The Food and Drug Administration has issued a big warning to the American consumer about a fake version of the drug Adderall being sold online.  Adderall is used to treat both narcolepsy and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

Drug Shortages: Lack of Supply of Adderall Leading People to Search Online for the Drug

News media across the country have picked up on the story, getting the word out to lots of people who may be trying to find a source for this medication online because they can’t get it right now at their local pharmacy. Apparently, Adderall is one of several popular medications that is in short supply now; for a full list, check out the FDA Drug Shortage Web Page.

NOTE:  It’s only a version of one manufacturer’s product — the Teva Pharmaceutical brand of 30 mg Adderall tablets — that is being counterfeited.

Dangers of Buying Drugs Over the Web: Fake Drugs and No Justice

Today’s warning deals with a popular drug that people are trying to locate online because they cannot locate it in their neighborhood drug stores.  That’s a serious situation forcing people to shop for drugs online.  Another one is cost.  Lots of drugs are simply cheaper to buy online, through international web sites where the drugs are cheaper in the marketplace than here in the United States.

However, when someone buys a drug online from a web site they need to be aware that they may not be getting the real thing, like this Adderall warning, and they may not have any remedy if they or a loved one is hurt by the drug they bought off a web site.   If a mother buys a drug at her local drug store and her baby is hurt by it, then that mother has a legal remedy against the drug maker as well as potentially against that drug store, etc.  under state personal injury product liability laws.

If that same mother chooses to buy the drug over the web, then she may not have any legal recourse.  The site may disappear, she may not be able to locate those who took her money, and investigators may never be able to find the makers of the fake drug — or they may be legally shielded in some foreign jurisdiction if they are located.  It’s a risky business, to buy drugs online.  (And this is true for both humans and pets.)

Here’s the full FDA Press Release:

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2012
Media Inquiries: Shelly Burgess, 301-796-4651, shelly.burgess@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA warns consumers about counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall
Tablets purchased on the Internet contain wrong active ingredients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers and health care professionals about a counterfeit version of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ Adderall 30 milligram tablets that is being purchased on the Internet. Adderall, which is approved to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy, is a prescription drug classified as a controlled substance – a class of drugs for which special controls are required for dispensing by pharmacists.

FDA’s preliminary laboratory tests revealed that the counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets contained the wrong active ingredients. Adderall contains four active ingredients – dextroamphetamine saccharate, amphetamine aspartate, dextroamphetamine sulfate, and amphetamine sulfate. Instead of these active ingredients, the counterfeit product contained tramadol and acetaminophen, which are ingredients in medicines used to treat acute pain.

Currently on the FDA’s drug shortage list, Adderall is in short supply due to active pharmaceutical ingredient supply issues. Teva continues to release product as it becomes available. Consumers should be extra cautious when buying their medicines from online sources. Rogue websites and distributors may especially target medicines in short supply for counterfeiting.

The counterfeit Adderall tablets are round, white and do not have any type of markings, such as letters or numbers. Any product that resembles the tablets or the packaging in the photos below and claims to be Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets should be considered counterfeit. The counterfeit versions of Adderall should be considered as unsafe, ineffective and potentially harmful.

Authentic Adderall 30 mg tablets produced by Teva are round, orange/peach, and scored tablets with “dp” embossed on one side and “30” on the other side of the tablet. Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets are packaged only in a 100-count bottle with the National Drug Code (NDC) 0555-0768-02 listed.

he Adderall 30 mg product may be counterfeit if:1. The product comes in a blister package.

2. There are misspellings on the package.

• “NDS” instead of “NDC”
• “Aspartrte” instead of “Aspartate”
• “Singel” instead of “Single”

3. The tablets are white in color, round in shape, and are smooth.

4. The tablets have no markings on them.

Pictures of authentic Adderall 30 mg tablets (immediate release) by Teva (front and back side of tablet)

Anyone who believes they have the counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets should not take or should stop taking the product. Consumers should talk to their health care professional about their condition and options for treatment.

Consumers and health care professionals are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects from the suspect counterfeit Adderall to the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:

• Complete and submit the report online:www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm.
• Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178.

Consumers who believe they have received counterfeit Adderall should contact the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) at 800-551-3989 or http://www.fda.gov/OCI.

Longshoremen working on or near the Great Lakes as well as the rivers and waterways serving our regional trade routes look to the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO to provide guidance and protection. The ILA is the largest union of maritime workers in North America, representing upwards of 65,000 longshoremen in the Great Lakes areas as well as on both the Eastern seaboard, the Gulf Coast, and other parts of the country as well as eastern Canada. In fact, the ILA began back in 1892 serving longshoremen in the Great Lakes area and grew into the huge organization that it is today.

International Longshoremen’s Association Issues Quarterly Safety Bulletin Today

Today, the ILA issued its quarterly safety bulletin, ” Be Careful Out There!” online in a downloadable .pdf format.  In this issue, container weights were discussed – what the Code of Federal Regulations requires and what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandates for the marine cargo handling industry.  Also included within the bulletin, the sad news that two ILA members had been killed while working on the job.

Longshoremen Are Protected By Special Laws Passed Just for Them

If you work on the docks, in what federal law considers to be “maritime employment,” then you may be protected by the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. This law would be the primary legal remedy in the event of a serious injury or death while working on the job – not state workers’ compensation, not a private claim against the company.

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act covers workers who are loading or unloading vessels, or working on the repair or upkeep of a vessel, while in a terminal or on a dock, wharf, pier, etc.  The LHWCA has its own set of rules and procedures, its own version of a trial proceeding, and its own set of benefits for medical needs, rehab therapy, disability payments, and more.

Unions and Attorneys Standing Up for Injured Longshoremen / Maritime Workers

The ILA works hard to protect workers with maritime jobs.  It’s dangerous work, what longshoremen do.  Union oversight of safety issues, as seen in the quarterly bulletin, goes a long way to keeping workers safe on vessels and piers, etc.  However, when injuries occur, workers may need the advocacy of both their ILA as well as their personal injury attorney in order to get justice.

For many longshoremen, having legal counsel that are versed not only in the LHWCA but other state and federal injury laws and standard workers’ compensation statutes can be extremely important to insure they receive proper coverage and consideration for themselves and their families.  Unions have been vital to the protection of American workers, as have plaintiffs’ attorneys in courtrooms across this country.

It’s sad but true that even with both these arms of justice crusading for the working person, workplace safety remains a major problem in the United States today because it’s all too often considered too costly to protect the worker by the employer whose loyalty is to his or her bottom line profit.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration (a division of FEMA), over 3,500 Americans die every year in fires (18,300 more are injured), and most of these fires sadly, and perhaps shockingly, occur in their own home.

Tragic Death of Electrical Expert David Mugerditchian Should Serve As Needed Reminder to Families Everywhere About the Need to Check for Home Fire Safety

David Mugerditchian, 60, of Des Plaines, was the victim of a horrific fire and explosion at his home on Monday and after suffering burns over 96% of his body, he passed away last evening. In an ironic turn of events, Mr. Mugerditchian was an expert on this sort of thing: he had made his living for many years as an electrical inspector, employed by the City of Des Plaines and earlier by Underwriter’s Laboratories.

The cause of the explosion and fire are not yet known; neighbors heard the explosion early that morning, a little after eight o’clock. Mr. Mugerditchian was found in the backyard, unable to explain exactly what happened. All that Hoffman Estates Fire Department investigators know for now is that this was an accident.

By all accounts, David Mugerditchian was a fine man, a hero who once saved a man from a burning building, who is respected by his colleagues and beloved by friends and family. Our sincerest condolences go out to all who are grieving this untimely passing.

His story should serve as a reminder to families in our area of the importance of fire safety in our homes.  From the USFA come the following suggestions.

Please take the time to consider the following for your family:

Every Home Should Have at Least One Working Smoke Alarm

Buy a smoke alarm at any hardware or discount store. It’s inexpensive protection for you and your family. Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home. A working smoke alarm can double your chances of survival. Test it monthly, keep it free of dust and replace the battery at least once a year. Smoke alarms themselves should be replaced after ten years of service, or as recommended by the manufacturer.

Prevent Electrical Fires

Never overload circuits or extension cords. Do not place cords and wires under rugs, over nails or in high traffic areas. Immediately shut off and unplug appliances that sputter, spark or emit an unusual smell. Have them professionally repaired or replaced.

Use Appliances Wisely

When using appliances follow the manufacturer’s safety precautions. Overheating, unusual smells, shorts and sparks are all warning signs that appliances need to be shut off, then replaced or repaired. Unplug appliances when not in use. Use safety caps to cover all unused outlets, especially if there are small children in the home.

Alternate Heaters

Portable heaters need their space. Keep anything combustible at least three feet away.
Keep fire in the fireplace. Use fire screens and have your chimney cleaned annually. The creosote buildup can ignite a chimney fire that could easily spread.
Kerosene heaters should be used only where approved by authorities. Never use gasoline or camp-stove fuel. Refuel outside and only after the heater has cooled.

Affordable Home Fire Safety Sprinklers

When home fire sprinklers are used with working smoke alarms, your chances of surviving a fire are greatly increased. Sprinklers are affordable – they can increase property value and lower insurance rates.

Plan Your Escape

Practice an escape plan from every room in the house. Caution everyone to stay low to the floor when escaping from fire and never to open doors that are hot. Select a location where everyone can meet after escaping the house. Get out then call for help.

Caring for Children

Children under five are naturally curious about fire. Many play with matches and lighters. Fifty-two percent of all child fire deaths occur to those under age 5. Take the mystery out of fire play by teaching your children that fire is a tool, not a toy.

Caring for Older People

Every year over 1,000 senior citizens die in fires. Many of these fire deaths could have been prevented. Seniors are especially vulnerable because many live alone and can’t respond quickly.

For more information, you can download and review a series of Fire Safety Publications from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, available online for free.

Defective products, faulty wiring, and other man-made causes of fire are notorious as causing home fires as well as being the subject of personal injury claims.  It’s much better to be safe than sorry, to prevent a home fire rather than being the victim of one and perhaps the plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking justice because of tragedy caused by a preventable fire.

Be safe out there.

Congress, via a formal letter sent by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to President Obama, is asking that the President not okay the revision of trucking industry HOS (hours of service) rules as proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The FMCSA proposal cuts the hours that big rig semi truck drivers can be on driving their huge trucks on American roadways.

The FMCSA proposed change to federal HOS regulations will be effective as federal law in October 2011, and many industry watchers believe that FMCSA will cut the hours to 10 hours of service as the maximum number of hours a driver can drive a commercial truck.

The letter from Congress argues that the change is not needed and that if the HOS is cut back, that it will result in more trucks “…on the road to deliver the same amount of freight,” which will mean more road congestion … and more shipping costs for trucking companies and the like.

This, despite the fact that driver fatigue is one of the main reasons for big rig semi truck accidents where death is usually the result.

READ THE LETTER HERE. As explained at the Committee’s website:

September 23, 2011

On September 23, 2011, Full Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL), Highways Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN), Railroads Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) sent a letter to President Obama and DOT Secretary LaHood to express their concerns regarding DOT’s proposed changes to the hours of service rules for truck drivers. In the letter, they requested that the President withdraw his proposed changes, which would impose unnecessary and costly regulatory burdens on the trucking industry by making changes to the current rules. The changes were included in the President’s list of Proposed Regulations from Executive Agencies with Cost Estimates of $1 Billion or More and are scheduled to be made final at the end of October.

Since the implementation of the current rules, there has been a reduction in severe and fatal crashes involving large trucks, indicating that the current rules are having a positive impact on highway safety.

Lawsuits based on personal injury get no respect in some circles: the people suing (the plaintiffs who have been hurt or had loved ones seriously injured) are considered opportunistic and their personal injury lawyers (the attorneys who work on a contingent fee) are viewed as greedy. You’ve read the tort reform arguments; no need to reiterate them here.

However, consider the following — issues that have appeared in the news just this week regarding dangerous products marketed on TV and magazines and the web as being safe, helpful, even life-saving, to the American public. It’s because of product dangers like these that products liability lawsuits exist. They are needed to help individuals who have been injured or killed by bad products. They serve justice.

1. Lawsuits filed against AstraZeneca alleging Nexium caused bone deterioration and broken bones.

Down in Houston, Texas, Mary Mai Nguyen and Tuoc Duong have sued drug manufacturer AstraZeneca because they argue that the heavily advertised heartburn medication, Nexium, has resulted in their bones deteriorating and actually breaking — which they believe would not have happened if the drug company had done enough research before selling this stuff, or if they had been warned about this being a possible side effect.  This summer, a similar lawsuit was filed in Texas by 35 different plaintiffs,also alleging that Nexium caused broken bones and bone loss; and the news media has been reporting on the risk of Nexium (and other heartburn pills) damaging bones and causing things like hip fractures for almost five years now.

Get this: Nexium not only is AstraZeneca’s best selling prescription drug: Nexium is the NUMBER ONE best-selling prescription drug on the planet (2010 figures). The drug company literally makes billions of dollars each year on these pills: think they will shut that pipeline down without a fight?

2.  Wrongful Death Cases Being Filed After 1-800-GET-THIN LapBand Surgery

Over in sunny Southern California, where all the beautiful people live, seems there were outpatient clinics advertising lap band weight loss surgery at 1-800-GET-THIN, and nowover 5 wrongful death actions have been filed based upon what these clinics were doing to their patients, as people started dying back in 2009.

Already, it’s alleged that the 1-800-GET-THIN marketing ads did not warn anyone of the risks of the lap-band surgery.  And there are lots of them, even in the best of situations. Consider this: in March, ABC News reported that over half of the lap bands placed during surgery have to be removed. Half of them.

In the latest California lap band lawsuit making the news, there are also allegations that one of the physicians doing these lap-band surgeries was being investigated by the California Medical Board, and another one of the doctors was actually on probation while doing the surgeries. (This may add medical negligence arguments to the standard products liability case.) The doctors, of course, are denying they did anything wrong.

3.  Kids May Gain Weight and Get Diabetes After Taking Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal, or Abilify.

Expect lawsuits soon in this situation:  last week, a panel of experts recommended to the Food and Drug Administration that a watchful eye be kept on antipsychotics being given to children, and that better warnings of the risks involved be given on these drugs, specifically: Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal and Abilify.

Seems these drugs not only can cause weight gain and diabetes in kids, they can impact their lifelong health in other bad ways, and the experts want the FDA to study the situation in more depth. Right now, these drugs are okay to be given to children as young as 2  years old for things like aggressive behavior, attention deficit disorder (ADD) along with various other psychological or behaviorial issues — but there is not research to back up doing this:  there’s not proof that these drugs — Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal and Abilify — work on kids, and there’s not proof that they don’t end up harming the children.

Editorial: Partner’s death tests same-sex union laws

Editorials September 27, 2011 9:28PM

Imagine that your husband or wife was among the seven people killed when a violent wind toppled a stage at the Indiana State Fair in August. Now imagine that tragedy magnified by a legal slap in the face: If you’re gay, Indiana says your relationship does not exist.

Alisha Brennon, a 24-year-old Chicagoan, awoke to this reality on Aug. 13. First, she found out that her partner had been killed in an accident that left her severely injured. Then she learned that the civil union the Illinois couple had celebrated in June meant nothing when it came to seeking compensation for her loss.

It’s hard to find a more human example of the painful, real life consequences of living in a country that has an uneven patchwork of laws regarding same-sex unions.

It’s also hard to find a better argument for knitting together that unfair patchwork of laws.

“The goal is to treat everyone fairly,” said Kenneth J. Allen, Brennon’s attorney. “We’re trying to push the ball down the field toward equality.”

On Monday, Brennon filed two lawsuits in an attempt to force Indiana to recognize her Illinois civil union. Specifically, she wants Indiana to recognize the rights of a same-sex partner to recover damages. Indiana, unlike Illinois, does not allow civil unions.

Had the accident happened in most other states, Brennon likely would have faced the same fight for damages. Just five states allow civil unions and six allow gay marriage. A few other states recognize out-of-state unions.

We are hopeful that the Indiana courts will recognize Brennon’s legal union. Northwestern Law Professor Andrew Koppelman says the law is on her side, noting a body of law that governs a situation where a marriage is valid in one state but not in another. The rule, he said, has generally been that the law of a couple’s home state defines their status, particularly if the couple is simply visiting another state. Koppelman wrote a book on this topic: “Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines.”

Brennon says she is motivated not by a desire to cash in but to honor her partner, Christina Santiago, who devoted her life to advocating for gays and lesbians. Helping two states live side-by-side, respectful of each other’s laws, is a great place to start.

Subaru recalls seem to just keep coming.  Within the past 30 days, Subaru recalls have been issued for three different problems and now over 500,000 Subarus need to be fixed.

None of the recalls are for minor issues or cosmetic ones.  Each is dangerous and potentially deadly: (1) loose moon roofs, where the glass can pop off while you’re driving; (2) motors for windshield wipers that can burst into flame; and (3) (maybe the most frightening) control arms that corrode and break due to weather, leaving drivers without the ability to control the vehicle.

If you or a loved one have been injured by one of these product problems, then you may have a claim for damages and personal injury against the manufacturer (and others).  Here are the Recall Notices (all from NHTSA):

RECALL OF SUBARUS FOR CONTROL ARMS THAT CORRODE AND BREAK

Vehicle Make / Model:

Model Year(s):

SAAB / 9-2X

2005-2006

SUBARU / FORESTER

2003-2008

SUBARU / IMPREZA

2002-2007

Manufacturer: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.

Mfr’s Report Date: SEP 06, 2011

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 11V464000

NHTSA Action Number: PE11011

Component: SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM

Potential Number of Units Affected: 295,123

Summary:

SUBARU IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2002-2007 IMPREZA, MODEL YEAR 2003-2008 FORESTER, AND MODEL YEAR 2005-2006 SAAB 9-2X VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM SEPTEMBER 5, 2000 THROUGH NOVEMBER 26, 2007 ORIGINALLY SOLD, OR CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN, MASSACHUSETTS, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, VERMONT, WISCONSIN, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, IOWA, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, MAINE, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEW JERSEY, OHIO, RHODE ISLAND, WEST VIRGINIA AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. THE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS MAY BREAK AT THE HANGER BRACKETS DUE TO CORROSION IF THE HANGER BRACKET IS EXPOSED TO SALTY AND HUMID ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS ROADS CONTAINING SNOW MELTING AGENT.Consequence:
A BROKEN CONTROL ARM CAN RESULT IN THE LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:
SUBARU DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE DEGREE OF CORROSION OF THE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS, AND WILL EITHER RUSTPROOF OR REPLACE THEM. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING NOVEMBER 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SUBARU AT 1-800-782-2783.

Notes:
THIS IS SUBARU’S SAFETY RECALL NUMBER WVX-34. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

______________

RECALL OF SUBARUS FOR WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTORS THAT CATCH FIRE

Vehicle Make / Model:

Model Year(s):

SUBARU / LEGACY

2010-2011

SUBARU / OUTBACK

2010-2011

Manufacturer: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.

Mfr’s Report Date: SEP 06, 2011

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 11V469000

NHTSA Action Number: N/A

Component: VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:MOTOR

Potential Number of Units Affected: 195,080

Summary:

SUBARU IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010-2011 OUTBACK AND LEGACY VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM JANUARY 7, 2010, THROUGH MAY 20, 2011. COMPONENTS INSIDE THE WIPER MOTOR BOTTOM COVER MAY OVERHEAT.

Consequence:
IF THE COMPONENTS OVERHEAT, THE WIPER MOTOR BOTTOM COVER MAY MELT AND POTENTIALLY CATCH FIRE.

Remedy:
SUBARU WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT WIPER MOTOR BOTTOM COVER ASSEMBLY FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING NOVEMBER 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SUBARU AT 1-800-782-2783.

Notes:
SUBARU’S SAFETY RECALL NUMBER IS WVV-32. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

__________

RECALL OF SUBARUS FOR MOON ROOF GLASS THAT FALLS ONTO DRIVER

Vehicle Make / Model:

Model Year(s):

SUBARU / LEGACY

2011

SUBARU / OUTBACK

2011

Manufacturer: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.

Mfr’s Report Date: SEP 06, 2011

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 11V467000

NHTSA Action Number: N/A

Component: VISIBILITY:SUN ROOF ASSEMBLY

Potential Number of Units Affected: 69,590

Summary:
SUBARU IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011 OUTBACK AND LEGACY VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM AUGUST 3, 2010, THROUGH JULY 1, 2011. THE MOONROOF GLASS MAY COME LOOSE OR DETACH. THE AMOUNT AND POSITION OF THE ADHESIVE BETWEEN THE GLASS AND RETAINER WAS INADEQUATELY APPLIED.

Consequence:
THE MOONROOF GLASS CAN LOOSEN AND DETACH FROM THE VEHICLE DURING DRIVING, RESULTING IN A POTENTIAL ROAD HAZARD FOR OTHER VEHICLES, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy:
SUBARU WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE GLASS ADHESION CONDITION AND EITHER APPLY ADDITIONAL ADHESIVE OR REPLACE THE MOONROOF GLASS, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING OCTOBER 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SUBARU AT 1-800-782-2783.

Notes:
SUBARU’S SAFETY RECALL NUMBER IS WVW-33. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has proposed a federal ban on all usage of cell phones for truckers driving commercial big rig semi trucks as being too dangerous; the ban would apply to both handheld and hands free phones.

On September 13, 2011, the NTSB formally recommended that federal regulations be created that would make it illegal for commercial truck drivers to use mobile phones while on the job, except in the case of emergency.  The NTSB’s reason?  The agency cites the distraction of driving while talking on the phone, even a handsfree phone, is too high when the driver is operating a heavy commercial truck like a big rig, semi truck, tractor trailer, or 18 wheeler.

From NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman:

“Distracted driving is becoming increasingly prevalent, exacerbating the danger we encounter daily on our roadways.  It can be especially lethal when the distracted driver is at the wheel of a vehicle that weighs 40 tons and travels at highway speeds.”

The Big Rig Truck Wreck That Got the Federal Agency’s Attention

In its announcement, the NTSB points to a tragic crash that killed 11 people last year in Kentucky as being a big incentive for the federal agency to take this action. What was this one accident that got the federal government to take notice?

Around a year and a half ago, early in the morning of March 26, 2010, just before sunrise in Munfordville, Kentucky, an experienced truck driver was driving his truck-tractor semitrailer combination unit on Interstate 65, when the big rig veered out of the southbound left lane, jumped the huge highway median (it was 60 feet wide), slammed through a protective cable barrier, and jumped into oncoming traffic in the northbound lanes.

The big rig then crashed into a passenger van filled with 11 people and its driver.  The truck driver and 10 of the 12 riding in the van perished in the accident.  From the investigation, the NTSB found out that the truck driver had been on the phone.  In fact, he had made 4 calls right before the crash and he had made 69 calls and text messages within the previous 24 hours.

His last call? Records show it was made at at 5:14 a.m. CDT, the exact time that the truck departed the highway.

Kenneth J. Allen and Associates Has Been Monitoring What Happened After That Terrible March 2010 Esh Wedding Van Crash

We reported on this horrific crash back in March 2010, when it happened.  An entire family was devastated by this crash as the van occupants were part of the large Esh family, on their way in a church van to a family wedding in Iowa.  See, On I-65, Semi Truck and Church Van Crash Kills 11, where we gave details about the family and what happened back then.  Even the most experienced trial lawyers were shocked and mystified that such a horrendous, horrible, and tragic accident could occur.

Monitoring this tragedy, we’ve also reported on the federal government shutting down the trucking company involved in this horrible accident.  Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Hester, Inc. of Fayetteville, Alabama, to be shut down.  See, Feds Close Doors of Trucking Company After Truck Killed 11 in Van on Kentucky Interstate.

This month, we are seeing the federal government continue to take action to make sure that the horrible tragedy that befell the Esh family never happens again on American roadways.  Banning phone chatter and texting by truckers driving huge and heavy big rigs is just one more step in the right direction.

Workers on the job in Illinois have new laws in place to protect them from injuries and harm now: as of September 1, 2011, the big, big changes made to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act are now the law of the land.

Which means that:

• if you are a worker who is hurt on the job anywhere in the State of Illinois on or after September 1, 2011, then your injury claims will be governed by this new set of laws – and there are lots of differences between the new Illnois Workers’ Compensation Laws and those worker compensation statutes of the past.
• even if you were injured before September 1, 2011, the procedures that control your Illinois workers’ compensation claim may change, because the process is governed by this new set of reforms.

What Are The Big Differences Between the Old Illinois Workers Compensation Act and the 2011 Workers Compensation Laws?

When Governor Pat Quinn signed this reform bill into law, he told everyone that one of its results will be to help companies by decreasing the insurance premiums that they have to pay for their workers’ compensation insurance coverage.  And it does — Illinois business will save millions now, some suggest a half-billion dollars a year, because of this new legislation.

However, many are concerned that it will not benefit Illinois working men and women. For instance:

• The new laws try to take people out of the courtrooms and into negotiation rooms.
• The new laws also slash by 30% medical fees allowed to physicians and hospitals who care for workers who have been injured while working on the job.
• Injuries themselves also got stripped; for example, claims for carpal tunnel syndrome  – an all-too-common and sometimes delibitating worker injury — are being heavily regulated now.

Many believe that this isn’t the end to this story: other laws (and lawsuits) will have to address the reforms that are in place now, because there are either holes in the laws, or they are just plain unfair.  Doctors, for example, are already suggesting that cutting their fees by a third was draconian and they may fight against this.

What Happens to Illinois Workers Now?  It’s Not Clear.

Right now, some believe that it will take years before the dust settles on the reforms that became effective this month.  This, despite the fact that an on the job work injury can be so devastating to a family.  When a father or mother is seriously injured while at work, so much so that he or she cannot do their job, then the family is in crisis.  The law should be swift in its protection, and there is a real concern that workers may suffer not just in their injuries but in getting deserved legal redress for them.

Workers on the job in the State of Illinois are vulnerable to all sorts of serious on the job work injuries as well as the risk of wrongful death while on the job in:

• Construction Injuries
• Explosions
• Fires
• Equipment Malfunction
• Machine Malfunction
• Electrocution
• Railroad Workers (FELA) Job Site Injury
• Mill Accidents
• Falls
• Slips
• Longshoremen & Maritime Job Site Injury

If you have a question about how the reforms to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Laws may impact you or a loved one and your workers compensation claim, please feel free to contact our offices by email or phone (see the toll-free number above).

This week is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, where the men and women who keep the big rigs and semis and tractor trailer trucks moving cargo across this country get some well-deserved attention for a hard job that is all too often taken for granted.  Being a commercial truck driver in the United States today is tough work for true professionals and everyone at the law firm of Kenneth J. Allen & Associates salutes each and every driver out there.

Consider this (stats from TruckInfo unless otherwise noted):

• There are around 3,500,000 men and women working as commercial truck drivers in America today.  One in nine of these drivers are independent; the other 8/9 work for trucking companies.
• These truckers drive various kinds of vehicles; however, 2,000,000 of these trucks are the big, heavy tractor trailers.
• An 18-wheeler weighs on average 80,000 pounds.
• They drive billions of miles each year.
• They deliver the majority of the cargo freight in the country (over 70%).
• There are around half a million trucking companies in the U.S.A.  Almost all of them (96%) operate 28 rigs or less – which means that there are only a few of the really big trucking companies operating today.

We salute the men and women who drive these big commercial trucks – Hats off to you on National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.

Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Pregnancy, even if these modern times, still poses many risks to mother and child — things like diabetes or any kind of infection can cause a miscarriage, for example, but anew Canadian research study reveals a shocking possibility: by simply taking a common, popular pain pill for a headache, a pregnant woman may miscarry her child - specifically, the mother is twice as likely to miscarry her baby in the early stages of the pregnancy if she takes any one of a number of widely known non-aspirin painkillers, i.e., nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs).

What are NSAIDs?

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories include over the counter painkillers like ibuprofen (aka Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) as well as those available only by prescription such asdiclofenac, celecoxib (Celebrex) and rofecoxib (Vioxx).  All of these NSAIDs were part of the Canadian research study.  It seems that the NSAIDs that a pregnant woman can buy at the grocery store may be just as risky as the NSAID that comes only through a doctor’s prescription.

Important to note:  Vioxx is not sold in the United States now; Vioxx has already been determined to be dangerous, and has been the subject of many personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits across the country.

What does the study reveal?

The research study was done at the University of Montreal and it’s getting lots of media interest. Seems the study looked into the histories of 52,000+ pregnant women and discovered that for those mothers who had NSAID prescriptions and took the painkillers during their first few months of being pregnant (through 20 weeks), they were TWO TIMES as likely to have a miscarriage as the mothers who did not take the painkillers.

Specifically, the researchers report that “…the use of nonaspirin NSAIDs during pregnancy was significantly associated with the risk of spontaneous abortion … [s]pecifically, use of diclofenac (OR 3.09, 95% CI 1.96–4.87), naproxen (OR 2.64, 95% CI 2.13–3.28), celecoxib (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.42–3.45), ibuprofen (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.61–2.96) and rofecoxib (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.24–2.70) alone, and combinations thereof (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.59–4.39), were all associated with increased risk of spontaneous abortion.”

Time Magazine, in covering the story, has pointed out that there are other research studies that jive with the new Canadian study, also finding links between miscarriages and taking NSAIDs.

How Safe are NSAIDs? What Happens Now?

The dangers of NSAIDs are still not clear.  It was just a few years back when Vioxx andBextra were on the market and the FDA was requiring more detailed labels be placed on all NSAID products (see details here).  Today, people taking any NSAID are warned that they can cause ulcers or worse (like liver damage), and anyone with any heart condition should be wary of taking these kinds of painkillers. Just pick up one of these products and read all those words — the labels have to be extra long just to get all those warnings on the bottle (or box).

It’s not debatable at this point that Americans taking these common painkillers can suffer serious injury or death — the new Canadian study is only expanding the list of potential risks that are connected to these very very popular (and profitable) products.

These studies only serve to warn, that’s all.  It is only through government regulation and private lawsuits based upon product liability and wrongful death laws that these kinds of dangers can be addressed.  Products where the manufacturers must be held accountable for putting profits over people if their products seriously injure or kill someone.

It is well-known within the industry that working on the job collecting trash is a dangerous line of work.  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was demanding more safety regulations be in place for garbage trucks back in 1992, when the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn’t even have safety regulations in place for these huge and heavy trash collectors.  Even today, trash trucks aren’t given the same regulatory treatment as other kinds of commercial trucks under federal regulations.

Learning of any employee being seriously injured or killed while earning a day’s pay working on the job is never easy: when it is a young man not even out of his teenage years working as a garbage collector, it’s truly heartwrenching.

17 Year Old Teen Dies While Working On the Job as Indiana Garbage Collector

In today’s news, we learn that the family of a seventeen (17) year old boy is grieving today, after he was killed in a horrific accident yesterday afternoon while working on the job on a moving front-loading garbage truck. The teenager was working for his family’s own trash collecting business, picking up garbage near Parker City, Indiana, when he and a co-worker fell off the front end of the moving truck after it bucked on a rough patch of roadway. Both were run over by the huge machine.

Unfortunately, the 17 year old young man died from his injuries; he has been identified in the news media as Stephen Tiller of Greenville, Ohio, and today our sincerest condolences go out to his family and loved ones.

His co-worker remains hospitalized at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, where he is recovering from a broken leg.

OSHA Regulates Garbage Collection Trucks, Trucks Recognized as Dangerous to Trash Collection Workers

In an online OSHA article from August 2008, David Biderman, then general counsel for the National Solid Waste Management Association, an organization dedicated to increasing the safety of garbage truck workers, shared the industry’s position:

“Everybody in the solid waste business knows that these trucks are dangerous….

“Look, it takes a certain type of person to want to do this kind of work. But if you interview most garbage men or you listen to them every day, like I do, you see that they’re very proud that they’re garbage men. And, really, they should be, because without them, where the hell would we be?”

Garbage Trucks Are Huge, Powerful, and Sometimes Deadly

The cause of this teenager’s death is not confirmed yet: media reports have the coroner arguing that the boy should not have been on the front of the garbage truck; however, it’s understandable why he might have been there — this was a front-loading truck (image below).

Did the truck itself play a part in this travesty?  We don’t know.  What were those road conditions?  We don’t know.  What we all do know is that workers should be safe on the job, especially when they work on trucks like this — which everyone knows to be dangerous (image shown is merely an example of a front-loading garbage truck, this one operated by Waste Management, a company not known to be involved in any way with today’s tragedy):

From Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Image

CSA 2010 is not news anymore.   The Compliance, Safety, Accountability program – or “CSA” – was a federally mandated overhaul of safety regulations for motor carriers driving on American roadways that was implemented across the country awhile back, in stages (region by region).

Instituted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), its goal is to increase the safety of both large commercial trucks (e.g., big rigs, semis, tractor-trailers) as well as commercial buses (think Greyhound or Trailways) so there will be less crashes and accidents and therefore, less serious injury and wrongful death involving commercial motor vehicles.

As we discussed back in January 2010, CSA 2010 expanded the current Safestat safety rating system where trucking companies are regulated in four categories (Driver, Vehicle, Safety Management, and Accident) to the new CSA system of seven (Unsafe Driving; Fatigued Driving; Driver Fitness; Controlled Substance and Alcohol; Vehicle Maintenance; Improper Loading/Cargo Securement; and Crash Indicator). (For more details, please read our prior post, “CSA 2010 – Saving Lives or Killing Businesses? Depends Upon Who You Ask.“)

CSA 2010 was a joint project undertaken by FMCSA and the various state regulatory agencies (e.g., Indiana and Illinois transportation agencies) that debuted in December 2010. As FMCSA describes it, CSA 2010 is a “…new nationwide system for making the roads safer for motor carriers and the public alike.”

Which suggests that the drivers of those large commercial trucks and commercial buses should have been instructed on the details of this “new nationwide system for making the roads safer” and that more than any other person on the roads, these drivers should know the details of CSA 2010. Right? Wrong.

New Study Reveals that American Truck Drivers Do Not Understand CSA 2010 Regulations

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has just released a report that investigated how CSA 2010 has changed the lives of commercial drivers. Lots of truck drivers were questioned by ATRI: the data in the report has been provided by 4,555 American truck drivers.  That’s a pretty big bunch.

Here’s what ATRI is reporting:  even today, after all the CSA 2010 hoopla on whether or not it should be passed, and after that, all the hurdles of getting CSA 2010 implemented, state by state, truck drivers still DO NOT KNOW what CSA is all about. And around 2/3 of these drivers are scared that they will get fired if they admit it to their employers.

From the ATRI news release, this quote from Ed Crowell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Georgia Motor Trucking Association:

“ATRI’s study clearly points out that motor carriers, state trucking associations and FMCSA collectively need to do more to educate drivers about CSA and what it does and doesn’t mean for their jobs.”

Exactly. One has to wonder how effective this hard-won change in safety standards can be, if the men and women operating these big machines do not know what’s what regarding these safety standards.  One also has to wonder who’s responsible for these drivers not being informed – whose duty is it to educate their employees (hint, hint) about these new standards?

Be careful out there!

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for investigating and reporting the number of American workers who are killed on the job each year, and this week, the Secretary of Labor released their preliminary findings. It’s not good.

Imagine: you leave for work one morning, just like any other day, but that will be your last morning to see your wife, to tell your kids goodbye. No one gets advanced warning that they will die in a work injury beforehand.

Imagine: you give your spouse a quick peck on the cheek as you run out the door, never thinking that this will be the last time you will see them – because that day, they will be fatally injured while doing their job.

American Workers Are Still Being Fatally Injured On the Job and The Statistics Haven’t Decreased: 12 American Workers Die Each Day On The Job

The National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reports that there has not been any real change in making American workers safer — in 2010, the number of workplace fatalities was 4547, compared 4551 with 2009. Among its findings:

• The number of fatal injuries among wage and salary workers increased by 2 percent in 2010.
• Fatal work injuries in the private mining industry increased 74% percent.
• Work-related fatalities resulting from fires more than doubled from 2009 to 2010, with the most Americans dying from fire last year than any year since 2003.
• The number of fatal workplace injuries among police officers increased by 40%.

It is a Modern Tragedy to have any American Worker Die While On the Job, Doing His or Her Work

In response, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement:

“No worker should have to sacrifice his or her life to earn a living. An average 12 workers die on the job every day, and that reality continues to drive the work of the Labor Department. When the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970, the National Safety Council estimated that 14,000 workers died each year on the job. Now, with a workforce that has doubled in size, the annual number of fatalities has dropped significantly. But it’s not enough. We cannot relent from our enforcement of laws that keep our nation’s workers safe. One worker killed or injured on the job is one too many.

As our economy continues to strengthen and the workforce expands, we at the Department of Labor will remain resolute in our mission to ensure that safety is not sacrificed as America’s workers provide for themselves and their families. My constant focus is ‘good jobs for everyone,’ and safety is an essential part of that equation.”

Kenneth J. Allen & Associates Agrees With Secretary Solis: 12 American Workers Dying Each Day is Unacceptable

Having twelve Americans die EVERY DAY while working on their jobs is a shockingly high number for modern America today.  Representing families and loved ones who aredealing with this sort of tragedy gives a perspective to these numbers that only serves to excerbate how heartwrenching and unacceptable these statistics are … especially in our local community, where we have countless families who send loved ones off to mines and mills and other dangerous environments daily.

It is only through legislation, regulation, and judicial decision that employers will place people over profits.

Please be careful out there.

The federal government is trying to protect Americans from being seriously injured or killed due to using tobacco products, and this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. One-third (30%) of all cancer deaths in this country are caused by tobacco products according to the Center for Disease Control – and the feds are, well, fed up with it. (For more on the federal government’s fight against the dangers of cigarettes, snuff, cigars, and the like, see our earlier post, “Federal Government Hammering Down on Tobacco Products – And You’re Invited to Help.”)

Big Tobacco Companies Sue the FDA Over New Warning Labels

These tobacco companies are fighting hard to stay in the marketplace, as usual.Recently, several of the Big Tobacco Companies (including R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, and Liggett) sued the Food & Drug Administration in federal court in an effort to stop the requirement that the new warning labels (which are very, very graphic) not be allowed.

The tobacco companies are suing the FDA for (1) violating their First Amendment rights (they assert the regulation is “compelled speech” and therefore unconstitutional) and for (2) assorted administrative agency law grounds.

Key here: they want the federal judge to halt the federal regulation requiring these new labels be on products by September 2012 until the lawsuit is concluded and its legal claims are resolved. Meaning, the tobacco company plaintiffs are seeking to delay the requirement that they put these scary warning labels on their products – even if they ultimately lose the lawsuit. Buying time, if nothing else.

An initial hearing has been set by the district court judge, Honorable Richard Leon, for September 21, 2011. It will be no surprise, least of all to Judge Leon, when his ruling is appealed.

For those interested in following the case, it can be found via PACER as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co et al v. FDA, Cause No. 11-01482 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Hazardous Materials are dangerous things: they involve cargo that could explode, projecting things at great speeds, or gases that could silently kill lots of people and animals, or things that can start big fires. When this stuff has to be moved from place to place, it’s a high risk event – and something that is heavily regulated.

This month, as part of the continuing CSA 2011 implementation (see our earlier discussion of that program here), changes have been made in how hazardous materials are transported in our nation.

1. Hazardous Materials are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations

Also known as “HazMat,” they have been defined by the Department of Transportationas:

(1) Hazardous Substances, (2) Hazardous Wastes, (3) Marine Pollutants, (4) Elevated Temperature Material (5) Materials identified in 172.101, and (6) Materials meeting the definitions contained in 49 CFR Part 173.

They include: radioactive material; explosives; material poisonous by inhalation; and compressed or refrigerated liquefied methane or liquefied natural gas, or other liquefied gas with a methane content of at least 85 percent.

2. Carriers Transporting Hazardous Materials Must Meet Special Criteria – the HM Intervention Threshold

When any motor carrier is moving a cargo of stuff defined by law to be “hazardous material” then that carrier must meet federal regulations on how that HazMat is packaged, moved, and labelled.  The shipping cartons must be labeled; the boxes that the cartons are placed inside must be labelled; the truck or trailer must likewise be labelled.  The Hazardous Materials warning labels are called “placards” in the law:

General placarding requirements are contained in 49 CFR Subpart F Part 172. Each person who offers for transportation any hazardous materials subject to the HMR shall comply with the applicable placarding requirements. Applicability of placarding requirements 172.500: Placarding is not required for infectious substances, ORM-D, limited quantities, small quantity shipments, and combustible liquids in non-bulk packages. Placards may not be displayed on any packaging, freight container, unit load device, motor vehicle or rail car unless the placard represents a hazardous material loaded into or onto the conveyance unless the shipment is in accordance with the TDG Regulation, the IMDG Code or the UN Recommendations.

General placarding requirements are contained in 172.504. Each bulk packaging, freight container, unit load device, transport vehicle, or rail car containing any quantity of hazardous materials must be placarded on each side and each end with the placards specified in Tables 1 and 2.

172.504 contains a number of notes and exceptions to these requirements. When two or more Table 2 materials are contained in the same transport vehicle, the Dangerous” placard may be used instead of the specific placard required for each hazard class. However, when 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs.) or more of a single category of HM is loaded on a transport vehicle, the placard specified for that material must be displayed.

172.504(c) contains an exception from the placarding requirement for shipments that contain less 454 kg (1,001 pounds) of Table 2 materials. A frequent problem encountered involves the 1,001 lbs. exception. The 1,001 lbs. is aggregate gross weight. Aggregate gross weight is the total weight of all hazardous materials and its packaging loaded on a single transport vehicle.

3.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Has Changed The Criteria for HazMat Intervention Threshold.

This month, FMCSA issued its new, redefined criteria for deciding which motor carriers are legally required to meet the federal Hazardous Materials intervention threshold.FMCSA made these changes so it would be easier for the government to spot motor carriers that were transporting hazardous materials and to insure that the carriers were doing so safely and efficiently.

In the future, motor carriers must face new thresholds in the transport of placarded quantities of HM; usually, 1,001+ pounds.  Before now, the HazMat intervention threshold on motor carriers was based solely on their registration information indicating they transported any quantity of HM.

Problem was: some carriers who were not carrying placardable quantities of HazMat were subjected to the HM threshold, while some motor carriers that were carrying Hazardous Materials weren’t being subjected to the regs.

Now, the HM intervention threshold applies to American motor carriers transporting Hazardous Materials in quantities that legally require the warning placard (“HazMat”) based on operational evidence. They meet one of the following criteria:

1. Inspection in the last 24 months where the motor carrier was identified as carrying placardable quantity of hazmat;
2. Review or safety audit in the last 24 months where the motor carrier was identified as carrying placardable quantity of hazmat; or
3. Motor carrier has a hazmat permit.

Trucks and trains and other motor carriers transporting hazardous materials are only allowed to move along certain routes, routes approved by the government as being safe for these kinds of dangerous loads. If you see one of these motor carriers with its distinctive red and white “Haz Mat” warning labels, then give it a wide berth.

Every big rig or semi truck on the road is dangerous in traffic; however, these HazMat loads are extremely high risk. If you are driving near a HazMat load, be especially careful – and let that driver have the right of way, even if he’s wrong to take it.

Be careful out there.

Companies are out to make money, and that is a good thing when you consider that the company pays employees’ wages and sets up insurance and pension benefits.  Having companies interested in making money isn’t such a good thing when they do things like fail to report their products can hurt people, because they want to keep selling those products to unsuspecting consumers for a profit.

Sure, but those are just the shady companies right?  Surely the nationally known and long respected corporations that have products in stores across the country wouldn’t do this, right? Wrong.

Consider this.  So far, in the first half of August 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that these three national companies, while not admitting that anyone knowingly violated the law or did anything wrong, will collectively pay over a million dollars in penalties – and that is just in the first two weeks of this month:

1. Black & Decker Agrees to $960,000 Civil Penalty for Failing to Report Defective Grasshog XP Weed Trimmer/Edgers

…Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., of Towson, Md., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $960,000. … The settlement resolves CPSC staff’s allegations that Black & Decker knowingly failed to report several safety defects and hazards with the Grasshog XP immediately to CPSC, as required by federal law. CPSC staff also alleges the firm withheld information requested by CPSC staff during the course of the investigation.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by CPSC.

CPSC staff alleges Black & Decker knew, on or before May 2006, that the high-powered, electric Grasshog XP GH1000 was defective and could cause harm, but failed to report this to CPSC.

CPSC staff also alleges that Black & Decker failed to provide full information about defects with the Grasshog XP as requested in May 2006. Based on the incomplete information provided at that time, CPSC closed the case. The firm did not give CPSC staff full information about the extent of Grasshog XP defects or the mounting number of incidents and injuries until October 2006.

In July 2007, Black & Decker and CPSC announced the recall of about 200,000 Grasshog XP model GH1000 trimmer/edgers. By that time, there were more than 700 reports of incidents, including 58 injuries with the Grasshog XP. The trimmer/edgers’s spool, spool cap and pieces of trimmer string can come loose during use and become projectiles. This poses a serious laceration hazard to the user and to bystanders. The trimmer/edgers also can overheat and burn consumers. Black & Decker sold the Grasshog XP weed trimmers from November 2005 through spring 2007 for about $70.

The recall was reannounced in August 2009 with an additional 100 injuries reported. CPSC urges consumers with recalled Grasshog XP trimmer/edgers to contact Black & Decker for a free repair kit.

2. Perfect Fitness Must Pay a $425,000 Civil Penalty for Failing to Report Its Exercise Equipment Causes Falls

….The penalty agreement resolves staff allegations that Perfect Fitness knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, about a defect with the handles of Perfect Pullup exercise equipment. The defect causes the handles of the product to break during use, resulting in a fall hazard to consumers.

CPSC staff alleges that Perfect Fitness concluded in June 2008 that its exercise equipment was defective following retesting of the handle design. The testing was done after the firm received a complaint and, according to the firm’s internal review, an unusual number of product returns. Perfect Fitness redesigned the product to correct the defect in July 2008.

CPSC staff alleges that Perfect Fitness was aware of at least 23 injuriesassociated with its product in March 2010 and posted a notice on its website to let consumers know they could get free replacement handles. Staff alleges the firm told consumers that the original handles were “inferior” and could result in an “accident.”

The firm did not report the defect to CPSC until December 2010. By that time, CPSC staff alleges the firm was aware of at least 45 complaints of injury associated with the handles breaking and had received more than 2,000 requests for replacements.

In February 2011, the firm and CPSC announced a recall of about 7,000 Perfect Pullups. The exercise equipment with the original handles sold for between $80 and $100 at sporting goods stores nationwide and on Amazon.com from January 2008 through February 2011. The exercise equipment with the original handles was also sold through direct television marketing and on the firm’s website during some of 2008.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or violates any consumer product safety rule, or any other rule, regulation, standard, or ban enforced by the CPSC.

3. CVS Must Pay $45,000 Civil Penalty for Failing to Report Drawstrings in Children’s Jackets Can Strangle Kids

The penalty resolves CPSC staff’s allegations that CVS knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it had sold children’s hooded jackets with drawstrings at the neck from August 2008 to January 2009. Children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings, including sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets, poses strangulation and entanglement hazards to children that can result in serious injury or death. In March 2009, CPSC and the importer of the jackets announced a recall of the products, which were sold under the brand names Golden Grove and Young USA.

In 1996, CPSC issued drawstring guidelines (pdf) to help prevent children from strangling on or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings of upper outerwear, such as jackets and sweatshirts. In 2006, CPSC’s Office of Compliance announced that children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck would be regarded as defective and presenting a substantial risk of injury to young children.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard, or ban enforced by CPSC.

Note: On June 29, 2011, the Commission approved a final rule that designates children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 12 with neck or hood drawstrings, and children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 16 with certain waist or bottom drawstrings, as substantial product hazards.

What This Means to You, The American Consumer Buying Products in Illinois or Indiana

In each of the instances, products that were dangerous were setting on store shelves for people to buy.  Products that could hurt someone, maybe even kill a child.

When you buy anything in this country, you cannot assume that you are safe just because the product has made it to the store.  You’re not. All too often, people are seriously injured before companies will agree to take their products out of the marketplace – because profits, sadly, are all too often prioritized over people.

If you think you or a loved one have been hurt by a product, then you can do several things.  You can report it to your local consumer protection advocacy group, you can report it to state officials, you can report it to federal agencies like the CPSC.  You can complain to the store, you can call the manufacturer.

However, none of these things will provide you with an avenue to seek monetary compensation for the damages that you or a loved one have sustained.  To pursue a claim for justice, you must seek the help of a personal injury lawyer experienced inproduct liability claims. That’s right: you will have to make a claim and maybe file a lawsuit to get the company to take responsibility.

The news in our area is filled with tragedy this week:  there is continuing national coverage (as well as YouTube videos) of the outdoor stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair last Saturday evening and there is local coverage of the tragic Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America plant explosion this morning in Hersher, Illinois.

At Work and At Play, Dangerous Conditions Result in Serious Injuries This Week

Latest reports have 5 workers hurt, with 2 workers seriously injured, in the blast that happened today while these folk were on the job in the NE Illinois gas works. All have been hospitalized and their current conditions are unknown.

News reports have five people dead as the result of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse with many of the crowd injured as a result of the 3-story stage falling to the ground, by some reports because of a sudden gust of wind. A doctor on the scene at the time of the tragedy gave his own personal account of the event, describing the stage as falling down “in slow motion” and that what he saw that day was “unbelievable.”

Meanwhile, USA Today is reporting that no state agency appears to have had responsibility for insuring that the Indiana State Fair facilities were safe for the people attending — it seems that not only did no agency take responsiblity for that duty,according to USA Today’s coverage, it may well be that no state agency had been given the legal duty to do so.

Legal Responsibility for Personal Injury Under State and Federal Law

Both federal law as well as state law protects workers on the job and people who attend popular events, like a concert during a state fair.  Workers’ compensation laws have been enacted in Indiana and Illinois to insure that workers hurt on the job are protected, and federal laws are also on the books to insure workplace safety.  The gas plant in Illinois will have state workers’ compensation claims filed by the injured victims to face was well as federal agency investigations into why that explosion occurred.   If tragedy hits and one of the blast victims dies, then wrongful death claims under Illinois law can be pursued.

However, traditionally workers have been better protected on the books that concertgoers, especially to a state event.  Governments are usually protected by something called “governmental immunity” under state and federal law, which means that state agencies cannot be sued for personal injury claims unless the state legislature allows it.  Additionally, there are defenses in the law for “Acts of God,” where mysterious winds or other natural events that cannot be predicted nor controlled will bar holding any party legally responsible.

In the Indiana State Fair matter, things are sticky right now.  Were the high winds an Act of God?  Will sovereign immunity claims bar any wrongful death claims by the decedents’ loved ones or estates?  Will the manufacturers, the concert promoters, the contractors who assembled the stage itself be liable for damages?  It’s not clear today, but questions are being asked – not just by personal injury lawyers but by reporters at Time Magazine and Rolling Stone.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration knows better than most how truly dangerous this record-breaking heat wave is for those who work outside – and after issuing warnings and helpful tips on combating heat exposure and heat stroke, people on the job and at work are still succumbing to the heat, turning up in Emergency Rooms or in job-site calls to EMS after they’ve been harmed by heat.

Mobile App To Protect Workers from Heat-Related Illness

Today, Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor, announced that the federal government is providing a free application for phones which gives both workers and their employers the ability to check the job site’s heat index from their phone.

It is available in English and Spanish, and was designed by combining various heat temperature data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the phone’s location to provide the job site’s heat index.

The app is designed for devices using an Android platform (go here for details on Android phones), and versions for BlackBerries and iPhones are on their way. To download the heat index phone app, go here.

Workers In Danger from Heat in Two Ways

As OSHA explains to employers on its website, workers on the job can get overheated and at risk for heat injury because of two heat sources hitting them at the same time:

1. the environmental conditions in which they work (external heat) and
2. the internal heat generated by physical labor (internal heat).

Workers on the job in high temperatures will still build up heat inside their bodies as they exert themselves physically. Heat-related illnesses and wrongful deaths happen when supervisors aren’t protecting their crews from hot temperatures.

When a worker’s body is not able to lose enough heat that has built up internally (sweating, breathing heavily, etc.) to balance the heat generated by the outside temperatures, then he or she can suffer from heat exposure, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and death.

Heat Sneaks Up On Workers – Careful Monitoring Is Needed, This Phone App is a Good Thing for Supervisors to Have

No one can trust their body to let them know when the heat is getting to be too much for them; that is one of the dangers of heat exposure: it creeps up on you. Having the ability to check your phone at work, to monitor the heat index and then act accordingly: get in the shade for awhile, drink some water, is important.

Workers need to be able to protect themselves even when supervisors aren’t — better a legal fight later over an employee being fired or held insubordinate for avoiding heat stroke than a negligent employer letting his crew members get sick, seriously injured, or killed because he didn’t take the dangers of heat seriously.

“Summer heat presents a serious issue that affects some of the most vulnerable workers in our country, and education is crucial to keeping them safe,” said Secretary Solis. “Heat-related illnesses are preventable. This new app is just one way the Labor Department is getting that message out.”

Adds Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels, “OSHA’s prevention message is clear: Water. Rest. Shade. These are three little words that make a big difference for outdoor workers during the hot summer months.”

Legal Remedies for Workers Hurt or Killed By 2011 Heat Exposure on the Job

If workers aren’t protected by their employers from heat related injuries, then they have legal remedies under worker’s compensation and other laws. If a tragic death should occur due to heat stroke or other heat-related illness, then Wrongful Death actions are available to the surviving loved ones under Indiana and Illnois law.

Hopefully, these new free phone aps will help employers and supervisors do the right thing in the future and protect their people and not their profits. It’s been really, really hot out there this year.

Today, the trucking industry and those who monitor the trucking industry were waiting for President Obama’s official announcement that there would be new federal regulations in the fuel economy standards for commercial trucks.

It’s not that the regulations are a big surprise; the President would debut the final result of a long governmental process to implement new ways to maximize fuel efficiency in big rigs, semis, tractor trailers, and other commercial trucks riding American roadways.  However, a national tragedy has changed things.

President Obama’s Announcement of Precedent-Setting Fuel Regs for Trucking Industry Has Been Cancelled

Sadly, the White House notified those attending the Virginia meeting of the Engine Manufacturers Association/Truck Manufacturers Association that President Obama would not be attending their event in order to make his official announcement of this precedent-setting series of regulations. Instead, he will be traveling to travel to Dover Air Force Base with a Washington delegation, where they will honor and pay their respects to the 22 Navy SEALS, 5 Army crewmen, and 3 airmen that died July 30, 2011, in an helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

The crash goes on record as the single deadliest incident for the United States military since 2011, when the Afghanistan conflict began. It is also the largest death toll in the history of Special Ops, the U.S. Special Operations Command (which oversees military elite units e.g., the SEALs, the Green Berets, the Rangers, etc. ).

New Fuel Economy Regulations Unprecedented

Regardless of the President’s understandable unavailability in Virginia, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) went forward today with their formal announcement that the United States will now have federal regulations in place that are designed to improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from medium and heavy-duty truck engines that power the nation’s trucking industry.

Working together with advocacy groups, trucking interests, and others since May 2010, the two federal agencies jointly built a final federal rule that is now federal law. It is anunprecedented federal action in the trucking industry, that will force truck manufacturers to lower carbon-dioxide emissions for commercial trucks and buses by as much as 20% by 2018, and it mandates that more fuel-efficient truck engines be available in the marketplace by 2014.

You can read and download the 8-page Regulatory Report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency here.

On July 27, 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law new legislation that his office describes will “… simplify regulation of trucks traveling in Illinois, easing the regulatory burden faced by Illinois businesses while helping ensure the safety of Illinois’ roads.”

From the Governor’s official press release:

“One of the top priorities of my administration has been working with the business community to make Illinois an easier place to do business. By clarifying laws that impact transportation, we will help businesses to function more efficiently and still keep the public safe while traveling on Illinois roads.” Governor Quinn said. “This law creates common sense rules, eliminates confusing language, and enhances productivity in the trucking industry and benefits the environment.”

In this economy, focusing upon the dollars and cents of things is understandable, and it seems reasonable to pass Senate Bill 1644 as it “… clarifies and standardizes enforcement language for truck weight and size in the Illinois vehicle code.”

What Governor Quinn Has Signed Into Law Makes for More Danger On Illinois Roads

However, as the Governor points out, this new law also ups the allowable maximum truck weight in Illinois to 80,400 lbs because it will mean less diesel fuel usage in the long run.  Saves money.

However, one thing doesn’t change.  The heavier the truck, the more dangerous it is on the roads.

Of even more concern, Governor Quinn has signed into law Senate Bill 1913 which will mean that starting on January 1, 2012, trucks in Illinois will be able to drive 65 mphs on our roads.

Increasing Speed Limit on Big Rigs May Save Fuel But Will It Cost Lives?

This bill joins other legislation that works to increase the legal speed limit of big rigs to 65 mph on Illinois roads (this week’s bill doesn’t impact interstates, however prior legislation already covered that issue). For many, increasing the speed of big rigs is dangerous for us all.

Think of this:

• semi trucks carrying a full load of cargo, up to the legal limit of 80,400 pounds, will be driving alongside sedans that weigh around 5000 pounds.
• It will probably be around 80 feet long, lumbering alongside families in minivans, sedans, and SUVs at 65 mph.
• And if that truck needs to stop?  It will take it almost twice as long as the car alongside it to do so.

Be careful out there, if you’re driving anywhere in Illinois – especially after the first of the year.

The 2011 Heat Wave is not abating, and along with the federal government taking steps to fight against the increasing dangers to workers (as we discussed last week), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just announced that it will be convening a “roundtable” with representatives from the nation’s top automakers, safety advocates, and consumer groups to discuss the growing problem of children dying from being left in cars outside in this hot weather.

So far this year, 21 children have perished from preventable, heat-related deaths

According to NHTSA research, hyperthermia is the leading cause of vehicle deaths for children under 14 years old other than car crashes. Hyperthermia is defined as “overheating of the body.”

“These twenty-one deaths were tragic and preventable – not one of those children should have lost their lives in this horrible way,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We need to do everything we can to remind people to be vigilant and never leave a child alone in or around a motor vehicle.”

Consider the following facts regarding heat exposure provided by San Francisco State University:

• Heatstroke occurs when a person’s temperature exceeds 104 degrees F and their thermoregulatory mechanism is overwhelmed.
• Symptoms include : dizziness, disorientation, agitation, confusion, sluggishness, seizure, hot dry skin that is flushed but not sweaty, loss of consciousness, rapid heart beat, hallucinations.
• A core body temperature of 107 degrees F is considered lethal as cells are damaged and internal organs shut down.
• Children’s thermo-regulatory systems are not as efficient as an adult’s and their body temperatures warm at a rate 3 to 5 times faster than an adult’s.

49 Children Died from Hyperthermia in 2010

Statistics reveal that 49 children under the age of 14 years died last year from hyperthermia, and it’s expected that this number will be higher in 2011, given the extended heat wave that the country is experiencing.

The goal of the precedent-setting national meeting set up by NHTSA is to address what experts are considering an immediate, serious threat to the country’s children, hopefully by a coordinated public awareness campaign and other educational efforts to let parents, caretakers, and members of the community know more about the very real risk of hyperthermia to youngsters.

Please consider this post as a contribution by Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to this campaign to increase public awareness of the dangers of children dying in cars – especially this year, when much of the United States is having to deal with record-breaking high temperatures, day after day.

“Lead exposure is one of the most common preventable poisonings of childhood,” reports the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the nation’s top professional medical association dedicated to treating children and adolescents affected by this type of injury or harm.

Lead is a poison.

Kids are at high risk of injury or death from lead exposure because they have growing nervous systems which are particularly susceptible to being compromised by any sort of lead exposure. Still, it’s reported that almost every child in this country has been exposed to lead: either from lead paint chips, to lead in the soil, to lead in their drinking water, to lead in their toys.

Lead impacts the child’s brain — even very small amounts of lead exposure can have terrifying consequences: kids can become inattentive; with just a little more lead in their systems, they can develop hearing loss and learning disabilities. Lead poisons the human brain and nervous system.

High lead levels in a child’s body can cause permanent brain injury and sometimes, lead will kill the child.

This is so serious a reality in this country that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) wants every single child to be screened for lead exposure (which can be easily done with a quick blood test). There are medicines that can pull the lead out of the human body; additionally, once the lead exposure has been discovered, steps can be taken to remove the source of the lead from the child’s environment.

This week, in response to this continued problem, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted (3-2) to establish higher lead standards for products designed and sold for children in this country. Read the agency’s full press release here.

The new lead limit is contained within the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and it goes into effect on August 14, 2011. Within a matter of weeks, manufacturers, distributors, importers and retailers of children’s products must comply with the new lead exposure laws which establish a new 100 ppm federal limit for total lead content. It will be one of the lowest acceptable lead limits in the world.

If your child is 12 years of age or younger, then be on the safe side: have your child tested for lead exposure.

It is a simple blood test, and you are protecting your child against brain injury or worse. If your child has been exposed to dangerous lead levels, then get help in investigating the source of the lead exposure – and if necessary, seek legal remedies to insure that your child is protected from harm as well as other potential victims and that those responsible for the lead exposure injuries are made to take responsibility for the harm they have caused.

Meteorologists are explaining the extremely high temperatures hitting Indiana and Illinois this month as being the result of a “heat dome,” which boils down to record-breaking heat of 100 degrees or more throughout much of our region, which is not prepared to deal with how hot this can really get.

Yesterday, parts of Chicago had a heat index of 112.  Today, Indianapolis is expected to reach a heat index of 120 degrees by mid-afternoon.

Heat index is the real number to monitor if you’re working outside:  the heat indexmeasures the humidity in the air as well as the actual temperature, and this is important to humans because the humidity impacts our physical ability to sweat and disperse heat.  The higher the heat index, the more vulnerable we are to heat stroke and other potentially fatal heat-related conditions.

Workers Are Warned to Be Careful of the Heat by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis

The high temperatures can be deadly, although many disregard that reality and the seriousness of being in the heat for too long, especially while physically exerting the body through exercise or hard work.  Workers can die from doing their job in this weather, and that’s the reality that both employers and employees need to respect.

In fact, Hilda Solis has issued a formal warning about this “heat dome” situation in her role as Secretary of Labor for the United States.  Here is what Secretary Solis wants you and your employer to know:

“Four weeks into the summer, the nation continues to experience record heat. For outdoor workers, this means being at risk for heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Employers must take the precautions needed to protect outdoor workers:

• Have a work site plan to prevent heat-related illnesses and make sure that medical services are available to respond to an emergency should one occur.
  
• Provide plenty of water at the job site and remind workers to drink small amounts of water frequently – every 15 minutes.
  
• Schedule rest breaks throughout the work shift and provide shaded or air conditioned rest areas near the work site.
  
• Let new workers get used to the extreme heat, gradually increasing the work load over a week.
  
• When possible, schedule heavy tasks for earlier in the day.
  

“Tell workers what to look for to spot the signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke in themselves and their co-workers, and make sure they know what to do in an emergency. OSHA has fact sheets and posters that illustrate the signs of heat-related illnesses, and the steps that you can take to prevent them at your work site.

“Remember: water, rest, shade – the three keys to preventing heat-related illnesses in this extreme heat.”

This morning over in Gary, Indiana, about half-past nine, a semi truck with a full load in a box trailer was on the northbound ramp of I-65, moving onto westbound I-80/94, when a sedan darted in front of the trucker forcing the truck driver to hit his brakes. No one knows what happened to the car, but most everyone trying to drive I-65 today knows what happened to the big rig; actually a 2001 Freightliner semi truck with fully loaded box-trailer.

The truck rolled over. Tipped on that curve in the ramp, and blocked traffic for six full hours.

Luckily, there were no serious injuries. The truck driver and his passenger were not seriously injured. The 40,000 pounds of watermelons were unharmed – they didn’t even roll out of the truck. You may find one of these melons at your grocery this week.

Truck Driver Held Responsible for Tipping Truck

The trucker didn’t escape injury from the Indiana State Police, however: Michael Kangas Jr. was found responsible for the wreck (forget that sedan driver, who was probably late to work) because the troopers found he was driving too fast on that ramp, and that he hadn’t properly safeguarded his watermelons in the trailer.

The trooper’s position: if the watermelons had been stored better, and if the truck had been going slower, the cargo would not have shifted and the truck would not have tipped over.

FYI: Mr. Kangas was driving the cargo of melons from Georgia to Morris, Indiana, on behalf of Exel Transfer and Storage of Green Bay.

Insecure Loads on Big Rigs Can Cause Serious Injuries and Wrongful Deaths in Semi Truck Crashes

The Indiana State Trooper probably knows how dangerous tipping cargo can be to drivers on the roads.  Any kind of load, from melons to wood or pipe or car parts, will be heavy.  That weight needs to be placed into the trailer carefully, following proper loading procedures.

Failure to follow loading standards means that all that weight — and weight is the key here, no matter what the cargo might be — will be insecure and increasing the risk that the truck driver might not be able to keep control of his rig.

Improperly loaded cargo can get loose and start flying out in bits, into the traffic behind the moving rig.  Or, as the I-65 Melon Cargo Flip demonstrated today, without the right balance distribution of weight, cargo hauls can sway inside the trailer and force the entire big rig to fall over, onto its side.

Luckily, today’s accident was only a serious inconvenience and not the cause of a severe injury or death. For those of us driving the roadways with these huge trucks and their heavy cargo, the lesson is to give them lots of room and space on the roadways – better late to work then early to the ER.

Be careful out there.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

The Department of Justice reports that pilot programs held in New York and Connecticut have resulted in a significant decrease in distracted driving accidents, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood calling the results “dramatic.”

Pilot Programs in Syracuse and Hartford Fight Against Texting and Cell Phone Use While Driving

Two cities were chosen as the locations where the government would experiment with increased law enforcement targeting texting and cell phone use by drivers along with a big public education media campaign to educate the two communities on the dangers of texting or talking on the phone while driving a car, truck, SUV, minivan, etc. 

And by “law enforcement targeting,” we mean giving lots of traffic tickets.

“These findings show that strong laws, combined with highly-visible police enforcement, can significantly reduce dangerous texting and cell phone use behind the wheel,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Based on these results, it is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgment, especially when half a million people are injured and thousands more are killed in distracted driving accidents.”

Federal Government and State Governments Shared Costs of the Pilot Programs

For each of the test runs, in New York and Connecticut, the Department of Justice put in $200,000 in federal funds with the state adding another $100,000 to cover the costs of increased police efforts as well as media costs (ads in the local newspapers, on the local television stations, etc.) They didn’t start from square one, however: costs were cut by mimicking the “Click It of Ticket” campaign as these two cities held their “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” distracted driving campaign.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Studies Success of the “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” Pilots

The NHTSA surveyed public awareness at the Syracuse and Hartford driver licensing offices and their findings include:

• In Syracuse, New York, because of high-visibility enforcement -– both handheld cell phone use and texting behind the wheel have declined by 33%.
• In Hartford, Connecticut, where researchers initially identified drivers talking on their cell phones at twice the frequency (which left more room for improvement), there was a 57 percent drop in handheld use and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.

Based on these numbers, the NHTSA is already promoting the implementation of these campaigns across the country, pushing for “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaigns with state legislatures, law enforcement agencies, and consumer safety advocates as well as manning its own Distracted Driving website at www.distraction.gov.

Which means that if states are willing to spend the money, there will lots more police pulling people over for using their cellphone while driving to give them tickets that will vary in cost depending upon which authority is issuing the traffic violation.   Be careful out there.

Pricings are rising and it’s hitting the trucking industry hard. Diesel fuel is costing more, and that’s an expense that can’t be cut. Tires are costing more, and every truck needs its rubber, even if it’s retreads.   Of course, the trucking industry is nothing if not cost-aware, and one of the ways that many are arguing is an efficient way to fight rising prices is to have each truck carry more cargo. Less trucks on the road, overall.

In Canada, they are ready for test runs of the latest attempt to get the most bang from a big rig buck.

Starting soon in Canada’s Saskatchewan province, certain roadways have been okayed for HUGE trucks to roll on. These are dominoed fifty-three (53) foot tractor trailer trucks. Imagine a tractor trailer truck. Imagine adding on an extra trailer on its end. Now, add another one. Two big, long trailers being pulled by the single truck engine.

They are around TWO HUNDRED FEET LONG.

They can carry over 200,000 pounds of cargo.

Technically, these are called “triple LCVs” (“longer combination vehicles“) and Canada’s powers that be have okayed them to run between two cities, Regina and Saskatoon, in a route that extends 160 miles each way. This is just the testing phase — if these long snakes do okay on that 160 mile route, expect them to be approved to run on certain roadways throughout Canada.

And it won’t be long before these 200 feet long big rigs are rolling in the United States once Canada’s done all the guinea pig work. Trucking companies will argue efficiency, and safety concerns like AAA will have a big fight on their hands. Because big rigs are dangerous enough now, just think of the crashes that can happen with a 200,000 pound monster colliding with a standard size sedan(s).

Class action lawsuits allow individual plaintiffs to group together in one lawsuit and in one courtroom as they seek justice against a defendant that is all too often a huge, international corporation. Class action lawsuits level the David vs Goliath playing field in countless ways, and class action lawsuits have proven to be vital to justice when defendants are powerful, rich, and ruthless.

Consider these famous class action lawsuits in American history: (1) the breast implant litigation of the 1990s, settled for $3.4 billioin, where a class action lawsuit sought damages for women injured by silicone breast implants against the major implant makers (Corning, Baxter, Bristol-Meyers Squibb/MEC, 3M), (2) the Exxon-Mobil class action litigation after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, where those injured by the oil spill along 1300 miles of coastline took the oil and gas giants to judgment (not settlement) for $5 billion in damages, or (3) the nationwide tobacco product class action litigation, where the top six tobacco companies were sued by each state’s attorney general for injury and death caused by cigarette smoking, etc..

Movies are made about class actions: A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich are just two examples.

Senate Is Investigating Supreme Court’s Recent Impact on Class Action Lawsuits

The Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating recent opinions released by the United States Supreme Court and for details, the Opening Statement by SJC Chairman Patrick Leahy to the June 29, 2011 Hearing provides a good overview of what Congress is doing to help injured plaintiffs and their families:

This morning, we will highlight several recent Supreme Court decisions to examine the impact on the lives of hardworking Americans. Each of these decisions give corporations additional power to act in their own self-interest, and each limits the ability of Americans to have their day in court. This hearing is a continuation of previous hearings about how Supreme Court rulings affect Americans’ access to their courts. Especially in these tough economic times, American consumers and employees rely on the law to protect them from fraud and discrimination. They rely on the courts to enforce those laws intended to protect them. Unfortunately, these protections are being eroded by what appears to be the most business-friendly Supreme Court in the last 75 years.

Last week, in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, five men on the Supreme Court disqualified the claims of 1.5 million women who had spent nearly a decade seeking justice for sex discrimination by their employer, Wal-Mart. They ruled that the women did not share enough in common to support bringing a class action. Perhaps more troubling, they told those women that Wal-Mart could not have had a discriminatory policy against all of them, because it left its payment decisions to the local branches of its stores.

The case gives Wal-Mart, and the rest of corporate America, a clear path to avoid company-wide sex discrimination suits: Have your lawyers write a non-discrimination policy, then allow your local branches to implement compensation decisions, and you can hide behind your policy regardless of what really happened to your employees across America. Through this decision, a narrow majority of five justices have, again, made it harder to hold corporations accountable under our historic civil rights laws.

Earlier this month, in Janus Capital v. First Derivative Traders, the same five justices gave corporations another victory by shielding them from accountability even when they knowingly lie to their investors. In that case, the Court held that investors have no remedy when a corporation knowingly issues false statements from a shell entity it created to “make” the false statement. Some have said that the Janus decision provides Wall Street companies with a “license to lie.” Others have called the opinion “a roadmap for fraud.” Whichever phrase you use, the decision allows Wall Street companies to design new ways to evade accountability from the harm inflicted on hardworking Americans who have seen their life savings ravaged over the past few years by fraudulent investment schemes and corporate misconduct.

This term, the Supreme Court also issued a devastating decision that will harm the ability of consumers to band together when their phone company or other corporations falsely charge them small, unjustified, and unfair fees. Two months ago, in AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court, in another 5-4 opinion, held that companies can take advantage of the fine print on telephone bills and other contracts to bar customers from bringing class action lawsuits. What’s more, the Court held that states cannot prohibit such “mandatory arbitration clauses” — even if the state legislatures vote to do so — because such a law would be preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. Justice Scalia and the four fellow conservatives on the Court, once again, misinterpreted Congress’ intent; they favored corporations and further weakened protections for consumers. Binding mandatory arbitration makes a farce of the American people’s constitutional right to a jury trial and the due process our Constitution guarantees to all Americans.. In arbitration, there is no transparency. There are no juries. There is no appellate review.

Like the Wal-Mart case, the AT&T case also denies consumers the right to bring their lawsuit as part of a class action. Class actions serve an important function in our justice system. If I have a claim for $50 or $100 against a company, the potential recovery is too small for me to hire a lawyer and seek redress. If I combine my claim with those of other people who also have a small claim, that would allow us to attain adequate representation and seek accountability. When consumers can band together, then corporations can be forced to account for their misconduct, even if the harm to each individual consumer is relatively small. Class actions are an essential way for everyday Americans to gain access to our courts.

The cases we are discussing today are just a few examples of how the Supreme Court’s recent decisions will hurt individual Americans and benefit large corporations who engage in misconduct. A study by Lee Epstein, William Landes and Richard Posner, entitled “Is the Roberts Court Pro-Business?” illustrates this phenomenon. It found that the Supreme Court ruled in a pro-business fashion in 29 percent of cases under Chief Justice Earl Warren. Under Warren Burger the figure was 47 percent. Under Chief Justice Rehnquist, it was 51 percent. Now, under Chief Justice Roberts it has risen to 61 percent. The point of today’s hearing is to put these statistics in context by examining some of the most troubling pro-business rulings from the Supreme Court’s term and to consider the lasting effect of these divisive rulings.

Over the past few years, the American people have grown frustrated with the notion that regardless of their conduct some corporations are too big to fail. The Supreme Court’s recent decisions may make some wonder whether the Supreme Court has now decided that some corporations are too big to be held accountable. You get the unfortunate feeling that many of the Justices view plaintiffs as a mere nuisance to corporations. We cannot ignore that sex discrimination in the workplace continues, that corporations continue to deceive consumers and that fraud continues on Wall Street. I believe that the ability of Americans to band together to hold corporations accountable when these things occur has been seriously undermined by the Supreme Court. These decisions have been praised on Wall Street, but will no doubt hurt hardworking Americans on Main Street.

WTHR of Indianapolis (Channel 13) is reporting that the big Indiana Department of Transportation project to renovate I-69 is about to cause a lot of commuter headaches in Fishers, as a major bridge project begins this week and isn’t projected to be completed until around Thanksgiving. Anyone driving I-69 near 126th Street is going to be diverted, regardless of which direction they are going, and 126th Street will be closed to traffic sometime soon.

What’s happening?

Here, the bridge is being widened from two lanes to four lanes each way. They are also putting in a lane for bicycles, and another lane for pedestrians. (Statewide, I-69 has been the subject of a major expansion since March 2004, when the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) okayed an interstate corridor for I-69 running between Evansville and Indianapolis.)

First things first, you’ll see crews with reflective vests putting up those concrete barriers along with the orange cones and barrels — these aren’t so much to reroute traffic as protect the construction workers on the job.

Road Hazards Can Cause Worker On the Job Injuries as well as Car Accidents and Traffic Pile Ups

The I-69 / 126th Street Bridge Construction Project gives a great example of the dangers of road construction and road hazards. This highway construction project, just like any road work, will bring cars, SUVs, trucks, big rigs, and other moving vehicles, very close to highway construction workers — at times, they will be extremely closed to each other.Construction workers die every year from work zone accidents, and they are particularly vulnerable to driver distraction.

Another danger in these kinds of construction projects are road hazards that can cause car crashes. Construction sites, however well tended, can have debris on the road which drivers may have to swerve to avoid hitting, or may run over causing a loss of control of their vehicle.

Let’s be careful out there!

Today, the American Trucking Association issued a press release that gives the safety tips that the “America’s Road Team Captains” have devised, offering safety tips on driving the highways this Holiday Weekend, given their years of experience and their ranking as the country’s elite drivers of large commercial vehicles.

As a law firm representing plaintiffs who have suffered serious injury or wrongful death in all manner of roadside tragedies (car accidents, motorcycle accidents, big rig crashes, SUV wrecks, minivan accidents, etc.), all efforts to educate the public on safety measures and to warn American citizens on the dangers that can be particular to a holiday weekend like the Fourth of July holiday we are all about to enjoy is to be applauded.

America’s Road Team is made up of the top truckers in the country.  These drivers know what it means to drive American highways – and here’s what they have to suggest:

1. Prepare your vehicle for long distance travel – Check your wipers and fluids. Have your radiator and cooling system serviced. Simple maintenance before you leave your home can prevent many of the problems that strand motorists on the side of the road.
2. Properly inflate your tires – Properly inflated tires can save up to 4 percent in fuel mileage, while over inflation can lead to tire failure. Keep your vehicle running smoothly and efficiently by routinely checking your tire pressure.
3. Drive the speed limit – Lower speeds not only save money at the pump, they make you safer on the road. By maintaining a constant moderate speed, drivers can save up to 30 percent on fuel and are better able to react to road conditions and other drivers – so slow down!
4. Large Trucks Have Blindspots – Be aware that tractor-trailers have large areas around their trucks where cars are not visible. If you can’t see the truck driver in his or her mirrors, then the truck driver can’t see you.
5. Keep extra water in your vehicle – Just as you keep a winter driving kit in your vehicle, it is important to be prepared when driving during the summer months. Keep plenty of extra water, sunscreen and non-perishable snacks in car in case you are stranded.
6. Wait until parked to use cell phones – Driver distraction is a major cause of traffic accidents. Even just two seconds of distraction time doubles the chances of an accident.
7. Do not cut in front of large trucks – Remember that trucks are heavier and take longer to make a complete stop, so avoid cutting quickly in front of them.
8. Honor the Right of Way – On entrance ramps, remember highway traffic has the right of way; maintain proper speed, use smooth merging techniques, and don’t slow down in front of a truck.
9. Road side emergency – Understand that big trucks cannot always stop to assist you, but most will use their radios to contact the police or highway patrol if they see you are in trouble.
10. Save fuel – To save fuel, take direct routes, minimize side trips, and keep a steady speed. Further, a well-tuned engine, properly inflated tires and reduced speed will result in noticeable fuel savings.

Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July!

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced its list of the key safety issues impacting American roads today, which the NTSB has labeled its “Most Wanted List.” These are ten (10) changes deemed by the federal agency in charge of transportation issues as being the most important for government and industry to make happen in order to make roadways safer for all of us.

The NTSB 2011 Most Wanted List of Safety Issues

Each year, the NTSB issues its “Most Wanted List” and it’s been doing this successfully since 1990. However, the 2011 version does change things: this year’s list has a new design and the list itself is more broadly-based.

The issues that have made the NTSA 2011 Most Wanted List are as follows, click on the link for detailed discussion of the NTSA’s particular concerns on that topic:

* Promote pilot and air traffic controller professionalism
* Address human fatigue
* Promote teen driving safety
* Improve general aviation safety
* Improve motorcycle safety
* Require safety management systems
* Improve runway safety
* Address alcohol-impaired driving
* Improve bus occupant safety
* Require image and onboard data recorders

These issues are extremely important for Americans today. These are real dangers that are causing serious injury and death in the United States, events that we discuss routinely here on this blog (e.g., bus accidents, recorders, etc.) and which Kenneth J. Allen & Associates face each day, having made the seeking of justice for injury victims and their loved ones our life’s work.

Please take the time to review the NTSA Most Wanted List, and consider its impact upon your daily life: can you or your loved ones be safer on the road?

Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Pliva, Inc. v. Mensing (5-4) that generic drug companies are not legally responsible and therefore will not be held liable for failing to warn consumers about the side effects of medications they sell, and of which they are well aware, if their packaging labels are identical to those of the original brand-name product.

The High Court ruled that federal law preempted any state law rulings that required these generic drug companies from letting people know about problems that these companies know about – by labels, or by writing letters to doctors, whatever. Seems that the generic drug companies are to coattail on the drug makers’ actions.

According to Justice Clarence Thomas (who wrote the majority opinion), it’s just too hard for drug manufacturers to have to deal with federal laws on consumer warnings along with state laws that might ask them to do more. So the generics aren’t going to have to do this, either. Preemption.

This will be a big problem for thousands of Americans who have sued for severe injuries resulting from taking the generic versions of drugs including Accutane, Darvocet, Reglan, and Zocor.

It is a big win for Big Pharma.

Once again, be careful out there. Don’t trust the product (including the drug) just because a doctor or pharmacist handed it over to you. Learn what it is, investigate for yourself, and trust your instincts. Get medical care and legal help when you think you may need it: don’t expect your health care professional to tell you to seek a second opinion or to find a lawyer

To read the Supreme Court opinion, go here.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

The dangers of commercial drivers falling asleep at the wheel – something that is a regular topic on this blog – is getting national attention in the continued coverage of a discount-fare Sky Express bus that ran off I-95 near Richmond, Virginia, en route from Greensboro, North Carolina, to New York, killing four passengers and leaving driver Kin Yiu Cheung of Queens in jail in Hanover, Virginia’s Pamunkey Regional Jail.

May 31, 2011: Four Die in Sky Express Tour Bus Crash as Driver Falls Asleep at the Wheel

Mr. Cheung, a native of Hong Kong, has been charged with four (4) counts of involuntary manslaughter, all felonies, and one count of reckless driving (a misdemeanor). Four women on the bus died in the accident: Karen Blyden-Decastro (NY); Denny Estefany Martinez (NJ); Sie Giok Giang (PA); and Josefa Torres (NY).

What happened on that North Carolina road on May 31, 2011, isn’t in dispute: Kin Yiu Cheung was driving the big bus with its 59 passengers and fell asleep, causing the bus to crash into an embankment and tip over, coming to a stop on its side. Dozens of passengers were injured; four were killed.

It’s been reported that before the wreck, the bus driver was talking on his cellphone loudly enough for some passengers to hear him complain that he was tired and hadn’t had a chance to rest between bus trips.

Yesterday, Virginia Circuit Court Judge Joseph Ellis ruled “with regret” that Mr. Cheung would not be released on bail because of a problem in his proper residence address. Media reports have revealed two different addresses were given by the bus driver for his home: his commercial driver’s license has a Flushing, New York, address but his employer, Sky Express, Inc., has Elmhurst for his home.

March 12, 2011: Fourteen Die in World Wide Tours crash after Bus Driver Allegedly Falls Asleep at the Wheel

If this story sounds familiar, it should. Less than 90 days ago, on March 12, 2011, another tourist bus crashed in Connecticut after the bus driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel;in this instance, it was a World Wide Tours bus that crashed on a highway in New York City as passengers were returning to Chinatown from a trip to the Mohegan Sun casino. Fourteen (14) passengers died in the World Wide Bus crash.

The March tour bus crash was more gruesome than the May wreck: not only were more people killed, but the event was horrific – one victim was decapitated, another had his two arms severed, and everyone was terrorized in a mass of jagged metal as the bus was torn apart in the darkness, glass flying, after the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and it flipped onto its side and slid for thousands of feet before colliding with an exit sign post, which literally cut the roof off the bus as it slid to a stop.

Chinatown Buses Offer Cheap Travel – New York City’s Mayor Voiced Safety Concerns Before May 31st Wreck

Both these tragedies involve tour buses that offered cheap rates to passengers out of New York City’s Chinatown. After the March crash, New York City’s mayor went to the media voicing his concern over the safety of these bus trips. They ran older buses, and maybe they didn’t follow all the federal and state safety regulations. The New York Daily News reports that the competing Chinatown bus companies have been cited many times in the past two years for bus driver fatique.

Alert and Well-Trained Bus Drivers Are Key to Passenger Safety – Disrespecting HOS is Inexcusable

Hours of service regulations are mandatory for all commercial drivers because a sleepy driver of a bus or big rig can kill people. Sure, the HOS limits mean less profits for the bus line or trucking company – but they are there for a serious reason. HOS save lives.

Let’s hope that something is done about this cheap tour bus situation – and fast. The firm’s sincerest condolences to all those who were injured and died in these needed tragedies.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

NBC Dateline features Attorney Kenneth J. Allen in its program "The Great Escape" which aired Friday, May 13th about sinus doctor Mark Weinberger and his flight from justice. Weinberger was captured in the hills of Italy in 2009 and extradited back to the United States to face federal criminal charges, and civil lawsuits. The first of Mr. Allen’s lawsuits against Weinberger resulted in a $13 million jury verdict. As Pulitzer Prize winning writer and Vanity Fair contributor Buzz Bissinger describes it "when Ken Allen gets onto a case he is a dog with a bone. He is not going to let go."

Last week (June 5 – 11) was National Tire Safety Week for the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and it’s no coincidence that this tire-awareness campaign is scheduled for the beginning of summer. Summer heat can cause tires to blow and accidents to happen.

According to the NHTSA, tires were responsible for 116,000 injuries and over 3,300 deaths on American roads during a four year time period (2005-2009). Experts believe that most of these injuries and fatalities could have been prevented if only the drivers had stopped to check their tires. Heat can cause tires to become extremely dangerous, especially when they don’t have the proper air pressure.

The NHTSA offers a free brochure for everyone to read or download that outlines how to make sure that your tires are okay for the hot summer roads.

Weak tires are especially dangerous when they are being driven on a big rig commercial truck.

Commercial trucks, with their weight and size, are always safety issues on American roads, and their tires are no exception. Blown tires on big rigs cause wrecks: not only can the truck driver lose control, but the flying tire and its debris on the roadway can cause hazards resulting in other vehicles crashing.

This week, the Tire Industry Association and Michelin Americas Truck Tires participated in National Tire Safety Week by offering fleet operators, tire shop managers, and truck maintenance pros a truck tire training video that goes into the details of making sure that the big trucks’ big tires are safe with an explanation of safety procedure for semi truck tires. The video is free, 18 minutes long, and entitled “Tire Shop Hazard Assessment.”

You can watch it here:

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the names of 150 chemicals that have been involved in over 100 health and safety studies (there were concerns over their safe use); these were chemical studies that had been protected from disclosure, kept from the public under a “confidential” label before now.

The EPA has done this as part of the Obama White House’s continued word toward greater transparency in federal actions, and the EPA itself labeled yesterday’s release as“unprecedented.”

What has been done? In 104 studies, the EPA will no longer allow the chemical identity to be omitted. These studies involve chemicals used in common and popular consumer products like air fresheners and non-stick and stain resistant materials along with fire resistant materials, nonylphenol compounds, perfluorinated compounds, and lead.

Online Chemical Data Access Tool Available to the Public

The agency has also given the American public free online access to the consolidated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory on its own website as well aswww.Data.Gov.

Called the “Chemical Data Access Tool,” anyone can go to the EPA site and input anything found in an ingredients label to learn details about that chemical and whether or not there are concerns about its safety in use.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

Cargo theft does not get that much attention in the media, and many folk don’t know that it is a big problem – but it is. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, stealing commercial shipments (computers and pharmaceuticals are popular targets) has become increasingly popular over the past five years.

The FBI has found that it’s become so lucrative to steal semi-truck cargo (as well as cargo on a train, or stored in a warehouse) that there are criminal enterprises organized to handle cargo theft around the country - and over the years, they’ve become more violent.

By 2011, joint task forces dedicated to cargo theft had been established between the FBI, state, and local law enforcement in five (5) national transportation hubs, includingChicago (the other four are Miami, El Paso, New York, and Memphis).

Until recent years, no one bothered to keep track of cargo theft. It was not a part of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and even now, we don’t really know how bad the problem is because the companies who have had their cargo stolen often keep quiet about it, because they don’t want the bad press and the higher insurance rates. So the estimate given by the FBI of $30 billion in cargo stolen each year in the United States may be a lowball.

Truckers and Cargo Theft

When a truck driver is the target of cargo theft, his rig may get stolen while he’s stopped for a meal or to catch a few hours sleep. However, truckers have been hurt in armed hijackings of their big rigs. In fact, during the 2011 FreightWatch supply chain survey, over 80% of those surveyed believe that cargo theft will be a continuing problem for the next five years, even more so than terrorism, and 74% reported that cargo theft was impacting their operations: some in a major way, others more moderately.

FreightWatch found that industry leaders opine that (1) shipments becoming more valuable; (2) the economy tanking; and (3) cargo theft being a “low risk, high reward” type of crime are the main reasons that truckers are seeing an increasing danger of cargo theft.

Bloomberg Businessweek Calls It The 21st Century Version of Highway Robbery

Last week, Daniel Grushkin covered this story in an article published by Bloomberg Businessweek entitled, “Cargo Theft: The New Highway Robbery,” and described how in June 2009 a trucker took an afternoon break at a Tennessee truck stop, on his way from Louisville, Kentucky to Memphis, Tennessee with a full load of $10 million worth of pharmaceuticals. While he was in the shower, the big rig was stolen.

The Businessweek story is worth the read, as it described how that one theft was enough to endanger the country’s drug supply. One single big rig.

Americans need to know that cargo theft is a major problem, because of the impact of the thefts – like this one news story provides. However, Americans also need to know that anytime they see a cargo truck on the road – big, moving fast – that there is a possibility that the semi-truck is being driven by thieves. Who may or may not know how to drive that truck very well, and who clearly do not care about abiding with federal and state trucking regulations.

We all need to be aware that cargo thefts are happening, and if you see something suspicious regarding a loaded tractor-trailer truck, trust your gut and call the cops, have law enforcement check it out.

If you’re at the IHOP and you think there is something hinky about the way some guys are checking out an 18-wheeler, then you might well be a witness to cargo theft.

Be careful out there.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

The Friday before Memorial Day, the annual Blessing of the Boats took place over by the Captain of the Helm statue near Dock Street in Chicago, officially opening Boating Season 2011.

Of course, lots of antsy locals were already getting their boats prepped and in the water – and they’ve been doing it since early April. Our time on Lake Michigan is never long enough, we have a short boating season up here, and the sooner you start getting your boat into Lake Michigan, the better, right?

Boating Safety and Boating Accidents

Last week was the annual National Safe Boating Week (May 21 – 27).  According to the latest boating accident statistics compiled by the United States Coast Guard, there were 102 boating accidents in Indiana in 2009; 25 people died in them.

The sad truth is that even with all the safety campaigns and other efforts, there will be Illinois families who leave their homes in the morning for a funfilled day on the water, unaware that their lives will never be the same because they will be in a boating accident that day. Please don’t be one of them.

Wear Life Jackets and Avoid BOI

Remember to wear safety gear – including life jackets – and never to board a boat where the one driving the boat is drunk. Not only is this smart, it’s the law: in Illinois, there are life jacket laws (mandatory for those under the age of 13 and on any watercraft less that 26? long) and the same types of laws that have been enacted for driving under the influence are in effect for boating.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

Indianapolis saw another instance of a child almost drowning in a swimming pool when a young boy celebrating his 13th birthday was found floating near the bottom of a neighborhood pool and who now remains in critical condition (as of Tuesday, May 31st) at Riley Hospital. Our prayers go out to this boy and his family and we hope that he recovers fully from this tragic accident over the Memorial Day Weekend.

So far this year, there have been 55 fatalities and 63 close-calls across the country involving swimming pools.   It’s in hopes of keeping these numbers low as we enter the summer season that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has re-upped its “Pool Safely: Simple Steps Save Lives” campaign for another year.

The CPSC is promoting a national educational effort try and protect kids from swimming pool drowning accidents, as well as injuries due to entrapment incidents in both swimming pools and spas.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also released its latest statistics on swimming pool accidents involving children, which include the following:

• An annual average of 383 pool and spa-related drownings for children younger than 15 occurred from 2006 to 2008; about 76 percent of the reported fatalities involved children younger than five.
• An estimated average of 5,100 pool or spa emergency department-treated submersions for children younger than 15 occurred each year from 2008 to 2010; children younger than five represented 79 percent of these-injuries.
• Children between the ages of one and three (12 to 47 months) represented 66 percent of these fatalities and 64 percent of the injuries.
• About 72 percent of the fatalities from 2006 through 2008, and 55 percent of the estimated injuries from 2008 through 2010 that involved children younger than 15 occurred in a residential pool or spa; children under five made up the majority of incidents at residential locations, with 84 percent of fatalities and 61 percent of injuries, respectively.
• Tragically, based on reported statistics, 96% of victims involved in a submersion incident will die. Fatalities usually occur the day of the drowning event (72%). For the victims who survive the event, most will succumb to their injuries within a week (24%). Only 4% of near drowning victims will survive beyond a week, and many will have severe injuries and require intensive medical care.
• There were no reported entrapment fatalities for 2010. CPSC received three reports of entrapment injury incidents during 2010.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for legal damages as well as the right for justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

For the convenience of its clientele, Kenneth J. Allen & Associates offers five offices to serve those located in either the states of Illinois or Indiana.

On May 23, 2011, the American Trucking Association gave its opinion on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s proposal that all big rigs and semis (motor carriers) have electronic gizmos installed that will automatically record the truck driver’s hours of service (HOS). You can read the ATA documentation and its commentary to FMCSA here.

Back in February 2011, we posted about the FMCSA’s release of its proposed regulationthat would legally require these electronic gizmos that will record the number of hours that a truck is in service (and therefore, the number of hours the truck driver is on the job, driving the semi or big rig). In that post, we discussed what Hours of Service were, and how these electronic devices (“Electronic OnBoard Recorders“) are expected to work.

You can read the FMCSA press release that was issued back in February here.

American Trucking Association Approves the Proposed Regulation – But Not Without Reservations

The ATA is going along with the new gizmos, but it’s going on the record about things the trucking industry isn’t happy about, which include:

• their position that the FMCSA proposal fails to meet Congressional requirements;
• the device needs more security in proper driver identification and authentication;
• the device needs better standards to make sure they aren’t altered (tampering);
• there should also be documents that can be deemed to meet compliance.

Will we see big rigs, semis, and tractor trailers with automatic devices that keep track of how long that truck driver has been operating his or her rig?  Yes.  Is the fight over on when that is going to happen?  No.

Those little pills designed to treat the small segment of the male population that suffers from erectile dysfunction are actually used by many more men – it’s an industry with over $5 billion in annual sales in the United States alone.

However, warning: any man using Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra (the most popular erectile dysfunction treatments) or any other PDE-5 inhibitor — could be risking losing his hearing, according to a new research study that links these pills to a risk of hearing loss in men.

Permanent deafness, total or partial, all from taking one little blue pill.

The study confirms 47 cases of hearing loss and Viagra was found to be responsible for over 50% of them. Of all the cases, the men lost their hearing within 24 hours of taking the pill. It has been published by the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc. in their journal, The Laryngoscope.

Of course, this really isn’t big news: the FDA warning on the label tells users that permanent hearing loss is a risk, and that comes after the 2005 warning was placed onthese types of pills that there was also a risk of vision loss (“non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy”).

Some are dismissing the numbers as low risk. However, the problem may be more widespread than previously believed, since this research study had over 250 other cases of hearing loss that they didn’t include in their findings, for various reasons. Over in Great Britain, it’s serious enough of a concern that their experts are asking that the UK products get a hearing loss warning asap.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave a public attaboy to Indiana’s governor Mitch Daniels in a media statement where Indiana was recognized as the 32nd state to enact laws that make texting while driving illegal.  (It’s a victory of sorts for the feds, as Secretary LaHood is actively pushing states to pass laws like this as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s campaign against distracted driving.  For more information, check out the Transportation Department’s distracted driving website,Distraction.gov.)

July 2011: Indiana Texting While Driving Ban Goes Into Effect

In Indiana, starting July 1, 2011, you can be ticketed if you are caught texting behind the wheel – and this is going to make liability more serious in a personal injury civil matter if you’re in a car wreck while you’re doing it.

Indiana’s new law makes texting while driving illegal with a maximum fine of $500.  It also makes it against the law for Indiana drivers under 18 to use cell phones at all.  Period.

What about in Illinois?

This is old news in Illinois, which was the 17th state to enact a texting while driving ban. Governor Pat Quinn signed that into law back in August 2009.  In Illinois, if you text, surf the web, email, etc. while driving, it is a $1000 fine under Illinois Vehicle Code 625 ILCS 5/12-610.2.

Everyone recognizes those Emergency Alerts on television – suddenly, your program is interrupted by a series of beeps that are followed by an announcement that you’re not to worry: it’s just a test of the emergency announcement system.  This is a Test.  This is only a Test.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Debuts Emergency Alert System for Your Phone.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has just announced that it will be providing Americans with a text message emergency alert system.  It’s named the “Personal Localized Alerting Network” or PLAN. (You can get all the details in the FEMA May 2011 Press Release.)

Under PLAN, cellphone customers who opt for this service and have an enabled mobile device will be able to get text messages targeting their location (geographic region) and alerting them with details regarding any imminent threats in their area.  Think tornado.  Think flood.

FEMA is using cell towers in the various locations to target the cellphones in that location.  There will be 3 kinds of alerts sent through the chosen cell towers:

1. alerts from the President;
2. alerts involving threats to life and safety; and
3. Amber Alerts.

Right now, the agency is mandating that the technology be available nationwide by April 2012.  AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have already announced that they will start offering PLAN to their customers shortly.  (It’s a free app.)  New York City will run the beta– Mayor Bloomberg has already announced that PLAN will be available to New Yorkers before Christmas 2011.

Legal Impact Still Unknown in Injury Cases

Yes, this is a good idea.  However, will it have any impact on duty under the law?  If your cellphone got a text message that a tornado was in the vicinity, then will insurance defense attorneys argue in the future that you’re the proximate cause of failing to get out of harm’s way in time?

Yesterday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) debuted a new page on its federal agency web site that gives the American public ready access, at no cost, to FMCSA orders and decisions in its trucking industry civil penalty and safety rating cases.

Along with the decisions themselves, FMCSA provides background information and FAQs (frequently asked questions) to help its readers researching what FMCSA has been doing here, and the procedures and bases for its legal decisions.

It’s all about making the federal agency’s oversight of the American trucking company and the American truck driver more transparent – so everyone can better understand the hows and whys of FMCSA’s compliance and enforcement process.

Today, anyone who wants to do so can search the FMCSA website and read the full text documents of instances covering 2009 to date, where motor carrier companies had contested the initial penalties assessed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or where the company has challenged an assessed FMCSA violation.

For example, you can download the March 2011 Arbitration Order involving Robillard Trucking Inc. from the new database here.

The new resource is located on the web as part of the FMCSA website, where there is already lots of information to review, such as the section entitled “A&I Online – Motor Carrier Analysis.” There’s lots to be found there, and it’s worth your while to surf the new addition for a bit.

For example, you can check the overall state safety rating of all 50 states, or zero in on your particular state, say Illinois or Indiana. Have a particular truck or carrier you’re concerned about?  You can check them out too.

Beginning today and for the next two days, the National Transportation Safety Board is hosting a national forum where all sorts of trucking professionals — safety experts, trucking industry regulators from state and federal agencies, representatives from trucking companies — are all coming together to discuss the level of safety for American roadways where big rigs and commercial buses, along with other big, heavy commercial vehicles, share the lanes with the rest of us. Of particular note:  why recommendations that have been out there for ten or twenty years have never been implemented.

You can watch the forum online as it happens here via live webcast at the NTSB site.

This is a big deal.  This week, at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C., professionals from all aspects of the trucking industry will convene to discuss a number of issues.  On the agenda are key topics such as:

• CARRIER OVERSIGHT - To examine the determination of carrier fitness, including the new entrant screening process and other Federal, state, and industry oversight initiatives
• TRUCK OPERATIONS – To discuss electronic on-board recorders, hours of service, safety culture, and vehicle size and weight
• DRIVER SAFETY – To discuss driver crash risk factors, barriers to making safe choices, and approaches for increasing driver safety
• DRIVER HEALTH – To examine the state of driver health and wellness programs, and the progress toward comprehensive medical oversight for interstate commercial drivers
• ENHANCED VEHICLE SAFETY TECHNOLOGY: CRASH AVOIDANCE – To discuss electronic stability control, collision avoidance systems, and emerging crash prevention technologies.

At this public forum, expect the fur to fly.  As expected, safety advocates will be pointing fingers at trucking companies who they will argue have been slow to implement needed safety regulations.

One critical fight will be whether or not Congress should give individual states (Indiana, Illinois) the authority to raise weight limits within their state lines for trucks on interstate highways to nearly 100,000 pounds as well as the authority to extend acceptable truck lengths within their jurisdictions.   Safety advocates are adamant that either change means more danger on the roads and therefore, more fatal crashes.  The bigger and the heavier a vehicle is, the harder it is to stop and maneuver.

Of course, proponents of Congress making this change involve various members of the trucking industry.  They are arguing that these changes will save money and help the economy.  It will cost them less to move cargo if they can have heavier loads on bigger trucks.

The cat is out of the Food & Drug Administration’s bag:  the media is reporting that only around 50% of drugs approved as safe for Americans to take were ever submitted to comparative effectiveness testing at the time of their approval by the FDA, and approximately 75% of these new drugs had this information available where alternative treatment options existed.

This information was revealed in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), appearing in  its May 4, 2011 issue: Nikolas H. Goldberg, Sebastian Schneeweiss, Mary K. Kowal, Joshua J. Gagne. Availability of Comparative Efficacy Data at the Time of Drug Approval in the United States. JAMA, 2011; 305 (17): 1786-1789 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.539.

What does this mean?

As the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International points out this week in an article from Natural News entitled, “FDA approved Big Pharma drugs without effective data,” the FDA approved a huge (HUGE) amount of drugs for all of us to trust and take when they didn’t have the proper data to support that decision, specificially “comparative effectiveness data.”

Comparative effective data, the article explains, compares the new drug against other treatments to determine which is best. Which is safer? Which works best? In other words, is the Big Pharma drug the best one for the particular problem that the person is experiencing?

If that hints that profit would be impacted by this, you’re right.

Yesterday, Honda voluntarily recalled a massive amount of its products — cars that have been sold and on the road for years — as 833,000 more Hondas and Acuras were recalled for faulty airbags.

It’s Honda’s 3rd airbag recall, bringing the total to 1.6 million recalled Honda airbags.

According to Honda’s May 2, 2011 press release (read it here), a wide variety of Honda vehicles apparently have airbags that can inflate without warning if they’ve got enough pressure.

No crash. Big surprise. Boom.

Of particular concern is the fact that these aren’t new cars. These are Hondas and Acuras that have been on Illinois and Indiana roadways for several years now. Once again, an example of the reality that just because you’ve had a product for awhile without a problem, it doesn’t mean that the product is safe.

Defective products that are assumed to be trustworthy kill and serious injure people in this country every day. Be careful to get these cars fixed.

If you or a loved one drive any of the following vehicles, then

(1) contact Honda at (800) 999-1009 and select option 4 or
(2) contact Acura at (800) 382-2238 and select option 4 or
(3) call your nearest dealership for instructions on what to do.

Cars involved in the May 2011 Honda Airbag Recall are:

Honda Accord
2001 model year
2002 model year

Honda Civic
2001 model year
2002 model year

Honda Odyssey
2002 model year

Honda CR-V
2002 model year
2003 model year

Honda Acura 3.2 TL
2002 model year
2003 model year

Honda Acura 3.2 CL
2003 model year

You’re driving home from work, or maybe it’s the end of a long weekend and you’re part of a parade of cars filled with families returning home. Or maybe you’re at work. In a mine, in a mill, on a train, or in a factory.  You could even be at school, or at the stadium for a game.

Suddenly, without warning: there’s an accident. A serious, scary accident where someone is seriously hurt. They’re in need – and if someone doesn’t help them, they may die.

This scenario becomes reality every day, in every state, in this country. Tragedies happen. Shockingly, however, not every state protects its citizens in the same way when they step up to render aid in an emergency. In fact, without Good Samaritan Laws in place, these do-gooders were sometimes later sued (yes, sued) for trying to help in a crisis.

For example, this winter in Fort Wayne, Indiana, there was a horrific car crash and an off-duty state trooper stopped to help the woman trapped inside her car.  It was only when a stranger, an ordinary citizen and good guy, stopped to help the trooper that they were able to set the woman free.

Illinois Good Samaritan Law

In 2011, the Illinois Good Samaritan Act was amended to clarify that the Illinois General Assembly’s purpose in passing the law was to ” …establish numerous protections for the generous and compassionate acts of its citizens who volunteer their time and talents to help others. These protections …shall be liberally construed to encourage persons to volunteer their time and talents.”

The overall Good Samaritan Law for Illinois is found in 210 ILCS 50, where it provides:

Sec. 3.150. Immunity from civil liability.

(a) Any person, agency or governmental body certified, licensed or authorized pursuant to this Act or rules thereunder, who in good faith provides emergency or non?emergency medical services during a Department approved training course, in the normal course of conducting their duties, or in an emergency, shall not be civilly liable as a result of their acts or omissions in providing such services unless such acts or omissions, including the bypassing of nearby hospitals or medical facilities in accordance with the protocols developed pursuant to this Act, constitute willful and wanton misconduct.
(b) No person, including any private or governmental organization or institution that administers, sponsors, authorizes, supports, finances, educates or supervises the functions of emergency medical services personnel certified, licensed or authorized pursuant to this Act, including persons participating in a Department approved training program, shall be liable for any civil damages for any act or omission in connection with administration, sponsorship, authorization, support, finance, education or supervision of such emergency medical services personnel, where the act or omission occurs in connection with activities within the scope of this Act, unless the act or omission was the result of willful and wanton misconduct.
(c) Exemption from civil liability for emergency care is as provided in the Good Samaritan Act.
(d) No local agency, entity of State or local government, or other public or private organization, nor any officer, director, trustee, employee, consultant or agent of any such entity, which sponsors, authorizes, supports, finances, or supervises the training of persons in the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillators, or first aid in a course which complies with generally recognized standards shall be liable for damages in any civil action based on the training of such persons unless an act or omission during the course of instruction constitutes willful and wanton misconduct.
(e) No person who is certified to teach the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillators, or first aid and who teaches a course of instruction which complies with generally recognized standards for the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillators, or first aid shall be liable for damages in any civil action based on the acts or omissions of a person who received such instruction, unless an act or omission during the course of such instruction constitutes willful and wanton misconduct.
(f) No member or alternate of the State Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board or a local System review board who in good faith exercises his responsibilities under this Act shall be liable for damages in any civil action based on such activities unless an act or omission during the course of such activities constitutes willful and wanton misconduct.
(g) No EMS Medical Director who in good faith exercises his responsibilities under this Act shall be liable for damages in any civil action based on such activities unless an act or omission during the course of such activities constitutes willful and wanton misconduct.
(h) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create a cause of action or any civil liabilities.

Indiana Good Samaritan Law

Indiana’s Good Samaritan Law is not the same as that of Illinois.  Indiana focuses upon protecting emergency medical professionals, whether they are licensed in Indiana or elsewhere, as they do their work at the scene of an emergency.

Indiana’s Good Samaritan Law is found at IC 16-31-6-1, where it provides:

IC 16-31-6
Chapter 6. Immunity From Liability

IC 16-31-6-1
Emergency medical technician services
Sec. 1. (a) A certified emergency medical technician or a certified emergency medical technician-basic advanced who provides emergency medical services to an emergency patient is not liable for an act or omission in providing those services unless the act or omission constitutes negligence or willful misconduct. If the emergency medical technician or emergency medical technician-basic advanced is not liable for an act or omission, no other person incurs liability by reason of an agency relationship with the emergency medical technician or emergency medical technician-basic advanced.
(b) This section does not affect the liability of a driver of an ambulance for negligent operation of the ambulance.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.14. Amended by P.L.205-2003, SEC.33.

IC 16-31-6-2
Use of defibrillators
Sec. 2. (a) Except for an act of negligence or willful misconduct, a certified first responder who uses an automatic or semiautomatic defibrillator on an emergency patient according to the training procedures established by the commission under IC 16-31-2-9 is immune from civil liability for acts or omissions when rendering those services.
(b) If the first responder is immune from civil liability for the first responder’s act or omission, a person who has only an agency relationship with the first responder is also immune from civil liability for the act or omission.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.14.

IC 16-31-6-3
Advanced life support
Sec. 3. An act or omission of a paramedic or an emergency medical technician-intermediate done or omitted in good faith while providing advanced life support to a patient or trauma victim does not impose liability upon the paramedic or emergency medical technician-intermediate, the authorizing physician, the hospital, or the officers, members of the staff, nurses, or other employees of the hospital or the local governmental unit if the advanced life support is provided:
(1) in connection with an emergency;
(2) in good faith; and
(3) under the written or oral direction of a licensed physician;
unless the act or omission was a result of negligence or willful misconduct.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.14. Amended by P.L.205-2003,

SEC.34.

IC 16-31-6-4
Life support provided in connection with disaster emergency
Sec. 4. (a) This section does not apply to an act or omission that was a result of gross negligence or willful or intentional misconduct.
(b) An act or omission of a paramedic, an emergency medical technician-intermediate, an emergency medical technician-basic advanced, an emergency medical technician, or a person with equivalent certification from another state that is performed or made while providing advanced life support or basic life support to a patient or trauma victim does not impose liability upon the paramedic, the emergency medical technician-intermediate, the emergency medical technician-basic advanced, an emergency medical technician, the person with equivalent certification from another state, a hospital, a provider organization, a governmental entity, or an employee or other staff of a hospital, provider organization, or governmental entity if the advanced life support or basic life support is provided in good faith:
(1) in connection with a disaster emergency declared by the governor under IC 10-14-3-12 in response to an act that the governor in good faith believes to be an act of terrorism (as defined in IC 35-41-1-26.5); and
(2) in accordance with the rules adopted by the Indiana emergency medical services commission or the disaster emergency declaration of the governor.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) (which is part of the American Trucking Associations Federation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia) has released some important research findings regarding the commercial trucking industry in this country, including recommendations on how carriers can increase the safety of trucks driving on our roadways.

These can be found on the ATRI website and involve:

• Research Linking Crash Likelihood to Driver History
• Research Into Safety Compliance Alternatives

Ken Allen Law, of course, has requested and received the complete text of the 2011 report entitled “Predicting Truck Crash Involvement: A 2011 Update,” and we will be happy to forward a copy to anyone who requests it (free of charge, of course).

From the report:

In its finding of the likelihood of a crash involving a commercial truck, researchers took information from the new CSA, where a system is used (the “Safety Measurement System (SMS)”) of assigning numbers, or “normative scores” both to (1) carrier performance and (2) driver performance in 7 different areas related to safety (which they’ve called the “Behavioral Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs)”).

Decisions were made in advance of CSA scoring on what would be okay — the “threshold.”  Then, after the scoring was done, if the numbers were over the top — or higher than the threshold — then the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) would take various actions. FMCSA might send a simple warning letter if the variance wasn’t that big. FMCSA might institute a full scale review, if the difference between the scoring and the threshold was huge.

What are the scores the government is looking at under CSA — what are the BASIC(s) that FMCSA is monitoring?  The categories are:

1. unsafe driving
2. fatigued driving
3. driver fitness
4. controlled substances/alcohol concerns
5. vehicle maintenance issues
6. cargo-related issues
7. crash indicators.

According to the study, “[c]lear conclusions cannot be drawn in instances where weights and crash likelihoods appear out of sync, primarily due to low sample sizes preventing several of the relationships from reaching statistical significance in this study. … [t]he paramount message is that the relationships between driver behaviors and crashes can and should be measured in order to identify the industry’s strongest truck crash predictors.

Once identified, these behaviors must be targeted for interventions, both to improve CSA scores and to reduce the frequency of preventable crashes. Ultimately, by addressing the behaviors in each safety category, not only will scores for a carrier’s respective BASIC decrease (improve), but all improvements will also indirectly feed into lower (better) Crash Indicator BASIC scores.”

Bottom Line

In other words, truck drivers need to be protected, studied, and researched because truck driver behaviors have been shown to be a very strong contributing factor in big rig semi truck crashes.

The types of crashes where big, heavy, huge machines collide with smaller, more fragile vehicles – and where all too often, serious injury or death result.

Perhaps you are not surprised.

On this Wednesday morning, those of us following the Indiana trucking industry are saddened by the news that on Monday evening and again on Tuesday evening, local men died in crushing incidents involving big rig semi trucks.

This morning, families and friends are grieving their loss.  Truckers and their families are also mourning the week’s events.

On Monday, Indiana Man Killed by 3000 lb. log falling off trailer truck

Just this past Monday evening, a trailer truck carrying a cargo of logs reached its destination, and everyone was set to unload the cargo.  Then a 3000 pound, 8 foot long log rolled off the load, killing an Indiana man  as he was trapped underneath all that weight. Benjamin Will of Haubstadt, only 26 years old, died at the scene.

On Tuesday, Indiana Man Pinned by Big Rig Getting Ready to Unload

Last night, a big rig carrying its cargo reached its Indianapolis destination and the truck driver prepared to unload his delivery.  Little did he know, but a Lawrence man – in the wrong place at the wrong time – had been pinned by the semi and killed by the crushing weight of the big rig itself. Randy Wimmer, 55, was taken to a nearby hospital where he tragically died later that night.

Trucking Is Dangerous 24/7 – On the Road and Everywhere Else

Lesson learned:  trucking is a dangerous job.  Driving those long hauls is dangerous.  There are bad road conditions.  Sleep deprivation.  Crazy drivers.  Nasty weather.

However, just because a big rig truck has made it to its destination doesn’t mean that anyone can breathe a sigh of relief.  It’s not just the roadway that is high risk.

These big rigs carry heavy cargo.  They’re built to do this.  However, all that weight in and of itself is a danger.  As we’ve been reminded this week, that heavy load can shift and kill.  The fully loaded truck can be an instrument of death as it parks to unload.

Trucking is a necessary component to American trade.  Truckers and the trucking industry must be respected for their contributions to our daily lives.

However, trucking is also one of the most hazardous work environments in our culture today – and we must remain vigilant that maximum safety conditions are honored and maintained.

Our condolences to all who are suffering from these tragedies this week.

Early this morning, Mark Reeves of Portage, Indiana, was driving his pickup truck on westbound I-80/94 in Lake Station, near Central Avenue, when he failed to stop in time and crashed into the big rig in front of him.  Tragically, Mr. Reeves died in the accident.

That semi truck on the roadway in front of Mr. Reeves might as well have been a wall:  it was carrying a load of almost 47,000 pounds of steel. That pickup truck, a 1999 Chevy S-10,  didn’t have a chance against that big rig steel-load: we can all understand the differential here.

No High Speeds, No Drunk Driving

This wasn’t a case of someone driving in a high speed car chase.  No one’s thinking that Mark Reeves was driving drunk at 6:05 a.m. today.   The Chevy truck was apparently moving into a construction zone, going through an S-shaped curve, when it rear-ended the Freightliner flat bed semi-truck in the right lane.

Witnesses saw the rear-end collision, saw the pickup lose control, and then go into the air and roll. Unfortunately, Mr. Reeves wasn’t wearing his seat belt. He was declared dead at the scene.

The IIHS Study Needs to Be Implemented ASAP

There’s another tragedy here.  As we reported last month, there is an easy fix to these types of accidents, where a passenger vehicle rear-ends a big, heavy big rig.

Underride guards on the backs of these big monster trucks would offer protection in rear-end collisions according to theInsurance Institute of Highway Safety.

In these accidents, the car slams into the tractor trailer truck, or semi, and without proper protection (the guard) the top of the car (passenger vehicle) gets slammed up against the truck’s rear.  The guard is designed specifically to thwart rear-end fatalities with lighter-weight cars and trucks.

Whether or not an underride guard would have made a difference this morning is something that we will never know.  We do know, however, that instituting this safety protection should be a priority for all trucking companies.  We also predict that underride guards will never be commonplace on semis in this country without government regulation forcing the issue.  Result:  more tragedies like the one Indiana experienced today, until the legislation is a done deal.

It sounds like something from a Three Stooges movie, maybe a Saturday Night Live skit:  you’re driving along and the steering wheel falls off in your hand.  Or the air bag deploys as you’re cruising along the freeway.  Except that it’s not a comedy on screen.  It’s really happening, right now, in America today.

Ford F-150 Pickup Trucks: the Airbag Can Blow Up (Inflate) As You Are Driving

Ford F-150s are very popular pickup trucks and have been for years.  Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company issued a voluntary recall of its 2005 and 2006 models of the F-150 trucks, recalling around 144,000 vehicles, because the airbags in these models had problems:  short circuits could result from faulty wiring, resulting in the airbags to pop without warning or need — and of course, a surprise of an inflating airbag could cause wrecks and serious injuries and wrongful deaths.

However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has checked into the F-150 Airbag issue and isn’t happy with what Ford has done.  Seems the federal regulators suspect that as many as 1,300,000 Ford F-150 pickups have flawed airbags in them.  Lots more than 144,000.

In January 2011 the NHTSA wrote Ford, suggesting that the company go ahead and expand its recall to 1.3 million vehicles. Ford hasn’t done it.  Ford stubbornly argues that this isn’t a “defect” and that the NHTSA is being a Nervous Nelly.  In response, theNHTSA is pointing to its two-year long investigation (begun in 2009), where it’s found 269 of these Ford F-150 surprise airbag deployments, along with one accident and 98 injuries that have included bone fractures, burns and tooth damage.  NHTSA expects these numbers to rise unless Ford does something.

The Chevy Cruze Has a Steering Wheel That Can Fall Off While You’re Driving

Meanwhile, over at General Motors, another popular vehicle has proven itself to be dangerous and in need of recall by the manufacturer.  The Chevy Cruze has a similar scary problem, from the driver’s perspective:  the steering wheel can come off in your hand, while you’re driving. Only one such actual horrific event has happened so far, according to the car maker, and they’ve issued a voluntary recall to fix things.

Americans Cannot Blindly Assume Their Vehicles Are Safe to Drive

Bottom line:  you cannot trust your vehicle to be safe to drive. Even if you’ve been driving it for several years, like these Ford truck drivers.  Check www.recalls.gov.  Check with your dealership. And if you’ve been injured or had a loved one suffer a wrongful death due to a defective product, then call a lawyer.  There are laws on the books not only to seek justice for you, but that work toward getting unsafe products out of the American marketplace.

Because, rest assured, part of the reason that Ford doesn’t want that “defect” label is because of concerns about a future lawsuit where it will be held financially accountable

Fresh Express has recalled thousands of salad bags filled with fresh spinach because the leaves may carry salmonella bacteria which is very dangerous for humans.  If you have purchased a Fresh Express bag from your grocer that fits the following recall information, then return the product to the store — and if you’ve eaten any of that spinach or served it to your family and loved ones, then get medical attention as soon as possible.  Salmonella poisoning can be very, very serious.

The dangerous Fresh Express Salad Bags can be identified with:

• product codes starting with H081 and H082
• UPC Code of 7127913204 and
• use-by dates of April 6 and 7.

If you have questions, then feel free to call Fresh Express’s consumer line at (800) 242-5472.

The Dangers of America’s Food Supply — FDA Has Instituted New Public Warning Food Recall Web Page This Month

Americans cannot assume that the food that they buy at the store or eat in restaurants is safe.  The massive egg recalls within the past few months are just one example of how food supplies in this country are all too often putting dangerous products into the marketplace.  In fact, in a landmark piece of legislation the federal government has begun to recognize this reality with the first major change in federal food safety laws inalmost 70 years.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a broad piece of legislation that is supposed to turn the FDA from being involved in policing dangerous foods after they have already put Americans in danger, and instead making the FDA into a proactive agency that works to stop bad food from getting to American tables in the first place.

You can learn more about the law here.

This month, the FDA complied with part of the FSMA by updating its website with a new, user-friendly page dedicated to information regarding food recalls.  The new site even provides for automatic food safety alerts to be sent to your computer. This is not the same as the federal government’s food safety website, FoodSafety.Gov.

One website works to educate on how to buy and prepare food items safely.  The other informs us when things like toxic spinach have made it to our store shelves and restaurant menus.

Food is a product in our marketplace, sold along side drugs and toys and appliances.

Defective products in whatever form can serious injure and sometimes kill innocent victims.  Tainted food is especially dangerous for infants, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.  Be careful, see a doctor if you need to do so, and remember: sometimes justice is only found in a courtroom.  Food can be the basis of aproducts liability lawsuit just the same as a tire, car seat, toy, or gas tank.

Over the weekend, an elderly man perished  in a fire reported to have been caused by electrical appliance in his home. Mr. Wilson Jones, 91 years old, went to bed on Saturday night in his home in Gary, Indiana, and a fire from an electrical appliance(what kind has not been reported yet) released enough smoke that Mr. Jones died ofsmoke inhalation.

In another fire, a Chicago firefighter was injured in a home fire along with a resident this morning, the resident reported to be in serious condition at Loretto Hospital, when a fire broke out in a building that houses a storefront on the ground floor with apartments up above.  The fire raged for most of this morning, and its cause has yet to be released to the public.

On the job fires are a common problem in our local area:  mill workers, longshoremen, factory workers, those working on the railroads and in construction, are all vulnerable to fire injuries as part of their daily work.  These men and women bravely do their jobs, day in and day out, all too aware of that risk of chemical fires, electrical fires, explosions, and the like.

Fire injuries on the job are real tragedies.  However, even more horrific are fire injuries and deaths that arise in someone’s home.

We are supposed to be safe in our homes, particularly in the dead of night when we are sleeping.  However, defective products and things like faulty electrical wiring are all too often the cause of serious injury and death in our country.  The National Fire Prevention Association provides details on the most common causes of fires in the home (click on the link for a NFPA Fact Sheet):

• Home Decorations
• Children Playing With Fire (lighters, matches)
• Cooking Equipment Causing a Fire
• Home Heaters (Standalones and In the Wall)
• Smoking Materials (Cigarettes, etc.)
• Candles
• Electrical Wiring Distribution or Lighting Equipment

When a loved one is seriously injured or killed in their home because of a fire, the horror that the family and friends feel can be overwhelming.  There is something especially horrible when a human being dies in a fire.   It is almost unbearable to deal with this reality when the origin of the fire is revealed to be the result of a flaw in wiring or a defect in a product.

There are few instances when a personal injury lawsuit can have more longreaching results than when a brave family member fights in the courtroom for justice in a products liability or personal injury lawsuit designed to stop fire injuries and wrongful deaths.  No one should ever have to deal with this situation, and our condolences go out to all who have experienced a horrific loss and tragedy as a result of fire.

Triad products have been recalled by the manufacturer in a series of recalls over the past few months, and now there are literally millions of dangerous Triad Group productsout there in the marketplace or already in homes, hospitals, doctors’ offices, day cares, nursing homes, etc., where people are vulnerable to being victims of these dangerous products.

As we posted earlier this week, this is a very serious situation where the products cause injuries such as rash, to purportedly sterile products infected with bacteria (among other conditions) where people have already have suffered serious injury or death.

Wrongful death lawsuits are already on file in Texas and Tennessee, and we should expect to see lots more all too soon, sadly.  The FDA is taking steps to close down the company, either with their cooperation or without it.

Since there is not an easily located online list of all the Triad products that have been recalled in the past 90 days, we are providing it here:

December 2010 – Lube Jelly Recall

Triad

Cardinal

Novation

McKesson

Imco

Select

Schein

January 2011 – Alcohol Wipes

Best Choice

Care One

Cooper Atkins

CVS

Discount Drug Mart

Equaline

Equate

Exchange Select

Exact

Good Neighbor

Good Sense

Healthcare

Healthy Generations

Kroger

Leader Life Brand

Longs

Major

MEIJER

Medicine Shoppe

Personelle

Publix

Premier Value

Quality Choice

Rite Aid

Reli-On

Remedy RX

Rexall

Safeway

Shoppers Drug

Sunmark

Up&Up

Top Care

Triad

Triad Sterile

Uniprix

Valu Plus

Western Family

Walgreens

March 2011 Recall - Povidone Iodine Prep Pads (on the market since March 2008)

[From the Triad Recall Press Release: "This recall has been initiated due to concerns expressed by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the potential contamination of these products with an objectionable organism, Elizabethkingia meningoseptica. H&P’s internal investigation also concluded a raw material component as the potential source of this contamination. This investigation was conducted as a result of the earlier ipa pad recall. Both the pvp and ipa pads use this common component. This recall extends to all Lots of Povidone Iodine Prep Pads remaining within their labeled expiration dating (three years), including all Lot numbers beginning with the digits 8, 9, 0 or 1."]

Item #AC-3201 Amerinet

Item #04-3201 Cardinal Health

Item# 06-3201 Versapro/Medical Specialties

Item# 08-3201 Novation /VHA

Item #10-3201 Triad

Item# 11-PP32 Triad+

Item #PL-3533 Total Resources

Item#PL-3534 North Safety

Anytime you or a loved one seek medical care, you assume that you will not only be treated by competent health care professionals, but you will also receive care with products that are safe, sterile, and trustworthy. It’s naive to think that this is always the case, however.

One more example of the dangers of health care in our country today (see our earlier post this week on The Nose Doctor for an example of provider negligence) is the growing tragedy resulting from the Triad Group sterile product line.

Triad medical products found not to be sterile but infected with bacteria

This week, after asking the company to do the right thing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to close down H&P Industries, a company that makes a variety medical products under the name Triad Group. Seems that the Triad products have all too often been involved in instances of patients being severely injured by infection or even dying from infection.

The FDA wants the company shut down. Why? Millions – that’s right, millions – of the purportedly sterile Triad products have been subjected to recall because they’ve haven’t been sterile. The Triad products have been contaminated with bacteria.

For example, earlier this year there was:

(1) a recall of Triad alcohol prep pads because millions and millions of these pads – as well as Triad swabs and swabsticks – were carrying bacteria (Bacillus cereus).  These products were being used by hospitals and consumers alike.

(2) a recall of the company’s iodine prep pads along with its sterile lubricating jelly.  Both were also found to not be sterile - as they were marketed to be – and in fact, contaminated with bacteria.

People are dying from these tainted medical products.  Triad product liability lawsuits have already been filed in Texas and Tennessee.

Right now, the FDA and H&P Industries Inc. are purportedly negotiating for the company to voluntarily close.  If the company balks, expect a cease and desist order to be issued.

Please check your medicine cabinet for these Triad products (check any sterile products you own against this long list of product names and lots numbers) – and do not use them if you find them.

Tires on lots of Ford vehicles on the roads right now are not safe.  Again.

If this rings a bell, it should: faulty tires on Ford vehicles also started making news in much the same way back in 2000 when the Firestone tires placed on Ford vehicles started causing serious injuries and wrongful deaths in lots of motor vehicle accidents all across the country.  It’s something that Firestone itself calls “…the most deadly auto safety crisis in American history.”

CTA Recalls Over 390,000 Defective and Dangerous Tires Already On 2008 and 2009 Ford Trucks

Continental Tire the Americas (CTA) has voluntarily recalled 390,000 tires that it manufactured and sold to Ford Motor Company, which Ford placed on its 2008 and 2009 light trucks, the Ford F-250 and the Ford F-350.

Here are the product specifications for these dangerous tires – if they are on your vehicle, then don’t trust them to be safe.  Call the tire manufacturer if you have questions toll free at 1-888-799-2168 if you need to do so, or check out the FAQs on its Tire Recall webpage.

According to CTA, the dangerous tires are:

• Tire Name:  Continental ContiTrac TR
  Size:  LT275/70R18 125/122S Load range: E  Outline White Letters
  DOT Serial Numbers:   P515 46U0 1807 through P515 46U0 2308

• Tire Name:  Continental ContiTrac TR –
  Size: LT275/70R18 125/122S Load Range :E Black sidewall
  DOT Serial Numbers:  P515 46XB  2607 through P515 46XB  2408

• Tire Name:  Continental ContiTrac –
  Size:  LT275/70R18 125/122S Load Range: E   Black sidewall
  DOT Serial Numbers:  P515 46YB  4307 through P515 46YB  3708

This isn’t the first time that a massive amount of CTA tires on Ford vehicles have been recalled.  Back in 2002, over 100,000 Continental Tires were recalled after they hit the road on Ford SUVs.

Indiana medical malpractice lawyers as well as most of the state, the country, and possibly most of the world, are all too aware of the very bad acts performed by Indiana surgeon Dr. Mark Weinberger — he’s had hundreds of medical malpractice (professional negligence) claims filed against him.  People have died as a result of his negligence according to any number of wrongful death suits that have been filed by loved ones throughout Indiana.

However, maybe the bigger noteriety of Indiana villian Dr. Mark Weinberger is how he didn’t stick around to face the music but instead ran away.  Ran away from his family, his friends, his practice, his home.

A January 2011 article in Vanity Fair entitled, “The Runaway Doctor,” written by Buzz Bissinger, chronicles Weinberger’s disappearance in 2004 and his ultimate capture in the Italian Alps many years later.  His capture was a highlight of TV’s America’s Most Wanted.

“The Nose Doctor” of Merrillville, Indiana Goes to Trial  – Ken Allen Represents the Plaintiffs: Victorious Verdict After Six Days

This week, the wrongful death medical misdiagnosis trial for the loved ones of Weinberger patient Phyllis Barnes began.  Represented by noted trial lawyer Kenneth J. Allen, the plaintiffs alleged that The Nose Doctor’s faulty diagnosis failed to catch her cancer in time and because of Dr. Weinberger’s failure to diagnose Phyllis Barnes’ cancer, she died.

Seems that Mrs. Barnes saw one of Weinberger’s billboards and made an appointment with him for help with some sinus and throat problems.  No mention was made, or investigation had, regarding the cancer that killed her.  Dr. Weinberger did, however, perform surgeries (yes, more than one) on Mrs. Barnes — all these operations being unnecessary to her and vital to his pocketbook.

Mrs. Barnes’ wrongful death suit sought punitive damages under Indiana medical malpractice law.  After a six day trial, the jury awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages against Dr. Mark Weinberger.

The Need for Strong Law in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

The details of evildoer Dr. Mark Weinberger aren’t necessary here.  They’re there in theVanity Fair article as well as numerous other resources on the web.  However, the example of this one bad man exemplifies the power that health care professionals have over their clientele.   They are in positions of power and trust — we all rely upon them to be acting in our best interests, with knowledge and skill and integrity.

When physicians fail to live up to these standards, then justice must be available to those they have harmed.  For many personal injury attorneys, the impact of tort reform across the country ties the hands of justice in many medical malpractice situations. Perhaps Dr. Mark Weinberger is an anomoly.  The personal injury bar might disagree with that assessment: Dr. Weinberger may be notorious, and his running away worthy of a TV Movie of the Week — but he’s far from the only marketing-happy doctor who has sacrificed patient care for profits.

“You Got What You Deserve”

As Ken Allen said during his closing arguments in the Nose Doctor Wrongful Death trial this week, this verdict should send a message not only to Dr. Weinberger but to anyone that might be following in his footsteps.   This verdict — $3,000,000 in compensatory damages and $13,000,000 in punitives — should send a message that is a strong, loud warning against this evildoing.

Kenneth J. Allen’s words to The Nose Doctor after the jurors returned with their decision:  “You got what you deserve, is what I say to Mark Weinberger.”

To hear Kenneth Allen’s remarks shortly after the jury verdict came in, check out the NBCChicago online video here.

www.wgntv.com

March 24, 2011 (HAMMOND, Ind.) (WLS) -- A jury Thursday night awarded a family $13 million in one of hundreds of actions against Indiana Dr. Mark Weinberger.

The Illinois House of Representatives is considering legislation that would make illegal in the State of Illinois for drivers to take photographs or videos from cell phones at the scene of accidents. State Rep. Tom Holbrook of Belleville is sponsoring this bill, arguing that drivers shouldn’t rubberneck — it’s dangerous for drivers to take their eyes off the road.

Specifically, the bill (HB1984, read full text and follow it here) inserts “digital photograph” and “video” into legislation that is being proposed that would fight against distracted driving involving texting, instant messaging (IMs), or emailing.  There’s another proposed statute that’s just been amended within the same bill to ban the use of cell phones within 500 feet of an Illinois accident scene.

Evidence at Trial Begins at the Accident Scene

There’s a reason why those scenes in CSI and Law and Order have all the cops and detectives and crime scene investigators wrapping the incident areas with yellow tape and banning everyone from going near the site.  Evidence must be protected — and most of the physical evidence is there at that scene of the crime.

Similarly, in accidents, the physical evidence is there at the scene.  On the roadway, the truth about what happened to cause the injuries or wrongful death reveals itself.  Photographs and videos taken as close in time as possible to the event itself is critical to discovering what really happened.

Insurance companies know this — that’s why they are notorious for having investigators on the scenes of accidents so fast that on occasion they beat law enforcement to the site.  Trucking companies instruct their truck drivers to let the company know immediately if they’re in an accident — so they can start their defense to any claim through the gathering of evidence as soon as possible.

What Happens to Critical On the Scene Evidence if This Bill Becomes Law?  Plaintiffs Are Hurt.

Rubbernecking can cause wrecks, that’s true.  However, the proposed legislation goes farther than that.  If it is passed, then critical evidence of all kinds of motor vehicle accidents will be outlawed.  This will serve only to hurt injury victims and their loved ones as they later try to prove their claims and obtain justice.  It’s harmful.

Trucking companies and independent truckers alike must have a steady supply of fuel in order to operate, it’s a given. So when fuel prices rise, they have to deal with them.  However, today the reality is that fuel costs are doing more than rising a bit: diesel prices are skyrocketing and there’s no end in sight.

According to the Des Moines Register, one gallon of diesel fuel costs $1.00 more this year than it did in 2010. This has the trucking industry predicting that overall, it will be paying $35,000,000 more in fuel costs this year, just to keep trucks on the road.

Added to this rising cost is the variety of prices in different states across the country.  Since truckers by definition are transporting cargo from one place to another, they will necessarily encounter a number of spots in the country where prices may be higher than others.

For example, truckers reported today that Virginia had pretty cheap diesel rates as compared to surrounding states in the region, like Connecticut.  They’re using things like this cheap fuel cost locator app to keep track of the best deals on the road (you might like this, too).

One result of these rising operating costs for truckers is that consumer prices will rise.  Another is that independent truckers may not be able to stay in business with these fuel costs and we will see less independent big rigs on the road.

However, another given is that trucking companies – already feeling the pinch of this bad economy – have just been given another reason to push the edge of the envelope on safety concerns as they try and keep profits as high as possible.   The pressure to scoot pass regulations or to get right to their edge will be high, and that pressure is just going to rise as this economic teapot continues to boil.

Be careful out there.  And now more than ever, respect that tractor trailer on the roadway with you.  Give that trucker lots of room to move.

Consumer Reports has built its longstanding, well-respected reputation as a public watchdog against bad products by offering its readers expert reviews of all sorts of things:  appliances, cars, toys, sunscreen.  If there is something sold in the American marketplace today, odds are high that Consumer Reports can provide guidance on how well that product works as well as how safe it is to use.

However, today Consumer Reports has gone further than providing expert reviews.  Today, on both the Consumer Reports website as well as the federal government’s site for the Department of Transportation, you will see videos and other information regarding the danger of texting or talking while driving a moving vehicle.

They’ve been moved to act because the dangers of Distracted Driving, particularly among American teenagers, is causing a significant number of young people to be seriously injured or killed in accidents that could have been avoided if a handheld device had not been along for the ride.

As reported by the DOT, a new report by the experts at Consumer Reports has revealed the following:

• 63 percent of respondents under 30 years old reported using a handheld phone while driving in the past 30 days, and 30 percent of them texted while driving during the same period.   That compares with 41 percent and 9 percent, respectively, of respondents who were 30 or older.
• Among the under-30 respondents, only 36 percent were very concerned about the problem of distracted driving, and only 30 percent felt it was very dangerous to use a handheld phone.
• 64 percent of respondents overall said they had seen other drivers texting using a handheld device in the past 30 days.  94 percent had observed drivers talking on a mobile phone and 58 percent had seen a dangerous driving situation related to a distracted driver in the past month.
• 78 percent of respondents overall said they had reduced or stopped behaviors related to distracted driving.  Of that group, 66 percent said they did so because of reading or hearing about the dangers.

Copies of the Consumer Reports/DOT report “Distracted Driving Shatters Lives” will be distributed to schools and volunteer groups by the National School Safety Coalition.

In tandem with the Consumer Reports efforts, DOT has released its latest video in the Department of Transportation’s “Faces of Distracted Driving” series today onDistraction.gov, featuring Miss South Dakota Loren Vaillancourt, who has been speaking to teens about the dangers of distracted driving since her brother was killed by a distracted driver in May 2009.  Watch it here on YouTube.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) just released its latest crash test studies involving big rigs and cars, and its report “… demonstrates that underride guards on tractor-trailers can fail in relatively low-speed crashes — with deadly consequences.”  (Watch the great video that the IIHS has provided to go along with its research results here.)

What are these underride guards? They protect the vehicle that rear-ends a big rig.  In these accidents, the car slams into the tractor trailer truck, or semi, and without proper protection (the guard) the top of the car (passenger vehicle) gets slammed up against the truck’s rear, crushing the roof and killing or seriously injuring those who were riding in the front seat of the car.  From the release:

“Cars’ front-end structures are designed to manage a tremendous amount of crash energy in a way that minimizes injuries for their occupants,” says Adrian Lund, Institute president. “Hitting the back of a large truck is a game changer. You might be riding in a vehicle that earns top marks in frontal crash tests, but if the truck’s underride guard fails — or isn’t there at all — your chances of walking away from even a relatively low-speed crash aren’t good.”

Result: The IIHS is petitioning the federal government to create new laws that will mandate stronger underride guards to be placed on commercial trucks, ones that will remain in place during a crash.  (Read the petition here.)

Seat belts exist only to keep people safe, but the reality is that there are many occasions where safety belts seriously injure and even cause the deaths of those who obediently use them.

This is why the Williamson lawsuit was filed.  It originates in a 2002 car crash where Thanh Williamson, 32, died while wearing a lap seat belt in a Mazda 1993 MPV minivan.  Mazda argued that Williamson was setting in the center position of the rear passenger seat and at the time, the car maker was only required to provide a lap band for this spot per National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulation.  Mazda’s defense isn’t that the seat belt wasn’t the cause of Mrs. Williamson’s death; instead, Mazda claimed it should not be liable because the nine (9) year old minivan was okay under federal regulations when it left the plant.

Last November, we considered the Mazda Seat Belt case because of its national importance.  The U.S. Supreme Court had a big decision to make: whether or not to allow car manufacturers to avoid legal liability for these seat beat injuries and deaths because at the time the cars (or trucks or minivans) are made, they meet the minimum safety standards set by federal law.

Now, the United States Supreme Court has ruled. Unanimously. And, it’s a big deal for many reasons — but for those who care about people being safe in their cars, here’s why this week’s opinion is so important to us all:  the High Court has told the American automobile industry that federal regulations were created only to set the minimum standard, not to provide the car makers with some kind of shield, or immunity, from legal responsiblity if their product harmed or killed their customers.

Of course, car makers are dismissing the major impact of this new Supreme Court decision to the public (like those explanations given to the Detroit News).  However, read the entire Supreme Court opinion (with all the Justices in agreement, a rare showing of solidarity these days) in Cause No. 08-1314, styled Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. and you will find language like this:

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (1989 version) requires, among other things, that auto manufacturers install seat belts on the rear seats of passenger vehicles. They must install lap-and-shoulder belts on seats next to a vehicle’s doors or frames. But they have a choice about what to install on rear inner seats (say, middle seats or those next to a minivan’s aisle). There they can install either (1) simple lap belts or (2) lap-and-shoulder belts. 54 Fed. Reg. 46257–46258 (1989); 49 CFR §571.208 (1993), promulgated pursuant to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (Act), 80 Stat. 718, 15 U. S. C. §1381.

The question presented here is whether this federal regulation pre-empts a state tort suit that, if successful,would deny manufacturers a choice of belts for rear inner seats by imposing tort liability upon those who choose to install a simple lap belt. We conclude that providing manufacturers with this seat belt choice is not a significant objective of the federal regulation. Consequently, the regulation does not pre-empt the state tort suit.

[From Justice Sontemayor's Concurrence, the following:]

In other words, the mere fact that an agency regulation allows manufacturers a choice between options is insufficient to justify implied pre-emption; courts should only find pre-emption where evidence exists that an agency has a regulatory objective— e.g., obtaining a mix of passive restraint mechanisms, as in Geier—whose achievement depends on manufacturers having a choice between options. A link between a regulatory objective and the need for manufacturer choice to achieve that objective is the lynchpin of implied pre-emption when there is a saving clause.

More people die in Illinois from coal-related deaths than any other state in this country with the exception of New York and Pennsylvania, according to the 2010 Toll for Coal Report of the Clean Air Task Force (read the full report here).  Coal is a big industry in our area.

Midwest Generation, for example, operates six coal plants in Illinois: two in Chicago; others in Joliet, Pekin, Romeoville, and Waukegan.  It’s undisputed that these coal plants are among the biggest contributors to the region’s poor air quality.

Midwest Generation contributes things that create smog in the air and soot on surfaces:  e.g., nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, along with releasing mercury in local waterways where the fish live and we swim.  Midwest Generation knows this; the federal and state governments know this; the information has been made available to the public and Midwest Generation is supposed to be cleaning things up.

However, in papers Midwest Generation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, who knows when this clean up of Illinois air, water, and earth is going to take place.  Midwest Generation reports to the SEC that it will be taking “…the maximum time available…” to place pollution controls in its coal-fired power plants because … well, it can.  The company isn’t reporting that its going to miss a deadline, just that it’s not going to hurry up to meet it.

Till then, those six coal plants are gonna keep churning out their toxins and people are going to get sick from them.   How bad is this situation, really?

Well, consider the November 2010 Enviromental Protection Agency report on Midwest Generation’s Waukegan coal plant (read the full report here).  According to the EPA press release regarding the report (emphasis added):

… has caused up to $690 million in health and related damages in the last 8 years, according to a report released today by the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC). The report uses data from the National Research Council finding that particulate matter (soot), from the Waukegan coal plant creates about $86 million in health and related damages annually. Overall, this coal plant has created between $520 million and $690 million in public health damages since 2002.

“The Waukegan coal plant is polluting our air, harming our health and draining our wallets,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “It’s time for Midwest Generation to be socially responsible and invest in modern pollution control equipment to clean up this old plant up, or shut it down.  Enough is enough.”

The Waukegan coal plant is located on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Northeastern Illinois, about 40 miles north of Chicago and 50 miles south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  More than 67,000 people live within three miles of the plant. The plant still operates using equipment built between 1958 and 1963, and Midwest Generation, the plant’s owner, has not installed modern pollution controls such as scrubbers….

According to Greenpeace, “… [c]hildren living in the Little Village and Pilsen communities surrounding these plants suffer from a 44% asthma rate. According to a Clean Air Task Force study, pollution from Fisk and Crawford kills 40 people every year….” As a result, Greenpeace is calling for closures of Midwest Generation coal plants.

Is politics at play here? Sure.  Are profits a concern?  Of course.  These coal plants have until 2018 to get things right.  Time for these victims to file a lawsuit for the harm they’ve experienced, the tragic deaths of loved ones and family providers they’ve suffered?  No need to wait there — those courageous plaintiffs may be able to do what the federal government and the non-profits like Greenpeace have not: find justice.

In our continued monitoring of the federal government’s introduction of its new safety measuring standards of Complaince, Safety, Accountablity (CSA 2010) upon the trucking industry, the latest news is the revelation of how truck drivers are being tracked under the new system as opposed to SafeStats, the old school version.  SafeStats measured trucking safety under three categories (the three Safety Evaluation Areas, or “SEAs”) whereas the new CSA 2010 analyzes seven different issues, or the its Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (“BASIC”).

A study performed by TransCore’s CarrierWatch of approximately 166,000 for-hire interstate trucking companies has just been released (read the entire report, or white paper, here), using the data provided in December 2010 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Among its findings:

• truckers can get CSA Alerts although their CSA scores are good;
• more truckers are getting CSA Alerts than those that got ’deficient’ ratings under the old SafeStat measuring system;
• there is no national cohesion in the CSA results, the BASIC scores as well as the number of CSA Alerts different, state by state; and
• Fatigued Driving, representing HOS violations,was the most common failure, with13% of freight carriers receiving an alert in that category.

Bringing the study’s results home, how did Illinois and Indiana fare?  Not too well.

According to the new report, both Illinois and Indiana were among the eight  Midwestern states receiving the most CSA Alerts for Unsafe Driving.  Moreover, Indiana was one of only five states across the country to get at least 50% more CSA Alerts than SafeStat deficiencies.  In other words, Indiana safety alerts jumped up over half again from the old school tracking system.  That’s a big jump.

Be careful out there – especially when you are sharing the roadway with a commercial truck, 18-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer, or semi.

Hours of service (HOS) for trucks and buses will rely upon technology, not handwritten logbooks, in the future as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a new proposed trucking industry regulaton on January 31, 2011. This will apply to any commercial truck or bus carrier crossing state lines, and the approximately 500,000 trucking companies that must conform are understandably unhappy with this new law.

Read the FMCSA press release, giving all the details of this new regulation, on the Department of Transportation website (here).

Last spring, FMCSA already required these gizmos to be used by trucking companies with a record of HOS logbook violations (that April 2010 rule becomes law in June 2012).

What do they do?

Electronic OnBoard Recorders automatically record the number of hours drivers spend operating the vehicle. Unless any sneaky truckers become very techno-savvy, the EOBRs omit the temptation to fudge on a HOS log.

Why should we care about this?

As DOT Head Ray LaHood explained in the news release, “We cannot protect our roadways when commercial truck and bus companies exceed hours-of-service rules, … This proposal would make our roads safer by ensuring that carriers traveling across state lines are using EOBRs to track the hours their drivers spend behind the wheel.”

What happens under the new law if someone doesn’t abide by it?

The federal government can assess a civil penalty of up to $11,000 for each offense, and the trucking company would also get penalized on its safety fitness rating and DOT operating authority.

Who’s complaining?

Trucking concerns like the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, whose executive vice president was quoted in the Trucker News as viewing EOBRs ” …as nothing more than over-priced record keepers.”  He went on to criticize the action as another example of the federal government taking action in this recessionary economy that will result in damaging small business, since many small business owners are already running close to the red in their budgets and added costs like the gizmo may put them over the line, and out of business.

What do they cost?

You can find a bargain online.  For example, JJKeller is offering the following:

The $6 E-Logs, powered by J. J. Keller’s Encompass, are priced per driver per month and require a one-time purchase of an onboard recorder for $199. Once data is captured, J. J. Keller Encompass audits all of a company’s driver logs, providing them with online reporting and compliance information that can immediately improve their operation.

Seems like a reasonable price to keep truck drivers (and those with whom they share the road) safe, right?

The weather reports are predicting an unprecedented winter storm will hit our area beginning today, and it’s tragic but true that some folk aren’t going to survive this onslaught.  It’s the duty of us all to try and keep that loss as small as possible.  Here are some tips for keeping safe during this massive onslaught of freezing temperatures, snow, and ice:

1.  don’t drive if you don’t have to do so, drive during the day and on main roads if you must, and all motorists should use extreme caution.   A toll-free phone number has been set up, so you can call and learn what the Illinois road conditions are like in advance: call 1 (800) 452-4368.

2.  along the roadways, look for National Guard troops positioned at certain rest areas (for example, along I-70) if you need help; both the National Guard and local law enforcement will be driving the roadways, looking for stranded motorists 24/7 during this storm.   They will have basic things like snacks, water, and first aid for those in need.

3.  watch out for your neighbors, particularly the elderly.  Seniors can be very vulnerable, very quickly in winter storms if they haven’t prepared in advance with filled prescriptions, adequate food, etc.

4.  prepare in advance for power outages – have water and food stored for emergency use, as well as blankets, flashlights, and charged phones.  Have kerosene and kerosene heaters at the ready (always refilling them outside).

5.  close off rooms that don’t need to be heated, it saves on fuel.

For more tips, check out FEMA.GOV.

The National Guard for both Illinois and Indiana have both been called into action.  This is a serious situation for our area.  For the latest information on the weather and storm conditions and other information on staying safe, see ready.illinois.gov.

James H. Wood was arrested last week for taking lots of money over the past two years from trucking companies who wanted him to look the other way as Mr. Wood did his job over in New York, as a truck safety supervisor for the the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Actually, Mr. Wood wasn’t just a worker bee: he was a supervisor for FMCSA in their Buffalo office (FMCSA being an agency within the Department of Transportation).

Now, James Wood is within another part of the federal system: he was arrested on federal felonies involving conspiracy and taking bribes by the New York branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, after being investigated by both the FBI and the Inspector General for the Transportation Department.   A formal complaint has been filed in the local federal court, delineating the charges against him.

Seems Mr. Wood took over $60,000 in the past two years from commercial trucking corporations in return for (1) letting the truckers know in advance about planned inspections of their big rigs, along with (2) letting his new pals in on “friendly audits,” that kept bad, dangerous trucks out on the roads as well as (3) instituting (presumably against his pals’ competitors) “complaint audits” against some companies.  This was apparently all very easy for a FMCSA supervisor to do.

Now, here’s the question:  how big is this investigation? Is Wood a bad apple or the first in a trend?

It is interesting that the FBI together with the investigative arm of the Department of Transportation are the two organizations involved here.  That’s a lot of big manpower to ferret out one, single evildoer.  This cooperative effort between the two agencies suggests that there’s more to this story than this one man.  Would it surprise anyone that James Wood isn’t the only inspector who’s on the trucking industry payroll?

Things are heating up for trucking companies with the new regulations coming into play.

New federal regulations regarding the number of hours that a truck driver can be on the road (hours of service) are going into effect this year.  Truckers must take 34 hours off between runs.  Truck drivers will now have to complete their loading (or unloading) as well as getting from Point A to Point B within 13 hours, with a mandatory one-hour break.  (Go here to read the FMCSA itemized list of HOS changes.)

This is all being done for safety reasons, of course.  To make commercial trucking on the road safer for all of us — truckers and those who share the roads with them.  However, it will cut into the profits of the trucking companies and they aren’t accepting these changes without a fight. Last week, for example, the president of the American Truckers Association wrote President Obama to challenge the effectiveness of the proposed regulations and litigation is predicted.

Maybe they’re doing other things, too — things that the FBI is going to share with all of us in the near future.

Drug distributors are forecasting industry growth in this recessionary climate, theIndyStar reports today.   Indiana, take note: here’s a market with good economic predictions.  Something our part of the country could really use right now, right?

Read the story, and you’ll find the drug marketing gurus are almost gleeful in their descriptions of rising “prescription volume” and the dependable strength of both ” generic dispensing” and “mail-order volume.”  2011 is going to be a good year for these guys.

Which makes this week’s news release by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention even more important – and disturbing.  According to the CDC (read the report here), drugs are the cause of more deaths in the United States today than guns or alcohol.  And by drugs, the CDC isn’t referencing solely illegal drugs like cocaine or crystal meth.  No.  Drugs like prescription drugs and over the counter medicines are responsible for a shocking number of human fatalities in this country.

The danger of drug induced deaths aren’t new to Indiana’s state government.  In March 2008, the Indiana Center for Policy released its own report on the dangers of drug-related deaths (read the report here).  This hits home, folks.

People in our community are at risk for serious injury or death from drugs that are purchased over the counter at WalMart or CVS or any other store as well as those that are prescription drugs given by a trusted health care professional.  Of particular concern: pain medications like Oxycodone.

Meanwhile, the drug companies are looking to make bigger and bigger profits now and in the future.  Remember, Big Pharma is a for-profit industry: its goal is monetary growth.  These are not entities built to serve charitable purposes and many of us tend to forget this – to our detriment.

Remember: drugs aren’t safe.  Drugs can kill you or a loved one.  Be careful and be sure to get help if you believe that you or a loved one may be having a detrimental reaction to any drug or medication.  Get medical care.  And if a tragedy happens, consider the laws on the books of Indiana and the federal government that exist to protect against defective products and wrongful death.

If you are the proud owner of a pretty new General Motors pickup truck or sports utility vehicle, then DON’T DRIVE it:  General Motors has issued a big recall of the following products – 2011 models that have been sold for months now – because they are too dangerous to be driven.  It’s something when the manufacturer actually states, “don’t drive our trucks,” right?

It’s enough to give you a headache, or acid indigestion.  But wait!  Be careful what medicine you take to stop the pain because there is also a massive recall of some very popular over the counter medicines today, including Tylenol, Rolaids, Motrin, Pepcid, and Mylanta.  Yes, incredulous as it may be, Johnson & Johnson has issued anotherenormous recall of products already out in the marketplace.  Another one.

General Motors Recall: DO NOT DRIVE THESE TRUCKS AND SUVS

Here is a list of vehicles that need to go back to the GM dealer so their rear axles can be repaired (left alone, there is a big risk that the axle will lock up on the driver who will then be unable to control the vehicle)(read the GM recall here):

Cadillac Escalade

Cadillac Escalade ESV

Cadillac EXT

Chevrolet Avalanche

Chevrolet Colorado

Chevrolet Silverado

Chevrolet Suburban

Chevrolet Tahoe

GMC Canyon

GMC Sierra

GMC Yukon

GMC Yukon XL

And this recall isn’t good news for the car manufacturer — after all, it’s been tallied that over 100,000 cars were recalled by GM  last year. That’s a lot of defective product leaving the control of the manufacturer, released out into the unsuspecting marketplace, right?  But it’s nothing compared to what is happening over at Johnson & Johnson.

Another Huge Johnson & Johnson Over-the-Counter Drug Recall

Last Friday, Johnson & Johnson – actually McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. – recalled over 47,000,000 products sold in the United States, Brazil, and the Caribbean (read the recall here) including:

TYLENOL® 8 Hour

TYLENOL® Arthritis Pain

TYLENOL® upper respiratory products

BENADRYL®

SUDAFED PE®

SINUTAB®

ROLAIDS Multi-Symptom Berry Tablets®

Apparently, the recall details mean that other products are also impacted, as the New York Times reports that CVS and other stores are pulling some Neutrogena products as well as Mylanta, Pepcid, and Motrin from the shelves too.  For complete details, check out the website that McNeil has set up — complete with images of the products you should NOT USE.

In the past, it appeared that things were finally changing for the better, with a steady decrease in the number of tragic, horrific deaths happening due to a collision between a person – walking or in a car, truck, or minivan – and huge, heavy, moving locomotive.  Things have changed.

In 2010, there was a twenty percent (20%) increase in the number of Illinois fatalities due to train accidents. This is a huge, significant jump.  What’s going on?

Railroad accidents usually result in death. The responsibility of the train tracks themselves, as well as the warning systems, is not with the government but with the owner of the railroad. The state governments are each responsible for their roadways leading up to the crossing. Needless to say, money plays a big factor in how safe railroad crossings are in America today. Railroad companies are watching their bottom line, and we all know the dire straits of 2011?s Illinois budget (see our previous post on cutting public services).

Operation Lifesaver is getting involved.

Operation Lifesaver is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the eradication of railroad accidents and train fatalities.  From its website:

Operation Lifesaver’s mission is to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on rail property through a nationwide network of volunteers who work to educate people about rail safety. Our national office in Alexandria, VA, supports state programs, developing videos, educational brochures, instructional information and other materials for audiences of all ages. Our state coordinators are located in all 50 states.

Already, the Illinois office of Operation Lifesaver has begun a media blitz aimed to educate everyone in Illinois about the dangers of any crash with a train – especially when you’re in a hurry, and thinking you are going to be able to scoot over the tracks and beat the train.  We applaud them for their efforts, and hope this post in some small way assists them in getting the word out about this growing danger to us all. 
Here’s a video from their latest awareness campaign.

VALAPARAISO, IN -- In their traditional holiday philanthropic initiatives, Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland Attorney Kenneth J. Allen and his wife Nina donated more than 1,100 new winter children's coats to help families impacted by the tough economic climate.

The coats were given to children whose parents were struggling due to lost jobs, or other unfortunate circumstances.

Distribution of the coats was done in Lake County through Catholic Charities and in Porter County through Housing Opportunities.

Last year Mr. and Mrs. Allen donated 300 Thanksgiving dinners in Lake and Porter counties. And the year before the Allens donated Thanksgiving dinners at Strongbow's Restaurant in Valparaiso for several hundred people affected by flooding in Lake County, Indiana.

"My wife Nina and I are passionate about the need to help the less fortunate," Allen said. "As winter approaches, this year we felt the need to help insure children are warm as they travel to and from school, "he said.

"Having worked in the trades and the mills while attending law school, I understand the desperate situation families often find themselves caught in, particularly when the economy is less than robust.

"I hope this sends a message to our community that the need is here - in Northwest Indiana - and I hope others will step up to help these families who are caught in the daily struggle just to survive through no fault of their own.

" Last year the Allens donated $20,000 to the United Way of Porter County for the Kinderprint child ID kit program. Mr. Allen started the Kinderprint program and has funded it for the three Northwest Indiana counties ever since it began.

Also in 2009 the Allens donated $5,000 to the United Way in La Porte County, to help fund the Success by Six program, which aims to ensure that all children from birth to age 6 have the proper care and experiences to succeed.

Allens' donation was the final partner match and marked the official beginning of the program, as the donation qualified Success by Six for $60,000 from the Lily Foundation, which had the stipulation that each United Way Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties find partner matches. With the donations collected, United Way had $75,000 total to plan the comprehensive regional early childhood development initiative.

Illinois is in big financial trouble according to the financial bigwigs over on Wall Street:Moody’s Investors Service reportedly ranks Illinois as having the lowest credit rating in the country (tied with California, which we all know isn’t good news) and Moody’s also predicts things are not getting better in the near future for the state.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Legislature is hitting the ground running as it makes critical budget decisions: there is a $13 billion dollar deficit – and millions in unpaid bills and missed pension fund payments. No one can avoid the reality that there will be severe cuts in public services, but who is going to be hit?

How will your family be impacted by the Illinois Budget Crisis?

Maybe not at all if the Illinois Governor gets his way, and the state borrows $15 billion to cover the shortfall.  If not, then California is providing an example, although severe public service cuts are being made in a number of states across the country: thousands of kids lose child care; young adults see an increase in tuition; state workers are laid off; and health care costs are slashed.

Which means the state safeguards in place to protect Illinois citizenry may be disappearing — and with them, an increase in the risk of individuals being harmed.  For many, the harms will simply have to be handled within the family.

Injury Lawsuits and Justice When Budgets are Slashed

However, if there is a serious personal injury or wrongful death because of scenarios like:

• a child is on the streets instead of day care;
• a lack of state inspection regarding compliance with boating regulations or hazardous road conditions, or
• a stressed-out unemployed worker fatally crashes his vehicle into an innocent family’s minivan

this budget crisis will not close the courthouse doors on justice.

Plaintiffs’ personal injury law firms have traditionally provided legal services on a contingent basis to their clientele.  This is not going to change with the current recessionary times.

It’s sad to predict that the loss of government services may have as an unintended consequence the serious personal injury or wrongful death of someone in the future, but it is very likely to be the reality.  At least, in these instances of personal injury lawsuits, Illinois budget cuts cannot cut justice out of our future.

The federal government is really serious about targeting cigarettes as dangerous products these days.  More than ever before, and you’re invited to participate.

Why?  Maybe it’s because the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that thirty percent (30%) of all cancer deaths in this country are due to tobacco. In fact, tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, responsible for 443,000 deaths each year.

Which may explain why another study has been released by the Surgeon General on how very, very bad cigarette smoking (and other tobacco products) can be – both for the user of the product as well as those subjected to secondhand smoke.

(To read and/or download the complete report, go here.)

And, if the statistical studies, scholarly reports, and regular news releases don’t get the message out, there’s always the product itself. New legislation, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act), will have future cigarette packages and advertisements showing bigger, graphic health warnings. Scary ones.

In fact, right now the Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposed rule that will create nine new textual warning statements accompanied by color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.

To view the new cigarette packing, go here.

The FDA is also asking for your input regarding its implementation of the new tobacco regulations.  You can vote on your choice of warning labels, as well as make other comments, now through Tuesday, January 11, 2011.

• Go to www.regulations.gov and insert docket number FDA-2010-N-0568 into the “search” box and follow the prompts.
• Send a fax, with your comments, to 301-827-6870.
• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions) to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

First thing this month, President Barack Obama’s debt commission issued a big reportregarding the huge amount of federal government debt — which no one can contest is astonishingly, amazing huge — and as part of its recommendations, there’s a section dealing with medical malpractice liability.  The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform reports that $2 billion could be slashed from the federal budget each year, with some changes to the current malpractice liability process.

(Read the complete report online, or download and print it as a pdf here.)

What’s up with the medical malpractice proposal? The report is pointing to the current civil tort system — where injured victims or their loved ones sue doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers for errors they have made which resulted in serious injury or death.  Medical malpractice lawsuits can involve some of the most tragic, emotionally-charged scenarios seen in any courtroom.

The commission, concerned with finding ways to cut that federal debt, are pointing at this ability of injured plaintiffs to sue those medical professionals that are responsible as being the cause of higher health care costs in the country today.  How?  Medical providers have to pay higher insurance premiums (malpractice coverage).  Health care providers also charge for most things that they do (tests, etc.) to try and protect themselves from being sued.  The report calls this “…indirect costs in the form of over-utilization of diagnostic and related services (sometimes referred to as ‘defensive medicine’).” ”

From the perspective of an attorney representing someone who has been harmed or had a loved one die, “defensive medicine” sounds like a good idea, probably has saved a life or two.

What the Report Want to Do.

Within the “health care cost containment” section of the report by co-chairmen Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and Alan Simpson, a Republican, is the following language:

3.3.12 Medical malpractice reform.
(Saves $2 billion in 2015, $17 billion through 2020)
Most experts agree that the current tort system in the United States leads to an increase in health care costs. This is true both because of direct costs – higher malpractice insurance premiums – and indirect costs in the form of over-utilization of diagnostic and related services (sometimes referred to as “defensive medicine”). The Commission recommends an aggressive set of reforms to the tort system.

Among the policies pursued, the following should be included: 1) Modifying the “collateral source” rule to allow outside sources of income collected as a result of an injury (for example workers’ compensation benefits or insurance benefits) to be considered in deciding awards; 2) Imposing a statute of limitations – perhaps one to three years – on medical malpractice lawsuits; 3) Replacing joint-and-several liability with a fair-share rule, under which a defendant in a lawsuit would be liable only for the percentage of the final award that was equal to his or her share of responsibility for the injury; 4) Creating specialized “health courts” for medical malpractice lawsuits; and 5) Allowing “safe haven” rules for providers who follow best practices of care.
Many members of the Commission also believe that we should impose statutory caps on punitive and non-economic damages, and we recommend that Congress consider this approach and evaluate its impact.

Response by Consumer Groups.

There is a growing outcry to this proposed legislation, as well there should be.  Please read the following letter, sent on December 2, 2010, to the Commission by a large group of concerned organizations, which we provide to you here (available online here) in its entirety:

December 2, 2010

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

1650 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20504

via email:

commission@fc.eop.gov

Re: Commission recommendation 3.3.12 medical malpractice liability reform

Dear Chairmen Simpson and Bowles and Members of the National Commission on Fiscal

Responsibility and Reform:

We, the undersigned consumer and patient safety advocacy organizations, strongly oppose the Commission’s recommendation 3.3.12 in its “Moment of Truth” report. The recommendation to impose cruel liability restrictions on patients injured by the medical errors of private medical workers and institutions demonstrates a significant lack of forethought about the consequences to the country’s health care system as well as its fiscal health.

Last month, we expressed our concerns to the Commission regarding Chairmen Alan Simpson’s and Erskine Bowles’ previously released deficit reduction proposal, which dedicated a vague paragraph to recommending medical liability restrictions. Unfortunately, instead of removing the recommendation, the Commission’s report identifies specific liability proposals and principles, each of which we discuss and disprove in the accompanying analysis. We urge all commissioners to reject the report if medical liability restrictions are included, and to offer proposals that represent true health care cost savings, such as efforts to reduce unnecessary medical errors.

The prevalence of medical mistakes continues to be an ongoing health care crisis, which is quickly turning into a fiscal crisis as well. In fact, a few days after the release of the cochairmen’s proposal, the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General (HHS) released a patient safety report illustrating that the frequency of medical errors in the U.S. health care system is a big contributor to the expanding deficit. HHS found that 1.6 million Medicare patients suffer injuries every year from medical mistakes, amounting to an annual taxpayer price tag of at least $4.4 billion. While the Commission claims that limiting providers’ liability would save $17 billion through 2020, eliminating avoidable medical errors could potentially save $44 billion over the same period.

Limiting patients’ legal rights in the middle of these urgent circumstances will only worsen the safety and fiscal problems. Injured patients will be further restricted from seeking compensation from the private parties who caused the harm and the associated costs will shift to others. State and federal governments will have to be prepared to bear the brunt of covering patients’ health care costs because the actual culprits will be let off the hook. As the HHS study indicates, Medicare already bears a substantial amount of the burden of paying for others’ medical mistakes. If the restrictions are implemented, it will be forced to pay significantly more. Finally, medical providers, shielded from accountability as this proposal promises to do, will have no impetus to improve patient care, which will again increase medical mistakes and their associated costs.

We support the federal government’s effort to practice fiscal responsibility, however, the medical liability recommendation only promises to be ineffective and dangerous. If the commissioners fully consider the consequences of these restrictions that shield negligent parties and shift the costs of care to government entities, they will reject the present proposal contained within the report.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Justice

Center for Justice & Democracy

Consumer Watchdog

National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care

National Consumers League

Public Citizen

US Action

Citizens for Patient Safety, Denver, CO

Coalition For Patients’ Rights, Baltimore, MD

Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, Harford, CT

Empowered Patient Coalition, San Francisco, CA

HealthCare PSI, Springfield, MO

James’s Project, Wayne, PA

Mothers Against Medical Error, Columbia, SC

MRSA Survivors Network, Hindale, IL

New Hampshire Patient Voices, Bow, NH

Ohio Infectious Disease Forum, Raleigh, NC

Patient Safety America, Houston, TX

Patients Right To Know, Centennial, CO

Save The Patient, Chicago, IL

South Carolina Voices for Patient Safety, Chesterfield, SC

Texas Watch, Austin, TX

Voice4Patients, Warren, ME

Woodymatters, Minneapolis, MN

We’ve written about the faulty DePuy ASR hip replacements and folks who have suffered from them have responded. So, we keep watch over what is happening with these bad products and with the lawsuits that are being filed against their manufacturer.

The latest development? The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation has consolidated the various DePuy hip recall lawsuits and in an Order earlier this month, the Panel put all these cases, filed all over the country, into one courtroom to be heard: that of Judge David A. Katz in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

From now on, Judge Katz will preside over all the various plaintiffs’ claims regarding the DePuy ASR hip replacement injuries.

And, we’re already seeing a growing number of new lawsuits being filed now that this consolidation order is in. Almost 100, in fact.

What’s going on?

As you’ll recall from our prior coverage of this travesty, Johnson & Johnson has a subsidiary company, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., which is in the business of making and selling hip implants.

However, these particular products are metal-on-metal hip implants and they are defective. DePuy didn’t let anyone know about this, of course. Didn’t warn the doctors. Didn’t warn the folk who were having their product put inside their bodies.

Finally, the company issued a recall for the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. And, the lawsuits began.

In fact, plaintiffs in Indiana and Illinois took the lead in filing suit against DePuy for the injuries they had sustained from these faulty hip replacement devices.

The number of people that may have been compromised by these faulty hip replacements is huge.  If you or a loved one has had a hip replacement, then please confirm what product was used — and if it was made by this company, have your situation evaluated.  By a doctor.  And a lawyer

Canadian trucking company Hummer Transportation Inc. does owe a Crown Point couple $5.2 million judgment for negligent equipment and driving on part of its driver, says the Indiana 2nd District Appellate Court.

A ruling issued Wednesday upheld the judgment issued by Porter County Judge William Alexa last year and states the Brampton, Ontario, trucking firm failed to demonstrate how part of Kimberly and Jesse Harty's attorney Kenneth J, Allen's argument improperly influenced the jury in that trial.

Allen, of Valparaiso, said the woman, now 34, and her husband suffered grievous injury and deserve the money they got.

"This establishes the judgment needs to be paid," Allen said Wednesday. "These heavy trucks drive through Northwest Indiana with shoddy equipment and negligent drivers, and it's a hazard to the community."

In 2006, Kimberly Harty, 30, was struck by a semi-truck driven by 37-year-old Inderjeet Sekhon, which veered into her lane and crushed her vehicle under the trailer. The semi was owned by Hummer Transportation of Ontario, Canada.

Harty did not work for more than a year and racked up $123,000 in medical bills at the time of the November 2009 trial.

During that trial, Alexa awarded Kim Harty $4.27 million and her husband $950,000.

"We would gladly give any amount of money just to have our lives back. This is not something I would wish on my worst enemy," Kimberly Harty was quoted as saying a year ago.

Right now, you probably have something in your mouth that might be slowing killing your brain if not your entire body. Mercury is a pretty silver metal that is toxic for humans.

And, for over a century now, mercury has been used by dentists to fill cavities. No worries, according to the American Dental Association. No worries, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) … until last week, when the FDA met to reconsider its March 2009 assertion that dental amalgrams containing mercury are safe for humans.

Why?

The FDA is taking a rather unusual step of grading its own papers after its receipt of four citizen petitions, including a “Petition for Reconsideration” prepared by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) and another, similar request from Citizens for Health. (Read the latter’s petition in its entirety here.)

Here, groups of dentists and periodontal researchers publicly slam the use of mercury in dental fillings and challenge the accuracy of the FDA’s public position that the mercury amalgrams are safe, especially for kids.

According to their findings, over time mercury from the fillings is slowly absorbed by the body, with every organ of their body having mercury transferred into it. Toxic mercury. Which means that the individual can have all sorts of health problems as a result, including Alzheimer’s disease or even death.

Already, mercury fillings are banned in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden and they aren’t allowed in kids, pregnant women, and others in Canada, France, Germany, and Italy.

You Need to Make a Decision for You and Your Family

Today, anyone can get a cavity filled with a mercury amalgam. They are commonly used all over the country. However, if you have a concern about the dangers of having mercury in your mouth for years, then you can go to the dentist and have them replaced with one of the many options to a mercury filling: e.g., gold, composite resins, or porcelain.

Finally, if you are worried that a loved one may be damaged from having mercury fillings, then don’t delay in having them assessed by a trusted health professional.

Be careful out there.

Earlier this month, on November 3, 2010, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the wrongful death case of Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.(hear the oral argument online here). This case is very important to us all because it may well mean that citizens can sue car manufacturers for personal injury and wrongful death even if the cars involved in the accidents technically met federal safety law requirements.

The Williamson lawsuit originates in a 2002 car crash where Thanh Williamson, 32, died while wearing a lap seat belt in a Mazda 1993 MPV minivan. Mazda’s defense is that Williamson was seating in the center position of the rear passenger seat and at the time, the car maker was only required to provide a lap band for this spot per National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulation.

And, that’s true. The 2000 federal regulations did not require that spot to have a shoulder strap seat belt. However, if one had been provided, Williamson probably would be alive today. And, if the crash had occurred in a minivan manufactured in 2007 or later, that seat would have had more than a lap belt: NHTSA changed its regulations to require this safety feature five years after Ms. Williamson died.

Will the High Court find that federal law preempts state law and rule for Mazda? Will the Supreme Court Justices rule instead that American citizens shouldn’t have to face federal law shields by car manufacturers in wrongful death personal injury lawsuits?

Time will tell. Expect a decision sometime in Spring 2011.

If you search for the term “ring avulsion” you’ll find lots of gory images of lost fingers and mangled hands, all due to the dangers of wearing a ring while on the job, working on the car or around the house, etc. There are also lots of medio-technical papers which aren’t inviting to the average reader since they’re filled with lots of medical jargon (and sometimes require a paid subscription).

New Article Explains Danger of Wearing a Ring

However, it was only this week that an excellent overview of the dangers of wearing rings while doing certain tasks was published online. If you want to know more about ring avulsion, check out CED Investigative Technologies’ latest article, “Ring Avulsion: the Danger of Wearing a Ring!Engineering Experts in Railroad Claims and Litigation Meet the Expert: Grant Bevill, Ph.D.”

This article is worth your time to read, whether you are a worker or a boss, and whether or not you work in the railroad industry, work construction, do mill work or mining, or any other type of thing that brings your hands into contact with heavy tools, electrical appliances, and the like.

Leave the Wedding Band at Home or in Your Pocket

Simply put, that wedding band or class ring may have sentimental value but you need to weigh that against permanent injury to your hand – including losing that ring finger.

And, if your wife or husband is disturbed about you leaving that ring off your finger (since the wedding band does mark you as mated in our society), then pull up those images that pop up when the phrase “ring avulsion” is searched. Only, don’t do this right before dinne

It’s nice when something positive comes out of Washington, and it appears that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor) is backhandedly doing just that.

This week, in a national news release, OSHA announced its concern that massive amounts of consumer shopping might endanger retail workers in the work place, and the agency is “encouraging” 14 major national retail companies to plan now, implementing precautionary measures to insure the safety of their retail workers during the holiday season. (Black Friday taking on a particular spotlight here.)

In fact, OSHA sent a letter with a fact sheet on “Crowd Management Safety Tips for Retailers” to the heads of these big store chains. Crowd control? Wow, that sounds like a good retail gift-buying frenzy of sorts. Just what our economy needs, right?

“Crowd-related injuries during special retail sales and promotional events have increased during recent years,” reports Assistant Secretary for OSHA Dr. David Michaels in the news release. “Many of these incidents can be prevented by adopting a crowd management plan, and this fact sheet provides retail employers with guidelines for avoiding injuries during the holiday shopping season.”

So, what does OSHA suggest as preparation? Its fact sheet suggests such things as: (1) trained security personnel or police officers on-site; (2) setting up barricades or rope lines for pedestrians and crowd control well in advance of customers arriving at the store; (3) having in place emergency procedures that address potential dangers; and (4) monitoring the number of customers in the store, and stopping folk from entering when maximum occupancy is reached.

Want to see what the CEOs received from OSHA? Read it here.

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Only 50 shopping days till Christmas!

Toyota announced yet another major recall today. Several Toyota models are involved (Highlander, Lexus, Avalon, and more) and so far the total number of vehicles impacted by the recall is estimated by the company at 1.53 million. Around 740,000 of these Toyota products are on the road right now here in the United States.

The impacted Toyota models are:

2005 Avalon
2006 Avalon
2004 Highlander (non-hybrid)
2005 Highlander (non-hybrid)
2006 Highlander (non-hybrid)
2006 Lexus IS250
2006 Lexus IS350
2006 Lexus GS300
2004 Lexus RX330
2005 Lexus RX330
2006 Lexus RX330

Apparently, some of these cars can experience a little leak of their brake fluid from their brake master cylinder lwhich can mess with the ability of drivers to brake (read that STOP) their cars.

If you drive a Toyota, then please check with your local dealer to insure your car is safe to drive. Don’t procrastinate here, it’s not wise to drive a recalled car on the road. As always, any needed repairs due to the recall are at no cost to you.

It’s on Toyota’s dime – you’ve just got to get your Lexus, or Highlander, or Avalon, into the dealership so they can do their repair(s)

Two

Italian newspapers have reported that a northwest Indiana "nose doctor" who disappeared in 2004 after allegedly bilking patients and Medicare out of millions of dollars was arrested Tuesday in Italy, the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune is reporting. Mark Weinberger, 46, of Merrillville, Ind., was in a hospital in Aosta with minor neck injuries after trying to commit suicide with a box cutter. Known locally as "The Nose Doctor," Weinberger, an otolaryngologist, disappeared in September 2004 while on vacation with his wife in Greece after abandoning his Merrillville Center for Advanced Surgery, and The Nose and Sinus Center. When he disappeared, Weinberger was said to be $5.7 million in debt, and would soon face sanctions, lawsuits and criminal charges. Weinberger's medical license was revoked after the Indiana Attorney General's office charged him with numerous counts of insurance fraud, gross overbilling, billing for unnecessary surgeries and for services not rendered. Weinberger faces a 22-count indictment when he gets back to the United States. Valparaiso attorney Kenneth J. Allen is suing Dr. Weinberger on behalf of more than 60 patients he says Weinberger misdiagnosed. One of them, 50-year-old Phyllis Barnes, died. "This man is a disgrace. Phyllis went to Dr. Weinberger with a sore throat and Dr. Weinberger gave her the same diagnosis that he gave thousands of other people. You have a deviated septum and nasal polyps, and you need surgery," Allen said. Barnes' sister, Peggy Hood, says it broke her heart to watch a vibrant social worker, who loved to help people, waste away in a period of six months as she battled throat cancer. Hood is happy Weinberger will be brought back to justice in the United States. "I, right now, could not even talk to the man. I have such hard or strong feelings against him that there's nothing I would say to him right now," Hood said. Allen says a panel of doctors in Indiana has already found Weinberger negligent. Other patients affected include a 9-year-old eventually found to have brain tumors.