Finch McCranie, LLP

Window Blinds Recalled

Window blinds sold under the IKEA and Green Mountain Vista labels were the subject of a recall announced today by The Consumer Product Safety Commission. About 677,300 window blinds and shades sold in the United States were subject to the recall.
The recall was prompted by the death of a 1-year old girl from Greenwich, Conn., who choked to death when in April when she got caught in the inner cord of a set of IKEA Roman blinds which had been placed over her playpen.
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Defective Products, Burn Injuries and Fire Cases: A Deadly Combination

Our firm has handled several tragic wrongful death cases involving children who have died in fires caused by defective products such as a space heater or air purifier. Each year, approximately 500 children under age 14 are killed in house fires. Such fires are estimated to have injured many thousands more. What we have seen here in our practice is mirrored by the national experience. Indeed, the most common causes of burn injuries among children emanate from hair curlers, space heaters, ovens, ranges, gasoline, fireworks
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Yamaha Rhino Utility Terrain Vehicle Rollovers – Unsafe at any Speed?

It was learned last week that Federal safety officials are investigating the Yamaha Rhino, which has been linked to 30 deaths. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decision to investigate the Yamaha Rhino was based on accident and death reports involving the vehicle as well as the high number of product liability suits that have been filed by people who claim they were injured using this product. Unlike another class of off-roaders all terrain vehicles (ATV’s), are subject to safety standards. Unfortunately the
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Skin Warning Issued about Alcoholism Therapy Drug

As Georgia injury lawyers we often see people who have been injured by dangerous prescription drugs. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning doctors about severe skin reactions in alcoholism patients who use Vivitrol, an injectable treatment made and marked by Cephalon, Inc. Doctors and patients should watch for swelling, injection, and other complications where the drug is injected. The FDA emphasizes that the proper needle must be used when administering Vivitrol. Also, the drug should be injected into muscle, not fatty tissue.
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Insurance Industry Tricks

According to a report by the American Assocaition for Justice, the U.S. insurance industry has trillions of dollars in assets, enjoys average profits of over $30 billion a year, and pays its CEOs more than any other industry. But insurance companies still engage in dirty tricks and unethical behavior to boost their bottom line even further. The current economic turmoil affecting the insurance industry onWall Street has only made the outlook bleaker for consumers living on Main Street. Insurance companies are likely to demand huge
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Traumatic Brain Injury- Georgia Motorcycle Accidents

In November of 2000, while ballots were being counted in Florida, I stood in the trauma unit of the Orlando Regional Medical Center with my daughter who had been assaulted. Over the month she was there, one helicopter after another landed on the roof of the trauma unit delivering victims of automobile accidents and motorcycle accidents with severe injuries. Many of them died and many of them sustained severe brain injuries. Many of those traumatic brain injuries occurred because the person riding the motorcycle
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Serious Accidents -Traumatic Brain Injury

In our Georgia injury practice our lawyers have seen many serious accidents, including automobile accidents and truck accidents, which result in brain injury of varying degrees. Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s) contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability annually. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans, about 2% of the U.S. population, currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.
The severity
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Feeling Unusually Fatigued after Brain Injury?

Over the years, we have noticed that client’s who have suffered a brain injury as a result of an automobile accident or truck accident often complain about feeling unusually fatigued or tired. An interesting study confirms that following a recovery from brain damage, patients may have to use more of there brains then they did before the brain trauma.
The study published in the September 9th issue of Neurology found that patients who sustained diffuse axonal injury and returned to pre-injury levels of functioning in
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Arbitration Clause Stricken By Court of Appeals

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling which begins to chip away at the anti-consumer arbitration clauses used by many credit card companies to deny justice to consumers. The court held that plaintiffs could not be forced into arbitration because American Express was not a signatory to the MasterCard, Visa and Diners Club credit card agreements that
In the multidistrict currency conversion case, cardholders are claiming that card companies and major issuing banks have engaged in a Sherman Act conspiracy to
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Georgia Injury Lawyers Will Closely Watch A Dangerous Drugs Case

Georgia injury lawyers will closely watch an upcoming U.S. Supreme case having to do with dangerous drugs and the doctrine of pre-emption. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in a case that has major implications for consumers who have been harmed by prescription medications. Drugmaker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the Bush administration are challenging a $6.7 million verdict to a Vermont musician whose arm was amputated after medical staff improperly administered the Wyeth-produced drug Phenergan. Wyeth and the administration argue people who
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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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