In the News

In a small Indiana town, June 6th is known as “Wonder Woman Day” after Janelle Bedel, an asbestos-cancer fighter. Sadly, this wonder woman couldn’t win every fight- Wednesday her long battle with mesothelioma ended.

An outdated economic model allows unsafe trucking companies to operate on U.S. roads, according to a new report released today by the American Association for Justice (AAJ).  “Truck Safety Alert: Rising Danger from Trucks and How to Stop It” details safety hazards in the trucking industry, including a compensation program that promotes fatigued driving and ignores safety risks, as well as  inadequate insurance limits that shift the cost burden to taxpayers, medical insurance carriers, and Medicare.

Recent news coverage surrounding sexual assaults in the military has exposed a shockingly widespread pattern of brutality against some of our service members. That sort of violence perpetuated against those who chose to dedicate their lives to protect our country is deplorable.  As is a military system that discourages victims from reporting the incidents in the first place, while failing to respond to those reports that are filed. Even worse, active duty military are actually barred from bringing discrimination or personal injury civil court claims after a sexual assault.

Michelle Garcia of Miami never thought a simple doctor’s office procedure for birth control would result in the removal of both of her fallopian tubes.  Yet last year Michelle underwent surgery to remove Essure, a medical device marketed as a “surgery-free permanent” birth control procedure. It was supposed to be Michelle’s easy solution for birth control for life; instead, it was her worst nightmare, requiring surgery to remove the coils and both damaged fallopian tubes.

Women suffer disproportionately from faulty drugs and medical devices, and Michelle is just one example.  As part of National Women’s Health Week, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) has released “Unequal Harm: The Disproportionate Damage to Women from Dangerous Drugs and Medical Devices,” an analysis detailing a history of a few of the many products that have harmed women over the years.

As if we needed another example of the need to hold generic drug makers accountable to the same standard as brand names, there is this disturbing story from The New York Times. A drug maker named Ranbaxy was churning out generic versions of a number of common drugs, including the epilepsy drug, gabapentin.  But in 2007, it admitted to the Food and Drug Administration that certain batches of the drug had tested positive for “unknown impurities.” 

78% of 2012 CPSC Recalls from Foreign Makers According to Analysis

Public Citizen is running an important petition against Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. for its use of forced arbitration in contracts.  If you are a private investor doing business with Schwab, you should consider registering your complaint by signing this petition.   

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), H.R. 624, last week and the bill is set to be taken up by the Senate quickly.  

While there is across-the-board agreement on the need to update the nation’s cybersecurity laws, CISPA contains broad provisions that eliminate the ability of harmed individuals and business to hold corporations accountable that have acted recklessly or negligently after receiving cyber threat information. 

Taxpayers and patients could pay the price for faulty metal-on-metal hips when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reclassifies several metal-on-metal hips, requiring manufacturers to complete a premarket approval application (PMA) or product development protocol (PDP) in order to receive the agency’s approval.  The reclassification may put patients’ legal rights in question.