Author Archive

Chinese Drywall: Contractors Caught in the Middle…

June 5th, 2009. By admin

…and losing out bigtime. While the lawsuits from homeowners who’ve been affected by the Chinese drywall debacle continue to mount nation-wide, what happens to the contractors, like this one in Norfolk, VA who threw out over $1,000,000 in Chinese drywall inventory? They’re caught in the middle of one big mess.

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall
Posted in Defective Products, Personal Injury | No Comments »

Am I Owed California IT Overtime?

June 5th, 2009. By admin

For those of you in California who work in IT or computer industry, it might be a bit confusing to figure out if you qualify for overtime pay. After all, just being labelled “Exempt” doesn’t necessarily mean much–you could be labelled such and yet still qualify for overtime pay based on a number of “tests”.

LawyersandSettlements.com outlines some of these tests for you, but here’s something you may not be aware of: you may be entitled to back overtime pay–going up to FOUR YEARS back. So even if you’re legitimately Exempt now, you may not have been a couple of years ago.

One of the requirements in determining Exempt status is your level of pay. The chart below shows the minimum pay requirements (2005-2009) that you needed to be at in order to be considered Exempt. While there are other factors that must be looked at to determine if a job is indeed Exempt, your rate of pay is a good place to start. 

Year	Hourly Rate	Annual Rate (40 hour week)
2009	$37.94	$79,050
2008 as of Sept.	$36.00	$75,000
2008 prior to Sept.	$36.00	$74,880
2007	$49.77	$103,522
2006	$47.81	$99,445
2005	$45.84	$95,348

Source: Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; History of Rate of Pay for Exemption for Computer Software Employee (California Labor Code Section 515.5(a)(3))

Tags: California IT overtime, California labor law
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Reglan and Pregnancy…worth the risk?

June 2nd, 2009. By admin

So you’re pregnant, you’re heavy, you’re tired, and you’re suffering from indigestion and nausea quite badly. This is typically a situation beyond the ability of Alka-Seltzer to remedy. One of the medicines currently available to treat acid reflux (GERD) and nausea is Reglan, and it may be recommended to pregnant women in some instances, in the tablet formulation. The only problem is there’s a chance, slim perhaps, but still a chance your indigestion might be replaced by tardive dyskinesia—a movement disorder syndrome. And there’s also the question of what it could do to the fetus. So what should you do?

Tags: Reglan, Reglan Side Effects, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

Note to Hydroxycut: Transparency wins the recall game

June 1st, 2009. By admin

Someone should do a case study on how companies handle product recalls and safety issues—it seems all the learning from the 1982 Tylenol recall may have been lost and some companies need a little lesson in transparency. Or a lesson from Nutro Products. Read on…

Take the recent Hydroxycut recall. Looking for the official company line? Don’t bother going to their website. That is if you can even find their website. Hydroxycut is manufactured by a Canadian firm, Iovate Health Sciences, Inc. But don’t try to find an Iovate website—that would actually be muscletech.com. Like most users, when you get there, you might try to search for Hydroxycut. Go ahead. You’ll get squat in the search results (see image). However, if you know that Hydroxycut was marketed as a Fat Burner, you can go to the “Products” drop down menu and click on “Fat Burners”. That’ll take you to a clearly just-whipped-up site about the recall. And here’s the kicker: Iovate is not mentioned ANYWHERE on the site. Transparent? No.

Tags: Hydroxycut, Nutro Products, Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Reglan: 8 Things you Should Know

May 29th, 2009. By admin

1. Approved for 12-week use. Reglan is only approved to be taken for up to 12 weeks, though it’s often prescribed for longer time periods.

2. Generic name is Metoclopramide. Check your prescription label as you may in fact be taking a generic version of Reglan, but not be aware that you are.

3. Prescribed for more than Acid Reflux (GERD). Reglan is a gastrointestinal stimulant, but it’s also an anti-nauseant. It’s prescribed for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Diabetic Gastroparesis (Diabetic Gastric Stasis), and Renal or Hepatic Impairment.

4. Linked to Tardive Dyskinesia. Reglan has been linked to Tardive Dyskinesia, which involves abnormal and involuntary repetitive movement. Tardive dyskinesia is often permanent, and there is no known effective treatment.

Tags: Reglan, Reglan Side Effects, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 17 Comments »