Can People Seek Compensation for Zika Infections?
By now I'm sure you've heard that term; Zika is the latest mosquito-borne disease to strike fear into our hearts, following the grand tradition of West Nile, yellow and dengue fevers, and malaria. While its impact on generally healthy adults seems to be minimal--outside of exceptionally rare cases of Zika-related Guillain-Barre Syndrome--it's still undoubtedly unpleasant,...
Quality Control Issues with Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22?
Leaving aside the meta-issue of gun ownership currently burning its way through the comments section of your favorite social media, I think we can all agree that if a person is to own a firearm, it would be great if that firearm were trustworthy and not prone to surprising "quirks." Recent reports from Project Appleseed,...
In Light of Xarelto Lawsuits – Here’s a Refresher on Products Liability Law
Most people take for granted that when a defectively designed or dangerous product hurts people, the manufacturer can be held accountable for releasing that product into the marketplace. Most people appreciate (and all enjoy) the fact that our country's products laws place a burden on manufacturers to create safe products. Nevertheless, a fairly significant minority...
Get the Message: Texas Will Try Again to Ban Texting and Driving
Today marks the third day in a row I narrowly avoided serious injury on my way to work. Those familiar with Dallas traffic won't even bat an eye when I say that, but I want to add that in each instance I was cut narrowly off--stomping my brake to avoid collision--and in two of those...
Exposed Bridge Supports Are Killing Texas Motorists
The next time you are driving along in your car, try to take a moment and glance at the support pillars of bridges and overpasses. If you are driving on a safely-built road, there should be a guardrail or concrete barrier between the roadway and the pillars. This certainly isn't the type of scenery that...
Risperdal and Invega: Potential Side Effects and Personal Injury Lawsuits
What are Risperdal and Invega? Risperdal is the trade name attached to the medication risperidone, a powerful "atypical antipsychotic" medication designed primarily to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and irritability caused by autism. Invega, a metabolite of Risperdal, is in the same family of medications. It is the brand name for paliperidone. Both drugs are manufactured...
Merced Co., Ca Bus Crash and Bus Accident Law
On August 2nd, an Autobuses Coordinados USA bus travelling from Mexico to Seattle crashed near Livingston, California, in Merced County. The accident resulted in the deaths of 4 people, with as many as 21 more suffering significant injuries including amputations. According to media reports, rescue workers were literally bagging up body parts of injured people...
Pliva, Inc. v Mensing: Bad News for Generic Drug Takers
It can cost upwards of a billion dollars, start to finish, to put a new drug on the market. First, there's all the research and testing, tweaking the chemistry until it is demonstrably able to treat one or more health problems. Once that's done, the finished product has to go through clinical trials. It then...
Employee or Independent Contractor? The Excel Direct Case
News broke the other day of a settlement in the case of Villalpando v. Excel Direct Inc. et al. The case involves a group of truck drivers and Excel Direct a trucking company that claims the truckers were independent contractors. The truckers saw things differently, given the many hoops they had to jump through at...
Zofran and Birth Defects: The Hidden Cost of Keeping Lunch Down
A common prescription for mothers-to-be is a powerful antiemetic (a nausea control agent) called Zofran. It has been putting corks in people's urges to vomit since 1991, and was hailed for many years as a "godsend." More recently, however, research has shown that Zofran use can have extremely harmful effects on a developing fetus. Too...
Abilify and Compulsive Behavior: Betting Against the House
What is Abilify? Abilify is the brand name of the drug aripiprazole. Created by the Japanese company Otsuka Pharmaceutical, it is marketed in North America by Otsuka America and their partner company Bristol Myers-Squibb, an enormous biopharmaceutical manufacturer/marketer. In 2015 alone Abilify pulled in six billion dollars' worth of revenue for these companies. The medication's...
The Routine Job Defense and Foreseeability: Analysis
Worker's Compensation is, on the surface, a helpful institution. It's guaranteed recompense if you're hurt in the line of duty, from dish washing to long-haul trucking. And why not? It's not unreasonable to think that an employer should try to keep employees from getting injured on the job. They are, in fact, obligated by law...
We Need to Stop Using The Word “Accident.”
Many commonly used words can mean different things based on not only their context, but also who says them, and who hears them. On one hand, it's interesting that language can be so flexible, but when so much hangs in the balance--such as in a legal case--it can be challenging to make one's self understood...
A Look at Exploding E-Cigarettes and the Law
Over the last three months, numerous exploding electronic cigarette (e-cigs) stories have made the news. These incidents occurred in places such as Flower Mound, TX (near Dallas), Colorado Springs, Betonville, AR, and Naples, FL. Unlike at least 25 other exploding e-cig stories that have been documented since 2009, this new rash of stories is notable...
Halloween Tragedies and Pedestrian Accident Law
While Halloween is usually one of the more joyful holidays of the year, kids in costumes, candy, and a sense of community that comes from trick-or-treating, perhaps no other holiday brings pedestrians and vehicles into closer contact, with predictably tragic results. Just a small sampling of the news today shows that three people were killed...
What You Need to Know About Same-Sex Marriage and Wrongful Death Claims
Before the Supreme Court declared gay marriage to be a fundamental right in June, one of the arguments put forward by those who wished to legalize same-sex marriage was that it would extend the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples; Benefits like health care, inheritance, and child custody rights have been pretty thoroughly covered in...
Attention Truckers: You’re Not Always On The Clock When You’re In the Sleeper Berth
When an trucker is injured while in the sleeper berth of his rig, he may have an injury lawsuit on his hands, not a workers' comp claim. In most instances, when an employee is injured on the job, their losses (wages, medical bills, etc.) are covered by a worker's compensation plan, meaning they file a...
Why The Law Lets You Sue Bars for Drunk Driving Accidents
We still have a problem in this country with drunk driving accidents. But we have another problem that people rarely talk about, least of all in the news. I'm talking about bars and other licensed providers of alcohol that over-serve their customers, who then get into the very accidents that we've been talking about. Below,...
A Crash Course in Texas Work Injury Law
Texas' work injury laws are more complex than that of any other state. Why? Because there are actually three different sets of rules that can potentially apply to an injured worker (or to the family of a deceased worker) depending upon the specifics of the accident in question. As you can imagine, it can get...
How Employers Often Get Away with Negligence
The vast majority of people, though they might take it for granted sometimes, understand that they have the right to sue those who cause harm to them or their families. One would think that this right would extend to anyone under any circumstances. Unfortunately that's not always true. In most cases where someone is injured...
