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

Merck Yanks Vioxx

From the Associated Press via Yahoo! News: "Merck Halts Worldwide Sales of Vioxx," by Linda A. Johnson--

Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. is halting worldwide sales of its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx, once viewed as possibly being able to prevent some cancers, because new data from a clinical trial found an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Its stock price plunged more than 26 percent as the company said the recall will hurt its earnings.

Merck said Thursday that data from the trial showed the increased risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular complications began 18 months after patients started taking Vioxx. About 2 million people worldwide are currently taking Vioxx, according to Merck, and a total of 84 million have taken it since it came on the market with great fanfare in 1999.

Number of Lawsuits by the Recording Industry Against Its Customers: 4,280

From Law.com: "Is Suing Your Customers a Good Idea?" by Fred von Lohmann--

Four thousand two hundred and eighty lawsuits and counting.

That's how many lawsuits have been brought by the major record labels against music fans for using peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software (like Kazaa or Morpheus) to swap music over the Internet. . . .

[F]or the recording industry, the lawsuits are not simply about batting average and covering the lawyers' bills. The campaign, coordinated by the RIAA, was a last-resort maneuver by the industry to stem the tide of P2P file-sharing, which had reached mammoth proportions. In fact, some estimates put the number of American music swappers at 60 million -- that's 9 million more than voted for President Bush.

Unfortunately, the evidence thus far suggests that the RIAA litigation campaign has had little, if any, effect on P2P file-sharing. Companies like Big Champagne and BayTSP that track the online P2P population have found that the number of U.S. file-sharers continues to grow. The global file-sharing population, moreover, is skyrocketing.

Asbestos Bill No Longer a Priority for Senate

From Reuters: "Outlook Dims for Asbestos Reform in Senate"--

The outlook dimmed for establishing a fund to compensate asbestos victims this year after the Senate majority leader on Monday left it off a list of priorities for the few days left in the legislative period.

Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said he had not given up on the legislation. But he wants the Senate to finish work by Oct. 8, so lawmakers will have time to campaign for Nov. 2 elections.

His priorities for the eight or nine remaining legislative working days are intelligence reform, spending bills and other bills already at the "conference" level of negotiations between the Senate and House, Frist told journalists.

Information on Common Rip-Offs from the US Postal Service

On the US Postal Service "Consumer Tips" page, you'll find information about common schemes organized into five topic areas: sweepstakes and lotteries, personal-finance-related schemes, employment schemes, telephone solicitations, and other consumer frauds.

Is Your Grandmother a Criminal?

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "High drug prices create unlikely outlaws," by Christopher Carey--

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers importation of prescription drugs from Canada to be illegal. It seldom pursues individuals who buy modest quantities for personal use.

But a surge in cross-border sales in recent months, aided by new Internet pharmacies, has led the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry to consider more aggressive measures.

Pfizer Inc., for example, has sought to cut off supplies of its drugs to Canadian outlets that sell to Americans. That move has led some outlets to turn elsewhere, such as pharmacies in Australia, for deliveries of Lipitor, Celebrex and other in-demand drugs.

The tensions have pitted drug makers against retailers, consumers against regulators and state officials against federal officials - with no clear resolution in sight.

Another Crossover Accident in Illinois

From the Alton Telegraph: "Man dies, second hurt in crossover crash," by Laura Pranaitis and John Krupa--

JERSEYVILLE -- A 44-year-old Jerseyville father of three was killed Friday morning when his pickup truck was hit head-on by a vehicle that had been reportedly weaving in and out of lanes.

A total of three vehicles were involved in the accident, which occurred around 6:30 a.m. on Illinois Route 109 just north of Hagen Road and a few miles south of the Jerseyville city limits, Illinois State Police said.

Jerseyville native Michael N. Kallal was pronounced dead at 8:19 a.m. at Jersey Community Hospital by Coroner Larry Alexander.

Alton Teacher Back Custodians, Vote to Strike

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Alton teachers vote to strike," by Alexa Aguilar--

The Alton teachers union on Thursday voted to strike against the school district's plan to outsource the jobs of the district's 50 custodians.

Both sides vowed to go back to the negotiating table. Union President Glenna Pickett said members wouldn't hit the picket lines until after a meeting Oct. 6 with a federal mediator. Superintendent James Baiter said he hoped to meet sooner.

AFL-CIO Opposes Latest Asbestos Compromise

From The Hill: "AFL-CIO opposed to Daschle’s new asbestos compromise," by Klaus Marre--

After months of wrangling, the Senate appears closer to an agreement on how much money should be poured into a trust fund that would be used to settle asbestos compensation cases.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) yesterday informed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) that he would accept a trust fund size of $140 billion, a figure Frist has pushed.

But organized labor, one of the Democrats’ core constituencies, will not support legislation that includes a trust fund of $140 billion.

AFL-CIO Director of Health and Safety Peg Seminario said organized labor would “strongly oppose” a $140 billion trust fund, pointing out that legislation on the issue that was passed out of the Judiciary Committee last year had earmarked $153 billion for the fund.

Opening Statements in the Tobacco Trial

From the Associated Press via Law.com: "Decades of Deception Alleged as $280 Billion Tobacco Trial Opens," by Nancy Zuckerbrod--

The nation's biggest tobacco companies worked together for decades to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking, a federal lawyer alleged Tuesday at the start of a civil racketeering trial in which the government seeks a record $280 billion from the industry.

In his opening statement, Justice Department attorney Frank Marine said starting in the 1960s the industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars on organizations set up to counter the growing body of scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer.

He cited internal industry documents showing company executives knew they were trying to deceive the public.

"The problem to them was that the public might stop smoking because of health concerns," he said.

Keep an Eye on This Tobacco Trial

From Reuters via Yahoo! News: "Tobacco Case Nears Trial, Questions Remain," by Peter Kaplan--

With opening arguments set for Tuesday, observers of the largest racketeering case in history say the outcome could still depend on twists and turns outside the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.

The racketeering lawsuit, filed by the Clinton administration in 1999, could be drastically curtailed or snuffed out entirely by an appeal still pending, or a settlement in the aftermath of the November presidential elections, say financial analysts and anti-smoking groups.

If it runs its course, the trial is expected to take about six months and feature testimony from more than 100 witnesses. Even before it begins, the two sides will have exchanged nearly 120 million documents.