Finch McCranie, LLP

Dangerous Products No Longer Receive Federal Protection

Companies that produce dangerous products suffered a major defaet last week in the United States House of Representaatives. By a vote of 407 to 0, the House of Representatives passed legislation reauthorizing the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and included statutory language specifically prohibiting the CPSC from issuing any rule or regulation that expands the scope of federal preemption of state law.
During the Bush administration, the CPSC has issued rules and regualtions which it argues preempt state laws governing dangerous products, thereby depriving innocent
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Bad Faith Insurance Claims

Bad faith insurance claims have always been difficult because the insurance industry has routinely been able to hide behind restrictive laws designed to protect them from even egregious conduct. However, a case pending in Missouri may change this situation.
A Jackson county Missouri trial judge issued an order directing Allstate Insurance Company to produce records which the Plaintiff lawyers allege show how Allstate set up a claims payment system in the 1990s that shortchanges clients while earning huge profits. Despite the judges directive, Allstate refused,
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Government Information To Be More Accessible

Our serious injury lawyers often request information from governmental agencies in efforts to help our clients. Many times, despite laws requiring disclosure, our requests are routinely denied or ignored.
The Bush administration has consistently pushed toward secrecy in government. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft had issued an order instructing agencies to lean against releasing information if there was any uncertainty about how it would affect national security.
Now the Congress is fighting this trend by passing legislation which would expand the Freedom of Information Act
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Doctors Place Self-Interest Ahead Of Patients In Study

A disturbing study by the Massachusetts General Hospital was reported in the December 6, 2007 issue of the Harvard Crimson Newspaper. The paper reported that the study disclosed that nearly half of the doctors surveyed are more likely to protect their colleagues than their patients. Forty percent of the doctors admitted to not reporting a serious medical error they had witnessed. Likewise, forty-five percent admitted to not reporting a physician who they knew to be impaired or incompetent.
Additionally, the study found that the physicians
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Arbitration Clauses Attacked By Consumer Advocates In Congress

We have previously written about mandatory arbitration clauses. Just a few years ago, Congressional Republicans made it a priority to limit almost all litigation against businesses. Now, legislation is advancing which could make it easier for consumers to have their complaints heard in the courts. At issue is the fine print in many contracts for goods and services, such as credit cards and cell phones, requiring that any disputes be submitted to arbitration by a third party. Critics of these provisions contend that they deny
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Atlanta Area Motorcycle Accident Case Settles

Our motorcycle accident injury attorneys have successfully concluded a case involving a young man who lost control of his motorcycle in Carrollton, Georgia in May of 2005. The client was operating his motorcycle in the City of Carrollton near the Southwire Plant. As he approached a curb in the road, the lane was littered with gravel, dirt and other debris. The client had a split second to decide what action to take. Instead of attempting to engage his brakes, which he felt would result in
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Atlanta’s Fox Theater Injuries Recall Past Theater Safety Failures, and Serious Injuries and Wrongful Deaths

Having seen past injuries and deaths occur because theater safety principles were disregarded in using orchestra pits in Atlanta, our Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog attorneys shuddered upon reading that it had happened again in Atlanta. A 17 year-old dancer wearing a Panda costume reportedly suffered critical injuries when she fell some 12 feet into the lowered orchestra pit of the Fox Theater, during a performance of the “Nutcracker” by the Atlanta Ballet.
The orchestra pit contained no orchestra, but was apparently lowered to this great
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Dangerous Drugs Advertised By Manufacturers

Our dangerous drug attorneys often review cases in which an inappropriate drug was prescribed for a patient. Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumers’ interest in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. In the latest newsletter from The Health Research Group, a division of Public Citizen, there is an interesting article concerning direct advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
The article points out that other than New Zealand, the United States is the only country that allows direct
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Atlanta Area Nursing Home Slammed

Last week, two Georgia nursing homes were added to the list of the worst in the country according to federal data.
The Place at Augusta and Shoreham of Marietta were cited for deficiencies and placed on the list of the worst nursing homes in the country by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These two homes in Georgia were among 54 nursing homes in 33 states that failed to improve quality of patient care and/or administrative services over the last year.
According to the
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Defective Medical Device Question Before Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case which may have a major impact on lawsuits against medical device makers brought by patients who have been injured by defective products. The Supreme Court will be asked to consider whether patients can bring lawsuits over defective devices which have been cleared for sale by the Food and Drug Administrations’ approval process. In this case, a federal appeals court barred a suit which claims a New York man suffered permanent injury when a Medtronic
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Defective Dehumidifiers Recalled

http://www.serious-injury-litigation.com/lawyer-attorney-1259787.htmlGeorgia injury lawyers know that dangerous products can cause serious injury or death to innocent consumers. For example, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary recall of Gold Star and Comfort-Aire portable dehumidifiers due to a fire hazard. The Commission said the recall involved 98,000 dehumidifiers exported from China by LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Co. Of China. According to the Commission, the dehumidifiers have power connectors that can short circuit, posing a fire risk. The company has received four reports of fires involving dehumidifiers including Gold Star model # GHD30Y7, which were sold at Home Depot outlets, model # DH305Y7, sold at Walmart stores, and Comfort-Aire model # BHD-301-C dehumidifiers, sold at Heat Controller.
Defective and dangerous products coming into the United States from China are increasing at an alarming rate. In 2008, 80% of all product recalls in the U.S. involved imported products from China. Other dangerous recalled products include dog food, toys with lead paint, drywall and even pharmaceuticals.

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Carbon Monoxide Leaks Often Result In Wrongful Death

Every year Georgia citizens die needlessly as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. According to Journal of the American Medical Association, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America, yet many people do not know when they are being affected by it since its symptoms appear flu-like. Exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide can result in death.

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Medical Malpractice Realities

Medical malpractice lawsuits in Georgia have long been the target of doctors’ groups and big insurance companies. Using advertising, political contributions, and misinformation, they have been successful in fostering the notion that these lawsuits are frivolous. Many people have bought into this misconception, that is, until it happens to them or a loved one.
A recent story in the Miami newspaper illustrates this well. A Belle Glade, Florida judge plans to sue two radiologists and a surgeon after a foot long by foot wide
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Medical Error Costs Quantified

Preventable medical errors add extremely high costs to the healthcare provided in Georgia and across the United States. The Society of Actuaries, the largest professional organization dedicated to supporting 21,000 members in the United States and Canada, recently commissioned a study to assign a cost to these medical errors.
The study defined measureable costs of medical errors to include increased medical costs, costs related to an increased mortality rate, and costs related to lost productivity after the occurrence of an error. Most other costs of
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Hit-and-Run Crash Results In Death Of Georgia Motorcyclist

Inattentive drivers are responsible for many Georgia motorcycle accidents every year. Sadly the negligence of these inattentive drivers often results in the serious injury or wrongful death of the motorcyclist. Such may have been the case yesterday in Macon, Georgia when a woman driving a 1999 Chevrolet Impala ran a stop sign at the intersection of Peeble Street and Second Avenue and struck a motorcycle. According to witnesses, the woman struck 59-year old James Collins of Danville and then left the scene of the accident. The victim was pronounced dead shortly after the crash.
Hopefully authorities will be able to apprehend the driver and prosecute her for her callous, criminal conduct and hopefully for the family of the victim, there will be insurance coverage to compensate them for their loss.

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Dog Bites and Dog Attacks Are Serious Business – Georgia’s Homeowners Should Beware!

Georgia injury lawyers know that dog bites can result in serious and disfiguring injuries and sometimes the wrongful death. Because of the population of Atlanta area, it is not uncommon to hear about these cases on a weekly basis. It is estimated that almost 5 million Americans each year are dog bite victims. About 800,000 of these are serious enough to seek medical treatment for their injuries. Sadly, about half the victims are children and most of them are between the ages of 5 and 9 years old.

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Reporting Reduces Medical Errors

Acts of medical malpractice are often hidden by the secrecy afforded hospitals and health care providers by various state laws which make these matters confidential and immune from discovery by the public.
In an effort to reduce these sometimes deadly errors, the state of Indiana initiated a method of publicly tracking preventable medical errors. In just the fourth year of reporting, Indiana hospitals and surgery centers reported more than a 10 percent decrease in errors between 2008 and 2009.
Indiana’s Medical Error Reporting System requires
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Depuy Orthopedics Hip Implant Product Recalled

On August 4, 2010, DePuy Orthopedics recalled its ASR XL Acetabular System (hip implant) and ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Recent data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales indicated a higher than expected revision rate at five years. Specifically, the data showed that the five-year revision rate for ASR XL Acetabular System was approximately 12% and for ASR Hip Resurfacing System was approximately 13%.
The revision rate was highest with ASR head sizes below 50mm in diameter and among female patients.
DePuy is
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Road Debris Can Kill

Not a week goes by that we do not see a significant number of road debris items laying in the middle of Georgia highways. Whether it is an old mattress, furniture, tools, chain, truck tie-down straps or whatever, these items on the highway often result serious injury or death to innocent motorists who encounter and try to avoid them.
In October of 2008, a woman, trying to avoid road debris, died instantly in a single car crash. The accident happened at about 7:30 a.m.
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Traffic Fatalities Show Significant Decrease

Traffic fatalities in Georgia and across the United States have shown a significant decline between 2008 and 2009, according to a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Georgia’s number of traffic fatalities in the period fell by 14 percent for a total of 1,495 in 2009. Florida led the nation with 422 fewer traffic fatalities in 2009, followed by Texas (405 fewer), California (353), Pennsylvania (212) and Georgia (211 fewer).
Increased seatbelt use and campaigns against drunk driving are being credited
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