Personal Injury Resources

While Merck CEO gloats over the fact that they have not paid a single penny to any of the families of 60,000 Americans who have died after taking Vioxx, the company’s chief counsel, Ken Frazier, put it in the starkest terms. “Heart attacks are, unfortunately, a leading cause of death in the United States and have multiple causes,” he said. In other words, with two out of three Americans being either obese/overweight (and suffering from all kinds of problems related to cholesterol, diabestes, heart diseases, etc.), it is simply a piece of cake to argue that the victim “would have suffered a heart attack whether he was taking Vioxx or not” as Merck puts it.

Tom spoke more about a measure adopted in a special session in late 2004 regarding medical malpractice insurance. The result of this special session was an HMO tax that would pay for a reinsurance fund that is to sunset in 2010 after payouts totaling about $120 million. The cause of this special session was two consecutive large premium increases from Maryland’s largest malpractice insurer. With doctors unable to change their payouts from the various health insurance providers to the degree necessary to absorb this increase, they had little choice but to drop out of various specialties, in particular obstetrics.

You know it’s a problem to drink and drive. Drinking and driving is the most frequently committed crime. 115 people a day die from car accidents. Of that, 47 had been drinking. Most of the accidents occur between midnight and 3 am. 43% of the fatal accidents of drunk drivers happen on the weekend. Holidays always play an important role, too. New Year’s Day is number one at 67%. Fortunately, cars are getting safer and the statistics are slowing from early 1960’s levels.

If you have been injured and are thinking of hiring a personal injury lawyer there are a few things to keep in mind.

Even though Congress has been blocked, the courts have stepped in and offered some help. In 1999 two federal class action law suits were filed claiming violations of national and international laws regarding hazardous working conditions and working without pay. A third suit, in California State Court, accused U.S. retail firms of false advertising for the use of the “Made in USA” label.

Today a U.S. District Court dealt a major blow to a group of pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca ; Johnson & Johnson ; Schering-Plough and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. , denying the companies’ motion to dismiss a nationwide class action law suit alleging they defrauded consumers by illegally inflating the cost of prescription drugs.

The primary difference between torcetrapib and the Vioxx catastrophe: Vioxx was being used to treat an acute problem like pain, while this new
drug is designed solely to lower the risk of heart disease. The 
ultimate irony is that, if taken, torcetrapib will increase the risk.