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• 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...

• FDA Panel Votes to Withdraw Youth Cold Meds

  Courtney Mills | October 22, 2007 2:36 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  An FDA panel took a vote last week to ban cough and cold products for children under six years of age. According to the experts who testified before the panel, these cough and cold medicines are wholly ineffective in the treatment of cough and colds and have far more risks than benefits.This recommendation comes just a few weeks after drug companies pulled pediatric formulations of cough and...

• Food Contamination - Growing Concern

  Robert Blanchard | May 02, 2007 11:12 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  With all the food imports now coming from China we can only expect more instances of food contamination in our food supply. Malamine is an industrial by-product that Chinese suppliers added to exported wheat gluten to make it appear more valuable. In fact it just made the product dangerous and led to the death of many dogs and cats that lived on pet food made with this gluten. Look at any of...

• Handling the Analytical Juror

  Robert Blanchard | February 14, 2007 4:01 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Different jurors have differing ways of analyzing the information that you present to them. I often urge lawyers to present evidence in ways that covers the concerns of the whole jury. To do this, some experts recommend that the personality type of the jurors be considered.Learning to identify and categorize jurors according to personality type is an incredibly valuable skill in jury...

• Vaccine Makers Exempt from the Law

  Robert Blanchard | February 05, 2007 10:03 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  As the debate heats up over the HPV vaccination for young girls (pushed heavily by Merck), it should be mentioned that the normal tort laws for injuries from the product do not apply to vaccines. They can injure and kill and there is no liability. There is a federal compensation system, however, and the whole scheme is designed to promote vaccinations. That's ok as long as vaccinations are...

• Speaking to a Jury

  Robert Blanchard | January 22, 2007 2:23 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  All trial lawyers should avoid overly complex, technical, and boring explanations to a jury. Not only do jurors become confused, bored, and tune you out when you do, but technical jargon strips your arguments of the personal connections necessary to be persuasive. Even if a juror knows what a subdural hematoma is--and many do not--use of technical jargon makes jurors think of impersonal...

• Johnson & Johnson Vice President Blows Whistle on Ortho Evra

  Staff Writer | December 27, 2006 11:31 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  The Associated Press reported a new relevation in the ongoing pharmaceutical safety scandal which Johnson and Johnson has been facing in the past year or two. Former vice president and medical doctor Joel Lippman says he tried many times to bring problems with popular drugs such as the ortho evra patch to light, and claims he was fired for bringing attention to the safety of these drug products

• Gastric Bypass - Choose Carefully

  Robert Blanchard | October 19, 2006 10:59 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  It turns out, as shown in a recent study, that a procedure known as the "duodenal switch" is better than gastric bypass in achieving weight loss in patients who are very obese, (those with a Body Mass Index of at least 50). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is known to be an effective weight-loss operation for patients with a BMI between 35 and 50. For super-obese patients, however, this operation is...

• Spinal Injuries in Motor Vehicle Accidents

  Robert Blanchard | September 27, 2006 2:38 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Not all spinal injuries receive the immediate care they need at the scene of an accident. It may be helpful to understand the procedures that emergency personel should go through when presented with a possible spinal injury.Paramedics and first responders ascribe to the basic tenet of "do no harm." Their routine protocol is to use spinal immobilization for patients with major traumatic...

• Getting a Fair Shake from a Jury

  Robert Blanchard | August 29, 2006 12:51 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  With all the Republican and corporate propaganda that goes on every year without ceasing, it gets ever harder to get a fair jury trial in an injury case. The notion of the "frivolous lawsuit" has saturated jury panels across the country and has a negative influence in every jury trial nationwide. No doubt every plaintiff attorney that has had the pleasure of going to trial in the past few years...