All Topics

• Law Firm Sounds Alarm on Asbestos Reform

  Robert Blanchard | February 20, 2008 11:23 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  By way of a recent interview on GoLeft TV, my firm is looking to bring the spotlight back on the efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce effort to victimize those suffering with asbestos related cancer. Citing a long string of court victories, the Chamber's National Camber Litigation Center is letting everyone know it is stepping up its tort reform effort in 2008. The most likely target will be...

• Bassetbaby Recalls Drop-Side Cribs

  Jenny Albano | February 14, 2008 9:21 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Bassetbaby, in conjunction with the CPSC, is recalling 18 Wendy Bellissimo Hidden Hills Collection Drop-Side Cribs.The spindles on the drop-side of the crib are able to loosen, which creates a gap that may pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard. So far the company has received three reports of the spindles coming loose but there have not been any injuries reported.This recall involves a...

• Ketek Investigation Continues

  Robert Blanchard | January 30, 2008 9:04 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Democrats have now subpoenaed workers in the FDA to determine how in the world they approved Ketek despite scientific concerns over its safety. The new antibiotic ended up killing people from liver damage. Turns out the clinical trials were falsified and at least one doctor has gone to prison. Still no one at Aventis or the FDA has yet to be punished, so well intentioned lawmakers are at least...

• More Heparin Problems

  Robert Blanchard | January 26, 2008 11:33 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  On the heals of the newly expanded recall of Am2Pat pre-filled hepain syringes for bacterial contamination, another manufacturer (Baxter) has annnounced a recall nearly 10% of its yearly heparin production. The press is implying a link to the case filed by actor Dennis Quaid over the overdosing of his two infant children by poorly labeled heparin, but the vials involved are actually different....

• Allstate Suspended In Florida

  Robert Blanchard | January 16, 2008 12:40 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Well they finally made the Florida legislature mad enough to do something. For years Allstate has promised to lower rates if given various tort reforms and other perks from our lawmakers. The state always fell for it (read "insurance money political contributions"), but the companies never lowered their rates and the consumers continued to pay through the nose, only with more and more of their...

• 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...