Asbestos News Roundup: 1.12.12

January 12th, 2012. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Houston, TX: Union Pacific is facing more asbestos lawsuits filed by several trackmen who worked for the company. The trackmen allege that they developed asbestos-related lung diseases as a result of workplace exposure to asbestos-containing products.

Howard Taylor, Will S. Donald, Harrold Gregory, Dale E. Haynes and Rennie L. Hance filed suit. Details of the complaints state that Taylor was employed by Union Pacific from 1968 until 2002, Donald was employed from 1976 to 2002, Gregory was employed from 1978 until 1984, Haynes was employed by Union Pacific from 1980 until 1990 and Hance was employed by the defendant from 1969 until 1998.

The lawsuits claim Union Pacific is negligent under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act for using asbestos-containing materials for decades after becoming aware of hazardous nature of the materials; for failing to inspect equipment for the presence of asbestos-containing material; and for failing to remove asbestos-containing material from its equipment.

The trackmen also claim that Union Pacific is negligent in that it failed to warn them of the presence of asbestos-containing materia; failed to warn of the synergistic effect between smoking and asbestos exposure; failed to properly train employees; failed to provide proper respirators; failed to conduct air monitoring; failed to provide comprehensive asbestos medical examinations; failed to medically monitor the plaintiffs; and finally, that the company violated its own policies regarding the materials.

The plaintiffs are asking for an award of damages for medical expenses, mental anguish, Read the rest of this entry »

Channeling Picasso for Oscillo Flu Relief Fraud?

January 11th, 2012. By AbiK

Picasso must be rolling in his grave at Château de Vauvenargues. That is, if he’s seen the latest round of homeopathic ‘remedy’, Oscillo, flu symptom relief ads. Yes, the same Oscillo that found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit last August for fraudulent marketing—something about its being “nothing more than a sugar pill.”

Well, those Oscillo (or Oscillococcinum) marketers over at Boiron, which has its US headquarters not far out of Philly, must’ve taken a field trip when the Picasso exhibit was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art—and in a flash of creative genius someone said, “that Picasso right there…it’s the embodiment of the being…completely ensnared by flu…just feel the incoherence begging for clarity!” Ah yes, the germ of an ad campaign, right then and there. Just add water.

That’s the ad at left. You can see it has an illustration of a woman, clearly a bit discombobulated a’la Picasso, that’s meant to show how she’s suffering from flu symptoms. Woe is she, indeed.

But then, she takes homeopathic Oscillo and before you know it, everything is clear, a gentle breeze flows through her hair and she smiles as she takes in the great outdoors around her, lake and all.

There’s this little splotch of text, however, under the “after” picture. It reads,

“Time-accelerated dramatization.”

Hmm.

Are they for real? I hope someone (namely the art and copy team on this) had a good laugh. Sure it’s there as a legal disclaimer, but it’s a cartoon folks. I’m thinking we, as readers of the ad, would first have to believe that some parallel cartoon reality actually existed—like in Mary Poppins when they all hop into the sidewalk drawing—in order to expect cartoon-like results in our normal reality. Tracking with me?

But the American public is not that stupid.

Nor is it foolish when it comes to reading package labels. Here’s what the Oscillococcinum one has on its back (forgive the resolution):

Active Ingredient: Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum 200CK HPUS; Inactive ingredients: sucrose, lactose.

Now, if you whip out your Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, you’ll find that the active ingredient is extract of duck liver and heart. The 200CK means that its gone through a series of 200 dilutions—with each one equating a 1:100 dilution. If you do the math, the level of “active ingredient” would seem to get rather miniscule, leaving almost…nothing. (In fact, the court filing for the Oscillo class action states that, given the dilution, “At this purported ratio, the probability of getting 1 molecule of the active ingredient of Oscillo in a regular dosage is approximately equal to winning the Powerball every week for nearly an entire year.” Someone has a sense of humor!)

For those who missed basic nutrition class, the inactive ingredients, sucrose and lactose are sugars.

Nothing—or almost nothing—and sugar is, well, sugar. Which is the basis for the Oscillo false marketing class action lawsuit.

I suppose Boiron deserves some kudos for creativity—on both fronts, product development and advertising. But that’ll only go so far to “reduce the duration and severity of flu symptoms” including body aches, headache, fever, chills and fatigue. And exactly how far is what the class action will determine now.

Public Citizen Slams Chamber of Commerce re Frivolous Lawsuits

January 9th, 2012. By AbiK

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform recently issued the results of its “Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of 2011” poll. According to FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org, the list showcases “the most egregious examples of frivolous and abusive litigation from around the country”.

The list, however, is not compiled for the sake of humor. It’s compiled as part of the US Chamber of Commerce’s agenda to ultimately curtail consumers’ access to the courts—in order to alleviate the impact that ‘frivolous’ lawsuits have on “businesses, families, and everyday Americans through lost time, money and job growth.”

Sounds good, right? Until you take a look at the list—as Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Research Director, Taylor Lincoln did—and realize that it includes a bunch of lawsuits that never went anywhere and probably never stood a chance in hell of being taken seriously in the first place.

And, if you’re going to compile a list of “most egregious” lawsuits, then you really ought to be able to measure just how egregious they are—in terms of time and cost. But oddly, many of these lawsuits, as Lincoln points out, were dismissed or withdrawn. In fact, 80% of the lawsuits on the list were dismissed or withdrawn.

To be clear, many of the lawsuits were approaching the absurd. LawyersandSettlements.com certainly deemed a number of them so when we reported on them (see how we covered some of the lawsuits that made the list: 8 Questions for Quack who filed Chuck E. Cheese Gambling Lawsuit, Steven Miner, Kathryn Miner…Meet Lisa Steinberg, White Castle 290 lb Craver Files Lawsuit to Sit, Movie Madness: Lawsuit Says “Drive” didn’t Drive Enough).

But—and here’s the beef of the Public Citizen article—if you’re going to showcase lawsuits such as these and use them as the basis for your argument to handcuff the consumers’ right to seek justice, you need to come up with something better to base your argument on.

One-off lawsuits that are rapidly dismissed or withdrawn do not quite compare in impact with those of a larger scale that drag on for years (e.g., Bank of America lawsuits alone have probably cost this country more than any of us could fathom—and they continue because, for some reason, a slap on the wrist just doesn’t seem to deter recidivist fraudulent behavior.)

Indeed, as Lincoln then points out, the type of litigation that is clogging—or abusing—the courts and costing both businesses and “everyday Americans” is corporate fraud such as what we’ve seen with major banks and mortgage foreclosure practices.

And it’s time for the US Chamber of Commerce to take a look at that.

Asbestos News Roundup: 1.5.12

January 5th, 2012. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Steven D. Westfall has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 199 companies as defendants. According to the lawsuit, the companies are responsible for Westfall’s father’s asbestosis, asbestos mesothelioma and resulting death.

According to the complaint, Larry D. Westfall was a member of the Laborers Union Local No. 639 and worked throughout West Virginia and elsewhere. During this time he was exposed asbestos-containing materials. Steven Westfall alleges that the defendants failed to exercise reasonable care to warn his father of the danger to which he was exposed by use of the asbestos-containing products.

Steven Westfall further alleges that the defendants failed to inform his father of what would be appropriate clothing and protective apparel for a person who was exposed to or used asbestos-containing products. And, the lawsuit claims that the defendants also failed to inform Larry Westfall of what would be safe and proper methods of handling and using the asbestos-containing products.

The 199 defendants named in the suit are: 20th Century Glove Corporation of Texas; 4520 Corp., Inc.; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; AK Steel Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; American Optical Corporation; Ametek, Inc.; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Aristech Chemical Corporation; Armstrong

LAS Lookout: Fastin Weight Loss Ad – Read the Small Print

January 5th, 2012. By AbiK

Note to self: when a one-page ad in a magazine has 12 daggers—those are those “†” symbols that lead you to some teeny-tiny footnote disclaimer—pause to ponder what the ad is really telling you.

It’s important as now that we’re in flu season, we’re seeing more and more homeopathic ‘remedy’ ads popping up with questionable claims and the telling footnote or two.

The 12-dagger ad above is actually a recent ad for Fastin, “the world’s most advanced weight loss aid ever developed!†” (there’s that dagger!). The ad appeared in Self magazine. And yes, it has 12—no joke, twelve—daggers in it, all leading to the footnote below. Don’t believe it? They’re all circled on the actual ad above.

Just about everything but where to buy Fastin has a dagger leading you to the disclaimer (the disclaimer is reprinted below.

In fact, even the doctor’s statement has the disclaimer. And there’s another tip-off to something potentially askew: try to locate some quick background info on Dr. Mark Wright. You can’t. Oh sure, he has his own website, but try to find him on doctor rating sites like RealSelf.com, Vitals.com, Avvo.com, or HealthGrades.com. He’s not there. He’s also not showing up as