Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog

Yamaha Recalls ATVs After 46 Deaths

Yamaha has finally recalled its Rhino ATVs. These vehicles have been the subject of a number of products liability lawsuits, and have been shown to be very dangerous. It's sad that Yamaha waited until there were 46 deaths from incidents involving the Rhinos, but at least they will be off the market for a while. Here are excerpts from an Associated Press story today:

Yamaha Motor Corp. USA recalled about 120,000 off-highway recreational vehicles for repairs Tuesday, after two models were involved in 46 deaths.

All Rhino 450 and 660 model vehicles were recalled for repairs designed to prevent accidents that resulted in 46 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The reported deaths occurred between the fall of 2003, when the vehicles were first distributed, through this year.

More than two-thirds of the incidents were rollovers. According to the CPSC many of these involved turns on level ground at relatively slow speeds. A number of incidents also involved riders not wearing seat belts.

The repairs are designed to reduce rollover risk, as well as to improve handling and keep riders' limbs inside the vehicles.

Rhino 450 and 660 owners should stop using these vehicles and call their local dealer to schedule an appointment for repairs. They can also receive a free helmet.

For more details, call Yamaha at 800-962-7926.

Study Finds That Consumers Overlook Over-The-Counter Drug Warnings

Bloomberg News reported, "Consumers overlook warnings about potential tampering on over-the-counter medications at least 80 percent of the time, suggesting packages and labels need to be redesigned to attract attention and improve safety, a study found." The study's "participants spent the most time focused on the brand names and product claims of nonprescription drugs" and "more than half of those surveyed also missed alerts about child safety on medicines that did not have child-resistant packaging, according to the research today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." The results of the study "raise doubts about whether the warnings meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements that they be 'prominent' and 'conspicuous,' the researchers said."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

FDA Announces Large Pistachio Recall Due to Salmonella Fears

NBC Nightly News (3/30, story 9, 0:30, Williams) reported, "A California nut producer is recalling its entire yearly crop of pistachios, over a million pounds of them. And a California processing plant is under investigation for a possible salmonella outbreak. A nationwide recall of mixed nuts and trail mix went into effect last week. Officials have traced the problem to a California company called Setten Farms. There have been no reports of illnesses tied to this batch."

USA Today reports that California company Setton Pistachio "is recalling 1 million pounds of pistachios distributed nationwide after testing found them to be contaminated with salmonella. The Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers to avoid eating all pistachios and foods containing them until it can confirm which pistachios might be affected." According to David Acheson, FDA associate commissioner for foods, "there have been no illnesses tied to the pistachios. This step is unrelated to the recall of peanut products tied to a widespread salmonella outbreak."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

Continuing Work in Congress to Reduce Social Security’s Backlog

With the average waiting time to get a hearing before an administrative law judge taking well over a year, Congress is always considering ways to reduce Social Security’s disability backlog. Claimants are often required or at least encouraged by their long-term disability insurance companies to file for Social Security Disability benefits. But not all such claims are meritorious. Social Security has clear rules on what types of claims qualify. United States Senator Chuck Grassley said his survey of private insurers has found that some are needlessly contributing to the Social Security disability backlog, and he urged the Social Security Administration to recommit itself to preventing disability benefit application fraud and to work with the Inspector General to penalize and prosecute those filing false disability claims. Please read his entire press release.

We commend the work of Senator Grassley in his effort to reduce or eliminate groundless claims. Every year we work hard to bring only meritorious claims to hearing. All lawyers working in this area of law are made aware daily of just how dire the needs are of those we represent. It is unethical, we believe, for anyone to delay an already overburdened system with a disability claim that is not rooted in a good faith belief in the merits of the case.

UnitedHealth to Face Senate Tuesday

The AP reports, "Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wants answers at a hearing Tuesday from the chief executives of UnitedHealth Group Inc. and its subsidiary Ingenix Inc., a claims database used by insurers nationwide to calculate out-of-network rates." The inquiry follows lawsuits "alleging that UnitedHealth and Ingenix manipulated rate data so insurers had to pay less and patients more for out-of-network services." Typically, "when patients go out of network, their plan doesn't actually pay 70% of the doctor's visit cost. It pays 70% of what it determines is the 'usual, customary and reasonable' cost for the procedure or doctor's visit in question."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

Houston Hospital Agrees to $10 Million Settlement of Medicare Fraud Allegations

The AP reports that, according to a statement from the Justice Department Thursday, "One of Houston's most prestigious hospitals has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle allegations it defrauded the federal Medicare program." Under the agreement, the Methodist Hospital in Houston will pay $9.9 million "so it can continue focusing on its clinical and academic missions," the hospital stated. In doing so, the hospital will resolve claims that it "improperly increased charges to Medicare patients to obtain enhanced reimbursement from the federal health insurance program for the elderly."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

Witnesses Tell Senate UnitedHealth May Have Defrauded One In Three Insured Americans

CQ Healthbeat (3/27) reports, "UnitedHealth Group officials are in for an unpleasant experience at a Senate hearing next week - if a set-up session on Thursday was any indication." At a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing today, witnesses "described how health insurers routinely defrauded millions of patients who sought out-of-network care by paying less than the insurers owed for medical bills." A witness told the panel, which will hear from United representatives next Tuesday, that "the practice could have potentially affected as many as one in three insured Americans and lasted for at least a decade." Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, IV (D-WV), "declined to say what types of changes should be included in health overhaul legislation," saying, "I want to make sure exactly what it is we need to do...just in the saying of it, I could do damage to health reform."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

Friday Fun

449 useless facts.

Report Calls for Separate Food Safety Administration

The Los Angeles Times reports that a paper issued Wednesday by Trust for America's Health in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has "called on the Obama administration to put someone in charge of safeguarding the food supply and to create a Food Safety Administration." The report only adds "to the chorus seeking an overhaul of the nation's food safety system," according to the Times, as "calls for reform of the Food and Drug Administration have only become louder since the salmonella outbreak linked to peanut products late last year." The groups behind the most recent paper call "for the FDA's food program funding to double in the next five years, from $542 million in fiscal 2009." According to Michael Taylor, a former FDA deputy and a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, "obsolete laws focus on reacting to problems rather than preventing them, and the agency is underfunded."

Georgia's top agriculture official defends state's inspection process. The AP reported, "Georgia's top agriculture officials on Tuesday defended the state's inspection process at a legislative hearing called to address the salmonella outbreak traced to a Georgia peanut processing plant." Terry Coleman said, "If a person intends to break the rules, unless you have somebody standing over that person from the time they get to work from the time they leave, there is no way to prevent that...and in this particular case we believe that somebody in the plant intended to break the rules or break the laws. All the inspections we could muster couldn't prevent that."

From the American Association for Justice news release.

Fisher-Price High Chairs Recalled After Child Injured

Fisher-Price has voluntarily recalled 24,000 convertible high chairs after a report of a child falling out and fracturing his skull when a seat back detached. Consumers should stop using the chairs immediately.

The Fisher-Price high chair, called the 3-in-1, converts from a high chair to a toddler booster. It was sold at Target stores nationwide over the last four months. The recalled chairs were made in Mexico and have the product number P5369 printed on the side of the seat, on a label on the seat pad, and on the packaging.

For product photos and more details, visit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site.