The Law Chat

Heparin Recall

The New York Times has an article this morning indicating that the maker of the drug Heparin has instituted a recall.  In the article, it is revealed that the Food and Drug Administration has admitted that it failed to follow its own guidelines by failing to inspect the Chinese plant where a critical ingredient of heparin is made from pig intestines.  This is an interesting development given that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled last week that approval by the FDA of a medical device precludes injured plaintiffs from suing manufacturers under state law.  Read more about that case here.  Hopefully, the Heparin case will prompt our legislators to turn a critical eye toward the FDA and its oversight and approval process.  It appears that this may already be happening.   According to the FDA itself, it is almost incapable of carrying out it's wide ranging mission.  Governmentexecutive.com reports that a soon to be released report of the FDA finds that "The Food and Drug Administration faces shortfalls in staffing and information technology, which have resulted "in a plethora of inadequacies that threaten our society," according to a report by the agency's Science Board."  Given the FDA's admission of its shortcomings and it's failure in the Heparin case, the confidence placed in it by the Supreme Court of the United States is misplaced.

Patient Care in the Emergency Room

     A new study that is reported in the Houston Chronicle today (article) finds that the wait in emergency rooms is increasing. To the detriment of patients' care, the wait time for care has increased 36% during the years between 1997-2004. The study, conducted in conjunction with Harvard Medical School concluded that this may cause many, needing care, to actually leave the hospital. Or, in the alternative, make their conditions aggravated, for which they were seeking help. Data was based on more than 90k emergency room visits.

Joel Bieber Firm and Hanover High

This morning was not your average "day at the office."  I assisted Joel in a presentation at Hanover High School, where he was invited to speak to the Mass Communications class.  Our main goal in this visit was to teach them about Commercial Production and Marketing.  I think Joel did a great job at keeping their attention, considering its Friday and the football game is just hours away!  Anyway, during the presentation, Joel kept asking them questions about their TV viewing patterns.  He was also asking them to think about some marketing ideas for different areas of practice.  Since I had not been on one of these adventures before, I thought it was interesting to see how Joel interacted with the students.

            In the car on the way back to the office, I commented on how smart and knowledgeable the students were about Marketing.  To which Joel informed me, "you can go into these presentations thinking you are there to teach them something, when actually you end up learning more than they do, if you listen."  We sure did.  So, Mass Communications class of Hanover High School, be on the look-out for the JOEL BIEBER RING TONE!  Thanks for the experience.

GO HAWKS!

David vs. Goliath

The big guys versus the little guys...America has always been fascinated with that scenario. We can trace that back to the original David vs. Goliath in the Bible. We all know that outcome of that battle. In the sports world, we are currently seeing the same contest. Because of the lack of a salary cap, Major League Baseball has a system that produces Davids and Goliaths. During the playoffs, it appears that David is once again slaying Goliath. The Goliaths include the Yankees (top payroll in baseball, the Red Sox (2^nd), and Angels (4^th). The Davids are the Rockies (25^th), Diamond Backs (26^th), and Indians (23^rd). The Yankees and Angels have already been vanquished, and the Indians are one game away from slaying the Red Sox.

A similar battle rages in the personal injury arena. Once again, we see David fighting Goliath. The insurance companies are definitely the "Goliaths." I recently looked at the 2007 Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies. There were seven insurance companies in the top 100 of that list. Those companies are State Farm, Met Life, Allstate, Prudential, New York Life, Massachusetts Mutual Life, and Liberty Mutual. I would note that State Farm and Met Life were rated higher than mighty Microsoft!

At the Joel Bieber Firm we are committed to doing battle with the giants of the insurance world. Obviously, we are not armed with sling shots and polished stones, but with some more important. We have years of experience, and a roster of dedicated attorneys. We put in the hard work to achieve the results you deserve. Next time you are injured, put the "Davids" of the Joel Bieber Firm to work for you......and go Rockies!