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American Association for Justice Reports On Insurance Companies' "Tricks of the Trade" The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has continued its examination of the insurance industry. In July, AAJ released a report The Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America: How They Raise Premiums, Deny Claims, and Refuse Insurance to Those Who Need It Most. Now, AAJ reports on the insurance industry's stonewalling, subterfuge and other unethical and bad faith practices: Tricks of the Trade: How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse. The favorite tricks
include the following: denying claims, delaying until death,
confusing consumers, discriminating by credit score, abandoning the
sick and cancelling for a call. HIPAA Violated By Defense Counsel's Interviews of Plaintiff's Prior Treating Physicians HIPAA prohibits disclosure of protected medical information, except under certain circumstances. One circumstance is in the course of a judicial proceeding in response to a court order, subpoena, discovery request "or other lawful process." The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled in Moreland v. Austin, No. A08G0498 (November 3, 2008), that informal interviews by a defendant's attorneys of the plaintiff's prior treating physicians violated HIPAA. HIPAA requires, the court explained, defendant's attorney to first obtain a valid authorization, or a protective order, or ensure that the patient has been given notice and an opportunity to object to the ex parte contact. Robert L. Abell UK Students Killed in I-75 Wreck A wreck on I-75 Sunday afternoon took the lives of two UK students, Thomas May of Louisville and Bradley Hall of Rockfield, WLEX-TV reports. A third student, Ben Cooley of Harrodsburg, was injured and evacuated by helicopter to UK hospital for treatment. The wreck occurred in Rockcastle County. The driver of another vehicle, a tractor-trailer, James Donaldson of Oregon, Ohio, was taken for treatment of his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Robert L. Abell
November 9, 2008 Wreck On Kentucky Highway 33 Injures 3 Three people were injured Saturday night in a wreck on Kentucky Highway 33 near its intersection with Cummins-Ferry Road near the Woodford and Jessamine County lines reports WKYT. The injured persons were evacuated from the scene by helicopter and ambulance.
Robert L. Abell
November 9, 2008 Mislabeled Insulin Syringes Recalled Mislabeled insulin syringes manufactured by Covidien. Ltd. and sold by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores have been recalled, according to a report in the New York Times, "Insulin Syringes Are Recalled." The recall was announced by the Food and Drug Administration. The mislabeling could cause patients to receive 2.5 times the normal dose; approximately 471,000 syringes, which go by the brand name ReliOn, are said to affected. Robert L. Abell I-64 Wreck Claims Mt. Sterling Man A Mt. Sterling man, Larry Prater, was killed Thursday night in a wreck on I-64 near Winchester when his car collided with median, flipped and was struck by an oncoming tractor-trailer, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The tractor trailer driver, Doug Brown of Lebanon, Ohio, was treated for injuries. Robert L. Abell One Fatality From US 68 Wreck In Jessamine County A wreck Saturday night on U.S. Highway 68 claimed the life of a Lexington man, Kyle Feck, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Two other men, Diego Benavides of Georgetown and Greg Reed of Lexington, were injured and taken from the scene for treatment at the University of Kentucky medical center. The wreck, a head-on collision, happened on U.S. 68 in Jessamine County between Kentucky Route 169 and Catnip Hill Road. Robert L. Abell One Killed In Henry County Wreck One man, James L. Morris, was killed in a car wreck very early Sunday morning in Henry County on Fallen Timber Road outside the town of Sulphur, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. A passenger, Haley J. Morris, was taken for treatment at the University of Louisville hospital.
Robert L. Abell
November 2, 2008 Paris Man Killed In Wreck On Bypass A man from Paris, Charles C. "Chuck" Henney, was killed early Thursday evening, October 30, when the car he was driving was struck on the driver's side by a dump truck, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The wreck occurred on the Paris bypass near its intersection with Peacock Road. Robert L. Abell Fourth Death In U.S. 127 Wreck Near Albany An October 14, 2008, wreck on U.S. 127 south of Albany, Kentucky, claimed its fourth victim Sunday, when Brenda Logan of Albany passed away, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Previously, the wreck had claimed three other victims from Albany, Belinda Logan, Candi Byers and a three year old child, Kasen Byers. The wreck occurred about two miles south of Albany in the southern Kentucky county of Clinton, part of the Lake Cumberland region of the state. Robert L. Abell Montgomery County Men Killed In Wreck On US 60 Two Montgomery County men, Jason Cole and Robert Maxwell, were killed late Friday in a car wreck, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The accident occurred on U.S. 60 in Clark County near the Montgomery County line.
Robert L. Abell
October 25, 2008 "Get Out of Jail" Free Cards For Corporations -- American Association for Justice Details Undermining of Family and Consumer Protections The American Association for Justice has released a report, Get Out of Jail Free: How the Bush Administration Helps Corporations Escape Accountability, detailing the systematic and widespread undermining of family and consumer protections by Bush Administration agencies and political appointees. Through documents and emails obtained via the Freedom Of Information Act the AAJ report traces the evolution and development of a federal preemption strategy, a legal doctrine by which state law protections for families and consumers are eliminated or "preempted" by federal regulations that insulate corporations from liability, accountability and responsibility for their defective products. Robert L. Abell Drop Side Crib Recall Following the death of one child and harrowing incidents involving others the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today the recall of about 600,000 drop side cribs manufactured by Delta Enterprise Corp. The drop side of the defective cribs can detach when its spring peg is not engaged. Further and detailed information can be obtained at the CPSC website by clicking here. Robert L. Abell Lincoln County Wreck Kills Husband, Injures Wife A wreck on U.S. 127 Sunday evening in Lincoln County killed Daniel Berryman of Nicholasville and badly injured his wife, Krystal Berryman, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Their two small children, who were riding in child-restraint seats, received only minor injuries. Robert L. Abell Increased Efforts To Prevent Injured Families From Holding Corporations Accountable The Wall Street Journal reports that the Bush Administration, as it winds down amidst the meltdown of our national economy causing the loss of some $2 trillion of Americans' retirement savings and the faltering wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq, is moving aggressively to erect further bars preventing injured families from holding accountable the corporations responsible. See "Bush Rule Changes Could Block Product-Safety Suits." The latest instance of lawsuit-protection language for corporations that have harmed and injured American families is a rule announced Oct. 8 that establishes a limit on the number of seat belts car manufacturers can be required to install and prevents lawsuits by injured persons who were unable to be protected by a seat belt. This is the latest installment of the Bush Administration's efforts to insulate corporations from responsibility, accountability and liability for their wrongful actions through the legal doctrine of "preemption." The Bush Administration has wholly abandoned long-standing rules and practices to aid and protect American families in favor of rewarding the corporate interests that it serves. Unlike the $750 billion bailout for the financial services industry that American families were recently touched upon to fund, the preemption bailout goes on by stealth and largely unnoticed. Both achieve the same result: shifting to American families the burdens created by irresponsible and wrongful corporate actions. Robert L. Abell Fen-Phen Flim-Flam: Don't Be A Victim of Lawyer Advertising Surely one lesson from the Fen-Phen case debacle is how utterly unhelpful lawyer advertising is as a way for the average person, who probably has no prior involvement at all with the legal system, to find a lawyer to help them. For years here in Central Kentucky we were regaled with colorful television ads that urged us to “Call the Man.” Apparently, many did including a few hundred that were injured by the Fen-Phen diet drug. During the recent Fen-Phen criminal trial, however, we learned that “the Man” they called was so incoherently drunk in the early A.M. hours that he could not understand, at least according to the jury’s verdict, the circumstances by which he was collecting some many millions in attorneys fees. It doesn’t take that much to participate in a federal criminal conspiracy: only knowledge of a criminal purpose and something (an overt act) done in furtherance of the conspiracy’s purpose. But putting aside issues of criminal conspiracy, one can fairly wonder exactly what legal services were provided to justify any fee. But all that begs the question of what is an individual to do when they or a family member has suffered some serious personal injury and they need to find a qualified lawyer to represent them. Looking at the Yellow Pages isn’t going to provide much help, although it is a place to start. Most of the ads all say about the same thing: something to the effect that the lawyer will rip the flesh off somebody while representing you and/or they handle a variety of types of cases. All that’s good and well but how are you to have any idea as to whether the lawyer is smart and capable and experienced. Most consumers have no idea how to go about making this type of assessment. So here are some helpful tips:
Don’t be a victim of a Fen-Phen flim-flam. When you or your family are faced with a serious injury or other serious legal situation, finding and hiring a good lawyer to represent you is very important. I hope this will help anyone facing this difficult situation make a good choice.
Robert L. Abell Unsafe Drugs Approved & Then Pulled By FDA 23 different drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only later to be pulled from the market by the agency in the last 11 years when they have been proven unsafe. The Boston Globe, "No Haven For Dangerous Drugs," reports on this shockingly bad oversight record and on the ongoing efforts by pharmaceutical companies to obtain legal protection from any liability for their dangerous drugs based solely on their ability to obtain approval from the FDA. This legal strategy by the pharmaceutical companies will be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Wyeth v. Levine. The argument of the drug companies is that if the FDA approves a drug they cannot be held liable or responsible if their drug later kills or severely injures an individual. The inability of the FDA to exercise proper oversight and review of new drugs has been acknowledged even by the agency itself. In a speech in March, FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach admitted that the agency "may fail in its mission to protect and promote the health of every American" and that "peril exists." The commissioner merely echoed the findings of the FDA Science Board reporting, among other things, that the agency does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of the nation's food, cannot adequately regulate the development of medical products based on "new science," cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded, its scientific workforce lacks sufficient capability and capacity and its information technology system is inadequate including internal e-mail systems prone to frequently breaking down. The report is titled "FDA Science and Mission at Risk." Robert L. Abell Nursing Home Safety & Health Violations Reported 94% of nursing homes were cited last year for violations of federal health and safety standards. Unsurprisingly, for profit homes were cited for violations more frequently than not for profit or government-operated homes. Nearly 20% of the violations involved "actual harm or jeopardy" to patients. Frequently cited problems included medication errors, failure to feed properly, infected bedsores and abuse and neglect of patients. The New York Times reported on the review conducted by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, "Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes." The report can be viewed at the Department's website by clicking here. Robert L. Abell Double Fatality In Pike County Wreck Two men, Richard C. Runyon and Delaney D. Mapes, both from Phelps were killed Wednesday evening, September 23, 2008, when their vehicles collided on Kentucky Highway 194 in Pike County. The Lexington Herald-Leader provides further reports. Robert L. Abell Fatal ATV Crash In Jackson County A McKee man, David Ray Gibbs, was killed late Saturday when his Honda ATV crashed off Kentucky Highway 3445 in Jackson County. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the vehicle ran off the pavement and through a barbed wire fence. Robert L. Abell Deadly Crash on Man o' War One man was killed and the driver and passenger of another vehicle were injured by a collision accident Saturday night on Man o' War Boulevard in Lexington. Thomas E. Murphy and a passenger were injured when a car driven by Gustavo Guzman-Pineda crossed the median and collided with his vehicle. Guzman-Pineda was dead at the scene. Robert L. Abell Tired Truckers Targeted By New Technology Tired truckers posed a danger on our nation's highway and the National Transportation Safety Board is urging the adoption of new technologies. Drivers drifting off because of fatigue poses great dangers and both old and new technologies can increase safety. New technologies include a dash-mounted camera that would track and driver's eyelids and sound an alarm when detecting fatigue, alarms that would sound when a truck begins to veer and automatic brakes, a measure that requires further research. Old technologies have also proven effective and their expanded use is also recommended; those technologies include rumble strips, which have been shown to reduce crashes by up to 60%. The Board also urged that the National Highway Safety Administration step up its monitoring and enforcement efforts regarding the number of hours truckers can drive. Robert L. Abell ATV Age Guidelines Unsafe Age guidelines regarding safe operation of ATVs do not assure the safety of young riders. Far more important concluded a study conducted at the University of Kentucky is the size of the rider. 142 Kentuckians died in ATV accidents between 2003 and 2006. The Lexington Herald-Leader story can tell you more by clicking here. Robert L. Abell Family Member Of Asbestos Worker May Sue For Cancer Death Caused By Asbestos Exposure The daughter of a worker who carried home from work asbestos fibers on his clothing developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer whose only known cause is exposure to asbestos. She (and upon her death her estate) sued Alcoa, Inc., her father's employer, claiming that it had a duty to prevent the exposure to asbestos of family members of its workers. After her suit was thrown out by a trial court, the Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated it and ruled it should proceed to trial. Recognizing the great dangers posed by asbestos exposure, which have been well-known for decades now and the relative ease and inexpense of preventing that exposure to workers' families, the court stated, "In light of the magnitude of the potential harm from exposure to asbestos and the means available to prevent or reduce this harm, we see no reason to prevent carpool members, baby sitters, or the domestic help from pursuing negligence claims against an employer should they develop mesothelioma after being repeatedly and regularly in close contact with an employee's asbestos-contaminated work clothes over an extended period of time." A copy of the opinion, Satterfield v. Breeding Insulation Company, can be read by clicking here. Exposure to asbestos generally produces two types of illnesses: asbestosis and mesothelioma. Exposure to asbestos is the only know cause of mesothelioma, which is a cancer that initially forms in the exterior lining of the lung. Asbestosis is a condition resulting from the accretion of asbestos fibers in the lung interior that eventually and over time causes greatly decreased respiratory capacity and can develop into cancer itself. Robert L. Abell has previously represented group of workers and their family members where the workers were exposed to asbestos in their workplace and carried home the fibers to their homes. For further information check out in our Library, Steve Perkins, et al vs. Serv-Air, Inc., et al. Robert L. Abell Drugs Being Investigated Listed by FDA The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun posting quarterly lists of drugs that it is investigating for possible safety issues. That a drug is listed does not mean that it has safety problems, just that a report has been received from a patient, doctor or even a drug company itself about a possible safety issue with a drug. The FDA will list each drug and the general nature of the problem reported regarding it but will not detail the number of complaints about it or the seriousness of any of the events. The current list can be seen by clicking here. Robert L. Abell Pregnant and New Mothers Endangered by Proposed FDA Rule Pregnant and new mothers are endangered by a proposed FDA rule that will allow drug companies to omit information on their warning labels about dangerous side effects of their products. For leaving out this important information the drug companies would receive the prize of immunity from lawsuits through the doctrine of preemption. That's justice under the Bush Administration: create a rule that allows drug companies to harm pregnant and new mothers and get away scot-free. The ever-vigilant American Association for Justice has protested adoption of the proposed rule that you can read by clicking here. Robert L. Abell Delays Caused By Insurance Companies Harm Patients, Doctors Report Doctors responding to a survey investigation conducted by the Toledo Blade reported that 14% of their patients had suffered "serious harm or injury" because of delays in care caused by their patients' insurance companies, see "Not What the Doctor Ordered: Delays, Denials Thwart Patients Hoping for Help." 920 doctors, including members of both the American and Ohio Medical Association, responded to the survey. Nearly all -- 99% -- reported that insurance companies had interfered with their clinical decisions regarding treatment of their patients. There is often no real remedy or relief for a patient or a patient's family that is killed or seriously injured because their insurance company would not pay for the treatment and care their doctor directed. That is because most people's medical insurance comes through their job and therefore is covered by a federal law known as ERISA (stands for Employee Retirement Income Security Act). When an insurance company denies medical treatment in this type situation, the only remedy that the insured patient (or the insured patient's family) can recover is the cost of the treatment. And that will occur only if the insurance company's decision is deemed "arbitrary and capricious." If the patient dies as a result of the insurance company's arbitrary and capricious denial of the treatment, there are no damages recovered by the family, no lost income or anything but the cost of the denied treatment. ERISA is protection for outrageous insurance company practices. Robert L. Abell Pain & Suffering Damages of $100,000 for Amputee Vacated By Court As Too Low and "A Miscarriage of Justice" Finding a jury's award of $100,000 in pain and suffering damages amounting to $8 a day for a multiple amputee as too low and a "miscarriage of justice" an appeals court in New Jersey sent the case back for another trial in Walsh v. Disciglio (click here to read the opinion issued August 19, 2008). The plaintiff, Walsh, was subjected to seven surgeries including three amputations as she lost more and more of a leg. The appeals court called the jury's compensatory damages award "grossly insufficient and a miscarriage of justice." Robert L. Abell Hospital Death Rates Online Patients and their families may review online hospital death rates for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has posted the statistics at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. Also posted are statistics on the percentage of each hospital's patients getting quality care for various illnesses and ten measures of patient satisfaction. Robert L. Abell Drug Makers Should Be Liable For Defects Under State Law, New England Journal of Medicine Editors Argue To Supreme Court Approval of drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should not preempt any liability under state tort laws for pharmaceutical manufacturers, editors of the New England Journal of Medicine argue in a brief to the United States Supreme Court. One of the most closely watched cases of the Supreme Court's upcoming term is Wyeth v. Levine. Levine, a musician, lost an arm after an injection of the nausea drug, Phenergan. She sued Wyeth, claiming that it failed to adequately warn of the drug's risks and she won a $8.6 million judgment in a Vermont trial court. Wyeth argues that it is insulated from any liability for Levine's injuries because the FDA approved Phenergan. This is the legal doctrine of "preemption." The NEJM editors argue that "the FDA the FDA is in no position to ensure the safety of prescription drugs. Not only is the FDA seriously hampered in its ability to determine the risks of drugs before they are approved for sale, but it has proven inadequate to the task of addressing hazards that only become apparent after a drug has been widely marketed to an unsuspecting public. Post-approval dangers posed by drugs placed into the market are unfortunately quite common. However, the FDA’s ability to either anticipate these risks or react expeditiously once they have been revealed has been limited by serious information-gathering constraints in both pre- and postapproval settings." The brief can be read by clicking here. Two former FDA Commissioners, Donald Kennedy and David Kessler, have also submitted a brief supporting Levine. They argue that the pro-preemption position advanced by the drug companies and the Bush Administration "threatens to undermine, not advance, the underlying goal of our nation’s drug safety laws, which is 'to protect consumers from dangerous products.'” A copy of their brief may be read by clicking here. Robert L. Abell
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ROBERT L.
ABELL 866-578-5302 TOLL FREE
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Robert L. Abell is a
Personal Injury and Accident lawyer for Lexington, Winchester, Paris,
Georgetown, Frankfort, Versailles, Nicholasville, Richmond, Lancaster, Stanton,
London, Corbin, Shelbyville, Danville, Lawrenceburg, Williamstown,
Jeffersontown, Louisville, Harrodsburg, Campbellsville, Liberty, Bardstown,
Covington, Columbia, Elizabethtown, Newport, Pikeville, Ashland, Morehead,
Jackson, Cynthiana and other communities located in central and eastern Kentucky
and Fayette County, Scott County, Clark County, Madison County,
Laurel County, Powell County, Morgan County, Breathitt County,
Harrison County, Woodford County, Bourbon County, Jessamine County,
Mercer County, Boyle County, Anderson County, Shelby County,
Jefferson County, Owen County, Franklin County, Grant County, Boone
County, Kenton County and elsewhere in Kentucky. |
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