Finch McCranie, LLP

New Product Safety Law

Last month, consumer, public interest and scientific groups applauded President Bush for signing product safety reform legislation into law that will overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, was passed overwhelmingly by Congress. The new law will make consumer products safer by requiring that toys and infant products be tested before they are sold, and by banning lead and other harmful chemicals in toys, by creating a comprehensive publicly accessible consumer complaint database, give the CPSC the
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FDA Discloses Drugs Under Investigation

Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems.The first list is a bare-bones compilation naming 20 medications and the potential issue for each. It provides no indication of how widespread or serious the problems might be, leading some consumer advocates to question its usefulness, and prompting industry worries that skittish patients might stop taking a useful medication if they see it listed.
Food and Drug Administration officials said they are trying to walk a
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Georgia Hospitals Perform Poorly

A new website, The Hospital Compare Web, run by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shows 80 U.S. hospitals listed as top performers in the mortality rates for patients admitted with heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia. No Georgia hospitals were among the best performers. Nine Georgia hospitals rated worse than national norms on death rates for pneumonia or heart failure. The number of poorly performing hospitals in Georgia was higher than any state other than California.
Mortality rates for hospitals across the
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Drugmaker/Doctor Conflict of Interest

Last week, Stanford University announced that it will severely restrict industry financing of doctors’ continuing education at its medical school. The school’s new policy stems from concern about the influence drug companies may have on medical education.
Most doctors in the United States must take annual refresher courses that drug makers have long paid for. While the industry says its money is intended solely to keep doctors up to date, critics charge that companies agree to support only classes that promote their products.
Stanford will
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Byetta deaths

Four more patients have died of pancreatitis after taking the diabetes prescription medication Byetta. The deaths were announced by Eli Lilly & Co. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. the companies manufacturing the drug. Several weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced two two additional deaths.
While no definite relationship between Byetta and the additional deaths has been proved, according to the companies, they may have to add tougher warnings to prescribing instructions.
Byetta, which has been available in the U.S. since June 2005, is
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Children Cough Medicines Subject To Review

The Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to revise standards for over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children. The FDA said it will change the criteria that have allowed the products to remain on drugstore shelves . This could result in removal of the products from the market.
The FDA action is in response to increasing concerns that the remedies are ineffective and could be unsafe. Specifically, the action is in response to a petition filed in March 2007 by a group of pediatricians
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Spanair JK5022: Abogados especializados en casos de Litigacion Internacional de choques aereosdente aereo

Para representar a las familias de las personas que perdieron la vida en el accidente aereo Spanair JK5022, nuestro bufete juridico esta trabajando con abogados especializados en casos de Litigacion Internacional de choques aereos, ya estan invesigando esta tragedia. Si perdimos familiars en este accidente, estos serian los abogados elegidos para representar a nuestras familias.
Para una consulta gratis, favor de enviar su correo electronico precionando aqui (haga clic aqui).
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Spanair Flight JK5022: To assist the families of persons who died in the airplane

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Preventable Medical Errors Cost $1.47 Billion

In the July 28 issue of Health Services Research, the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported that a recently completed study indicates that employers pay out $1.47 billion each year to cover costs for surgical patients incurred from preventable medical errors. The report analyzed data from a nationwide sample of more than 161,00 adult patients who underwent surgery in 2001 and 2002 and were insured by plans provided through their places of employment.
The study focused on 14 preventable errors which included
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Another High Speed Police Chase Case In Clayton County, Georgia:

It was reported by the news media on Friday, August 15, 2008 that an innocent motorist was killed on 8/14 when inadvertently caught up in a high speed police chase in Clayton County, Georgia. While the media reports are sketchy, it appears that the fleeing suspect was speeding and driving in an erratic manner. The police began to chase the driver and during the chase, the suspect struck an innocent motorist who was on a motorcycle. As a result, the motorcyclist was killed.
We do
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Loss Of Chance of Survival Recoveries

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a $328,135 jury award to a widow and her son based on her husband’s lost chance of recovery resulting from a doctor’s negligence in not treating his stomach cancer. This ruling based upon the theory of “loss of chance” damages is being applauded by plaintiffs’lawyers.
The court held that the family could recover even though the victim had less than a 50-percent chance of survival when he first sought treatment. The “loss of chance” doctrine eases the burden for
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Damages Allowable Under The Federal Tort Claims Act

Damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act are measured by the law of the state in which the tort occurred. Thus, the state statutes control what damages may be obtained. However, there are some differences principally in the context of wrongful death claims. Because every law in every state is different in this regard, suffice it to say that counsel must be familiar with the District Court opinions in their district as well as in their state. The differences can also dictate who has
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Atlanta Motorcycle and Motor Scooter Dangers

Motorcycles and motor scooters are becoming increasingly popular in Atlanta due to congestion and their gas saving qualities. However, we are increasingly seeing terrible and tragic accidents involving motorcycles and motor scooters. Unfortunately, many of these incidents are caused by distracted drivers who simply do not see the motorcycles or motor scooters.
In today’s Atlanta newspaper there is an article concerning a 55-year-old Atlanta resident who was killed while riding a motor scooter. She had stopped on Peachtree Road to make a turn into her
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Suing State Law Enforcement Officials In State Court:Easier Said Than Done

Under the law of the State of Georgia, law enforcement officials enjoy official immunity for acts performed within the scope of their discretionary authority. As long as they are performing discretionary acts and not ministerial duties, they can only be held liable if they are acting outside the scope of his authority or with actual malice or intent to injure. These are very difficult propositions to prove in the routine case. If an officer, however, violates a simple ministerial task, he can be liable but
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Suing Law Enforcement Officials In Federal Court: Easier Said Than Done

Under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States, a state law enforcement official typically cannot be sued in his official capacity for acts done within the scope of his official duties. The reason is the Eleventh Amendment which prohibits lawsuits against a state or “state actors” without state consent. This constitutional prohibition against such lawsuits typically means that if someone has a civil rights claim they wish to assert in court against a law enforcement official then they might need to consider doing so in
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Suing Law Enforcement for Excessive Force Claims: Easier Said Than Done

When a law enforcement officer abuses his authority and uses excessive force in an arrest or detention of a suspect, legally, the victim of such excessive force faces some very significant legal hurdles in seeking redress for any injuries caused by the excessive force. What we refer to here is known as the doctrine of qualified immunity. Simply stated, as long as a law enforcement official is acting within the scope of his discretionary authority, he/she essentially has immunity for his acts unless he clearly
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The Federal Tort Claims Act: Ask For a Sum Certain

As indicated in our prior blogs on this subject, when a claim is brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, it must be initiated via the filing of an administrative claim. The administrative claim should not be filled out in the most sparse form imaginable rather all pertinent details of the claim should be provided. This includes providing all relevant documentation which supports the claim. Indeed, it is somewhat analogous to submitting a settlement package to an insurance company. All information concerning when and where
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Arbitration Clauses Before Supreme Court

Mandatory arbitration clauses are contained in almost every consumer transaction agreement, and financial and employment contracts. We have previously written about the fact that these mandatory arbitration clauses benefit only big business. As a result of the unfair nature of these clauses, there has been a movement within the United States to prohibit their inclusion in many consumer, financial, and employment contracts.
The increasingly conservative United States Supreme Court has recently been upholding a wide range of mandatory arbitration clauses. Just recently, the Supreme Court
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De-Ja Vu : More Police Chases Equal More Deaths

Last week we read about what has become an all too familiar pattern, more police chases equal more deaths. In one case in Los Angeles a six year old was killed when the police were chasing suspects who were believed to have been involved in a drug transaction earlier. The death penalty was imposed on this six year old girl in order to catch a suspected drug user. Was the price worth it? Also in Los Angeles, a motorcycle officer was killed during a pursuit when he lost control of the motorcycle. In a police chase in Jacksonville, two police officers and a suspect were hospitalized with serious injuries. These were three separate incidents which occurred on June 10.

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Police Chase Results In Death Of Child

Police chases very often end in tragic results. Our Atlanta attorneys have handled many such cases in Georgia which have resulted in the loss of innocent lives while law enforcement officers chased suspects for minor offenses.
Despite the carnage which these chases cause and the pain and grief inflicted upon innocent victims, lawmakers continue to make it more difficult for innocent victims to receive compensation for losses. These restrictions also have the effect of making it easier for law enforcement officers to engage in dangerous
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The Federal Tort Claims Act: The First Step to Take

Under the FTCA, a plaintiff must first submit an administrative claim to the responsible federal agency prior to the initiation of a lawsuit. The courts have held that the filing of such a claim is a jurisdictional requirement meaning that before the United States government can be sued, a written claim must first be made to the responsible federal agency which the claimant contends is liable for their damages. Many federal agencies have their own regulations governing the filing of such claims but in most
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