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• Bad Nursing Homes Are Everywhere According To Consumer Reports

  M. Brandon Smith | August 07, 2006 2:15 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  According to a recent report issued by Consumer Reports, a consumer tip group, nursing homes around the U.S. are still giving inadequate care for our loved ones and seniors. According to the report, not-for-profit homes generally provide better care than those operated for profit, although most, regardless of whether for profit or non-profit, fell well below the group's standards for a quality...

• Many Deaths Result From Painkiller Patch Abuse

  M. Brandon Smith | August 05, 2006 11:26 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Fentanyl patches, first made Johnson and Johnson under the brand name Duragesic, have increasingly become an area for concern in recent years. Primarily designed for cancer patients and others with chronic pains, these prescription only patches are causing an alarming number of deaths in the United States alone. Many are said to be abusing the painkiller patches by squeezing the drug off the...

• Conseco Agrees To $100.3 Million Dollar Class Action Settlement

  M. Brandon Smith | August 05, 2006 12:01 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Insurer Conseco Inc., has agreed to a $100.3 million class action settlement for a suit filed against it in 2004. The suit alleges the insurer charged consumers desiring life insurance policies excessive premiums or forced others to surrender their existing polices for cash in order to increase the company's finances. The suit is still subject to the court's approval but appears to be in line...

• Second Lipitor Patent Found To Be Invalid

  M. Brandon Smith | August 04, 2006 5:19 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  The federal Court of Appeals recently found the second of Pfizer's patents on Lipitor to be invalid. This could cost Pfizer, the world's biggest drug manufacture, billions of dollars in lost sales. The federal court ruling essentially shortens the mega manufacture's exclusive right to sale Lipitor by 15 months. After the patent expires, other manufactures have the ability to generically produce...

• $111 Million Suit Filed Against Home Depot

  M. Brandon Smith | June 14, 2006 9:36 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Jay and Laura Flynn recently filed a $111 Million suit against Home Depot and the manufacture of a defective grout-sealing product the mega home retailer sold them in July of 2005. According to the complaint, the product's fumes permanently damaged his lungs and dramatically affected every facet of his daily life.According to the AJC.comFlynn's breathing difficulties have caused him to quit his...

• Vioxx: New Insight On The VIGOR Study

  M. Brandon Smith | June 08, 2006 2:42 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Did Merck & Co. act appropriately back in 1999 when it discovered the dangers of heart attack and stroke associated with its product Vioxx? A new article published in today's NPR puts that question to the test by questioning three renown scientists who are authorities on heart disease and clinical studies about the VIGOR study. For more information about this article on the VIGOR study click here

• First California Vioxx Trial to Start June 21, 2006

  M. Brandon Smith | June 08, 2006 9:13 AM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  With the first of two Vioxx trials to start on June 21, 2006, Merck & Co. has filed a motion for summary judgment on the case of a 73 year-old man who had a heart attack after taking Vioxx. The basis of the motion is that the lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had ran in California. A hearing on that motion is set for June 15, 2006. Although the motion is most likely to be...

• Speed Leads to Double Fatality In Cobb

  M. Brandon Smith | June 06, 2006 6:14 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Jose Guadalupe Ramirez, 25, and Raul De la Paz, 23, died after Ramirez tried passing several other vehicles in a no passing lane last week according to police. Speed was also said to be a contributing factor in the accident as Ramirez' vehicle left Macland Road in Cobb County and slammed into a nearby tree. The other two occupants of the vehicle however survived the accident with minimal...

• Ibuprofen Said To Double Chance Of Heart Attack

  M. Brandon Smith | June 02, 2006 4:01 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, those who take Ibuprofen in high doses for long periods of time more than double the chances of having a heart attack when compared to those who use the drug less often. The common painkiller, which is available over the counter without the necessity of a prescription, is ingested daily by millions of consumers to treat pains...

• Mad Cow Lawsuit Filed In Georgia

  M. Brandon Smith | March 31, 2006 2:06 PM | 0 CommentsAtlanta, GA

  Lawyers for Tracy Price, a Henry County school teacher, filed a lawsuit against Emory University Hospital for exposing her to the human form of mad cow disease. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD as it is more commonly known, is a degenerative brain disease that causes dementia, muscle problems and eventually death. According to research, most patients who begin to show symptoms of CJD die within...