Finch McCranie, LLP

ERISA Plan Can Disgorge Money From Attorney and Client According To 6th Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has issued an important opinion in an ERISA case. In Longaberger Co. v. Kolt, No. 08-4432 Nov. 16, 2009. the court held an ERISA plan could enforce its reimbursement rights against an attorney who obtained a personal injury settlement on behalf of an insured.
The attorney negotiated a $135,000 settlement on behalf of a client who was involved in an automobile accident. Only $1,000 remained in his lawyer’s trust account after disbursing $86,000 to the
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Volvo Issues Recall For Seatbelt Defect

Our Atlanta automobile product defect attorneys have written many blogs critical of automobile manufacturers for delaying or resisting recalls of dangerous products. Now Volvo deserves credit for quickly and voluntarily issuing a recall due to a dangerous defect. Volvo is recalling 9,667 of its 2010 XC60s, most of them in the United States and Canada, because in a crash test the driver’s seat belt came undone.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a side-impact test on the XC60 in early October of this
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Acetaminophen (Tylenol Ingredient) Continues To Kill

We just read of another incident in which an Atlanta area young man died as a result of an “overdose” of acetaminophen, the aspirin-free pain reliever found in Tylenol. Many people believe acetaminophen is one of the safest painkillers on the market. If used properly it is safe, but, it is also the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States.
Taking just slightly more than the maximum recommended dose for a few days can be toxic, even deadly.
We have previously blogged
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Atlanta Pedestrian Dangers

Atlanta pedestrians are subject to many dangers. Transportation For America, a consumer advocacy group has ranked the metro area as the 10th most-dangerous city for pedestrians in 2007-2008. The group said there are 5,000 preventable pedestrian deaths in the U.S. every year.
The group assessed 52 metropolitan areas on how dangerous they are for pedestrians. The 10 worst for pedestrians in 2007-2008 were: Orlando, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Miami; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis; Raleigh, N.C.; Louisville, Ky.; Houston; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta.
According to the study, Atlanta
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Hormone Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer:

The Women’s Health Initiative has issued warnings in the past that certain hormone replacement medications have the ability to harm many women. For example, Prempro is a drug that has been taken by as many as 6 million women in just one year. Statistically, it did not seem that the increased risk of developing breast cancer from using this hormone replacement therapy was all that great. Statisticians stated that there would be a .08% additional case of breast cancer for every 10,000 women that did take Prempro as opposed to those that did not.

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“98,000 Reasons” Why Medical Negligence and Medical Malpractice Remain a Public Health Danger

As Congress debates providing and paying for health care, another huge “cost” must not be forgotten: the cost of medical errors and medical negligence.
According to conservative estimates, 98,000 Americans annually die because of preventable medical negligence. Many more suffer life-changing injuries.
A terrific website, 98,000 Reasons, describes many of these stories of preventable injuries and deaths. Please visit it, as reducing medical errors saves innocent lives, and reduces costs of health care.

Makers Of Dangerous Foreign Made Products Have Protections Not Available To U.S. Companies

Our Georgia product liability lawyers have filed many lawsuits against foreign manufacturers for dangerous products introduced into commerce in the United States. In these actions it is sometimes very difficult to find and serve the manufacturer in a foreign country.
This problem has now come into the spotlight as the result of the Chinese wallboard epidemic facing many unsuspecting consumers across the United States. The problem is enormous. By some accounts as many as 100,000 homes across the United States, built between 2004 and
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Consumer Finance Bill Proceeds In Congress

Our Atlanta consumer lawyers often have to inform wronged consumers that they have no remedy under the law. We see this very often in the investment, credit, and banking areas. Legislation that, if enacted, will provide greater protection to investors was approved by a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
At the same time, the full House approved a bill to accelerate restrictions on abusive practices by credit card companies that had been signed into law last May. That law was scheduled
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Supreme Court Tackles Prosecutorial Immunity

The United States Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a very interesting case. The question before the Court in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, v. McGhee and Harrington is : Do citizens who have been framed by unscrupulous prosecutors for crimes they did not commit have a right to sue the prosecutors when the fraud is finally exposed?
Most public officials have qualified immunity, which means that they can’t be sued personally for actions taken in the course of their public duties unless it can be shown
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Toyota Sudden Acceleration May Be More Than Mat Problem

Our Georgia product liability lawyers have been monitoring the Toyota recall due to uncontrolled rapid acceleration. Several weeks ago, Toyota announced the biggest recall in its history. The Japanese automaker issued a safety advisory urging Toyota owners of over 3.8 million cars and trucks to remove driver side mats from their vehicles.
It initially was announced that the floor mats were the sole cause of these sudden acceleration incidents. Now, ABC news is reporting that the cause may be something much more complicated than the
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E-coli Tainted Lettuce Recalled

An outbreak of 19 E-coli related illnesses in Michigan, Ohio and New York may be linked to shredded romaine lettuce sold to grocery stores for use in salad bars and delis, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yesterday, the FDA announced a recall of the potentially dangerous produce.
Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can be extremely harmful. Strains of E. coli can cause diarrhea, urinary
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Death Linked to Defective Cribs

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that on Thursday of this week the government recalled thousands of baby cribs manufactured by Simplicity and Graco, after warning that babies could suffocate or strangle in them. Apparently the problem with both types of cribs relates to faulty or defective hardware. According to the article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the Simplicity crib recall was linked to at least one death and it involved thousands of cribs. The recall involving Simplicity products is for all full-sized cribs

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Clients Deserve Better And So Do Lawyers

Last night after a long day at work I went home and decided to browse local television shows. In so doing, I came across a program entitled “American Greed.” The topic of the program I was watching was extremely disappointing to me but regrettably a symptom of modern day society. The program dealt with greedy lawyers who were stealing from their clients. I watched the program in amazement because the greed of these lawyers was utterly fantastic and extremely disappointing to me as a plaintiff’s
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Health Insurer Targets Women With Breast Cancer For Denial Of Coverage

Our Atlanta lawyers constantly receive calls from consumers who have had their health insurance companies refuse to pay for necessary treatment or have had their insurance cancelled after they become sick. A recent report has reveled that WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurer, has aggressively targeted women with breast cancer with the intent of canceling their health insurance policies.
Reuters news service cited federal investigators and regulators as a source of this information. According to the report, WellPoint has used a computer program to automatically
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Suing Government Officials In Georgia

Most members of the public do not realize that it is very difficult to sue a government official. As long as government officials are acting within the scope of their discretionary authority, they are typically immunized by law from legal liability for mistakes they make, even including claims involving negligence, gross negligence and/or recklessness. The main exception to this rule typically involves the operation of automobiles for which there has been a statutory waiver of sovereign immunity in Georgia. There are, however, other limited exceptions
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How To Reduce Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice became a hot button issue in the recent healthcare debate. Many politicians, healthcare workers, and large insurers argued that medical malpractice cases are a large contributor to the rising cost of healthcare in the United States. Even though this line of argument has been consistently proven to be false, it was constantly brought up buy opponents of healthcare reform.
There is a better way to reduce the number of medical malpractice cases without sacrificing innocent victims who have been maimed due to
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Food Safety

The safety of the United States food supply is a vital interest of all citizens. The recent deadly outbreaks of salmonella poisoning in peanuts, spinach, and other foods has brought the lack of safeguards in the food supply chain to the forefront.
A new report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s inspector general, released last week, documents an outdated and ineffective federal food safety program with too few inspectors, too skimpy legal authority and too little funding.
Faced with the reality of overseas food-processing
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Police Pursuit Policies Changed: More Changes Needed

Finch McCranie has been representing innocent victims caught up in police chases for over a decade. While the police should chase violent felons who are endangering the public, many of these cases involve chases where the police are pursuing non-violent or mere traffic offenders at high speeds with the end result being a third party killed or injured, caught up by happenstance in the dangerous pursuit. We have long advocated that the police should pursue violent offenders where the risk of the chase to
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High Chair Recall

Our Atlanta product liability lawyers see many cases involving defective products which cause injury. None are more disturbing than those involving children. There have been 24 reported injuries of children involving Graco Harmony highchairs. In an effort to avoid further injuries Graco Children’s Products announced Thursday that it is recalling 1.2 million Harmony highchairs because of stability issues.
The company makes car seats, strollers, swings and other products for kids. It reported that that its Harmony highchairs can be unstable and tip over. The highchair
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PEDS Wire Hunt to Continue

In February of 2006, John Lamb was killed when a bicycle he was riding became entangled with hazardous utility wires which draped across a city sidewalk. Mr. Lamb did not see the wires that were still attached to the utility pole until it was too late. Unfortunately, he was thrown from his bicycle, landed on his head, broke his neck and was killed.
This spring, PEDS, a pedestrian safety advocacy group located in Atlanta, will be conducting the Second Annual John Lamb Hazardous Wire Hunt.
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