South Carolina Personal Injury Law Blog

Government Renews Hospital Rankings

A new government report ranking 5,000 of the nation’s hospitals has sent a shock to some healthcare administrators. The list, collected by the Department of Health and Human Services, identifies 42 hospitals where heart patients are most likely to die. The government has reinstituted the ranking system, last used during the Clinton administration, in effort to increase accountability among healthcare providers.

Source:  "Report Rates Hospitals on Their Heart Treatment" by Gardiner Harris, published in The New York Times.

Drug Companies to Pay for Overcharging

A federal district court judge in Boston, MA found three drug makers liable last week for overcharging Medicare, pension funds, insurers, and patients for certain drugs.  In a nationwide class action lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged that AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Schering-Plough sold drugs to doctors at discounted prices while encouraging them to claim full reimbursement from insurers.  The judge dismissed claims against Johnson & Johnson.  A calculation of damages to be paid by the defendants is expected by August. 

Source:  "AstraZeneca, Bristol Overcharged on Drugs, Judge Says" by Cary O’Reilly, published at Bloomberg.com.

Vioxx Plaintiff Accepts Settlement to Avoid Retrial

Facing a possible retrial, a South Carolina man chose to accept a $1.6 million from Merck & Co. after a trial judge overturned the original $51 million verdict.  The plaintiff alleged that Vioxx was to blame for a heart attack he suffered in 2002.  The judge found the original award to be excessive in light of the plaintiff’s successful recovery and a general lack of economic damages resulting from the heart attack. 

Source:  "Vioxx Plaintiff Takes $1.6M Rather Than Retry on Damages" published in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Supreme Court Delivers Another Strike to Shareholders

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court set a higher legal standard for investors to overcome when claiming fraud against companies.  In an 8-1 decision, the Court embraced strict interpretation of a provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that requires plaintiffs to show that the defendant intended to deceive, manipulate, or defraud.  The Court’s ruling will give judges more latitude to dismiss cases that cannot meet the burden set by the court.  You can read the Court's decision in Tellabs v. Makor Issues and Rights, Ltd. by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Justices Tighten Rules on Shareholder Suits" by Stephen Labaton, published in The New York Times.

Settlement Reached in Dental Death

An Illinois dentist and the dental clinic where he practiced have agreed to pay $1.135 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a 73-year-old man who died while having a tooth pulled.  The man's family claimed that the dentist failed to render appropriate care when the man stopped breathing after being administered an intravenous sedative.  Terms of the settlement did not force the dentist or clinic to admit wrongdoing.

Source:  "Dentist, Family Settle Lawsuit" by Michael Higgins, published in the Chicago Tribune.

State Farm Accused of Racketeering

In a lawsuit filed last week, a group of Mississippi homeowners accused State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. of a “pattern of racketeering” in the handling of claims related to Hurricane Katrina.  Attorneys for the homeowners claim that the insurer manipulated engineering reports in order to deny policyholder claims.  The use of the racketeering statute is a new tactic for attorneys pursuing Katrina-related claims against insurance companies. 

Source:  "Racketeering Alleged in Katrina Suit" by Michael Kunzelman, published in the Houston Chronicle.

Judge Orders Pet Food Maker to Stop Contact with Plaintiffs

A federal judge has ordered a pet food manufacturer to cease contact with plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the company over alleged contamination of its products. Judge Noel Hillman has told Menu Foods, Inc. to turn over the names and bar admissions of the attorneys who advised the company that such communications were proper. The calls were made only one day after the judge instructed the company to stop communication with plaintiffs represented by counsel. 

Source:  "Judge Seethes Over Direct Contact of Represented Parties in Pet Food Case" by Lisa Brennan,  published at Law.com.

Toxic Torts

A toxic tort the legal term for the harm that results from wrongful exposure of a harmful chemical or biological substance through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or skin absorption. Examples of toxic tort litigation include but are not limited to cases concerning, lead paint (causes brain damage, especially in children), asbestos (causes lung cancer, restrictive lung disease), pesticides   (causes birth injuries), toxic molds (causes various symptoms), and electro-magnetic fields from utility wires or major appliances (suspected to cause cancer), and toxic landfill/spill waste (causes leukemia, and other syndromes).

Toxic substances are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA was enacted in 1976 to give Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. The EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk. Despite government efforts to protect your health, millions of people at home, at work, and during their leisure time are being exposed to and injured by toxic substances every day.

Due to the nature of toxic substance accidents and long latency periods, many cases are often not brought until many years after victims discover they were exposed to the toxins. Exposure to toxic substances is particularly harmful for industrial workers who may have been exposed to high levels of toxins over a long period of time. Exposure to toxic substances is also particularly harmful to children who are generally more sensitive to toxic agents and who have a greater likelihood of exposure as a result of play habits and behavior patterns.

It is rare for toxic exposure to affect just one person, especially in cases of environmental contamination. It is very common for groups of people who have all been exposed to the same toxin because of the same event (for instance, an accidental release of radiation from a nuclear power plant) or because of the same occupation (for instance, repeated exposure to dry cleaning fluid by people in the cleaning industry) to bring legal claims as a group in order to seek redress for wrongful toxic exposure. As a result, toxic tort cases are often brought as class actions.

There are many different legal theories, including negligence, premises liability, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and strict products liability that are used to establish liability. Proving that a toxic substance has injured a person, however, requires hard work and experience.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

SEC to Back Plaintiffs in Enron Case

The Securities Exchange Commission will support investors who hope to hold banks liable for allegedly facilitating fraud by Enron against its shareholders. The SEC support is expected to bolster the shareholders’ upcoming Supreme Court case. The decision marks a victory for plaintiff attorneys after intense lobbying over the issue. 

Source:  "SEC to Side With Enron Plaintiffs" by Carrie Johnson, published in The Washington Post.

More Kids Rolling to the Emergency Room from Wheeled Shoe Accidents

Wheeled sneakers, a popular trend among children, are landing a growing number of kids in the hospital, say doctors. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, one death and at least 64 roller-shoe-related injuries were reported to the agency between 2005 and 2006. The most popular brand of the shoe, Heelys, was recently named to the list of fastest growing companies by Business Week. 

Source: "Doctors Say Roller Shoes Injuring Kids" by Lindsay Tanner, published in The Washington Post.