http://www.jlbreport.com The Official Jere Beasley Report | Legal Blog Wed, 07 May 2008 20:46:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As we have seen in recent weeks, the stock market can be a volatile place, especially for the investment firms who decide to gamble in the subprime securities market. For the past several months, the nation has watched as the housing market has continued its plunge to levels not seen ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/morgan-keegans-subprime-mortgage-gamble/ On October 15, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration issued a Class I Recall involving the Medtronic, Inc., Sprint Fidelis® Defibrillator Leads, model numbers 6930, 6931, 6948 and 6949. This recall specifically relates to those leads manufactured from September 2004 through October 15, 2007. This action does not ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/medtronic-heart-device-lead-wire/ The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently asked manufacturers of all Gadolinium-based contrast agents to include a new boxed warning on the product label. These contrast agents are used to enhance the quality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and can place patients at risk for developing a potentially fatal ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/gadolinium/ In last month’s report, I made you aware of one of the most dangerous ATVs on the market – the Yamaha Rhino. Since the Yamaha Rhino All Terrain Vehicle was introduced to the market in the United States in 2003, it has been involved in a large number of devastating ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/yamaha-blames-drivers-for-its-dangerous-atvs/ After initially resisting their disclosure, the Bush Administration has finally allowed the names of 131 nursing homes with poor inspection records to be made public. The list released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services identifies troubled facilities cited as a "special focus facility," a designation used to ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/government-lists-worst-nursing-homes/ A jury in Baltimore, Maryland, has ordered a sealant company to pay a 73-year-old man $15.3 million after determining that he developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos-containing products made by the company. George J. Linkus worked at Key Highway Shipyard from 1952 to 1959. In 1954, Mr. Linkus ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/verdict-returned-in-asbestos-case/ The issue of ATV safety has become a growing concern nationwide. In November 2007, Consumer Reports published findings of a five-year study comparing the prevalence of ATV and bicycle crashes from 2000-2004, noting that “hospitalizations from ATV incidents are growing at a markedly higher rate than those caused by ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/yamaha-rhino-atv-accidents/ Our firm recently settled a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. that involved the roof on the 1991 Taurus which was insufficiently designed. The lack of the vehicle’s roof strength caused our client to suffer serious head injuries after his vehicle struck a cow on a dark road in a rural ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/07/settlement-with-ford-motor-co-in-a-roof-crush-lawsuit/ Safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are having a difficult time updating the controversial standard for vehicle roof strength. The present standard has been on the books since 1971 and a proposed new standard has been repeatedly delayed. Now, NHTSA has asked for additional information from ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/01/roof-strength-rule-delayed-again/ In an effort to avoid more stringent roof strength regulations, the automobile manufacturers have argued to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and in lawsuits that roof crush is not causally connected to occupant injury. As a result, current roof crush regulations have remained unchanged since 1971. Two ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/01/roof-strength-does-matter/ A federal judge in Massachusetts has fined Medtronic Sofamor Danek Inc. and related companies $10 million for the behavior of their lawyers during a trial. The case involved a patent claim brought by DePuy Spine Inc. Senior District Judge Edward F. Harrington also ordered Medtronic Sofamor, which makes spinal implant ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/05/01/judge-fines-medtronic-10-million-over-improper-trial-tactics/ RC2 Corp., of Oak Brook, Illinois, has recalled about 100,000 First Years Newborn-to-Toddler Reclining Feeding Seats. The restraining straps can pull out of the waist strap slots, posing a fall hazard to young children. RC2 has received 38 reports of straps pulling out or nearly pulling out of waist ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/01/29/rc2-recalls-childrens-feeding-seats-due-to-fall-hazard/ If done correctly, and not to achieve a desired result, frontal crash tests in laboratories are strong predictors relating to the safety of passenger cars on the road. But, the tests fail to accurately project driver fatality risks for trucks, according to a recent Virginia Commonwealth University study. The study ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/01/22/vehicle-crash-tests-predict-car-but-not-truck-safety/ The annual Stella Awards list, a list of the years seven "most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S.,” is nothing more than a fraud on the public. The so-called awards deal primarily with fiction, and many of the lawsuits listed never happened. The examples of what they describe ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2008/01/22/the-lawsuit-myth-put-out-by-the-tort-reformers-must-be-exposed/ A federal court has ordered Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company, a Kuwait-based contractor, to pay $4,907,048 in damages to the family of Col. Rocky Baragona. This is a most significant case involving the death of a U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq. That’s because a contracting company ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/12/13/government-contractor-must-pay-for-death-of-us-soldier/ Our firm was recently awarded Outstanding Achievement in Website Development by the Interactive Media Awards (IMA) for its work on the Beasley Allen Company Website (www.BeasleyAllen.com). The honor recognizes that the website met and surpassed the standards of excellence that comprise the web’s most professional work. The site was ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/12/13/firm-wins-outstanding-achievement-in-website-development-from-interactive-media-awards/ A key aspect of any personal injury or product liability case involving a vehicular accident is the reconstruction of that accident. Accident reconstruction is the ability to determine the path the vehicles traveled, the angle of the impact, the speeds involved, and the rotations of the vehicles. It ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/11/27/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-accident-reconstruction/ Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America. Their lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits, and market share. The goal of these surveys is to identify the biggest and most profitable corporations. But, there is another list – ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/11/27/a-list-of-top-100-corporate-criminals-of-the-decade-was-published/ The House Judiciary Committee wants to know why the Justice Department abruptly dropped a federal criminal probe into allegations of insurance fraud at Berkshire Hathaway’s General Reinsurance (Gen Re) unit. In a letter sent to Paul J. McNulty dated July 9, 2007, the Judiciary Committee asked detailed questions about ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/11/27/the-house-judiciary-committee-deserves-to-know-why-the-criminal-probe-of-gen-re-was-aborted/ Merck & Co., Inc. has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to resolve Vioxx-related claims in which a claimant has suffered a heart attack, sudden cardiac death, or stroke. After more than five years of litigation, Merck has agreed to settle some 27,000 Vioxx lawsuits for a record $4.85 billion. The litigation ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/11/09/record-vioxx-settlement-announced-485-billion-verdict-largest-in-us-history/ A case involving the drowning death of a 5-year-old boy at a country club in Maryland is an example of what can happen when safety rules aren’t followed. A jury awarded his parents more than $4 million in damages in the lawsuit filed against Hunt Valley-based DRD Pool Service ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/10/30/jury-verdict-in-drowning-at-county-club/ Summer in Alabama seems incomplete without splashing water and the laughter of children around swimming pools. Unfortunately, laughter far too often turns to grief stricken tears when a drowning occurs. Currently, there are too many deaths and injuries because of drowning related accidents. These tragedies would be ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/10/30/swimming-pool-safety/ In a recent lower federal court ruling, the Center for Constitutional Litigation (CCL) won a major victory in the fight to assure that folks who are hurt or damaged by corporate wrongdoing can hold wrongdoers accountable and get justice in the civil justice system. In a ruling last month with ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/10/30/a-good-ruling-that-protects-the-civil-justice-system/ We will be hearing lots about “federal preemption” over the next several months since it’s the latest strategy designed by powerful interests to destroy the civil justice system. However, I find that most folks don’t have a clue what the term federal preemption means or what it’s all about. ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/10/30/the-preemption-battle-wont-go-away/ I read about the lawsuit filed recently against God by a state senator from Nebraska and at the time I wasn’t sure whether he was making a bad joke or was trying to make some sort of a point. This politician may believe filing a lawsuit against God is acceptable, ... http://www.jlbreport.com/2007/10/30/a-real-frivolous-lawsuit/