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• Humanitarian Program Founder Killed in Car Crash

  Christina Cole | January 20, 2007 2:36 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Hanley Denning, a Maine woman who founded an organization that helps destitute children who live in the dumps of Guatemala, has died in a car crash.Denning, founded the Safe Passage Organization in 1999, when she was only 29, to provide assistance to the children of Guatemalan families who are so poor they make their living rummaging through the Guatemala City dump.According to the Safe Passage...

• Mainers hit hard by bad flu season and worst flu shot in ten years

  Alison McKellar | April 28, 2008 8:31 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  An estimated 200,000 Americans are hospitalized each year for flu-like symptoms and complications from influenza kill approximately 36,000 during the average “flu season”. Although the common...

• How Safe Is Maine's Meat Supply?

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | February 19, 2008 1:40 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Some things we know for sure.We know for sure that on February 17, 2008, the USDA ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef that had been processed at California's Westland/ Hallmark Meat Co., dating back to February 1, 2006.We can be sure, thanks to videotape evidence given to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service by the Humane Society of the United States, that some cattle at...

• Drunk Doctors a Concern for Maine Patients?

  Don Briggs | February 18, 2008 6:06 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Hopefully this situation will never arise in Maine but it has in New Jersey. A New Jersey pediaitrician had his license to practice medicine revoked for allegedly being drunk on the job, administering expired vaccines to young patients and pointing a loaded gun at two assistants. As many as 1,100 children may not have been properly immunized and, as a result, may not be protected according to...

• Starbucks Recalls Kids' Cups for Choking Hazard

  Courtney Mills | October 10, 2007 11:17 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee chain, is recalling approximately 250,000 kids' cups made in China because of choking and laceration hazards that the cups pose to children.The kids' cups when dropped tend to break on their colorful face (see above link for photo), leaving shards of plastic exposed on the face of the cup that may harm children. The company thus far has received seven...

• Connecticut Driver Kills New York Motorist

  Courtney Mills | August 21, 2007 11:42 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  A fatal car accident on Route 8 claimed the life of a 41-year old man from New York. Connecticut police announced that Robert Goodwin of Saratoga Springs, NY, died at Yale-New Haven Hospital.Goodwin's truck was in the southbound lane on Route 8 when, according to authorities, a car struck him head-on in the oncoming direction. The other car was in the wrong lane of the highway, and apparently...

• Safety Problem with Weakened Car Doors

  Corinne Tozier | April 04, 2007 2:19 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been asked to reconsider the wording of a regulation on car door locks that might affect state tort laws. The regulation in itself is good as it makes sure that car doors, including sliding side doors, remain closed in the event of a crash.However, the language is problematic.The regulation, scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2008,...

• Brain Harvesting Lawsuits Filed Against Stanley Institute

  Don Briggs | January 30, 2007 10:45 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  We have filed a brain harvesting lawsuit to recover money for our client who alleges that her husband's brain was taken for research against her wishes. Now that the government has decided not to file criminal charges, for unspecified reasons, claimants against SMRI can procede to trial unhidered by a criminal case.Sci-Tech Today.com recently interviewed me about a pending suit.Attorney C....

• Heparin contamination may have been deliberate: were Mainers affected?

  Alison McKellar | May 02, 2008 6:34 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Heparin, a blood thinner produced by Baxter International Inc. has now been linked to 81 deaths in the United States and has caused hundreds of severe reactions in patients...

• Dangerous Drivers and Suspended Licenses: Who Will Keep Them Off Maine's Roads?

  Don Briggs | March 17, 2008 1:02 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  A recent article published in the Portland Press Herald reports that, every day, thousands of Mainers get behind the wheel with suspended licenses, but according to court records, law enforcement catches about only about a dozen of them. The chances of getting caught are slim unless the driver is pulled over for some other reason, and many people simply decide it's worth the risk. For others,...