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

Will Bush Overtime Rules Be Eliminated?

From Reuters via FindLaw: "Senate Panel Votes to Roll Back Bush Overtime Rules"--

A U.S. Senate committee voted on Wednesday to roll back the Bush administration's controversial new overtime regulations, which critics say will deprive an estimated 6 million workers of overtime pay.

The Republican-led Senate Appropriations Committee voted 16-13 to approve a Democratic amendment to repeal the regulations.

Two Republicans, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Colorado Sen. Ben Campbell, joined Democrats in supporting the amendment offered by Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat.

"The economic health of too many workers is at stake," Harkin said.

The Post-Dispatch on Asbestos in Madison County

Yesterday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a series of articles about asbestos lawsuits in Madison County. You can find links to the articles, as well as my comments about them, here.

Mortgage Fraud Is Rampant

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News: "FBI: Mortgage Fraud Is Rampant in U.S.," by Curt Anderson--

Fraud is running rampant in the nation's mortgage industry, with nearly three times as many reports of suspicious activity so far this year compared with 2001, a top FBI official said Friday.

"It has the potential to be an epidemic," said Chris Swecker, FBI assistant director for criminal investigations.

Through the first nine months of 2004, mortgage companies and banks have reported more than 12,100 instances of suspicious activity compared with only 4,220 in 2001. The FBI currently has 533 pending mortgage fraud investigations, compared with 102 in 2001.

Law enforcement officials say the lending and refinancing boom that accompanied record low interest rates in the past few years is a key reason for the increased fraud. The FBI has identified several "hot spots" around the country where fraud is especially prevalent, including Florida, California, Nevada, Michigan, Missouri and Illinois.

Light-Cigarette Ruling in Missouri

From the Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times: "Missouri Judge Oks Class-Action Lawsuit"--

A Missouri judge will allow a case over Marlboro Lights against Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA to proceed as a class action, but has placed limitations on those who can participate in the case.

Circuit Court Judge Michael David in St. Louis limited those eligible to join to Missouri residents who purchased and smoked Marlboro Lights cigarettes from Nov. 9, 1995, five years before the original filing of the suit, through Dec. 31, 2003. Also excluded are Missouri residents who already have filed a personal injury claim as a result of cigarette smoking.

The lawsuit accuses Philip Morris of misrepresenting the amount of tar and nicotine contained in Marlboro Lights.

A similar light-cigarette class action, now on appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court, is limited to residents of Illinois. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in August that a light-cigarette case in that state can also proceed.

Madigan Fights Domestic Violence

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has launched a program designed to better protect domestic violence victims from their abusers. According to a press release by the Attorney General, "With one in four domestic violence perpetrators currently evading service of court orders of protection, Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced a new pilot program that will allow any law enforcement officer to serve an order of protection to help keep domestic violence victims and their children safe." The press release continues--

Previously, court orders of protection against abusers could only be served by sheriffs from the county in which the order was issued or by special process servers. The limited number of law enforcement agents granted the authority to search for the offenders and serve the orders made it possible for many abusers to evade service. Madigan said an alarming number of the state's orders remain unserved. In May 2004, about 9,000 of the more than 32,000 orders of protection entered into the state's Law Enforcement Agency Data System (LEADS) remained unserved.

Madigan explained that under the law, if a domestic violence offender is not personally served with an order of protection, he cannot be bound by the order and cannot be prosecuted for violating its terms.

Madigan's pilot program allows the new Order of Protection Short Form Notification, or Short Form, to be served by any law enforcement officer, reducing the likelihood that an abuser will successfully evade service. Once a domestic abuser has been served with the Short Form, he can be charged with violations of the order of protection in the event that the abuse continues, Madigan said.

Understanding Drug Companies: Follow the Money

Marcia Angell's new book about drug companies is titled The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What To Do About It. According to reviewer Jeanne Erdmann in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in writing the book, Angell "uses the analytical skills learned at 20 years on the editorial staff of the New England Journal of Medicine"--

Angell begins her investigation by doing what children of Watergate learned to do: Follow the money.

Americans spend $200 billion a year on prescriptions drugs. In 2002, for big pharma, the collective name for the top 10 drug companies in the world, profits were 17 percent of sales. Need that number put in perspective? Angel writes, "The most startling fact about 2002 is that the combined profits for the 10 drug companies in the Fortune 500 ($35.9 billion) were more than the profits for all the other 490 businesses put together ($33.7 billion) ... When I say this is a profitable industry, I mean really profitable. It is difficult to conceive of how awash in money big pharma is."

Where do profits go? Let's follow the money.

Angell writes, "According to a report by the nonprofit group Families USA, the former chairman and CEO of Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Charles A. Heimbold Jr., made $74,890,918 in 2001, not counting his $76,095,611 worth of unexercised stock options. The chairman of Wyeth made $40,521,011, exclusive of his $40,629,459 in stock options. And so on. This is an industry that amply rewards its own."

Less E-Mail Spam?

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "You're getting less e-mail spam," by David Sheets--

You wouldn't know it by looking at your e-mail inbox, but we're getting less spam.

So says a recent study by MessageLabs, the British e-mail monitor, which found fewer e-mails with offensive or inappropriate attachments getting through to their intended recipients between March and August, and spam on the whole experiencing a slight decrease.

Of the e-mails scanned in the six-month period, only 1 in more than 4,700 carried a "nonwork-related" attachment, such as a joke or greeting card or pornography, MessageLabs said. A year ago, the ratio was 1 in 1,357 e-mails.

Rifle Maker Pays Out in D.C. Sniper Case

From the Associated Press via MSNBC: "D.C. sniper case settlement said to be reached"--

The manufacturer and dealer of the rifle used in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings have agreed to pay $2.5 million in a settlement with victims’ families, a lawyer said Wednesday night.

The settlement with Bushmaster marks the first time a gun manufacturer has agreed to pay damages for negligent distribution of weapons, said Jon Lowy, a lawyer with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He also said the settlement with Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply is the largest against a gun dealer.

“These settlements send a loud and clear message that the gun industry cannot turn a blind eye to how criminals get their guns,” said Lowy, who helped argue the case.

Health Care Premiums Jump

From the Associated Press via Findlaw: "Health Care Premiums Jump 11.2 Percent," by Theresa Agovino--

Health care costs continued to surge this year as family premiums in employer-sponsored plans jumped 11.2 percent, the fourth year of double-digit growth, according to a new study.

The cumulative effect of rising health care costs is taking a toll on workers: There are at least 5 million fewer jobs providing health insurance in 2004 than there were in 2001, according to the survey of 3,017 companies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

This year, 63 percent of firms offered health benefits to workers, down from 68 percent in 2001. The change is primarily driven by a decrease in the number of small firms, those with 3 to 199 workers, that offer coverage.

Ken Lay Speaks Out

From the Associated Press via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Ken Lay's attorney gets him singing unusual legal tune," by Kristen Hays--

The executives facing trial for Enron Corp.'s scandalous collapse have hired a lot of high-powered lawyers. But only one is letting his client talk in public.

Michael Ramsey doesn't believe there's any big risk in letting Kenneth Lay, the energy trader's former chief executive, give news conferences and interviews to declare his innocence and criticize prosecutors.

"It's pointless to have someone talk to the public where it looks like the lawyer's got a ventriloquist's dummy there," Ramsey said. "The guy's innocent. If the truth is told, there is no exposure."