Miscellaneous

• Remembering Crime Victims

  Staff Writer | April 23, 2007 5:00 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Today marks the start of the National Crime Victims Rights Week highlighting the rights of crime victims to be treated fairly with dignity and compassion. This morning, Governor Napolitano delivered a speech kicking off a week of activities designed to highlight the needs of crime victims. In the past, crime victims did not receive sufficient information about the status of a criminal case. ...

• Consumer Advocacy Org. calls on Congress to Eliminate 2-year Waiting Period for Disability Insurance

  Christina Cole | April 23, 2007 3:59 PM | 0 CommentsCharleston, SC

  After retiring on social security disability and waiting two years to become eligible for Medicare, Pamela, had spent nearly $50,000 on health insurance premiums. Even then, the woman's insurance didn't cover the specialists and physical therapists she believes could have helped slow the progression of her illness.This is just one of the many people that have stories such as this one. The...

• Important Massachusetts Slip and Fall Decision

  Ken Margolin | April 23, 2007 3:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  As I wrote in a recent blog, lawsuits arising from slipping on a foreign substance in a Massachusetts premises were made difficult by the rule that the plaintiff had to show the substance was on the ground long enough for the proprietor to become aware of, and remove it. Many a significant slip and fall case never made it past summary judgment, because of the rule, which the courts considered a...

• $1.2 Million Paid to Parents in Police Auto Accident Death Case

  Greg Webb | April 23, 2007 2:00 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  The District of Columbia has agreed to pay the parents of 2 minor children, Octavia Suydan, 8, and her brother, Christopher Suydan, 7, killed by a driver fleeing the police, $1.2 million for a 2004 automobile accident that resulted in a wrongful death claim by the surviving parents. The Washington Post reported that the accident occurred after a drug sting gone bad, when Eric Palmer, who was in...

• Small Plane Crash in Windham, Connecticut

  James Sabatini | April 23, 2007 11:03 AM | 0 CommentsHartford, CT

  A small plane crashed Sunday near a highway in eastern Connecticut and caught on fire, killing two people on board, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and state police said.FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said the Piper PA-23 went down adjacent to U.S. 6 near Windham Airport shortly before 4 p.m. The fire damage was so severe that the plane's tail number initially could not be read...

• Holocaust Survivors Seek Insurance Money

  Christina Cole | April 22, 2007 9:41 PM | 0 CommentsCentral Florida, FL

  A path is being made in Washington to give the "forgotten survivors" of the holocaust the right to sue insurance companies in federal court. Red tape has prohibited thousands of holocaust survivors from getting insurance claim money that could help them to live the rest of their days and years in dignity. A South Florida congresswoman is sponsoring a bill that could help to cut the red tape...

• Officer Accused of Solicitating Young Girl Online

  Christina Cole | April 20, 2007 5:28 PM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  A 10-year veteran with the Ocala Police Department has been arrested for police misconduct and charged with attempting to solicit a 14-year-old girl over the internet.The officer, 32, was arrested at his home by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials after an undercover operation by his own department and the North Florida Internet Crimes against Children Task Force.The officer is...

• Merck's Vioxx successor being reviewed by FDA

  Lindsay Bauer | April 20, 2007 3:20 PM | 0 CommentsHouston, TX

  Merck has created a successor to its now defunct drug Vioxx. The new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is called Arcoxia. Like Vioxx, Arcoxia is a Cox-2 inhibitor and was developed to treat osteoarthritis, but be gentler on the stomach then other drugs. On Tuesday, April 10, 2007 FDA advisers discussed the safety of Arcoxia as they attempted to determine if the new drug should be...

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Seized All Medical Products From New Jersey Device Manufacturer

  Beth Janicek | April 20, 2007 3:14 PM | 0 CommentsSan Antonio, TX

  On April 17, 2007, the FDA investigators and U.S. Marshals seized all implantable medical devices from Shelhigh, Inc. They found finding significant deficiencies in the company's manufacturing processes and the deficiencies may compromise the safety and effectiveness of the products, particularly their sterility. The products include pediatric heart valves and conduits, surgical patches, dural...

• Ohio State Database Exposes Confidential Information

  Staff Writer | April 20, 2007 11:37 AM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  According to the on-line edition of Computerworld, a database containing social security numbers of approximately 14,000 current and former employees at Ohio State University has been the most recent source of possible identity theft. This situation apparently involved foreign thieves from three different countries hacking into an Ohio State University database containing sensitive employee...