Paris Hilton Gets Some Action…Class Included

September 17th, 2009. By LucyC

Paris‘ work ethic (?) has got her into trouble yet again—this time it could end up costing her some bucks. Well, hang on, let’s not get carried away here…

 

Paris, (I feel like I know her well enough to address her by her first name) is facing a potential $34 million class action lawsuit brought by Mediastar, an event marketing company, after failing to honor her contract and show up for several promotional events in Europe. You know, cocktails in Germany with the adopted son of Hungarian royal Frederic Prinz von Anhalt , that kind of thing.

 

Paris, for her part, is claiming that she was mislead, that the venue in Germany at which she was supposed to appear is a strip club not a “night club”. Well, that definition is totally subjective for a start. Not to mention her attitude does seem a little hypocritical, given her own her foray into adult entertainment, which, if memory serves correct, she also claimed to not have known about in advance…

 

According to media reports, Michael Marx, who organised the events in Germany, told the German newspaper Bild, “Mediastar is not alone with the lawsuit. Paris Hilton also pulled out of appearances in Italy, postponed flights, threw the whole programme over. …After examination of all the facts and contracts it (suit) can even become more than 23 million Euros ($34 million).” To put that in terms even Paris can understand, that’s roughly 57,000 pairs of Manolo’s! (ok, the low-end ones at about $600 a pop…) 

 

But I have to wonder—lawsuit aside—who really ended up getting the most PR out of all of this? If you believe the old marketing adage—”there’s no such thing as bad publicity”—it would seem that Paris has trumped her “clients”, again; has proven that bad behavior does pay, big time, again; and therefore seems to have truly mastered the media universe. 

 

Oh, and let’s not forget she is creating opportunities for PR flacks, journalists and lawyers in a tough economic climate…

In Canada, MRI scans cut…maybe there’s a bright side?

September 17th, 2009. By AbiK

The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has confirmed via Canwest News Service that it will cut MRI scans by 20%. That’s a staggering figure-think of it, one in five individuals who previously would have been sent for an MRI, won’t be. To anyone south of the Canadian border, it seems unconscionable. Of course, to anyone south of the border who has an HMO, well, they’re used to being told “no can do” or you need to pay through the roof-so not sure which scenario’s better. 

But, regardless of any healthcare debates, you have to wonder whether the reduction in MRI scans will have any measurable impact on the amount of patients who innocently go for their MRI, only to be injected with a gadolinium contrast agent, only to learn later that they’ve got some serious kidney problems. 

Gadolinium contrast has been linked to Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD)-MRI health risks that are real and very serious.  Read the rest of this entry »

Frozen HELOC Trifecta: Top 3 HELOC lawsuits…and they’re off!

September 16th, 2009. By AbiK

HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) accounts hit critical mass this week—or so it would seem if you’ve been following the legal news. Here’s the low-down on the HELOC trifecta:

1. SunTrust HELOC accounts.

Issue: Disappearing HELOC accounts with no real warning and, more importantly, no apparent reason. Lawsuit’s been filed. Part of issue—the pull on the heartstrings part–is that many of those affected by the allegedly freezing of accounts are elderly.

2. Wells Fargo HELOC accounts.

Issue: Reduced HELOC account balance due to improper use of a faulty computer model. Plaintiff Michael Hickman also claims Wells Fargo failed to properly notify him of the HELOC reduction. Hickman’s suit is seeking class action status.

3. JP Morgan Chase HELOC accounts.

Issue: Frozen HELOC accounts based on falsified home appraisals that showed decreasing home values to justify the freeze. Class action lawsuit plaintiff Pascal Majon alleges his account was frozen while the value of his home did not decline. The lawsuit also alleges that Chase did not provide customers with legally required notice of the impending freeze.





 

IVF: The Ultimate Blind Faith…Shattered

September 16th, 2009. By AbiK

Usually religion and the belief in a higher power is what comes to mind when you think about blind faith (or maybe some classic rock, thank you E.C.). But if you’ve been through IVF, you know what blind faith is. And Katharine Aschero surely knows it, too. According to the National Law Journal, she and her husband recently filed a lawsuit for a botched in vitro fertilization procedure.

How botched? Well, imagine learning that an “error” had occured in which your eggs, after extraction, had been fertilized with the wrong man’s sperm. Now imagine that before you knew that, you found out that “your” embryos had been destroyed without your consent. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching things any parents-to-be can endure.

I don’t think you can understand the insanity of it all unless you understand what it takes to go through certain IVF procedures. My own situation may differ from many out there, but let me just say the checks and balances that were put in place to allow me to go through IVF were astounding… Read the rest of this entry »

Zicam, Hydroxycut, Ephedra: Separated at Birth, now need Babysitter

September 16th, 2009. By Kristine B

What do Zicam, Ephedra and Hydroxycut have in common?—and no, you can’t look at side-by-side pictures for this one. If you’ve been following the news, turns out they have a lot more in common than you’d think. All three…

• were marketed as “natural” products that people turned to in a time of need
• weren’t required to test their safety before being marketed
• caused nationwide recalls when reports of serious side effects started rolling in

and…

• were assumed to be safe because they were marketed as “natural”

And while each of these has been yanked from the market, those of their ilk that are still on the market now need some babysitting (i.e., tighter regulation and increased safety testing).

The bottom line is that people think “natural” equals “safe.” Unfortunately, that’s just not always true. Something can be natural and still harmful—Poison Ivy, anyone? And the food industry is renowned for giving new meaning to “natural”. Check out the Jelly Belly site and you’ll see the superfruit mix is: Naturally Sweetened, High in Antioxidant Vitamin C, Made with Real Fruit Juices and Purees, and have Colors from Natural Sources. Great—but I won’t be getting my USRDA of vitamin C from ’em. Read the rest of this entry »