Blog - CGWC

Some doctors quip to their patients that their common cold will last 7 days if they take some over the counter cold medicines but will last a full week if they don't. The more we learn of the dangers of taking unnecessary medications, the more one wonders whether it is wise to take many over the counter medications. In the case of children, some cold medicines can be outright harmful.

Some experts have urged the Food and Drug Administration to ban over the counter, multi-symptom, cough and cold medicines for children under 6 years of age. There are about 800 popular cough and cold medicines that might be affected by a ban, including Toddler's Dimetapp, Triaminic Infant and Little Colds. The experts said in a lengthy report that there is little evidence that these medicines are effective and mounting evidence that they are dangerous. The experts cited statistics on the number of children who have died after taking medicines containing decongestants and antihistimines and suggested that the true toll is probably higher. The Center For Disease Control and Prevention recently found that more than 1500 children under two years of age suffered serious health problems between 2004 and 2005 after taking such medicines.

In 1990, Americans spent more than 2 billion dollars on these medications. The typical drugstore has over 30 brands of these medicines on its shelves. So, big drug companies have little incentive to take these medicines off the market. Before you give your child a cold medication, talk to your doctor. Maybe Tyelnol or an aspirin would be just as effective for a common cold or associated symptoms. Try mentholated creams or steam to help with congestion. Americans are far to quick to seek a "magic pill" for many ailments. Often, the "magic pill" they've been sold is not only ineffective; it's dangerous.

Simplicity and Graco recalled 1 million baby cribs recently after two babies died in separate incidents. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says to take no chances with these cribs. Like many recently recalled toys, these baby cribs were manufactured in China. The design defect is a "drop side" rail that can pull away from the mattress, creating a gap that can trap and suffocate sleeping infants. The recalled cribs have been manufactured for almost all of the past ten years.

Since many products are manufactured overseas, it is important for consumers injured by the products to understand that the retail and wholesale sellers of these products are liable for such unreasonably dangerous products, even if they didn't manufacture them. If you or a loved one has been injured by a dangerously designed or defective product, you may have a legal claim for money damages and should consult with an experienced product liability attorney. Product liability claims often involve complex engineering, as well as legal issues, requiring attorneys with the skill, knowledge, experience, and finesse to prove all necessary elements of the claim in state or federal court.

In the New York Times today, CGWC partner, Nathan P. Carter, is mentioned in an article regarding the newspaper's investigation of nursing home operators. A Times investigative article rightly bemoans how the quality of care in nursing homes has decreased as the profits to conglomerate investment companies who have taken over large parts of the long term care industry have skyrocketed. These huge investment companies are often large Wall Street private equity companies like The Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus.

According to the Times, while such investment companies have made lots of money by cutting expenses and staff, the data collected by government agencies indicate that their patients are suffering worse care. The New York Times investigation revealed that the nursing homes acquired by these investment companies scored worse than the national average in 12 of 14 criteria used by regulators to guage the quality of care provided to prevent and treat ailments like bedsores and infections. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the deficiencies in health care cited by government regulators last year was almost 19% higher in nursing homes operated by similar large investment companies.

Meanwhile, the operators of these nursing homes have evaded legal liability for this neglect by creating complex mazes of corporate structures to shield the companies (and individuals who pocket most of the profits) from civil lawsuits and regulatory fines. These slick corporate shell games also help the operators avoid government rules requiring them to report when they are, in effect, paying themselves for certain services with your tax money (Medicare and Medicaid).

Mr. Carter was interviewed and quoted in the article because of his experience and knowledge of nursing home abuse and neglect, nursing home operations and the corporate shell games they play. Nursing home operators set up mazes of corporations to make it difficult for attorneys and their neglected clients to collect on civil claims and to make it difficult for government regulators to levy fines or conduct investigations of entire chains of such nursing homes. These companies leave the licensees running the nursing homes with little or no assets. This means civil litigants find it harder to collect on claims, and government regulators can't enforce quality of care regulations by fining the companies responsible for the mismanagement.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a nursing home, you need an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect attorney who is knowledgeable of these sharp corporate tactics.

Nursing homes injure and kill patients every day across the country through falls, drownings, burnings, chokings, and other incidents related primarily to an overall lack of supervision. They also injure and kill patients through outright neglectful care, causing bedsores, weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, infections, medication errors, and other negligence.

If you want to do your part to help our senior citizens, call your Congressman, Senator, and Governor and tell them to halt this irresponsible and greedy corporate abuse of our greatest generation. Send them this New York Times article and tell them to enact laws putting a stop to these corporations being paid by Medicare and Medicaid tax dollars while avoiding legal and regulatory liability for their malfeasance.

Walmart must pay a $ 4 million judgment flowing from a jury verdict in Alabama recently. A woman was left paralyzed following an automobile accident caused when the tread on the tire of her Ford Expedition separated, causing her SUV to flip into the median on Interstate 85.

Often overlooked, tire stores and auto maintenance shops can also be responsible for injuries or deaths caused in tire failure accidents. Recognizing the signs of a developing tread separation, warning a customer of signs of separation, and notifying a customer that their vehicle is operating on a recalled or dangerously defective tire are things tire shops can do to avert serious accidents causing serious injury or death to unsuspecting motorists. These opportunities to prevent tragic accidents are often missed leading to potential legal liability of the shop owners and operators.

If you or a loved one have been injured by any dangerous or defective product, you need an experienced products liability lawyer. At CGWC, we have extensive experience litigating claims of product liability.

According to the Fatalities Analysis Reporting System (FARS), there are more than 1.8 million car crashes at intersections each year. Nationwide in 2004, over 900 people were killed and another 168,000 injured as a result of careless drivers running redlights. In Orange County, Florida alone in 2005, there were 622 automobile accidents caused by running redlights. Another 108 auto accidents were caused by running redlights in Seminole County, and another 72 occurred in Osceola County.

Orange County recently conducted a study of the five busiest intersections in the area. This study showed that more than 11,000 drivers ran redlights at these five intersections IN ONE SINGLE DAY!!! The City of Orlando set up a camera at a Hiawassee Avenue intersection recently and photographed over 7,500 incidents in the nine months between November 2005 and August 2006. Orange County is considering using automated enforcement, i.e. cameras at intersections, to issue citations in an effort to reduce accidents at intersections. The City of Orlando recently enacted an ordinance allowing fines to be levied for running redlights based upon automated camera enforcement. The City of Apopka has also recently passed an ordinance authorizing the use of cameras to fine drivers who run redlights.

You can help improve traffic safety in Central Florida by obeying all traffic laws and driving safely and attentively. Wear your seatbelt, obey traffic laws, don't talk on the phone or text while driving, and pay attention. If you want to get involved in helping make Central Florida roadways safer, visit MetroPlanOrlando for more information.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, deaths from motorcycle accidents has been on the rise since 1997. In 2004, over 4,000 bikers were killed and another 76,000 motorcyclists were injured. Half of the fatalities involved collisions with other motor vehicles.

According to studies, the motorcycle accident rate is increasing and in addtion to causing many deaths, motorcycle crashes cause serious injuries, including brain damage, broken bones, and soft tissue injuries. Head injuries are often a cause of death. Motorcycling has become increasingly popular over the last decade, so there are more bikers on the highways. In 2006, motorcycle accidents accounted for over 11% of all traffic accident deaths.

Motorcycles are less visible to other drivers, less stable than other vehicles, and less crashworthy than other motor vehicles, making riders more susceptible to serious injury or death. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, you need experienced motorcycle accident lawyers like the attorneys at CGWC.

More people die each year from infections they acquired during hospital visits than die in automobile accidents and homicides combined. Almost 100,000 people die annually as a result of hospital acquired infections. Such infections are a leading cause of death in America but patients and their families have no way of knowing their hospital's rate of infection in most cases. The public doesn't have this information because hospital infection records are a kept secret in most of the country. Hospital infections not only cost lives. They cost money. According to the CDC hospital acquired infections cost $ 27.5 billion annually, a cost largely borne by the public and tax dollars in the form of added charges to Medicare.

While the Center for Disease Control has known about this epidemic for years, the health care industry has done little to gain control of infection rates and prevent hospital acquired infections. Only when states have passed laws requiring public disclosure of infection rates have hospitals made infection prevention a priority. So far, only nineteen states have made infection records a matter of public record. Consumers Union has embarked upon a campaign to change this. Stop Hospital Infections is a campaign directed at ending hospital secrecy and encouraging infection control and prevention in hospitals. By visiting their website, you can take action to support laws ending hospital secrecy in your state and making hospital infection control records and infection rates a matter of public record. Only if their feet are held to the fire will hospitals make infection prevention a priority. Take action now, and save lives by making hospitals safer. Visit Stop Hospital Infections and support laws that make hospitals safe from dangerous infections.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed by a hospital acquired infection, your family needs an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the legal hurdles to your emotional and financial recovery. The attorneys at CGWC are experienced trial attorneys who have handled hospital infection cases successfully.

Due to toxic lead paint used by Chinese manufacturers, Mattel has announced yet another recall, this time involving approximately 700,000 additional toys. These toys include Barbie accessories, as well as some Fisher Price toys. This is the third massive recall of Mattel toys in a month, largely due to the use of toxic lead paint by Chinese suppliers. If ingested by small children, lead paint can cause brain injury, hearing loss, stunted growth, reduced IQ, delayed development, and damage to the nervous system. In Florida, product manufacturers, as well as wholesale and retail distributors are legally responsible for injuries or deaths caused by unreasonably dangerous or defective products, whether the dangerous defect is in the workmanship or the design of the product. Anyone injured by any kind of dangerous product needs a product liability attorney experienced in litigating these complex and expensive cases. Likewise, handling brain injury cases requires experienced and skilled trial attorneys.

According to a Bloomberg Report, thousands of complaints filed with state insurance departments and court records show that insurance companies pay only 30-60% of what it costs to rebuild homes following catastrophes like fires, hurricanes and tornadoes. These insurance companies do this after having assured homeowners before the disasters that they were fully covered. These insurance companies then make record profits by paying out less to their customers, victims of natural disasters.

During the past dozen years, property and casualty insurance company profits have soared. This is true even after the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina. Those insurance companies posted their highest profits ever in 2006, about $ 73 billion. There are about 60 million homeowners in America who pay about $ 50 billion in homeowners insurance premiums annually. Property insurers routinely and methodically deny and reduce homeowners claims in the wake of these natural catastrophes, heaping profits onto their bottom lines. They regularly refuse to pay market prices for homes, routinely decline to pay replacement cost of the homes' contents, change or ignore engineering reports, change policy coverages, and even ask their adjusters to lie to customers.