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| | Drug Company to Pay in Price-Inflation Lawsuit | |
| | Drug company McKesson Corp. has agreed to pay $151 million to settle a lawsuit with 29 states over alleged price inflation of hundreds of prescription drugs, which defrauded state Medicaid programs. The lawsuit accused the company of artificially inflating prices by as much as 25 percent over nearly a decade starting in 2001. Wire Report, Kansas City Star 07/27/2012 | | Read Article: Kansas City Star | | Man 'Drank Himself to Death' At Casino, Suit Says | |
| | A casino in Mississippi has been hit with a $75 million lawsuit accusing staffers of causing the death of a Virginia man in 2009 by "plying him with too many free drinks." According to the suit, the man was on several pain killers at the time and was falling down drunk, but casino employees continued to serve him. Family members say they found him dead in his room later that night. Michael Winter, USA Today 07/27/2012 | | Read Article: USA Today | | Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over Illegal Bone Cement | |
| | The family of a Dallas woman who died during spinal surgery in 2003 has filed a lawsuit against the doctor performing the operation and the company who made the bone cement used in the procedure. The suit claims Synthes "ignored approval and labeling procedures" while promoting the bone cement to doctors in the early 2000s; three patients, including the victim in this case, died in clinical trials for the product. David Sell, Philadelphia Inquirer 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Philadelphia Inquirer | | Banks Accused of Manipulating Libor Rate | |
| | A New York lender has filed a lawsuit against a group of banks that set a key global interest rate, accusing the group of rate manipulation. In the suit, the community bank claims the defendants unlawfully suppressed benchmark interest rates, cheating small lenders out of interest income. This is the second recent lawsuit accusing the group of Libor rate manipulation. Staff Report, Chicago Tribune 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune | | Penn State Aims to Settle Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Quickly | |
| | Penn State intends to settle lawsuits stemming from the sexual abuse of children by its former assistant football coach "as quickly as possible" and is "adequately covered" to compensate victims, the university's president has said. In an interview with CBS's Face the Nation, Rodney Erickson expressed a desire to avoid putting those targeted by predatory paedophile Jerry Sandusky through the ordeal of a civil trial. Matt Williams, The Guardian (UK) 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: The Guardian (UK) | | A Tragic Accident and a Continuing Legal Battle | |
| | Michelle Gaines was the most popular girl at Palestine High School and was preparing to head off to college. Her plans ended on June 11, 2006, when an 18-wheeler hauling an oil rig careened through a red light and crashed into her 2000 Buick. Now, at the age of 26, Gaines has the mental maturity of a 12-year-old, no short-term memory and no peripheral vision. In 2010, a jury awarded Gaines more than $8M in damages. The truck’s driver, its owner and another businessman involved with the oil rig were held liable, and the jury agreed with Gaines’ lawyers, who argued that after the accident there was an effort to cover up the businessman’s involvement with bribes and by destroying evidence. But the 12th Court of Appeals overturned the verdict last year, ruling there was not enough proof that the businessman was liable in the accident. Mike Gaines and his daughter’s lawyers say that her future now rests with the TX Sup Crt, which previously declined to hear the case. They say that if the court does not reconsider, it could set a precedent that allows defendants to avoid responsibility for their actions by destroying evidence and bribing witnesses. Brandi Grissom, Texas Tribune 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune | | Issues | |
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| | Truck Owner Wants DEA to Pay After Botched Sting | |
| | The phone rang before sunrise. It woke Craig Patty, owner of a tiny N TX trucking company, to vexing news about Truck 793 - a big red semi supposedly getting repairs in Houston. Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the DEA was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers. Chapa was shot dead in front of more than a dozen law enforcement officers - all of them taken by surprise by hijackers trying to steal the red Kenworth T600 truck. But eight months later, Patty still can't get recompense from the U.S. government's decision to use his truck and employee without his permission. Dane Schiller, Houston Chronicle 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | Insurance | |
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| | Farmers Seeks 15% Rate Increase for TX Homeowners Insurance | |
| | Homeowners covered by Farmers Insurance will see their second premium increase this year, the company told state regulators Friday, planning to boost the cost of most policies in Texas by an average of 15%. The higher rates would affect 520,000 Farmers customers who have either a Texas Family Home policy or a Next Generation Homeowners policy. The rates will take effect for new policies and renewals starting Sept. 18. Farmers customers’ rates were raised nearly 10 percent March 16. A consumer group called on state Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman to reject the latest proposed rates. TERRENCE STUTZ, The Dallas Morning News 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News | | Windstorm Coverage: Costly for Governmental Agencies | |
| | Some of Nueces County's most important buildings carry private insurance policies against wind- and hailstorms instead of those offered by TWIA, the insurer of last resort for more than 255,000 property owners on the TX Coast. Getting wind- and hailstorm insurance has for decades been a challenge for property owners in the 14 coastal counties bordering the Gulf of Mexico known as Tier-1 counties and a small part of Harris County. "It's all about the money," said Charlie Zahn, chairman of the Coastal Windstorm Insurance Task Force. "You take a $300 million facility with a three-quarter million premium and a home with a $500 to $2,000 premium, the company is not willing to gamble on that but they will on such a large premium." Rick Spruill, Corpus Christi Caller Times 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Corpus Christi Caller Times | | Op-Ed | |
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| | Seth J. Chandler: To Fix TWIA Mess, Focus on the Fundamental | |
| | There is an awful lot of research showing that we can lessen the damage hurricanes cause by very tough building codes and other infrastructure improvements. A second approach is to try to decorrelate the risks. Texas could pool its windstorm risk with CA's earthquake risk, WA state's volcano risk or windstorm risk from another region and and the third approach is, frankly, to develop a greater tolerance for the high rates that come with insuring correlated risk. Seth J. Chandler, Foundation Professor of Law at the UH Law Center, Houston Chronicle 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | Alex Winslow: Results, Accountability Matter | |
| | In 2003, some politicians and lobbyists made a pack of promises about what they alleged would happen if voters approved a ballot proposition that severely and arbitrarily restricted the legal rights of Texas patients. They said Texans would see better, cheaper and more accessible care. The result has been that Texas ranks dead last in the quality of health care, our health care costs are soaring at a rate faster than the national average, we rank near the bottom in the number of doctors who actually see patients, and we have the highest rate of people without health insurance. That is hardly the kind of track record that calls for staying the course. And, yet, the lobbyists continue to argue in favor of even more restrictions on the ability of Texas residents to exercise their legal right to accountability. They consistently claim this will be good for the public at-large. Numerous academic studies by independent organizations and legal scholars prove that argument to be a fallacy. Whether we are talking about patients, policyholders, or small business owners, we have seen time and again that when lobbyists succeed in stripping or curtailing individual legal rights, the public is harmed. The only ones who benefit are a narrow group of special interests. Alex Winslow, Amarillo Globe-News 07/30/2012 | | Read Article: Amarillo Globe-News | |
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