Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

A settlement was reached this week in a class action lawsuit involving claims that a dental insurance policy sold to Medicaid recipients living in nursing homes was in violation of Oklahoma law.

Under the $900,000 settlement agreement, the lawyer would get a third in attorneys' fees and the named plaintiff would get $10,000. Everyone else - the 1,600 people that ostensibly got the raw deal - would get about $ 21 for each month they were in the Oklahoma Medicaid program and paid their premiums for dental insurance.

Lawyers make out pretty good in these consumer class action lawsuits. The actual victims usually don't fare as well.

You can read about the court's approval of the settlement in Childs v. Unified Life Insurance Company (that just sounds made up) here.

Wells Enterprises is voluntarily recalling a limited number of packages of its Blue Bunny® Personals® ice cream, due to a mispackaging incident.

On a limited number of packages, the lid indicates the product as Blue Bunny Super Chunky Cookie Dough ice cream, while the carton itself indicates the product as Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic ice cream. The product contained in the is Super Chunky Cookie Dough. The ingredient statement on the carton does not declare wheat, which is an ingredient in the Super Chunky Cookie Dough product. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat and/or have gluten sensitivities may be at risk from consuming these products.

The mispackaged Blue Bunny ice cream was distributed in 5.5 fl oz. The cartons affected are indicated by Lot Number 10009 “Best Used By” date 10/1/2012, - UPC 0 70640 00463. The lot number and UPC can be found printed on the side of the carton.

The affected product was shipped to the following states: Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Wisconsin, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Wells Enterprises became aware of the packaging error after receiving a report from a store that the lid and cup were for different products. The allergy alert and recall relates only to the above mentioned mispackaged Blue Bunny ice cream. No other Blue Bunny ice cream products are affected.

Oklahoma's average malpractice award payment is $230,787. The national average is $285,218.

Related Posts:

Some in the Oklahoma Legislature want to leap into the abyss of unreasonable caps on non-economic damages in Oklahoma medical malpractice case. Oklahoma House Bill 1603 would provide a maximum of $300,000 for pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases in Oklahoma.

You can find the story here.

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed into law a medical malpractice tort reform law in Oklahoma. Called the "Affordable Access to Health Care Act" (“Let’s Stop Victims from Getting Fair Compensation” was already taken), the law requires a certificate of merit by a medical expert before a nursing home or medical malpractice lawyer in Oklahoma can file a claim.

As I’ve written before, I’m fine with this new Oklahoma rule. I’m also okay – I guess – with the rule that attorney fees are no longer awarded to plaintiffs in nursing home liability lawsuits (although that rule seemed fair). My problem with this bill is that it puts a $300,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries and emergency care. In other words, they are putting a cap on what are usually the most serious medical malpractice cases where the victims have suffered the most.
Bad law but it received large support in Oklahoma City.

My two volume treatise Insurance Settlements is now available from James Publishing. The book discusses how to position a lawyer's car accident, truck accident, medical malpractice or product liability case to the best possible settlement at every step along the way (until the state's high court affirms the judgment).

Click on the James Publishing link. If you have any comments on the book, please email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com under the subject "Insurance Settlements Comments."

Our lawyers are reviewing Byetta claims after the FDA announced this week that the diabetes drug has been linked to severe pancreatic problems in dozens of patients. On Monday, the FDA warned patients taking Byetta to discontinue use if they develop symptoms of the disorder. Further the FDA said that doctor prescribing Byetta should consider other prescription options for patients with a history of pancreas problems.

Since Byetta was introduced into the United States in 2005, more than 700,000 patients have used the Byetta.

Our lawyers are now exploring potential Byetta lawsuits. If you would like to discuss your case with a Byetta lawyer, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consulation/case evaluation (or even to answer any question you may have). For more information on Byetta and the concerns with Byetta, click here.

Last week, Digitek manufacturer Actavis Totowa recalled over 65 different drugs made at their New Jersey manufacturing plant. The list of recalled drugs (in some form or another) includes such generic drugs as Bellamine, Buspirone, Carisoprodol, Oxycodone Meperidine, and Rifampin. This strengthens the conclusion that the New Jersey plant that made these drugs may be the cause of irregularities in Actavis medications.

In April 2008, Actavis recalled Digitek, a drug prescribed to treat heart failure and irregular heartbeat because it was discovered that Digitek tablets appeared to have double the thickness – and likely double the active ingredient – listed on the label. When Digitek is given in abnormally high doses it can lead to digitalis toxicity which, paradoxically, worsens the problems Digitek is intended to treat, causing nausea or lower blood pressure and other side effects from the Digitek overdose that can lead to the increased risk of stroke or a heart attack.

If you would like to speak to a Digitek recall lawyer about a potential Digitek lawsuit, call 1-800-553-8000. For more information on the Digitek overdose recall or a free consultation on your potential Digitek case, click here.

Zimmer's Durom Cup hip implants are likely to be the subject of a good number of lawsuits from patients with the Zimmer implants. But they will not be the only ones. Apparently, Zimmer’s own shareholders may agree that Zimmer left its hip implant on the market way too long. Last week, shareholders of Zimmer stock filed a class action in Indiana. Interestingly, the lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who purchased stock between January 28, 2008 and July 21, 2008. This tells our Zimmer hip implant recall lawyers that these shareholders believe that Zimmer knew or should have known and issued a recall on or before January 28, 2008.

If your Zimmer Durom hip resurfacing cup was defective, call our Zimmer hip implant lawyers at 1-800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation.

More information on the Zimmer Hip Implant Recall
History of the Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Implant Recall
More information on the Zimmer hip implant recall lawsuits

Jury Verdict Research(r) study reports that rotator cuff injuries reached a 7-year high in 2006 with a compensatory award median of $72,667. This is almost 50% higher than previous reported settlements and verdicts in rotator cuff injury cases.

Our lawyers have never understood while the national data in these cases was so low. Washington D.C. rotator cuff injuries have averaged well over $100,000 for rotator cuff settlements and verdicts so we have never understood why the national average was as low as it has been. In any event, for whatever reason, rotator cuff verdicts are on the rise.

Our lawyers handle rotator cuff injury cases throughout the United States. Our lawyers have handled scores of rotator cuff injuries in car and truck accidents, typically in side collision or "T-bone" accidents. Our lawyers believe that insurance companies do not give fair value in most rotator cuff injury cases and our lawyers will fight to get you the financial compensation you deserve. Call a rotator cuff lawyer to protect you at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation and case evaulation.

Related Posts

What Is the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim? (how the value of rotator cuff and other person injury settlements are calculated)

Sample Demand Letter (sample letter demanding settlement in a personal injury case)

Handling Your Claim Without a Lawyer (tips and pratfalls)

Lawyers representing Digitek overdose victims have filed nine lawsuits in New Jersey against Actavis Totowa LLL and its parent company Actavis Group, alleging a manufacturing defect in Digitek, namely that some Digitek tablets have contained twice the active ingredient of the drug. Digitek recall lawsuits have also been filed in West Virginia and California.

Our Digitek recall lawyers are reviewing these Digitek overdose cases in all 50 states expecting that a consolidated class action lawsuit will be appropriate (as opposed to this scatting of individual cases). If you want to discuss your case with one of our Digitek lawyers call us at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation or click here for a free Internet consultation.

Medical malpractice claims statistics from the Oklahoma Insurance Department are certainly not music to the ears of Oklahoma medical malpractice lawyers and their clients.

In 2006, 805 medical malpractice claims that resolved in Oklahoma. The malpractice cases was dismissed in 59, or almost 70%. Of the remaining medical malpractice case, 181 settled and 20 went to trial. The average claim settlement or award in 2006 was $257,887. The total amount paid in settlements and verdicts was just shy of $50 million.

A plaintiff who is required to submit to an "independent medical examination" may videotape the exam according to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Click here for more on this ruling.

Oklahoma does not require nursing homes licensed in Oklahoma to carry insurance. Oklahoma State Senator Richard Lerblance submitted this session a bill requiring nursing homes to carry liability insurance. The Journal Record (OK) quotes an opponent as saying, “Would you rather take care of the patient or pay liability insurance? With low reimbursement rates, it’s almost impossible to do both.”

What a false choice. If you cannot make a profit and still pay for insurance, you should get out of the business because you are not running a profitable company.

How can it possibly make sense that auto insurance is mandatory but medical malpractice insurance and nursing home insurance is not mandatory?

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals stuck down last week a statute designed to limit medical malpractice cases in Oklahoma. The 2003 medical malpractice statute at issue can only be described as draconian, requiring anyone filing a medical malpractice lawsuit to serve a summons on the defendant within 180 days. The Oklahoma court reasoned that this statute is unconstitutional because the law treats medical negligence plaintiffs differently that plaintiffs in other personal injury cases.

This is a big win for Oklahoma medical malpractice lawyers and their clients.

Welcome to our blog covering injury law and policy throughout the United States.