Author Archive

MetLife: Can you Sink any Lower to Avoid Paying a Claim?

March 14th, 2011. By Hunter West

If there ever was a case for having a police force for insurance companies, it is this one. Jane Pierce could be the poster child for a clamp down on greedy, uptight insurers who will to a fault suspect the worst in people and grasp at any straw to avoid paying a claim.

Have you heard about this story?

Jane Pierce’s husband Todd died tragically in a car accident a few years ago. Yes, he had some health issues. Cancer. In his case, Todd developed skin cancer in his nasal cavity. But he fought the disease valiantly and was cancer-free within two years. There were more surgeries to follow, however—to rebuild his jaw and palate. Certainly not pleasant. But such is the jurisdiction of a fighter, and a devout Catholic who loved life and was not about to throw in the towel, even in the face of more than 40 surgeries…

Life was good, you see? Hard, but good. And Todd had driven to a family reunion one warm, July day in 2009. Enjoyed himself. They said he was the life of the party. There was certainly nothing untoward that caused any member of his family to be worried about him.

It was on the drive home that tragedy struck. Pierce pulled out to pass another vehicle on the highway and lost control of his truck. The vehicle, in which Todd was the lone occupant, rolled down Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Bad Faith Insurance, Insurance, Jane Pierce, MetLife
Posted in Insurance | 3 Comments »

Drug Advertising: “Side Effects May Include” MIA – Why?

March 3rd, 2011. By Hunter West

You know all those drug ads on TV, where new drugs for everything from erectile dysfunction to depression, to cholesterol are touted complete with a shopping list of side effects against a backdrop of shiny, happy people dancing in slow motion in the green grass of a city park, or cavorting across an idyllic beachfront? Case in point, Cialis ad at left.

All that damning voiceover information on side effects and adverse reactions can get lost in the visuals (which is probably the plan), but at least the requisite information is there. 

Why did that not happen with Tylenol, and the potential for acetaminophen toxicity? 

Why did that not happen with denture adhesive, and the potential for zinc poisoning? 

Most realize that most drugs have side effects. Fewer realize that all drugs have side effects at all. And the more intense the drug, the longer the list of adverse reactions. When a new drug designed to treat, say, the propensity to have to get up to pee several times in the night for aging Americans comes on the market, manufacturers know that in order to advertise the drug where their constituents are—parked on their sofas, watching television—they have to abide by advertising regulations and include the side effects. 

You may not recall every adverse reaction rattled off in such TV commercials. You may not remember even one. But you are left with the sense that this is serious stuff, and if you’re at Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Acetaminophen, Adverse Events, denture cream, Durg Marketing, Fixodent, Side Effects, tylenol
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Research Links Tetracycline to IBD – and to Lawsuits, too?

February 24th, 2011. By Hunter West

A recent study on UK patients conducted by the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania* could have an impact on Accutane lawsuits. As most know, class actions as well as individual lawsuits have attempted to hold the manufacturer of Accutane, Hoffman-LaRoche, accountable. The Vitamin-A drug has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. 

But wait a minute—so too are tetracycline drugs, say the U of P researchers. 

So how does that impact an Accutane lawsuit? 

Accutane (isotretinoin) has always been considered a last resort for problematic acne, which is the scourge of adolescents and, if left untreated, could scar the face for life.

Dermatologists will almost always start with more natural ways in which to control acne, such as diet and hygiene—or perhaps an OTC benzoyl peroxide or salicyclic acid solution. 

If that doesn’t work, then they turn to tetracycline, which is an antibiotic and thought to carry minimal risk. How can you go wrong with an antibiotic, a microbial? Are they not the magic bullets of our society? 

Antibiotic resistance notwithstanding, there’s now a fly in the ointment, if you will. That’s because Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Accutane, Accutane Lawsuits, accutane-inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd, acne, Tetracycline
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 60 Comments »

The Drugs You Get from Your Kitchen Faucet

February 18th, 2011. By Hunter West

The next time I look to buy fish—and I don’t care if it’s fresh or frozen—I’m gonna want to make sure the fish was happy before it met its ultimate end.

If that fish came from the St. Lawrence Seaway, there’s a good chance my intended dinner was, indeed happy. Probably high on Prozac.

Huh? Fish on Prozac? You’ve got to be kidding, you say. But no, the sad truth is that our fish and aquatic wildlife is on Prozac and lord knows what else from the stuff we put in the water. And we’re doing it to them…

Here’s the deal. A peer-reviewed study conducted by the Universite de Montreal together with Environment Canada and published last month in the journal Chemosphere found that fish swimming in the St. Lawrence Seaway were found to have copious amounts of antidepressants in their systems.

Most of the stuff was found in their liver. A lesser amount was found in their brains. Okay, so maybe they weren’t all that happy after all.

The least amount—and you’ll be happy to hear this—was found in muscle tissue which is typically the stuff we humans eat. UdeM professor Sebastien Sauve, a co-author of the study, said in comments published January 22^nd in the Montreal Gazette that he isn’t worried about consumers ingesting Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: drugs in water, environmental contamination, Universite de Montreal, Water contamination, water supply
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Pleading Ignorance | No Comments »

Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift? Go for Glee with Phthalate Free

February 11th, 2011. By Hunter West

Can we talk? 

Okay, Valentine’s Day is coming up on Monday and much as we like to think that the Big Red Day is all about flowers and chocolates, gushy Hallmark cards and little else, sex toy and adult novelty shops do a booming business leading up to Valentine’s Day. 

No, you don’t have to close your eyes. It’s not like we have samples. But face it, for some people nothing says ‘I love you’ like a big piece of rubber…even better if it glows in the dark. 

Which brings us to health issues. In January the National Post up in Canada carried a story about the Canadian sex toy retail industry crying foul over the fact that Health Canada does not regulate phthalates in adult sex toys in the same fashion as children’s toys. 

(We believe the same is true in this country, but of course Canadians are much more randy this time of year than we are—what else is there to do up there when the snow banks are higher than your Honda and it’s ten below zero outside? Ya know why they won all those medals in the Olympics last year, don’t you? All those indoor sports…). 

Health Canada, the Canadian health regulator akin to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this country, announced last month that it was putting new restrictions in place that would lower concentrations of six phthalates by June of this year. Lest you think ‘phthalate’ is a new position you haven’t tried yet, in reality it’s a chemical that is used to make rubber compounds soft and squishy—which is the last thing you want to have happen in the real experience but quite acceptable in sex toys. 

All kidding aside, the gurus at Health Canada have a point. Phthalates have been voluntarily removed from pacifiers and baby bottle nipples for some time due to personal injury concerns about the risks associated with phthalates and reproduction and development of children less than four years of age. 

To that end, it has been determined, according to the National Post, that objects do not release phthalates merely through touch. However, they can release the vilified chemical into saliva when a child sucks on a pacifier. 

Or, for that matter, anything the child is playing with. To that end, a rubber duckie is not designed to go into a child’s mouth. However, putting things in their mouths is what children do—including rubber duckies and anything made of soft rubber into which phthalates are injected to make then soft. (By the way, according to Big Teaze Toys (tagline, “Toys that Play with You”), I Rub My Duckie (shown) is not only phthalate free, but has appeared on The View. And no, this isn’t an endorsement).

Manufacturers thought they were doing the kids a favor by taking out the rigidity of rubber, so Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: birth defects, FDA, Health Canada, Phthalates, Sex Toys
Posted in Defective Products, Emerging Issues, Personal Injury | No Comments »