Blog Topic

US Chamber of Commerce
October 23, 2009

The US Chamber of Commerce has long been an organization focused on the profits of companies, at the expense of consumers. Now, their true colors are beginning to show through, and have left some of the Country's largest corporations with equally tarnished images. Through the good work of MoveOn.org and other watch-dog companies, the Chamber of Commerce is having to answer some hard questions. Like why they would be opposed to enviromnentally friendly changes to the law. And why they would place the profits of industries over the safety of consumers. It's hopeful new trend that may save lives and make the environment a better place for us all to enjoy.

[article link]

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at http://www.mcwlawfirm.com/ for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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Children's toys should be at the front of the list of things that are guaranteed to be safe.
September 01, 2009

Children's toys should be at the front of the list of things that are guaranteed to be safe. Tested, re-tested and re-re-tested - by the manufacturer and approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Unfortunately, it appears that one of the largest manufacturers, Mattel, has been getting a free pass for the past years. The nations largest maker of toys, including Barbie, has not been required to test for things like lead and poisoned plastics.

LINK

The story above describes the competitive advantage that Mattel has - they spend less money on testing, thus make more profit. The scarier part of the story is the risk the nation's children suffer.

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at http://www.mcwlawfirm.com/ for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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Death By Mistake Series, Hearst Newspapers, August 2009
August 11, 2009

Insurance companies would have us all believe that there is a crisis in medical malpractice lawsuits. They're right - nearly 100,000 people die every year from preventable medical malpractice, according to the National Institutes of Medicine, an arm of the National Institutes of Health. And that's just the first tragedy for most of the affected families. The second tragedy happens when they end up in the court system, seeking some justice for their losses.

The series of articles from Hearst Newspapers gives just a few of the 98,000 stories. LINKS. People paralyzed by medical negligence, who recieve virtually no compensation because of limits on their cases. People who are killed from medical negligence, who's families never recover from the financial devestation caused by the negligence. And the tragedies are nationwide.

With the debate on national health care reform, and the insurance companies calling for further limitations on medical negligence cases, these stories are a dire reminder of the need for fair, impartial and full justice in the event of a tragedy. The victims of negligence should not be victimized again in the courtroom just so that the corporate giants and insurance companies can make billions of extra dollars.

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Ghostwriting by drug company pollutes the medical science
August 05, 2009

A frightening set of facts is beginning to surface out from under the veil of confidentiality in a courtroom in Little Rock, Arkansas. Wyeth is a drug company that makes different pharmaceutical drugs, and one of it's best selling drugs over the years was Premarin - a hormone given to millions and millions of women when they reached menopausal age. The idea behind the drug was to ease the symptoms of menopause, and many other benefits that were described in different medical journals.

It turns out, many of those journal articles were actually written by Wyeth - but published under someone else's name. The article from the New York Times tells just the first little bit of the story.

Wyeth's marketing machinery would concoct a theme for an article, and then would hire an outside ghostwriting company to put together the article. The ghostwriting company then shops the "article" around to find a doctor who'll allow their name to be used on the article. And then, the article makes it's way into the literature and is touted as "proof of the benefits" of the drug Premarin. Yet the article never mentions that the idea and the actual writing of the article began with Wyeth itself.

The tip of the iceberg is described by the times. And Wyeth is not alone in the world of ghostwriting - Merck was found to be doing a similar thing in their drug Vioxx. Patients shouldn't be subjected to this pollution of the medical science. And doctors should be hypervigilant in their review of the literature - knowing full well that a frightening amount of current "science" isn't truly accurate, having been cooked up by a drug company trying to sell more drugs.

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at http://www.MCWLawFirm.com for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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White Coat Conspiracy
August 03, 2009

There has always been a "white coat conspiracy" - doctors sticking up for doctors, helping to hide information and not telling the patients the whole truth. Understandably, the patient is the one who suffers. Not just suffering from the needless injury or death, but also from never being sure they know the whole and true story.

In an amazing example of that, just read an editorial LINK about the criminal prosecution of two nurses who had the courage to speak out. They had a physician practicing questionable medicine. They aired their complaints internally - as they were required to do in an effort to get the patients some protection from the questionable medical practices. Those complaints were ignored. They raised their complaints to a higher level within the hospital, and again were ignored. So they took their concerns to the highest level in Texas - the state Board of Medicine, where licenses are issued and grievances are supposed to be considered and investigated.

Instead, the NURSES have now been charged with a crime.

They should be given a medal for their courage and tenacity and willingness to go the extra mile for their patients. And unfortunately, the white coat conspiracy lives on.

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at www.MCWLawfirm.com for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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Hispanic worker deaths up 76% since 1992
July 20, 2009

The statistics prove the unfortunate truth: more hispanic workers die every year in construction accidents, truck and motor vehicle crashes and other work related incidents. (USA Today 7/19/09). There might be many reasons for these tragic deaths - language confusion, unskilled laborers and the like. All too often, though, the deaths can and should be avoided. Simple safety harneses can prevent falls from rooftops, and do not require a great deal of skill to understand. Care in erecting scaffolding can and should prevent collapses. Training and enforcement of safety rules can and should prevent machinery injuries. Trying to attribute the increase in deaths based on the increase in workers ignores the dangers hispanic workers face every day on the job. And ignores the safety rule violations that happen every day on jobsites around Texas and the USA.

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at www.MCWLawfirm.com for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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Uninsured and on the road
July 07, 2009

A fact that should frighten all Texas drivers: studies show one of every five vehicles on the road does not have liability insurance. That means, next time you are sitting at a stop light, the odds are you are next to a car or truck that is not carrying insurance. LINK

The effect this has on drivers is profound. When that uninsured driver runs a light and hits an innocent person, that person will probably have no ability to recover for their injuries. Allowing insurance companies in Texas to sell a month or a week of insurance coverage (long enough to get an auto inspected or a license renewed) should not be possible. Unfortunately, it is another example of how the Texas Insurance Comission simply does not protect Texas consumers.

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Commentary on General Motors
July 07, 2009

The Federal bankruptcy judge in New York has approved the sale of GM's assets to a new company created by the federal government. That is good news, in the sense that it will allow GM to continueoperating as a business. For the employees of GM and all the different companies that work with GM, the continuing of the business is vital.

However, as the Wall Street Journal reports (LINK), part of that sale will allow for the dismissal of product liability lawsuits against GM. That means that consumers who were injured or killed in GM vehicles, and who filed lawsuits against GM, will have their cases dismissed with no remedy. So the terrible injuries and damages will not be the responsibility of the maker of the defective vehicle, but will instead be the responsibility of the taxpayer. The medical bills and costs of supporting these injured consumers will now fall to the federal and state agencies.

The principals of responsibility should not have been forgotten in the GM case. The need to protect the company did not require the dismissal of the liability cases. And the result is that the taxpayer, not the maker of the defective product, will be responsible for the injuries.

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Comments on NYTimes.com Editorial - Insurance Company Schemes
June 29, 2009

Anyone with health insurance has long suspected that the insurance industry has made an art form out of accepting monthly premiums, while denying payment of legitimate claims. The US Congress over the past few weeks has finally brought to light proof of that practice. LINK

That health insurers are taking advantage of their customers is terrible. That the customers are often in dire places at the time makes it despicable - family members dying of cancer, suffering the consequesces of a tragic accident, following the loss of a loved one. When the consumer most needs their coverage seems to be when the insurance company is most likely to deny or delay coverage.

Now, the important question: what can be done about it? As the NY Times says - strong oversite is necessary. For too many years, the view was to remove the regulation and allow the market to govern itself. We now have vivid proof that, when you take the referee out of the ring, the big guys don't fight fair. Congress needs to put the regulator back into the ring, so that the little guy isn't taken advantage of.

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Comments on - Quick Guide to the FDA - TIME
June 24, 2009

Link to Time Article - Quick Guide to the FDA 

The article from Time that's attached shows what a huge job the FDA has - both in terms of the products and foods they are expected to regulate, and in terms of the significant health impact it can have on people all around the USA. From medical devices to pharmaceutical drugs to foods, the FDA is expected to keep track of all dangers and labels and products and so on.

The reality is, however, that each of the manufacturers of these products bear an even greater role in safety. Our system is designed to be self-policing, meaning that the makers of the products and devices and pharmaceutical drugs are expected to self-report problems. That system is one that requires mutual trust and honesty from the companies. Unfortunately, that trust is often violated, as the article points out. Drug makers are not currently required to report ALL studies of their drugs - meaning, they can perform a study and, if they don't like the results, simply put the article on the shelf. Doctors and patients would never know about the study.

Likewise, medical device makers will often promote their devices for things never approved by the FDA. And, the FDA simply doesn't have enough people and resources to keep track of every device and all the statements and suggestions made.

The FDA's new director is promising to take a more active roll, and require much more transparency from the companies. Such transparency will help to eliminate dangerous devices and poorly researched drugs from harming people.

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Obama Open to Reining in Medical Suits
June 15, 2009

Apparently, President Obama is considering restrictions to lawsuits against doctors. LINK. Although the general idea sounds easy (getting rid of junk lawsuits, and protecting doctors against run-away juries), the reality is much different.

First, limits on damages don't affect the junk suits - they only affect the really big cases, which of course aren't junk cases. In other words, the suit of "they served me bad food in the hospital" is never worth enough to be affected by a cap on damages. The victims affected by the cap are children crippled from a birth injury - for whom a lifetime of medical care is very expensive. Or families who have lost a loved one due to medical negligence, who have lost a lifetime of care and nurturing and support. Or the elderly, who are sometimes terribly mis-treated in nursing homes. Putting limits on the potential recoveries for those families just adds financial injury to the already existing emotional and medical injury.

Getting rid of junk lawsuits is a good idea. Putting caps on serious cases does nothing to get rid of junk lawsuits - it merely punishes the victims of terrible injuries. Such an idea doesn't help doctors either - should they ever find themselves the victim of medical negligence.

Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod, LLP is a national lawfirm with principal offices in Dallas, Texas. We have dedicated our firm to representing people and families who have suffered injuries and losses due to the negligence of others. We help victims of trucking accidents, construction site accidents, medical negligence, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other reckless conduct. Please visit our website at http://www.mcwlawfirm.com/ for more information concerning our firm and how we might be able to help.

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Justices Tell Judges Not to Rule on Major Backers
June 09, 2009

The U.S.Supreme Court has recognized that major financial contributions from big corporations directly to state Supreme Court Justices creates the appearance of undue influence. THe attached article from the New York TImes explains the problem well - when a large corporation makes a large donation to a justice, and later that same justice issues a ruling in favor of that corporation (potentially saving the corporation millions of dollars), that just looks bad. LINK

 In Texas, we have proof of how bad it is. Several law schools professors in Texas gathered together and did a study to determine if the big corporations won more decisions before the Texas Supreme Court. THe short answer is, Yes. Nearly 85% of the time that an individual faces off with a big corporation, the big corporation wins.

There can be little doubt that the financial contributions of the big companies pays direct financial dividends

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Auto Industry today.
June 01, 2009

Today General Motors Corp filed for bankruptcy. The 100-year-old company was, for decades, one of the most powerful companies in the world. Now, employees and their families around the country are fearing for the worst. Following on the heals of Chrysler's bankruptcy, the American auto industry has obviously done a poor job of keeping up with it's competition.

And the same is true in the safety department of the big auto makers. Over the years, consumers have been terribly hurt or killed in cars like: the Ford Pinto which caught on fire from rear-end impacts; the Jeep CJ5 which rolled in sharp turns; the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire combination, where a tire would de-tread and cause the SUV to rollover; and the Crown Victoria police cruisers, that also catch fire from rear-end impacts.

Apparently, cutting corners on safety did not save money for the companies. But, for the families affected by these tragedies, the damage continues even to this day.

Chrysler, in a behind-the-scenes move, is trying to escape responsibility as part of their bankruptcy filing. Chrysler has asked the Court to dismiss all lawsuits for all vehicles designed and/or sold prior to the bankruptcy filing. That means tens of thousands of vehicles on the road, with hidden dangers and defects, that might escape any responsibility. Hopefully, the Court will reject this effort. And hopefully, GM will not attempt the same trick.

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Holding companies responsible for their actions
May 26, 2009

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