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

Junk-Faxer Stopped In Tracks

From Wired News: "Curtain Call for Junk-Fax Blaster," by Ryan Singel--

Fax machines around the country observed a moment of silence this week after a federal court issued an order Tuesday against the nation's most notorious junk-fax blaster, Fax.com, prohibiting the company and its surrogates from spamming fax machines across the country.

The decision, issued as a temporary injunction rather than a permanent order, likely spells the end to Fax.com. The court order states that the company agreed to comply with the terms, ruling out the possibility of appeal.

The injunction, issued by the United States District Court of Southern California, is the first substantive ruling in a $15 million dollar lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in July 2003.

Michigan Attorney General Screws Up

From the Associated Press via the Detroit Free Press: "Domino's Pizza blasts attorney general for role in billboard contest"--

Domino's Pizza Inc. is upset with Attorney General Mike Cox, saying it was misled and didn't know the coupons it donated would be used in a billboard contest to promote the payment of child support.

The Ann Arbor-based pizza chain criticized Cox in an open letter to customers on its Web site, the Booth News Service reported for a Friday story.

Cox, a Republican, announced a PayKids billboard contest on Sept. 23 allowing any child under age 18 to submit drawings with themes encouraging the payment of child support. . .

Domino's wrote in the letter: "We were unaware of this use of Domino's gift certificates for the PayKids billboard contest until concerns and complaints from various consumers began coming to us. As we were not informed of this contest in advance, nor did we endorse the use of our company name in conjunction with it, we are angry about receiving the many complaints that associate our brand with a campaign that was so negative and ill-conceived."

Deadly Binge-Drinking

From USA Today via Yahoo! News: "Five binge-drinking deaths 'just the tip of the iceberg,'" by Robert Davis--

This month has been deadly for binge-drinking college students.

Five underclassmen in four states appear to have drunk themselves to death, police say, after friends sent their pals to bed assuming that they would "sleep it off."

Some college presidents are promising to crack down on underage drinking - four of the students were too young to drink legally. Others have shut down fraternity houses where bodies were found.

But one expert calls those moves too little, too late. "It's locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen," says Henry Wechsler, a Harvard University researcher who has studied campus drinking. He says schools with weak enforcement of drinking rules put students at greater risk.

Vioxx Caused an Estimated 27,000 Heart Attacks

From Dow Jones: "FDA Study Estimates Vioxx Linked to 27,000 Heart Attacks"--

A study led by a Food and Drug Administration safety official projects that the widespread use of Vioxx may have led to more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths before the drug's abrupt withdrawal last week by Merck & Co. (MRK), Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported.

The number is in comparison to how many similar incidents would have occurred had the same patients been taking Celebrex, the Pfizer Inc. drug that competed with Merck's blockbuster arthritis treatment. The analysis specifically found that from Vioxx's approval in 1999, through 2003, an estimated 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths "would have been avoided" had Celebrex been used instead of Vioxx.

Those figures don't come from actual counts, but are projections based on findings from an analysis of a database of patients of Kaiser Permanente, the big health-maintenance organization.

Do you have questions about Vioxx? Are you looking for a Vioxx lawyer? You can call my firm, Schaeffer & Lamere, for a free consultation at (618) 467-8200 or (888) 783-9679 (toll free) if you used Vioxx and suffered any of the following side effects:

• Heart attack;


• Stroke;


• Blood clots;


• Deep vein thrombosis;


• Pulmonary embolism.

You can also send an e-mail telling us what went wrong (click the "e-mail" link). We are attorneys who have had years of experience with pharmaceutical litigation like lawsuits against Merck, which manufactured Vioxx--as your Vioxx attorney, we can help!

Get Your Flu Vaccine Now

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Flu vaccine is in short supply," by Tina Hesman--

Flu vaccine will be in short supply this season, and public health officials say only people at high risk of complications for the illness should get the vaccine. Healthy adults should roll their sleeves back down and wait or skip the yearly shot.

The supply of vaccine will fall 46 million to 48 million doses short - about half of the total vaccine inventory and a record shortfall that took U.S. health officials by surprise.

Go Cards!

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Cards fans feed the fever," by Bill Smith--

Cardinalis Euphorias. Diane Gruchala's got it; she's got it bad - deep down, inside-her-scarlet-loving-soul bad.

How else can you explain the little redbird that was bobbing up and down atop her usually level head Monday afternoon, or the souvenir baseball pins that she wore like battle medals across her chest?

And how else do you explain why, when she went to her boss a few days ago and told him that she wouldn't be in to work today because she had to cheer on "my boys," he could only sigh and nod his head.

Kelly-Moore Goes After Union Carbide

From the Houston Chronicle: "Asbestos lawsuits create U.S. legal crisis," by Mike Tolson--

Burdened by 48,000 asbestos lawsuits, Kelly-Moore wants to prove to a jury that Union Carbide lied to it in the 1960s and '70s about the safety of asbestos. Company executives say its survival may rest on its verdict.

Kelly-Moore's David-and-Goliath assault on Union Carbide and its deep pockets is being widely watched because of the size of the damage claim — about $1.4 billion — and the precedent it could set. Reduced to basics, however, it is one more front in the war over a mineral that for much of the last century was viewed as a godsend.

The Attorney General Race in Missouri

From the Associated Press via the Miama-Herald: "Nixon faces little-known challenger in attorney general's race," by Kelly Wiese--

Nixon says that of all his opponents, the man he faces this year "understands the office the least and has been the shallowest in his approach" to the campaign. Not exactly a compliment.

Republican nominee Chris Byrd has criticized Nixon, 48, for accepting campaign contributions from lawyers and for hiring private attorneys to help the state in cases, particularly in a settlement with national tobacco companies.

"So it's better to accept the money from special interests themselves?" Nixon retorts. "I would hope that after almost 20 years of public service, people would think I've made my decisions based on what's in the best interests of the people, not on what $100 checks came flying around."

Nixon said he takes his challenger seriously. But Nixon has not bothered to set up a campaign Web site; a machine answers the phone at his campaign office; and - with about a month until the election - he has run no television ads.

Union Steelworkers Rally in Granite City

From the Alton Telegraph: "Steelworkers accuse company of training hazards," by Josh Stockinger--

Union steelworkers rallied Thursday in Granite City to demand stronger seniority rights and better training from their employer, U.S. Steel.

More than 500 members from two unions directed angry words and pro-union signs toward the Granite City Steel building on State Street, adjacent to the rally. The workers and union leaders said U.S. Steel isn’t holding up its end of a bargain all sides accepted and that laborers are suffering.

"U.S. Steel’s training plan is somewhat invisible," said Russ Saltsgaver, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1899, based in Granite City. "They don’t have one."

Confused About Vioxx? We Can Help

Yesterday, Vioxx was pulled from the market after studies showed the drug, which was used to help to control osteoarthritis, increased the risk of heart attack or stroke.

If you are looking for a Vioxx lawyer, please call Schaeffer & Lamere at (618) 467-8200 or (888) 783-9679 (toll free) if you used Vioxx and suffered any of the following side effects:

• Heart attack;


• Stroke;


• Blood clots;


• Deep vein thrombosis;


• Pulmonary embolism.

You can also send an e-mail telling us what went wrong (click the "e-mail" link). We are attorneys who have had years of experience with pharmaceutical litigation like lawsuits against Merck, which manufactured Vioxx. All consultations are free--as your Vioxx attorney, we can help!