NY Life Insurance Agents Sued for Elder Financial Abuse

February 3rd, 2011. By LucyC

Beware of Agents Bearing ‘Gifts’?

What would you do with 20 life insurance policies? Would you even buy 20 life insurance polices? Probably not, that is, if you knew what you were doing. Mary Mullen, an institutionalized senior—in her 80s—with Alzheimer’s disease, did not know what she was doing and so relied on salesmen from New York Life Insurance to take care of her. Instead, they took care of themselves. Those 20 life insurance policies– by the way—cost $600,000—and involved a number of elaborate schemes including an arranged marriage. New York Life, for their part, apparently refuses to investigate the suspicious policies, for which “the primary motivation” was “commissions and premiums.”

The whole sorry saga, which is now the subject of a lawsuit, began in 1994, when, according to Rebecca McFarland, trustee of the Mary Mullen Revocable Trust, one John Palmateer approached Mullen representing himself as an expert in insurance and financial matters. McFarland claims he gained Mary Mullen’s trust by visiting her occasionally, sometimes at the hospital. Of course, most people at this point would ask—’what about her family?’ Well, Mary Mullen had family, but they all lived out of state. Palmateer is accused of keeping the truth about Mullen’s deteriorating health from her family.

Palmateer also stands accused of collaborating with Mullen’s neighbor, Guido “Jack” Chirillo, to defraud the elderly woman of her assets. According to the complaint, “At Palmateer’s suggestion and direction, Chirillo married Mullen, who was then 87 years old, ostensibly to assist with the care of Mullen.” And, you guessed it, her family was never notified. BTW—Chirillo and Mullen never lived together.

The complaint also states, “Palmateer and [Jeffrey] Knight participated in a series of steps to Read the rest of this entry »

Sex Toy Self-Defense Only the Beginning of her Legal Woes

February 2nd, 2011. By LucyC

Well, he did have handcuffs… Who needs pepper spray—when you can save money on personal defense and use what you already have at hand. Just don’t get carried away—like poor old Carolee Bildsten.

Fifty-six year old Carolee was out for a night on the town back in November—and decided to travel light. So she emptied her handbag of clutter before heading out to the bar. After having a meal and several drinks she discovered she’d taken her wallet out of her handbag as well. No problem, she explained to the manager of Joe’s Crab Shack. She’d just nip home and get her money—come back and pay her bill.

So she sets off with the best of intentions, but finds the sidewalk difficult to navigate, apparently, and ends up face-down in a patch of grass outside the restaurant. Enter her knight in shining armor—a local police officer who drove her home. And waited while she found her money.

But the story all goes horribly wrong at this point. After having been inside for several minutes the police officer decided to check up on her—make sure she was still vertical, probably. Carolee claims his sudden appearance in her bedroom frightened her so she ‘attacked’ him with—I love this—a “clear, rigid feminine pleasure device.” You know that could mean any number of things…but in this instance it’s a sex toy.

Needless to say the police officer tackled her and cuffed her apparently for assault—but surely not with a ‘deadly weapon?’

Now, one would think that Carolee might have figured that having a few drinks might lead to some not so good consequences—like having your picture plastered all over the news next to the words, “sex toy”. Not so.

In fact, Carolee is back in the news because as a part of her initial bond—for which she coughed up 10 percent of $20k—Carolee was to stay away from alcohol. But, alas old habits die hard, and Carolee called pretrial services, leaving a bit of a slurred message. A day later, her BAC (blood alcohol content) came in at 0.307; the limit is .08. The result? Carolee’s bond is now at $50k, and she’s behind bars. She was due in court again yesterday.

Not exactly an eBay top-rated seller… I think this man has set a new low. A man on New York’s Long Island has been charged with grand larceny having been accused of stealing some 7,000 JC Penny discount coupons destined for the department store’s customers.

Apparently, 38-year old Thomas Tang was supposed to deliver the coupons, but he kept them instead and sold them on eBay. Unbelievable!

Well, no surprise, he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail. Apparently, the ‘alleged’ theft occurred between October 2009 and January 2011. No word on how he was caught—but maybe an eBay consumer cottoned on. After all, it’s a pretty strange place to be offloading coupons—and last time I checked coupons were free—or am I just not keeping up with the times?

Maybe this woman just wanted picture books. Seventy-five-year old Joy Cassidy has been charged with damaging library books—quite a few of them—by smearing ketchup, maple syrup and mayonnaise throughout the texts. Her modus operandi involved taking the books from the Ada County Community Library’s drop box.

Estimated cost of the damage—$1,000. Wonder what the cost of the condiments was?

So the judge in Idaho who was hearing her case threw the book at her (couldn’t resist—sorry) and has sentenced her to one month in jail. She’s also been warned to not darken so much as the doors of Boise-area libraries for at least two years.

DIY Cryonics nets pension checks? Oh fiddle-dee-dee—I’ll deal with that tomorrow—that being the body in the freezer. A woman in Carlsbad, NM, who died recently, was not the only dead body found in the house, it turns out. Her relatives who were cleaning out her home, found an unknown body in her freezer.

The local detectives received a tip that the body was that of the woman’s husband, who died in 1997. Who knew that?

The theory is that she kept her husband’s death a secret so she could continue to collect his pension. Hey—it apparently worked.

Christmas Comes Early for Medical Device Manufacturers, FDA Plays Santa Claus

January 31st, 2011. By Hunter West

It was recently that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government agency charged with responsibility over drugs and medical devices in this country, is seeking to further streamline the review, and approval of medical devices.

Can you hear the cries of joy in the medical device manufacturing heartland?

Well, not entirely. The FDA is also thinking of creating a new category of devices that would require more data than is currently required for approval. That would make it tougher for medical device manufacturers to get new products to market.

Oh, but according to a report by Reuters appearing January 19^th in The New York Times, the FDA is going to defer that idea for a period of time. Which is a good thing, I guess, because the device industry was worried that such a change would slow the progress of devices to market. Devices that can now take advantage of an increasingly streamlined process.

That process—which the FDA is looking to expand, while deferring any effort that might make it tougher for device manufacturers—holds that if a manufacturer seeks approval for a new product that is substantially similar to an existing product already on the market, it can take advantage of a streamlined approval process requiring less scrutiny and testing.

Naturally, that’s a win for the device manufacturers. One spokesperson for a major manufacturer called the news of an expansion of streamlined approvals, and the deferral of tougher policy a more ‘balanced’ approach that shows the FDA is engaged, listening and concerned.

Yes—but to whom is the FDA really listening? And about whom are they really concerned?

It sounds to me like the FDA’s greatest role is to assist device manufacturers (and drug companies).

Is the FDA not a government agency, whose mandate is to first and foremost represent and protect Read the rest of this entry »

Asbestos News Roundup: 1.27.11

January 27th, 2011. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Richard Packer and his wife, Janet Packer have filed an asbestos complaint naming 91 defendant companies, alleging that those companies are responsible for exposing Mr. Packer to asbestos-containing products during the course of his employment.

The suit claims that the defendants knew or should have known that the products containing asbestos would cause serious lung diseases and cancer and failed to take responsible precautions to warn them of the dangers. Further, the defendants’ negligence caused Mr. Packer to develop asbestosis and/or other asbestos-related diseases and conditions.

The 91 defendants named in the suit are: Accent Bearings Co., Inc.; American Standard, Inc.; American Insulated Wire Co.; A.W. Chesterton Company; Aurora Pump Company; Baldor Electric Company; Belden Wire & Cable Co.; Borg-Warner Corporation; Brand Insulations, Inc.; 3M Company; Carrier Inc.; Carrier Corporation; Certaintced Corporation; Chicago Gasket Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corporalion; Crane Co.; Crane Pumps & Systems, Inc.; Crown Cork & Seal USA; IMO Industries, Inc.; DeZurik Co.; DeZurik Water Controls; Dow Chemical Company; Durez Corporation; E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.; Elliott Turbomachinery Company, Inc.; Exxon Mobil Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flowserve FSD Corporation, individually and as successor in interest to Durametallic Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; Ford Motor Company; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Cable Corporation; General Electric Company; Georgia Pacific Corporation; Gordon Gasket & Packing Company; Goulds Pumps; Graybar Electric Company, Inc.; Grinnell Corporation; Honeywell International; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporations; Industrial Supply Solutions; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; I.U. North America, Inc.; J.H. France Refractories; John Crane, Inc.; Kentile Floors, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mallinckrodt Group, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Milton Roy, Inc.; Mine Safety Appliances, Inc.; Monsanto Company; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Service Industries Ventures, Inc.; NAPA Auto Parts; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oakfabco, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Reliance Electrical Company; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Rockwell International Corporation; Sepco Corporation; Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Tasco Insulation; the Okonite Company; Thiem Corp.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Union Carbide and Plastics Company, Inc.; Union Carbide Corporation; Uniroyal, Inc., individually and as successor-in-interest to United States Rubber Company; Uniroyal Holding, Inc.; United States Steel Corporation; Viacom, Inc.; Warren Pumps, LLC; Weil-McLain Company; Western Auto Parts; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc. (WVRecord)

Charleston, WV: A couple from Parkersburg is suing 80 companies alleging that they Read the rest of this entry »

ADHD Depakote & Clonidine Cocktail Settlement: No Cheers Heard

January 27th, 2011. By LucyC

Remember Rebecca Riley? The four-year old who died of a clonidine overdose at the hands of her parents, Michael and Carolyn Riley, on December 13, 2006? This utterly tragic cautionary tale reached its final conclusion this week, with the announcement of a $2.5 million settlement to be paid by the Tufts Medical Center psychiatrist Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, who prescribed the clonidine and depakote cocktail as treatment for Rebecca’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder. Most settlement announcements can have an air of the bittersweet coupled with a sense of vindication—but in this case, the settlement was for a cocktail that would never be followed by a “cheers!” from anyone—so there is only the sense of sadness all around.

When this case broke, Dr. Kifuji’s role ignited quite a controversy around her having prescribed these drugs in the first place. Clonidine is a high blood pressure medication that can be used as a sedative in children—for ADHD. Depakote was prescribed for bipolar disorder—it is an anti-convulsant also known as valproate semisodium or divalproex sodium. 

According to the state medical examiner in Massachusetts, the four-year-old girl’s death at her family home was indeed the result of a drug overdose. Dr. Elizabeth Bundock, who served as the deputy chief medical officer in Vermont, concluded in her autopsy that Rebecca died from intoxication after being administered a combination of clonidine, Depakote and two over-the-counter cold and cough medications. Bundock testified during the trial that the drugs affected Rebecca’s brain, heart and lungs, leading to “a pump failure of the heart,” overworked lungs filled with bloody fluid, coma and death. 

In 2007, the father, Michael Riley, and mother Carolyn Riley were charged with first and second degree murder respectively. They were found guilty. During those trials, in the summer of 2009, Dr. Kifuji was cleared of the criminal charges. Consequently, she had her medical licence reinstated and she returned to her practice at Tufts. 

Dr. Kifuji had voluntarily surrendered her medical licence in 2007—when the Riley’s were Read the rest of this entry »