All Topics

• Florida Tobacco Cases Filed

  Robert Blanchard | January 14, 2008 12:06 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  The deadline for former smokers in Florida to file their injury lawsuits against big tobacco has come and gone and estimates of the number filed are still under 10,000 total suits. That is a far cry from the 700,000 class members originally designated as entitled to damage awards. The Florida Supreme Court took away that award but did let stand the jury findings that the companies were negligent...

• Lawsuits Decline

  Robert Blanchard | January 03, 2008 3:52 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  There have been some news reports that not as many product liability lawsuits were filed last year (2007) as were filed in 2006. Of course, 2006 was an unusual year for the number of filings, given all the lawsuits filed over Vioxx and heart devices. The number of lawsuits filed in 2007 was still greater than were filed in 2005. I can foresee tort reform advocates pointing to ...

• Sierra Syringes Recalled(2)

  Robert Blanchard | December 21, 2007 2:42 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  The first news of some problem with the Sierra prefilled Heparin syringes appears to have come out on December 17, 2007. Today a voluntary recall was announced. This is a little late for those already hospitalized with serious infections. While is hope that these infections will be treatable with antibiotics, the risks of nerve damage and other complications are still looming. Medical products...

• Sierra Syringes Recalled(3)

  Robert Blanchard | December 21, 2007 2:42 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  The first news of some problem with the Sierra prefilled Heparin syringes appears to have come out on December 17, 2007. Today a voluntary recall was announced. This is a little late for those already hospitalized with serious infections. While is hope that these infections will be treatable with antibiotics, the risks of nerve damage and other complications are still looming. Medical products...

• Why Alberto Gonzales?

  Robert Blanchard | December 15, 2007 8:53 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  By the time I called the ABA about their boneheaded selection of Alberto Gonzales as "Lawyer of the Year," I already knew they were backpedalling and trying to explain that it was not an honor, just a selection of which lawyer was most in the news. This rationale may work for a news magazine like TIME (Khadaffi Man of the Year, etc.), but it does not wash with the ABA Journal. This is the...

• Korean Seat Belt Maker

  Robert Blanchard | December 01, 2007 4:29 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  A Korean Seat belt maker has failed in its attempt to get cases moved to a Federal Court about its defective seat belts in a . Alabama's highest Court denied the motion to dismiss based upon a lack of state jurisdiction of the case. The case centers around a 2004 car accident in which a woman was killed while driving a 1999 KIA automobile. The case will now go back to Mobile, Alabama for...

• Tobacco Ruling Hurts Companies

  Robert Blanchard | November 30, 2007 4:27 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  The Tobacco Companies are back in the Appellate Court after a Federal Judge ruled that they violated anti-racketeering laws by promoting lite cigarettes as safe. Judge Kessler wrote a 1600 page decision to support her finding that the tobacco companies acted the same as an organized crime syndicate when they promoted their lite cigarettes. And she also banned the cigarette companies from...

• New Ruling in Celebrex cases

  Robert Blanchard | November 28, 2007 4:25 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Judge Brier has just ruled in the Celebrex cases that the 200 milligram daily dosagethat was common for Celebrex has not been scientifically shown to cause heart attacks and strokes. You may recall that Celebrex is the Cox-2 inhibitor drug just like Vioxx that hasbeen subject to allegations that its use causes heart attacks and strokes, very much like Vioxx.This may sound like very good news...

• Vioxx Settlement Rattles Conservatives

  Robert Blanchard | November 25, 2007 10:02 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  I watched in amazement as Neil Covuto failed to conceal his anguish and outrage as he interviewed a Vioxx trial lawyer about the recent announced settlement of Vioxx case litigation. Neil had no concern about the horrible things that the drug company was willing to do to make a profit, including hiding and distorting important safety data from the medical community and the FDA. Nor was Neil...

• Federal Posting Requirements

  Robert Blanchard | November 21, 2007 9:50 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  One impediment to an injured worker receiving fair compensation is the employee lack of knowledge about the laws an rules that apply in the workplace. If an injured worker does not know that there should be compensation for certain injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome, for example), the claim for benefits may not be timely filed. Interestingly, Federal law requires the posting of information about a...