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| | Announcements | |
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| | Volunteer to End Distracted Driving | |
| | The American Association for Justice and the non-profit group End Distracted Driving (EndDD) have teamed up to engage plaintiff’s lawyers in helping to spread the message about the dangers of distracted driving, and to get attorneys involved in the movement to end this dangerous practice. As April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, TTLA is encouraging our membership to get involved and become advocates for safer driving in our Texas communities. Please see the message below, and click on the links to find out how you can volunteer to help end distracted driving in Texas. Click on the headline to learn more. | | Share on FB: “The Truth About Torts: Defensive Medicine and the Unsupported Case for Medical Malprac | |
| | A new whitepaper from the Center for Progressive Reform says medical tort reform won’t provide significant savings, since the costs of malpractice insurance and paying injured patients amounts to only 0.3 percent of total healthcare costs each year. Instead, the authors take aim at insurance companies, saying the focus on tort reform and claims about the costs of “defensive medicine” is nothing more than “a politically expedient straw man, allowing policymakers and the insurance industry to ignore or obscure the real drivers of rising medical costs, including the high costs of prescription drugs; the high demand for, and increasing use of, state-of-the-art technology; the growing incidence of chronic diseases; and an aging population that lives longer and consumes more medical care.” Source: Healthcare Finance News by Chris Anderson, Senior Editor | | Products | |
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| | 'Safer' Products Often Contain Harmful Chemicals, Tests Show | |
| | Consumer products such as shampoos and sunscreens, even ones touted as safer, may contain potentially harmful chemicals not listed on their labels, according to a study out today that tested dozens of them. Chemicals that disrupt hormones or affect asthma were found in all 42 of conventional products sampled, as well as in most — 32 of 43 — of the alternative products billed as safer, including some by Seventh Generation, Jason Natural Products and Aubrey Organics, the study by the Silent Spring Institute says. The scientific group studies the links between the environment and women's health. Wendy Koch, USA Today 03/09/2012 | | Read Article: USA Today | | Issues | |
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| | State Agency, Medical Board Fight Release of Fischer Documents | |
| | The Department of State Health Services and the Texas Medical Board are suing the attorney general's office over a decision ordering the release of investigative records on a former state hospital psychiatrist accused of abusing patients. The lawsuit comes more than three months after the American-Statesman asked the state health department to provide personnel records for Dr. Charles Fischer kept during his 20-year-career at Austin State Hospital. Fischer was fired from the psychiatric facility in November amid allegations that he had sexually abused two teen patients in his care.On Feb. 6, the attorney general's office ruled that the department must release investigation documents that the Texas Medical Board sent to Austin State Hospital in December 1990, shortly after Fischer was hired. Those records were kept in Fischer's publicly available personnel file. Andrea Ball, Austin American Statesman 03/09/2012 | | Read Article: Austin American Statesman | | Healthcare | |
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| | Congressman Urges Feds to Investigate Medicare Fraud in Houston | |
| | The chairman of a powerful congressional oversight committee has called for investigations by three federal agencies into wanton Medicare fraud in the Houston region in which ambulance companies, mental health clinics and home health care agencies have cheated taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars. Citing an investigation last year by the Houston Chronicle, U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., R-La., said repeated testimony before a House Ways and Means subcommittee in early 2011 documented concerns about Medicare billing and yet, "Nearly a year later, recent reports out of Texas suggest ... providers continue to operate with impunity." "The cases detailed in the Houston Chronicle are troubling if not surprising," Boustany wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Marilyn B. Tavenner, the acting director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Boustany is chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight. Jacquee Petchel, Houston Chronicle 03/09/2012 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | Insurance | |
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| | 3 Ways Home Insurers Charge More, Cover Less | |
| | As home insurance premiums skyrocket this year, many insurers are cutting back on what used to be standard coverage. Insurers say most cutbacks have occurred in coastal states where coverage has proven too costly and they need to lessen their exposure to risk. Still, weakening coverage comes at an already challenging time for homeowners. Insurance premiums are estimated to rise 5% this year to $1,004 on average, according to the Insurance Information Institute -- and in some cases, deductibles are rising too. In December, State Farm began informing policy holders in Texas with homes insured for at least $100,000 that their deductibles would move from a fixed dollar amount (starting at $500) to at least 1%. On a $300,000 policy, that means a homeowner would have to pay at least $3,000 out of pocket. ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS, Smart Money, WSJ Blogs 03/09/2012 | | Read Article: WSJ Blogs | | Labor/Employment | |
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| | FDNY Entrance Test Ruled Discriminatory | |
| | A New York judge has ruled that the city of New York could owe up to $128 million in damages to minority citizens over potentially discriminatory exams. The judge said that "if the 1999 and 2002 hiring tests had been fair, nearly 300 more blacks and Hispanics would have become firefighters." The damages may be split up between as many as 2,000 local minorities. John Marzulli and Tracy Connor , New York Daily News 03/08/2012 | | Read Article: New York Daily News | | Wrongful Death | |
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| | Fatal Gas Explosion in Texas Prompts Lawsuit | |
| | The death of an Austin man in a natural gas explosion has prompted a lawsuit against Texas Gas Service and Oneok Incorporated. The man died in January when his home suddenly exploded. The suit claims he had reported smelling natural gas a few weeks before the explosion, but nothing was done. Staff Report, KVUE-TV 03/09/2012 | | Read Article: KVUE-TV | | Utah Transportation Dept. Blamed in Fatal Wreck | |
| | Utah parents have filed a lawsuit against the state's Department of Transportation over the death of their 15-year-old daughter in a fatal car wreck. The girl and her father drove into a collapsed portion of the highway that had been caused by water collecting on the road. The suit claims UDOT employees failed to fix the problem and did nothing to warn drivers of the dangerous road conditions. Roxana Orellana, The Salt Lake Tribune 03/07/2012 | | Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune | |
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