Blog - CGWC

Proposed Bill Would Hold Nursing Homes Accountable - Saturday, February 23, 2008

Over the last 7 or 8 years, many of our clients will attest that nursing home operators have effectively insulated themselves from accountability for abusing and neglecting their residents, many of whom are Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, cheating the government out of money and families out of good health care. They have done this by creating mazes of corporations, limited liability companies, real estate investment trusts, and other legal but suspect business entities, in arrangements that protect assets and revenues from abused and neglected residents and their families who seek civil justice in American courtrooms. Most insurance companies won't even insure these companies for liability because of the poor care they provide routinely and systematically all over the United States. This leaves injured residents and their families with little legal recourse and their attorneys frustrated in their attempts to hold these companies, many of whom are wealthy investment groups, responsible for the damage, injuries and deaths they've caused.

If Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has his way, a new bill proposed this month may change this trend and hold nursing home operators accountable. He has proposed the Nursing Home Transparency And Improvement Act of 2008 which would require disclosure of identity of owners and their affiliated entities, together with other remedies aimed at improving care and fairness to nursing home residents and their families. This bill is a good start, but even if it passes, it probably does not go far enough to assure fairness and a level playing field in the civil justice system. While it does require operators to identify and disclose entities involved in the operation of nursing homes, it does not address many other concerns prevalent in cases we see every day when seeking justice for nursing home residents and their families. Concerns like unfair arbitration clauses in admission agreements that residents and family members sign unwittingly and at an extremely stressful time when subject to undue influence from caregivers, social workers, and nursing home administrators. Concerns like the lack of mandatory liability insurance or self-insurance in adequate amounts to assure that nursing home operators are financially responsible and can pay for damages, injuries, or death that they cause while taking in millions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars for profit.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect or injured in a nursing home or assisted living facility, call the experienced attorneys at CGWC for a free consultation.

Bayer's Trasylol Killed 1,000 Patients Per Month - Monday, February 18, 2008

According to a 60 Minutes investigative report, this dangerous drug was on the market for 14 years and may have contributed to the deaths of thousands of patients. Trasylol was a big money maker for Bayer and was being given to thousands of surgery patients. Partly as a result of an expensive and aggressive marketing campaign, Trasylol was being used in about 1/3 of all open heart surgery cases by 2006. Then, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine comparing patients who were given Trasylol with patients who either received no anti-bleeding medication or were given other generics, showed dramatically increased risks of stroke, heart failure, and kidney failure requiring dialysis for those patients who were given Trasylol.

As it turns out, there were concerns about Trasylol even before the NEJM study. Long before the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) took it off the market, major studies revealed problems with Trasylol. Why did Bayer not take this drug off the market immediately? What did Bayer know about its dangers? And when did Bayer know it?

According to 60 Minutes there were concerns as far back as the 1980's when Dr. Juergen Fischer, director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine at the University of Cologne told Bayer that Trasylol was causing severe kidney damage in animals. He says Bayer was disinterested in investigating these potential side-effects. A later study in the early 1990's by a top heart surgeon at the Missouri Baptist Medical Center also showed a high incidence of kidney problems after Trasylol regimens. Last year, a Canadian study of Trasylol had to be stopped because patients in the study were dying.

Worse yet, other drugs costing hundreds of dollars less than Trasylol can accomplish the same anti-bleeding goals without the dangers of kidney failure, stroke, and heart failure. According to the author of the NEJM study, about 22,000 deaths were caused between the time of the study and the date the drug was taken off the market.

If you or a loved one had open heart surgery and then had complications of heart failure, stroke, or kidney failure, the complications may have been caused by Trasylol. If you suspect this drug may have killed or injured you or a loved one, call CGWC for a free conultation. The attorneys at CGWC are actively engaged in the litigation of Trasylol cases right now. Unlike many firms who advertise for such cases, the attorneys at CGWC actually handle Trasylol cases from our Orlando offices and hold membership in the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Trasylol Litigation Group.

High Volume Drugstores And Prescription Errors - Thursday, February 14, 2008

A USA Today investigation has revealed that profit driven corporate policies contribute to frequent pharmacy errors at the big chain drugstores, like Walgreens and CVS. The mega-companies establish policies that allow or encourage pharmacists to fill hundreds of prescriptions each day and even reward the pharmacists for fast work. Of course, speed can kill in drugstores, just as it does on public streets.

According to the investigation, some of the stores owned and operated by these big businesses have pharmacists working long shifts with few breaks while filling these hundreds of prescriptions each day. They also rely on lesser trained technicians to help licensed pharmacists process and package prescriptions in an attempt to meet guidelines for speed in filling prescriptions. Sometimes these guidelines set goals of as little as two minutes to fill a prescription. Some professional pharmacists and unions say this leaves little time to counsel patients about a new prescription while also contributing toward human error in the process.

Walgreens even pays bonuses to pharmacists and pharmacy managers for increased volume of filled prescriptions. Until recently, CVS had similar compensation bonus programs. Pharmacists in these chain drugstores are worried about workloads and staffing pressures and are more likely to say they are stressed by these influences than pharmacists overall according to national surveys.

Avoid being a victim of prescription error by knowing your medications and why you are taking them, inspecting your pills when you leave the store, knowing and understanding your specific dosage, sticking to one drugstore, and really communicating with your pharmacist. Don't assume your prescription is safe. If it looks different from the medication you expected to receive in any way, ask questions and be certain you've received the right medicine and the correct dosage.

While most prescription errors fortunately don't result in major health complications, some errors can have catastrophic consequences, including death. If you or a loved one has been the victim of prescription error, CGWC is here when you need us.

The Keys To The Courthouse - Saturday, February 09, 2008

In modern day America, anyone who hires corporate lawyers for their small business, real estate or transactional lawyer for real estate or other transactions, or estate planning lawyers to handle end of life legal affairs knows how expensive hourly attorneys' fees can be. Civil litigation is often lengthy and uncertain for both sides. As a result, accurately predicting the attorneys' fees that will be necessary to conclude a case is virtually impossible. In addition, other expenses, including court costs, witness fees, fees for experts or other witnesses with specialized knowledge whose testimony is necessary to prove or defend a civil case can be staggering.

Only the wealthiest of Americans can afford the hourly fees and additional costs of litigating complicated and uncertain civil disputes. When someone is injured or, worse, a family breadwinner killed in a serious accident, a family's financial resources are strained further, leaving them without access to the civil justice system for all practical purposes. For this reason, the contingency fee arrangement for paying trial attorneys became a time honored tradition long ago, providing the common man the keys to the courthouse and access to an even playing field in the civil justice system. In addition to providing access to the courts to the average American, including middle class, working class and the poor, retaining an attorney on a contingent fee basis also provides a powerful motivation to the attorney to work diligently and achieve a satisfactory result for his or her client.

In contingency fee cases, the attorney never gets paid, unless the client wins in court or the attorney is able to achieve a reasonable settlement. Can you imagine a doctor or any other professional agreeing to be paid only if they get a satisfactory result? At CGWC, we only handle cases on a contingency fee basis. We do not get paid any amount for attorneys' fees unless we win your case in court or are successful in extracting a reasonable settlement of your civil dispute. In addition, in most cases, we advance the expenses and costs of litigation on your behalf and risk losing that "investment" unless we are successful in getting you the justice you deserve. Contrary to popular belief, we have no incentive to take on "frivolous" cases, advancing thousands and thousands of dollars that we would lose if a judge or jury decided your case was undeserving. The contingency fee attorney is indeed the average man's keys to the courthouse and the open door to justice. Without this time honored practice, most Americans would be at mercy of the rich and powerful and big business.

Effect of FHP Shortage on Public Safety - Friday, February 08, 2008

It was recently reported that there are 200 vacant Florida Highway Patrol trooper positions statewide. In fact, at the time of the 70 car pile-up on Interstate 4 in Polk County, there were only two troopers patrolling Polk County, which is roughly the size of the entire state of Delaware. This shortage not only diminishes the physical presence of visible cruisers, but it also likely decreases the existing troopers abilities to adequately investigate accidents.

The physical presence of FHP troopers on the highways is the single most effective means of encouraging motorists compliance with speed limits, for example. Speed kills. We've all been driving on interstates and toll roads in Florida at the speed limit, only to be passed like we were sitting still. The faster a motorist is traveling, the less reaction time they have to respond to sudden dangers, like the fog and smoke that enveloped I-4 in Polk County.

Florida troopers are respected, dedicated, skilled, professionals. But lets face it. They are being asked to do the impossible. And investigation of accidents, particularly traffic deaths, which require time intensive and detailed investigation and coordination with other law enforcement arms, such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, are likely not getting the attention and detail necessary for adequate determination of the cause of accidents.

If you or a loved one are involved in an auto accident and the accident report doesn't adequately or accurately represent what occurred, you should know an accident report is generally not evidence in a civil lawsuit, as it merely represents the opinion of the investigating officer. It is the witnesses to the accident and the physical evidence at the scene that a jury is asked to assess when assigning fault for an accident. Some witnesses may not be listed on the accident report. Critical witnesses may have never even spoken to the investigating officer who is often pressed for time and perhaps even needed at yet another accident scene.

n the unfortunate event of an accident, the sooner you retain an attorney to investigate your accident independently, the less likely a poor investigation will harm your legal rights. So, don't wait to retain legal counsel. Time is precious and evidence disappears and the memory of witnesses grows stale. Call the experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at CGWC if you are involved in an accident, and protect your legal rights.

CGWC Partners Named SuperLawyers - Saturday, February 02, 2008

CGWC partners Stewart L. Colling, Ronald S. Gilbert & Melvin B. Wright have been named Super Lawyers for 2008 by Law & Politics magazine. Law & Politics selects lawyers for this listing after extensive polling and research designed to identify attorneys who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Annually, Law & Politics sends a ballot to lawyers in each state asking them to nominate the best lawyers they've personally seen in action. Only 5% of lawyers in each region are awarded the Super Lawyer recognition.

Child Car Seats Recalled - Friday, February 01, 2008

Evenflo has recalled a million child car seats after tests by the company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the base could become detached in high impact side collisions. Several Discovery Infant Car Seat models are affected by the recall which was a voluntary one. If your family owns one of the affected seats you should immediately contact Evenflo for information on returning the model or obtaining a tether device to make it safe.

Evenflo is to be commended for this voluntary recall, but many product manufacturers are not so responsible and place unreasonably dangerous and defective products on the market recklessly. These products cause untold harm, including serious injuries and death to the unsuspecting public.

The public has a right to expect products on the U.S. market to be safe for intended uses. If you or a family member has been injured or killed in an accident that may have involved an unsafe consumer product or an unsafe industrial product, contact the experienced product liability attorneys at CGWC for a free consultation about your legal rights.