Jamar Hudson's blog

The asbestos-disease epidemic is one of the longest-running public health crises in the world.  Asbestos is still legal in the United States and kills at least 10,000 Americans every year.  It is estimated that asbestos will have killed 432,465 Americans by 2029.  

Every year, 440,000 patients are killed in America by preventable medical errors, and countless more are injured.

Among those who have been injured by a medical error is United States Marine veteran Tony Yeary. 

Class actions are often the only way that individuals can seek justice when they are faced with widespread corporate wrongdoing, but a series of recent  Supreme Court decisions threatens to eliminate the right of consumers and workers with similar claims to band together to hold corporations accountable.  Without class actions, Americans will have to take on corporations alone – often in the rigged system of forced arbitration – if they have the will to take them on at all.

Forced arbitration clauses allow corporations to single-handedly kick Americans out of court and funnel them into a dispute mill that is rigged, secretive and decided by an arbitrator who does not even have to follow the law. Corporations bury these clauses in the fine print of everything from credit card and banking agreements to student loan documents and cell phone contracts. 

As more documents were released last week revealing General Motors (G.M.) negligence for nearly a decade, it’s clear the manufacturer knew, yet failed to act on, several defects that put thousands of consumers at risk. 

Women suffer disproportionately from the effects of dangerous and defective drugs and medical devices. Women take more medications than men, respond differently to them, and are more likely to suffer adverse drug events.

Tammy and John Gilbert recently traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio to Washington, D.C. to speak with lawmakers and attend the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing addressing the FDA’s proposed changes to generic drug warning labels. 

The Gilbert’s lost their daughter, Kira, when she passed away on April 9th, 2009, from acute cardiac failure eight days after she began taking generic Darvocet. She had no previous history of heart conditions.

In the above video, Tammy shares a personal story about her experiences.  

Surprise! General Motors continues to avoid accountability for the ignition switch recall. 

According to an article in the New York Times, federal safety regulators have fined G.M. $28,000 for not providing much of the information requested for an investigation into the recent recall. The deadline for that information was due by Thursday, April 3.

In an April 2 feature story in ESPN The Magazine, former Oakland Raiderette, Lacy, shares her personal story about pursuing legal action against the Raiders' organization for serious violations of state and federal wage laws. However, the Raiders are attempting to evade these laws through a forced arbitration clause in the cheerleaders’ employment contract.