Announcements | | | TTLA Annual Meeting & Advanced PI CLE December 1-2, Hotel ZaZa Houston | | Formerly the TTLA Annual Conference, our December event is now the Annual Meeting & Advanced PI CLE! We've streamlined this event and we're now offering a one-day Advanced PI CLE, along with the Annual Membership & Board Meeting, President's Luncheon, and a spectacular Holiday Party at the home of Steve and Amber Mostyn. Topics include: Trucking, Immigration, Insurance Bad Faith, Discovery, Cross Examination And More! | Products | | | Federal Officials Issue Alert on Cancer-Causing Erionite | | Federal health officials are calling for protective measures at job sites where workers may be exposed to erionite, a cancer-causing mineral similar to asbestos that is found in rock and soil in at least a dozen western states. An advisory published Tuesday by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended a series of steps to prevent employee exposure to eronite fibers at sites such as gravel quarries and road projects. The NIOSH alert noted that erionite was responsible for “remarkably high” rates of mesothelioma, a lethal form of cancer, that devastated several Turkish villages where erionite was concentrated in rock and soil. Myron Levin, Fair Warning 11/22/2011 | Read Article: Fair Warning | Laws/Cases | | | PA Medical Firm Ex-Officials Get Prison for Unapproved Trial of Bone Cement that Left 3 Dead | | The Synthes North America officials are among the first corporate officials sent to prison for misdemeanor pleas as “responsible corporate officers” under the 1975 Park Doctrine. According to U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis, the Synthes officials wanted to beat their competitors to market without going through the lengthy process of getting the bone cement product approved by the FDA. So they plotted to train select surgeons in its off-label use and then have the doctors publish their findings, the judge said. The program continued even after a patient died in surgery in Texas in 2003 and another died in California. Associated Press, The Washington Post 11/22/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post | Former AIG Chief Greenberg’s Company Suing US Over Bailout | | A company run by the former CEO of American International Group Inc. is suing the government for $25 billion in damages over its taxpayer bailout of the big insurer. Former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg’s current company — Starr International — filed lawsuits Monday in two federal courts against the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The suits accuse the government of taking valuable assets from AIG’s shareholders without their consent or fair compensation, in exchange for the government’s 80 percent stake in the company. The suit says the government’s actions violate parts of the Fifth Amendment. Associated Press, The Washington Post 11/22/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post | | | | |