The Illinois Personal Injury Weblog of Schaeffer & Lamere P.C.

A Call for Tighter Drug Ad Oversight

From ConsumerAffairs.com: "AMA Calls For Tighter Drug Ad Oversight: Many of the ads are misleading, doctors complain"--

It's hard to turn on TV without being bombarded with ads for prescription drugs, offering cures for everything from EDS to acid reflux. The American Medical Association says many of the ads contain misleading information and need tighter controls.

AMA President-elect Dr. Nancy Nielsen expressed her organizations concerns in testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

"Direct-to-consumer ads often portray drugs through rose-colored glasses by including more information
about a drug's benefits than risks," said Nielsen. "Imbalances in these ads can diminish patient understanding of certain drug risks, and increase the need for an ongoing dialogue between patients and physicians about the benefits and risks of prescription drugs."

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Madison Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Flood of Trayslol Lawsuits

From Reuters via Yahoo! News: "Bayer CEO says faces 78 Trasylol lawsuits in U.S."--

Germany's Bayer AG is facing 78 lawsuits in the United States linked to its Trasylol drug used to stem bleeding during open heart surgery, its chief executive said on Friday.

"We are not aware of any lawsuit outside the United States," Werner Wenning told a shareholders' meeting.

--Posted by Madison County Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Edwardsville Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Yahoo May Be Sued

From Reuters: "Yahoo may face lawsuit flood after talks collapse," by Michael Erman--

Yahoo Inc likely faces a flood of shareholder lawsuits for rejecting a $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corp, even if investors find holding the company responsible to be an uphill battle.

Microsoft pulled its sweetened $33-per-share offer on Saturday because the Internet company was holding out for $37 per share, even though Microsoft's price was more than 70 percent above where Yahoo shares were trading before the takeover battle started more than three months ago.

--Posted by Madison County Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Edwardsville Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Bextra, Celebrex Cases Are Settling

Form the Health Blog of the Wall Street Journal: "Pfizer Starts Cutting Deals on Celebrex & Bextra Lawsuits," by Jacob Goldstein--

Pfizer has reached tentative settlements with lawyers representing hundreds of people who say the painkillers Celebrex and Bextra caused heart attacks and strokes, the WSJ is reporting this afternoon.

Celebrex and Bextra are in the same class of drugs as Merck’s Vioxx, but Pfizer is taking a different legal path than Merck to clean up claims the medicines injured people. First Merck litigated cases one by one, then it cut a big, omnibus deal aiming to settle all the remaining cases at once.

--Posted by Madison County Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Godfrey Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Hepatitis Lawsuit Settled

From Newsday.com: "Doctor tied to hepatitis cases settles lawsuit," by Michael Amon--

Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, the Dix Hills physician who the state Department of Health says put thousands of patients at risk by reusing syringes, has settled a medical malpractice lawsuit with a Syosset man who claimed he got hepatitis C in the doctor's office. The financial settlement marks the first resolution of several lawsuits filed after a Department of Health investigation found that Peter Mattmuller, 66, had been infected in Finkelstein's office.

The lawsuit contended that the infection occurred because Finkelstein used a syringe multiple times on the patient seen before Mattmuller, contaminating multidose medicine vials that were then the source of injections for Mattmuller.

--Posted by Godfrey Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Godfrey Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Eat a Goat?

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Goat: The other red meat," by Georgina Gustin--

In a land of swine and steak, Tom Mueller sees another meat on the horizon.

The 38-year-old farming entrepreneur stands at the edge of one of his fields, looking out at a herd of goats as the animals graze on the spring-green grass and their newly born kids cavort and tumble.

--Posted by Godfrey Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Godfrey Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Rebate Checks Will Help

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Bush says rebates going out Monday should help economy"--

President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.

"Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country," Bush said Friday in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House.

--Posted by Wood River Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Alton Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Next Stop: Indiana

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Candidates on equal footing in Indiana," by Jonathan Martin--

With a demographic landscape that's well-suited to both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Indiana is shaping up to be the most consequential battleground of the remaining states.

In a signal of the state's importance -- and of his desire to end the evening in a place more favorably inclined to him -- Obama appeared with Hoosier-born rocker John Mellencamp on Tuesday night in Evansville, Ind., as the Pennsylvania vote was being counted.

--Posted by East Alton Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Alton Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Bigger Quake to Come?

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Scientists: Even Bigger Quake Could Hit Midwest," by Robin Lloyd--

The magnitude 5.2 earthquake that rocked the Midwest on Friday was felt from Kansas to Georgia, and aftershocks could continue for months at this strange seismic zone at the nation's center and even trigger another big quake, a geophysicist said.

The quake occurred on a northern extension of the New Madrid fault, about 6 miles north of Mt. Carmel, Ill. The New Madrid fault was responsible for devastating quakes in the Mississippi Valley in 1811 and 1812. So the Friday quake and its aftershocks likely are raising the blood pressure of some residents and scientists.

--Posted by East Alton Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Alton Illinois accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Pope's First U.S. Mass

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Pope celebrates first public Mass of US trip in Washington," by Eric Gorski--

Pope Benedict XVI praised America as a land of opportunity and hope Thursday as he celebrated the first public Mass of his U.S. pilgrimage, but he lamented that the nation's promise fell short for Indians and blacks.

But, he said, hope for the future "is very much a part of the American character."

Tens of thousands of worshippers filled Washington Nationals stadium on a clear spring day and cheered Benedict as he arrived in a white popemobile, standing in the back and waving.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Madison County accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Hillary Takes a Shot

From MSNBC's First Read: "Obama takes 'shot' at Clinton," by Domenico Montanaro--

At today's manufacturer's alliance meeting in Pittsburgh, Obama continued to vigorously claim it was Clinton who was really out of touch with supporters, calling her recent shot of Crown Royale a political stunt.

"You know, there's been a lot of talk in this campaign over the last few days about who's ‘in touch’ with the workers in Pennsylvania. Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain seem to be singing from the same hymn book. They’re saying that I'm ‘out of touch;’ I’m an ‘elitist,’ because I said a lot of folks are bitter about their economic circumstances.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Madison County accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, truck accidents, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Internet Black Holes

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Internet Full of 'Black Holes'," by Clara Moskowitz--

You're pounding the keyboard, double-clicking away, sighing and grumbling, but to no avail: That devilish little hourglass icon refuses to give way to the Web site you're trying to reach. Most Internet users have encountered trouble reaching online destinations, but they often attribute the problem to their wireless network cutting out or a server momentarily going down.

Sometimes, though, the problem is more mysterious. At any given moment, messages throughout the world are lost to cyber black holes, according to new computer science research. 

--Posted by Edwardsvile Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Madison County truck accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Gas at $4?

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Gas Prices Slip, but Could Hit $4," by John Wilen--

Retail gasoline prices pulled back slightly from record levels Tuesday and gave some consumers a small break, but a new government forecast said gas could reach as high as $4 a gallon during the summer driving season.

Oil futures prices, meanwhile, fell as the dollar stabilized, giving investors an opportunity to lock in profits from crude's recent rally. Limiting the declines were developments in Iran, which announced plans to expand its uranium enrichment program and said it has tested key equipment, a move that raised the market's concerns about political conflict that could affect the country's oil exports.

--Posted by Edwardsvile Illinois personal injury lawyers and attorneys and the Madison County truck accident attorneys of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical cases, products liability injuries, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Cash Insusion for WAMU

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Report: WaMu Close to $5B Infusion"--

Washington Mutual is close to landing a $5 billion cash infusion from private-equity firm TPG and other investors, according to a report Monday in the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. mortgage crises has sapped the capital requirements of dozens of banks, included that of the nation's largest savings and loan.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Madison County truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

A Surge in Unemployment

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Jobs slashed, pointing to recession," by Jeannine Aversa-- 

Employers buffeted by talk of recession slashed 80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years and the third straight month of losses.

At the same time, the national unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the clearest signal yet that the economy might already be shrinking.

The new snapshot of the job market, released by the Labor Department Friday, underscored the damage that a trio of crises --in the housing, credit and financial sectors — has inflicted on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Madison County truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Another Endorsement for Obama

From the Associated press via Yahoo! News: "Obama endorsed by Lee Hamilton," by Tom Davies--

Former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president Wednesday, praising his ability to transcend partisan division and calling his foreign policy outlook "pragmatic, visionary, and tough."

Hamilton, who during a three-decade House career rose to be chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, also was vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission. His endorsement could boost the Democratic hopeful's national security standing.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Madison County truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

Missiles in the Green Zone

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Iraq Green Zone comes under fresh attack," by Bradley Brooks--

The fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down following a week of clashes with government forces.

Al-Sadr's order stopped short of disarming his fighters and left the militia intact in a blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew to the southern oil city of Basra a week ago to personally oversee a crackdown on militia violence.

--Posted by Alton Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Madison County truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

We Handle Auto Injuries

At Schaeffer & Lamere, we handle case involving injuries sustained in car accidents. To learn more, look on our website for information about personal injury cases, our firm's notable settlements, and recent press coverage about the firm.

--Posted by Illinois car accident attorneys and Illinois car accident abogado (de accidentes de automovil) T. Evan Schaeffer of the Edwardsville Illinois car accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Battles in Sadr City

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Sadr City braces for fresh street battles," by Sam Dagher--

The usual teeming traffic in Sadr City, Baghdad's Shiite enclave, vanished Wednesday. Buses stopped running and shops closed. Only the intrepid motorist or occasional scurrying resident ventured out on streets patrolled by Moqtada al-Sadr's militiamen and marked by burning tires and roadblocks.

Residents and Mahdi Army militants alike appeared to be bracing for a coming battle, guarding against US and Iraqi forces advancing to stop the rockets allegedly fired from Sadr City that hit the Green Zone again Wednesday for the third day since Sunday.

--Posted by Madison County Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Alton truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.

More Flooding to Come

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Widespread flooding forecast," by Randolph E. Schmid--

Government forecasters said Thursday that the floods washing over large parts of the Midwest are just a taste of things to come, with one meteorologist complaining about a jet stream "on steroids."

Record rainfall and melting snow packs will continue to cause rivers to overflow in large areas of the country, the National Weather Service said.

--Posted by Madison County Illinois personal injury attorneys and the Alton truck accident lawyers of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C., handling car accident, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability, products liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, truck accidents, and all other types of injury cases.