Police are on the Trail – And How! It’s Tortelicious…

December 21st, 2010. By LucyC

Happy Trails to you…! How not to spend your retirement…Apparently bored with the more conventional past-times afforded retirees— you know—bridge, golf, internet dating—a former police chief of a small Los Angeles County suburb has been accused of spreading  nude pictures of himself and exposing himself near hiking trails, according to local officials.  

“Nothing in this job surprises us anymore,” Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez told AOL News. “You never know…as long as these people come from the human race, anything is possible.”  Uh—where else would they come from? Does this guy know something the rest of us don’t?

Fifty-six year old Paul Lawrence Wadley (shown here), who retired in June, took to spreading pictures of male and female genitalia along a hiking path in Anaheim. Problem was he left his fingerprint on the back of one of them. Apparently he also took to doing the trail semi-naked on his hands and knees. Oh, that’s attractive. 

So Wadley has been charged with one count of indecent exposure. According to Martinez, Wadley is out of the country and he thinks it’s possible that the ex-chief doesn’t even know he’s been charged. And yes—he’s still at large, and could be coming to a hiking trail near you, for that all-natural close encounter you really don’t want. 

Time to reconsider the treadmill…

Getaway choice got him nabbed. (Though I think this clueless wonder would’ve been nabbed regardless…) More weirdness in Florida this week—some fellow robbed a Winn-Dixie of 11 Read the rest of this entry »

Boy DUI Victim Holds Special Place in Attorney Joe Dunn’s Heart

December 21st, 2010. By BrendaC

LawyersandSettlements.com has a new column that looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with Attorney Joseph Dunn of Wigington, Rumley & Dunn…

Attorney Joe Dunn: “People think lawyers don’t have feelings, well, we do”

Attorneys Joseph Dunn and David Rumley haveinvited 11-year-old Mason Archer to go hunting with them again this year in January on Rumley’s ranch in Texas. They first met little Mason when he was just five. A drunk driver slammed into the family’s truck leaving Mason paralyzed from the chest down and lawyers from Wigington, Rumley & Dunn were asked to represent the family in a complex personal injury lawsuit.

“We’ve come to know Mason and his family very well over the years. He is just such a special kid and he has such a positive attitude,” says Dunn.  

“He likes to hunt,” says Joesph Dunn. “So, I asked him last hunting season if he wanted to come down [to the ranch]. He got excited about that. We got all set up for him and flew him down.”

Charlie Archer, Mason Archer, Mason Dunn & Attorney Joe Dunn

“We got some wheelchair accessible hunting blinds,” says Dunn. “I brought my two boys and my partner, David Rumley, brought his son and we had a boys weekend, hunting and sitting around the campfire at night.”

“We were out hunting on the ranch for 3 or 4 days and it was a special time,” says Dunn.

It’s been five years since Mason’s accident and life has changed for the Archers in so many ways since that night on a twisty Arkansas road in 2005. Mason was riding in the back seat of the family’s GM extended cab truck. The seat belt failed to protect Mason and it wrapped around Mason like a barber pole says Dunn. To make matters worse, the medical team at the hospital took hours to notice that the little boy couldn’t move his legs. Quick and proper treatment likely would have mitigated his injuries.

Dunn and the other members of the legal team representing the Archers obtained a confidential settlement from GM in a product liability suit for defective seat belts and another medical malpractice suit against the hospital for delayed treatment. The 24-year-old drunk driver who caused the accident died at the scene. The Archers sued his estate.

“Mason has done wonderful things even from a wheelchair,” says Dunn. “He started an awareness campaign about the dangers of drunk driving and he is just a great role model.”

With the money from the settlements, the Archers have been able to a set up their home to accommodate Mason and provide him with the care he needs. His dad bought him a 6-wheel ATV that he can drive around their property.

“I think it is one of the highlights of my career, meeting Mason and his family,” says Dunn. “I know people don’t think lawyers have feelings, but we do. And it just feels good to have Mason come down here to visit and to help people like the Archers.”

“He’s special. Just look at how well he’s doing.”

Joseph (Joe) Dunn is a name partner with the firm of Wigington, Rumley & Dunn. He holds a B.S. from Texas A&M and a J.D. from St. Mary’s University Law School. He handles a variety of personal injury and medical malpractice cases. He also likes to hunt.

Beauty at What Cost?

December 20th, 2010. By janem

According to the pharmaceutical company Allergan Inc., Brooke Shields and I are suffering from “Inadequate Eyelashes”. Now I must convince my doctor to prescribe Latisse so I will be able to face humanity and not be a victim of yet another physical shortcoming and low self-esteem that obviously is the result of not having full eyelashes. (Did you know that women who become reliant on cosmetic enhancers tend to have low self-esteem, and are at risk of using products obsessively to make themselves feel good?)

I don’t know about you, but it’s a real struggle to keep up with appearances, and to keep one step ahead of potential lawsuits. For instance, all those Dow Corning lawsuits years ago make it difficult for a gal to get a breast implant these days. And my dentist just informed me that he can no longer offer Botox treatments after my teeth whitening because a few people died, apparently due to the Botox. Just the other day my hair stylist said she isn’t stocking Brazilian Blowout products anymore because of some formaldehyde scare.

Honestly, what a bunch of cowards.

All joking aside, cosmetic medications could potentially do serious harm to your health in the long run. Even though a medication like Latisse is relatively safe, no one knows what the long-term side effects are. These products certainly aren’t tested for years and years in clinical trials. So, it’s likely just a matter of time before someone files a Latisse lawsuit– before someone suffers serious side effects from the med. Allergan has already been issued a warning by the FDA because its ads are misleading and they “omit and minimize risks associated with Latisse.” Side effects include permanent iris pigmentation (I guess that’s OK if you want those baby blues to become brown eyes—forever), and here are a few more:

• Lid pigmentation, or a darkening on the skin of the eyelid that is also likely to be permanent
• Hair growth outside of the treatment area, including the cheeks, forehead or any other skin surface that Latisse touches
• Intraocular inflammation, characterized by redness and irritation, blurred vision, eye pain and sensitivity to light
• Bacterial keratitis, or a serious infection of the cornea that can be caused by misuse of the product.

Latisse and Botox share a similar history in that both drugs were more or less stumbled upon; and Allergan (they also share the same drug maker)  unexpectedly found huge commercial potential in their products if the FDA were to approve them off-label. Botox was originally approved in 1989; the FDA later approved (in 2000) Botox for treatment of cervical dystonia in adults to decrease the severity of abnormal head position and neck pain; then it was used to treat eye conditions and excessive underarm perspiration. Now Allergan faces a number of lawsuits over its anti-wrinkle treatment—all the suits allege that harm was caused by Botox spreading from the injection site, and include some element of off-label use of the drug.

In an article last year, The Wall Street Journal said that as much as one-third of Botox sales are from uses for which it’s not been approved by the FDA. And Latisse is likely going the same way. Some doctors are concerned that Latisse, which is a glaucoma medication, will be available in spas and clinics nationwide, regardless of whether a doctor approves the prescription.

Of course this would make Allergan very happy. Meanwhile, I’m going to buy a new tube of mascara and eyelash curlers.

2010: Annus Horribilis for GlaxoSmithKline?

December 20th, 2010. By Kristine B

Let’s face it, lots of drug companies face a variety of lawsuits and fines from the government. But 2010 might be a year that GlaxoSmithKline would wipe from its memory if it could—a sort of annus horribilis, if you will. Between the reported Paxil settlements, massive fines for illegal activity at its Puerto Rico plant and huge restrictions on its diabetes drug, Avandia, GSK appeared to be facing a TKO as we moved into 4Q’2010. So officials at GlaxoSmithKline could be forgiven if they toast the New Year and hope it’s better than the last 12 months…

Paxil Settlements

Earlier this year, various media outlets reported that GlaxoSmithKline agreed to settle certain lawsuits alleging Paxil caused birth defects. According to Bloomberg, the drug maker agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle approximately 800 lawsuits.

Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit also alleging Paxil birth defects, saw the family of an infant who died less than two months after birth, settle with GlaxoSmithKline for an undisclosed amount. In yet a different lawsuit, the family of a boy born with heart defects was awarded $2.5 million by a jury, which found that GlaxoSmithKline officials “negligently failed to inform” the mother’s physician about the risk of birth defects.

Fines for the Glaxo Puerto Rico Plant

In October of this year, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $750 million to settle allegations of wrongdoing at the company’s Puerto Rico plant, which is now closed. An investigation into the plant found that improper manufacturing procedures resulted in medications that could split apart or had improper amounts of the active ingredient. Officials alleged that GlaxoSmithKline knowingly manufactured, distributed and sold medications that did not meet FDA standards.

As part of the settlement, a whistleblower in the case received a whopping $96 million. So for her, 2010 might just have been a fantastic year.

Avandia

Also this year, GlaxoSmithKline learned that its diabetes drug, Avandia, would carry severe restrictions on who can take the medication. The decision came after an FDA advisory panel recommended that use of Avandia be restricted in light of serious side effects. Patients who are not currently on Avandia will have to try other diabetes medications before using Avandia and will have to show they have been made aware of Avandia side effects. Although some people consider it a victory that Avandia was not pulled entirely from the market, these restrictions will likely have an impact on Avandia profits.

Based on those three issues alone, 2010 might be a year that GlaxoSmithKline tries—ever so hard—to forget.

Asbestos News Roundup: 12.17.10

December 17th, 2010. 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

Beaumont, TX: Rebecca Washburn has filed a petition to perpetuate the testimony of Ronald Washburn, a former Chevron USA employee who suffers from lung cancer. The anticipated defendant in the pending suit is Chevron.

According to court papers, Ronald Washburn has developed terminal lung cancer: his lung cancer “is expected to progress” and will “ultimately prove fatal.” The petition claims that Washburn’s lung cancer resulted from exposure to asbestos products during his employment with Chevron.

“The substance of the testimony which petitioner expects to elicit involves Ronald Washburn employment and exposure history at Chevron,” the suit states. “As a result, petitioner has a good faith belief that a gross negligence, wrongful death lawsuit will be filed.” (SE Texas Record)

Asbestos Hot Spots

Atlanta, GA: The US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) announced test results for asbestos contamination of public land along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek Thursday on December 9. The news encouraged green space supporters hoping to build trails for public use near the creek.

Last spring federal agents gathered soil and air samples near the trail site, looking for remaining traces of asbestos from a closed vermiculite processing plant at Zonolite Road near Emory University. The results revealed no measurable asbestos on most of the site. Only at one site did the EPA find what it called “barely detectable” asbestos contamination.

EPA coordinator Terry Stilman says “the risks from exposure to airborne asbestos are very low for recreational users.”

The single spot still suspected of contamination is a mound or plateau about 170 x 250 feet, Read the rest of this entry »