Richmond Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer - Motor Vehicle Accidents

Allstate Faces Contempt Charges for Handling of Auto Cases

Michael Phelan — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:33:30 GMT

I blogged earlier this year about Allstate's "Delay, Deny, and Defend" policy designed to screw injured victims making claims under Allstate policies. CNN's Anderson Cooper also did an expose on this practice. The courts are now catching on. Allstate is facing contempt charges in Missouri with a $25,000.00 per day fine because it refuses to produce a report from consultant McKinsey & Co. which advises Allstate how to delay legitimate automobile accident claims to increase profits. A Miami court just ordered Allstate to cease selling automobile insurance policies in Florida, in part, because it will not produce the McKinsey report. The report allegedly describes in detail a scheme devised by Allstate and McKinsey to unscrupulously delay, deny, and defend legitimate claims that should be settled.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Fibromyalgia Drug Approved by FDA

Michael Phelan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:59:32 GMT

Fibromyalgia is a disease whose very existence is questioned by some doctors, typically doctors hired by insurance defense lawyers in personal injury cases. However, fibromyalgia must be a real disease, because drug giant, Pfizer, says it is. Pfizer is marketing its drug Lyrica, which is the first drug approved to treat this pain condition. Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic, widespread pain. Fibromyalgia sufferers typically do not respond to conventional pain killers like aspirin. Lyrica affects the brain and the perception of pain. Advocacy groups estimate that 10 million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia.

The controversy surrounding fibromyalgia is significant. Dr. Frederick Wolfe is the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the diagnostic guidelines for fibromyalgia. Dr. Wolfe has switched his position and now believes fibromyalgia is a physical response to stress, depression, and anxiety. He and others point out that there are side effects to Lyrica which include severe weight gain, dizziness, and edema. On the other hand, the American College of Rheumatology, the Food and Drug Administration, and many treating doctors recognize fibromyalgia as a diagnosable condition. Advocates see the FDA's approval of Lyrica as a milestone toward further legitimizing the diagnoses. Clinical trials for Lyrica showed that half of the patients reported at least a 30% reduction in pain. Those same trial also showed a 7% weight gain which continued over time. The potential for weight gain should be a major concern for any fibromyalgia patient who may already be overweight due to pain-induced inactivity. These issues should be discussed with one's doctor prior to trying a new drug that has not been subjected to long-term post-market studies.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Federal Regulators Miss Chance to Lower Truck Accidents

Michael Phelan — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:23:24 GMT

Driver fatigue is a leading cause of tractor trailer truck accidents. Consumer advocates sued recently to require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to lower the current 11-hour driving limit to 10 hours. The requested change would have resulted in one less hour behind the wheel each day. The Teamsters union supports the lower limit. Alas, the Bush Administration once again sided with big trucking companies over traffic safety, and, on December 11th, the FMCSA maintained the 11-hour limit.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Insurers Cheat Victims-Record Highest Profits Ever

Michael Phelan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:00:20 GMT

Anyone who believes the propaganda from the insurance industry and US Chamber of Commerce about trial lawyers driving insurers out of business should read the excellent article posted October 15 on SunHerald.com about home insurers cheating victims while recording record profits. This article shows that the tort reform movement is a fraud. Even in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, property-casualty insurers, which cover damage to homes and cars, reported their highest-ever profit of $73 BILLION last year.

They accomplished this by routinely refusing to pay market prices for damaged or destroyed homes and replacement contents. They use computer programs to cut payouts; they change policy coverage with out explanation; they alter engineering reports (according to one of their own engineers); and they ask their adjusters to lie to customers (according to a former Allstate adjuster). This sleazy practice apparently kicked into high gear in 1992 when Allstate hired a New York consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., to improve profits. State Farm hired McKinsey shortly thereafter. From 1996 to 2006, Allstate's profits rose 140%. State Farm's profits doubled. Allstate was advised to stop being the "Good Hands People" and to put on the "Boxing Gloves." State Farm became the opposite of "Like a Good Neighbor."

How on earth did our Chamber of Commerce get to the point where its primary purpose is to attack the public's constitutional right to trial by jury? The answer is the Chamber is the pawn of an industry that has adopted lying, cheating and stealing as its business plan. Just read the SunHerald article.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Truck Accidents Caused By Driver Fatigue

Michael Phelan — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:08:59 GMT

About 100 people die each week in truck accidents. Despite this alarming statistic, the Bush Administration once again succumbed to pressure from lobbyists (this time the American Trucking Association) and, in 2005, adopted new rules permitting tractor trailer truck drivers to drive 11 hours per day. Safety experts and insurance industry analysts challenged the new rules on grounds that the longer driving hours caused driver fatigue and contributed to a high number of truck accidents.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ignored the safety concerns. Fortunately, the consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen, filed a lawsuit challenging the federal rules. On July 24th, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the 2005 rules, finding that the agency had ignored the results of a study it commissioned, which involved a database of over 50,000 truck accidents. The study concluded there was a substantially higher risk of fatigue-related accidents during the extra hours of driving allowed by the new rules. It's time the government put the lives of citizens above the influence of trucking industry lobbyists. We should all be thankful that dedicated lawyer at Public Citizen continue to be such effective watchdogs.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Tractor-Trailer Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Parents Guilty for Teen Drunk Driving Crash

Michael Phelan — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:36:05 GMT

Across the country, parents are pulling jail time for allowing underage drinking in their homes. On Saturday, a suburban Chicago couple was found guilty for allowing their teenage son to have a beer party in their basement. Two 18 year olds who attended the party later died in an alcohol-related car crash. The teen driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.132. The parents whose son hosted the party face up to a year in prison. Here in Richmond, Virginia, a couple was convicted this week for allowing their child to host a beer party. The judge sentenced the Richmond couple to four years with all but four months suspended. Teen drunk driving is such an issue that local police forces have designated party crasher units and are encouraging neighbors to report underaged drinking parties.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

$21 Million Awarded in Cellphone Auto Crash

Michael Phelan — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:43:46 GMT

A woman in Palm Beach, Florida caused a car crash that killed another person because she was distracted by talking on her cell phone. A Palm Beach jury recently ordered the distracted driver to pay $21.6 million to the beneficiaries of the person killed in the crash. We've all seen people driving on the highway while distracted by cell phone conversations or, worse yet, attempting to text message. This selfish and extremely dangerous behavior needs to stop. The $21.6 million awarded in this Florida case will not bring back the husband's wife or the children's mother.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

CDC Reports Increase in Rate of Hospitalization for Traumatic Brain Injury

Michael Phelan — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:43:29 GMT

On March 2, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control published an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review (MMWR), entitled, Rates of Hospitalization Related to Traumatic Brain Injury---Nine States, 2003. The data reported by the CDC shows a significant increase in the rates of hospitalization for persons with traumatic brain injury. According to the CDC:

"Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Each year, on average, TBIs are associated with an estimated 1.1 million emergency department visits, 235,000 hospitalizations, and 50,000 deaths..."

Motor vehicle accidents were a leading cause of the reported TBI-related hospitalizations. Unfortunately, 64.9% of patients hospitalized with a TBI-related diagnosis were discharged home with no or unskilled assistance. TBI is a major public health problem that it is only going to get worse as more and more of our service men and women return from Iraq with head injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin. Has History of Ignoring Safety Warnings

Michael Phelan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:15:29 GMT

After completing its investigation of the tragic bus fire that killed 23 elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees, the National Transportation Safety Board on February 21st called on the Federal Motor Carrier Motor Safety Administration to promulagate stronger safety regulations for buses and large trucks. The FMCMSA is charged with reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. According to the Washington Post:

NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker expressed concern that the [FMCMSA] had not heeded all of [NTSB's] suggestions in the past. He noted that of more than 60 safety recommendations the NTSB proposed in the past eight years, only 26 have been adopted by the motor carrier agency. "There is outrage when a couple hundred people are killed in aviation fatal accidents, yet you don't seem to see, share or demonstrate the same outrage when 4,300 people die on our nation's highways annually," Rosenker said. "We can make changes here on this board...to chip away piece by piece at the 4,300 people who die on highways."

In its report concerning the subject bus fire, the NTSB blamed the accident on Gobal Limo. The report stated that:

...the bus was "mechanically unsafe" when it transported the 44 assisted-living-facility residents from Sunrise Senior Living community in Bellaire, Tex., to Dallas on Interstate 45. The fire started after poorly lubricated wheel bearings overheated in the right rear well, igniting a tire, investigators found. Last month, a U.S. District Court in McAllen, Tex., sentenced the owner of Global Limo...to five years' probation for poorly managing his fleet and not requiring all drivers to fill out vehicle inspection reports. A government investigation [of Global Limo] found 168 alleged violations involving four other buses in Global Limo's fleet. The bus involved in the fatal accident near Dallas had an illegal license plate, and its driver did not have a valid U.S. driver's license.

So why would the federal motor carrier agency ignore NTSB safety recommendations aimed at decreasing injury and death caused by bus and large truck accidents? It's the same old story-the heads of most federal agencies appointed by the Bush administration are former lobbyists, executives, or lawyers for the very industries that the agency is supposed to regulate. The foxes are guarding the chicken coop. This is true at the FDA, the CDC, the EPA, the CPSC and many other federal agencies where rules are being written not to protect consumers from dangerous drugs or products, but to protect manufacturers from lawsuits.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Allstate's Motto: Delay, Deny and Defend

Michael Phelan — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:35:44 GMT

Tonight on CNN's 360 With Anderson Cooper, Mr. Cooper will report on his 18 month investigation into the duplicitous tactics employed by Allstate, which claims "You're in Good Hands With Allstate," State Farm, which claims to be "Like a Good Neighbor," and other major automobile insurers to force unfair settlements on victims of motor vehicle accidents. Cooper interviewed victims, lawyers, and insurance company insiders. CNN previewed the story on Mr. Cooper's blogsite, reporting:

And if you are in a minor impact crash and get hurt...insurance companies will most likely try doing the same thing to you: delay handling your claim, deny you were hurt and defend their decision in drawn-out court battles. It's the three D's: delay, deny and defend. That, in a nutshell, is the stategy adopted by several major auto insurance companies over the past ten years.... With nowhere to go, Allstate and others bet you'll take what they offer and walk away. It's right in the training manuals we obtained from Allstate: force "smaller walk-away settlements."

Cooper interviewed a former Allstate claims adjuster who told him that she would offer as little as $50.00 to poor people, some of whom would take it for fear of getting nothing at all. The story features the case of Roxanne Martinez, who was broad-sided in an accident in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She suffered a cut above her eye and soft tissue neck injuries. She incurred $15,000.00 in medical bills and $10,000.00 in lost wages, but Allstate made her a $15,000.00 "take it or leave it" offer. Fortunately for Ms. Martinez, she declined Allstate's offer, hired a lawyer, and received a jury award of $167,000.00. Unfortunately, the verdict was three years post-accident. This story highlights the importance of accident victims contacting competent lawyers soon after their accident. Negotiating with companies like Allstate is a waste of time. The adjusters typically do not have authority to fairly compensate the victim. Rather, they have marching orders to delay, deny, and defend. Here's a message to accident victims: hiring a law firm that is nothing more than a high-volume settlement mill plays right into the hands of Allstate, State Farm, and the other companies investigated by CNN. You need a lawyer who is willing to file a lawsuit on your behalf (not beg for a settlement) and take your case all the way to trial. We are proud of our thirty year history of jury verdicts and settlements. Please contact us if you have questions about your legal rights.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan