Written On February 28, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The AP reports, “More than a dozen serious medical errors were reported at Middle Tennessee hospitals over the past three years – and federal statistics indicate probably 80 more were not reported.” Previously, “hospitals have been reluctant to admit mistakes, fearing malpractice lawsuits.” However, “hospitals are increasingly under pressure to reduce errors, and to do that, [...]

Posted in Medicaid, Medical Malpractice

Consumer Group Seeks Texas Insurance Data to Identify “Junk” Policies

Written On February 27, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written before about the decrease in coverage of “standard” insurance policies in Texas, and the blind eye turned to this practice by the state agency charged with oversight. An update on this story has been reported in the Dallas Morning News. Here are excerpts:
A leading consumer group, trying to prove its argument that many [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information