| Announcements |  |  |
| TTLAs 2007 Ski Seminar | | Register NOW for TTLAs 2007 Ski Seminar Feb. 3-10 in Telluride, Colorado. Visit www.ttla.com for more info.
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| Laws/Cases | | |
| New Plane Crash Details May Boost Punitive Damages in Case | | Recently released documents indicate that smoke inhalation was a contributing factor in the death of a 16-year-old passenger on Comair Flight 5191. The teenager was alive when the plane caught fire after crashing while taking off from the wrong runway. The crash killed 49 of the 50 passengers. Brett Barrouquere, Insurance Journal 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: Insurance Journal |
| Healthcare | | |
| Study Reveals Disparity in Treatment of Cancer Patients | | A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that women with low incomes or low levels of education receive insufficient doses of chemotherapy. According to researchers, as many as half of breast cancer patients are not started on enough medicine. After reviewing information on 746 randomly selected women, dosages varied based on education levels, obesity, and geographical location. Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Issues | | |
| Government Will Tackle Regulation of Drug Advertisements | | The $4.5 billion drug advertising industry will be under investigation by the new Congress, according to both House and Senate officials. The ads will be discussed during a hearing on user fees that manufacturers pay to speed up the review of new drugs by the FDA. The pharmaceutical industry wants to renew the user fee law and add a new set of user fees that would pay for salaries for additional FDA employees to evaluate all consumer drug ads before they are shown on television. Milt Freudenheim, The New York Times 01/21/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Supreme Court Will Not Consider IBM Worker Retaliation Cases | | The Supreme Court has denied an appeal made by a group of IBM Corp. employees accusing the company of age discrimination when they altered their pension plans. The court also refused to hear a separate dispute between IBM and a former employee who alleged he was a victim of retaliation by the company after complaining about how company managers handled overtime. IBM had earlier agreed to settle the case for $1.4 billion if it lost in court. Christopher Rugaber, Insurance Journal 01/19/2007
| | Read Article: Insurance Journal |
| AIDS Foundation Sues Pfizer Over Viagra Advertising | | AIDS Healthcare Foundation will announce its lawsuit against Pfizer in a press conference. The lawsuit accuses the pharmaceutical company of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices in violation of the CA Business and Professions Code. According to the suit, the "deceptive" marketing of Viagra has caused an increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. AFZ News Limited, Forbes 01/22/2007
| | Read Article: Forbes |
| Court Upholds Verdict Against Greyhound | | A federal appeals court upheld a 2005 verdict awarding $8 million in compensatory damages to a woman who was injured in a bus crash. The Greyhound bus crashed after a passenger cut the driver's neck, killing 7 passengers and injuring 34. The plaintiff's attorney accused the company of failing to protect its customers, showing reports of 42 other incidents of passengers grabbing or attempting to assault the driver. Bill Poovey, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 01/19/2007
| | Read Article: The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer |
| Jury Finds Against Foster Parent in Wrongful Death Lawsuit | | An OK jury awarded $20 million to the estate of a 7-month-old girl who died because of negligent care in a foster home. The lawsuit against her foster parent asserted the child asphyxiated after being left unattended in a "filthy, roach-infested home." The Department of Human Services had previously paid $175,000 to settle claims against it. Bill Braun, Tulsa World 01/20/2007
| | Read Article: Tulsa World($) |
| Deadlocked Jury Forces Mistrial in Vioxx Case | | A CA jury deadlocked in the cases of two men alleging Merck's painkiller, Vioxx, caused their heart attacks. The plaintiffs argued that Merck failed to give sufficient warning of the drug's potential safety hazards. The jury "had trouble" determining whether the plaintiffs' physicians would have recognized the potential risks or side effects. Alex Veiga, Law.com 01/22/2007
| | Read Article: Law.com |
| Government Considers Higher Standards for Birth Control | | The FDA will ask a panel of experts whether new contraceptives should be required to meet a standard of effectiveness before being approved. The FDA claims newer forms of contraceptive drugs have been less effective than products approved decades ago. According to a 2005 survey, more than 60 percent of U.S. women between the ages of 15 and 44 use a form of contraception. Matthew Perrone, Houston Chronicle 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| High Court Eases Limits on Prison Lawsuits | | Advocates for prisoners' rights claimed the lower court's approach to limiting prisoner lawsuits had threatened to make it almost impossible for an inmate challenging prison conditions to get a case accepted for a hearing. The Supreme Court ruled that the appeals court's barriers in prisoner lawsuits "cannot be fairly viewed" as a correct interpretation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995. According to the ruling, courts should apply to prisoners' lawsuits the same procedural rules they apply to any other lawsuit. Linda Greenhouse, The New York Times 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Ground Zero-Related Illnesses on the Rise | | Doctors have established a link between work at ground zero and chronic respiratory illness. A recent study found that nearly 70 percent of 9/11 workers are likely to have life-long breathing problems. In 2006, a lawyer and contractors overseeing cleanup unofficially tracked the number of ground-zero related deaths to more than 90 individuals. Amy Westfeldt, The Washington Post 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: The Washington Post |
| New Minimum Wage Laws Likely to Spark Lawsuits | | Many new state minimum wage laws conflict with federal guidelines and mandate stricter record-keeping requirements for employers, which is likely to spur more employment lawsuits. Employees labeled as independent contractors can file suit for being intentionally misclassified to avoid overtime and higher wages. Assistant managers may also file suit over their job title, claiming they were misclassified for the same reasons. Tresa Baldas, The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) |
| Products | | |
| Honda Recalls Accord Sedans Over Defective Air Bag Warning | | About 81,000 2004-2005 Honda Accord sedans have been recalled because of a faulty air-bag related sensor. Honda Motor Co. stated that the driver's seating position sensor was attached in the wrong location, which could increase the risk of injury for drivers in a frontal crash. The company was not aware of any injuries related to the recall and dealers will replace the sensor. Insurance Journal, Insurance Journal 01/19/2007
| | Read Article: Insurance Journal |
| Third Prempro Lawsuit Against Wyeth Goes to Trial | | An AR woman has filed a lawsuit against Wyeth pharmaceutical company alleging their hormone-replacement therapy Prempro caused her breast cancer. The plaintiff claimed to have used Prempro for nine years and developed breast cancer in 1999. The company currently faces 5,000 similar cases over the hormone-replacement therapy. Jill Zeman, Houston Chronicle 01/21/2007
| | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Antidepressants May Weaken Bones in Older Patients | | A Canadian study found that drugs used to treat depression may double the risk of fractures in men and women in their 50s and older. The research team found that these patients had twice the risks of fractures, particularly in the forearm, ankle and foot. Information was reviewed on 137 patients who averaged 65 years of age and took antidepressants such as Paxil and Prozac. HealthDay News, Forbes 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: Forbes |
| Editorials/Columns/Letters | | |
| Study Confirms Tobacco Companies Manipulated Nicotine Levels | | Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that tobacco companies have increased nicotine content by an average of 11 percent between 1998 and 2005. According to the study, companies used a tobacco containing a higher concentration of nicotine and possibly designed their cigarettes to burn slower, thus increasing the number of puffs per cigarette. Congress must now decide whether the FDA should have the authority to regulate tobacco products, including the power to reduce nicotine levels. The New York Times, The New York Times 01/23/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
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