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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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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