April 2010 Archives

Aah, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys salute you.

Yes, Philadelphia. Pa personal injury lawyers love you for your track record in awarding exorbitantly high pharmaceutical damages.

Ever heard of AstraZeneca? It's a drug manufacturer based out of Wilmington, Delaware. And earlier this week, it faced off against the feds-- Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, to be exact.

AstraZeneca was allegedly marketing it's drug, Seroquel, for uses that were not approved by federal drug regulators. Some of these uses were insomnia and various psychiatric conditions.

Are Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys finding a lighter caseload in the medical malpractice arena?

According to a report released last week  by Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, it would certainly appear so. This is certainly a contrast from the numbers in the early part of the decade, according to the study.

Why is medical malpractice such a hot topic among Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers? The popularity of the topic has much to do with the fact that Philadelphia is notorious for awarding extremely generous verdicts in medical malpractice cases. As a result, the number of Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys has risen and medical malpractice lawsuits are hardly uncommon for Pa personal injury lawyers.

In light of a recent safety announcement by the federal Food and Drug Administration, U.S. regulators are reviewing the safety of the diabetes medication, Avandia, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

GlaxoSmithKline, which has significant operations in the Philadelphia region, is now coming to the forefront in raising concerns among Pa personal injury lawyers.

A New Jersey man was arrested over the weekend after accusations of intentionally vomiting on an eleven year old girl at a Phillies game.

The man, twenty one year old Matthew Clemmens, was allegedly drunk at the baseball game with his friends when he stuck his fingers down his throat and vomited on the girl; who was watching the Phillies game with her father and fifteen year old sister.

Unfortunately for Matthew Clemmens, the girl he regurgitated on was the daughter of an off-duty police officer, Captain Michael Vangelo of the Easton Police Department.

The Internet presents new waters for Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys to navigate. The law is still not fully defined in this area and many questions remain. New areas of tort and personal injury are constantly emerging and Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys find themselves learning new causes of action every few months, in the area of Internet torts.

Take this Florida case, for example. A man is being sued for $15,000 for allegedly leaving a bad remark on an eBay account.

While Ben Roethlisberger was exonerated of all criminal charges, doubts still remain as to his liability in the alleged sexual abuse incident. As such, PA personal injury attorneys and football fans alike aren't giving this Pittsburgh Steeler's quarterback the benefit of the doubt just yet.

The Massachusetts District Attorney on the Phoebe Prince case has described the inaction of school officials as troublesome, but not criminal. In light of those remarks, Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers should consider the issue of tort liability arising from cases of school bullying.

While the school administration in the Phoebe Prince case might not be held up to a criminal measure of liability, court papers emerged detailing the calls for help made by Phoebe Prince to school officials; along with the torturous final days she endured at the hands of bullies.

In one alleged incident, the court papers describe a verbal assault that took place "right near the teachers", where defendant Sharon Chanon Velazquez started yelling the "f" word and was calling Phoebe Prince a "ho".

In another alleged incident, Phoebe Prince spoke to a school administrator. In her conversation with the school administrator, she said that she was scared of an impending attack based on verbal threats made by defendant Flannery Mullins. No action was taken, according to a witness, and Phoebe Prince returned to class. There were at least two other reported allegations of Phoebe Prince informing the school about the bullying. And while a student was suspended for one day involving verbal comments made to Phoebe, PA personal injury attorneys and personal injury attorneys across the country, are asking: Was it enough?

At what point to PA personal injury lawyers balance the competing interests of a client's right to privacy and the public's right to be informed?

That is the question being fought over in Orlando, as images of the SeaWorld whale attack are being fought over. But it's not the paparazzi fighting over these pictures. This time, it's the victim's family that is seeking to enjoin the dissemination of the images to the public.

Dawn Brancheau was killed last month when a killer whale dragged her into the water and thrashed her around at Orlando SeaWorld. The images were gruesome and have not yet been released to the public. In fact, Brancheau's family filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of the images and video from the tragic day. Currently, the video is with the Orange County Sheriff department in Florida, although there have been several inquires about it.  

Toyota is under fire again.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking a civil penalty of nearly $16.4 million against Toyota Motor Corp. for ignoring the sticky pedal situation for over four months when the automaker failed to report the NHTSA of the defect. The NHTSA falls under the U.S. Department of Transportation.

As most Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys would confirm, this is the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an automaker by the NHTSA.

Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys hear many stories about car accidents and product recalls, but they don't hear as many stories of the tort of nuisance.

The owners of a house in Bucks County has been slapped with a lawsuit for allegedly having pizza boxes piled to the ceiling and for causing problems in the local sewage system. According to local complaints, the house has a broken sewage system and the owner has allegedly been using the kitchen sink as a toilet, threatening the area's water supply.

A lawsuit was filed in Wrightstown, Bucks County, against the owner of the ranch-style house. The lawsuit filed by the township alleged that the house was a public hazard

Although Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys are off the hook on this case because it's being filed in Florida, the story still hits home for many Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Steelers receiver, Santonio Holmes, denies claims that he hurt a woman in Orlando; after allegedly throwing a glass at her in a nightclub on March 7.

Holmes insisted to police that the alleged victim grabbed his wrist and called him a racial name.

The plaintiff, Anshonae Mills, claims that the Steelers receiver hit her with a glass after she refused to give up her seat. 

The court documents allege that Holmes threw a glass of booze at the woman's face. This move cut her near the eye. The nightclub then allegedly removed the woman, and the Orlando Police refused to write a police report, according to Mills' claims. 

In light of the recent arrests of nine Massachusetts teens for the bullying and subsequent suicide of Phoebe Prince, authorities are looking into the teenage violence-- and the alleged "ignorance" of school administrators. 

Next stop after Massachusetts: Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia's youth violence problem has hit the streets with the recent "flash mobs." But the issue of teenage violence extends beyond flash mobs. Now, investigations are ongoing in an incident of racial bullying at a Philadelphia school. In December, an aggregate of 26 Asian students were attacked at a South Philadelphia high school. The Justice Department is looking into the claims that school administrators ignored the racial bullying at the Philadelphia school.  

So what is a school's responsibility to keep its students safe from bullying? What should PA personal injury lawyers know about school bullying and the tort liability of school administrators in light of the recent bullying events?