When Republicans, financed by their big business and insurance backers, tout tort reform, you can bet those reforms only benefit them. Many legislatures have passed GOP driven tort reform which resulted in many inequities to innocent victims. In the political rush to pass “reform”, unfortunate consequences of those changes are not always readily apparent. The tort reformers promised that changes to our historical legal principles would bring new business rushing to open up shop. Based on the surveys of state business climates I’ve seen lately in which Louisiana continues to rank near or at the bottom, those promises haven’t materialized, but our citizens are already paying a heavy price.

The 1996 tort reform legislation eliminated solidary liability in Louisiana, a decades-long legal principle which allowed an injured party to collect their full damages from either negligent party when more than one defendant caused the harm. This concept allowed the innocent victim to collect 100% of their damages from either of the guilty parties. This protected the victim from having the burden of pursuing them both or face the possibility of not collecting in full if one defendant was insolvent. Under the “reforms”, if one of the guilty parties is insolvent, the victim doesn’t collect and is not made whole.

The current litigation involving defective Chinese drywall is a classic example of tort reform gone wrong. Since the Chinese manufacturers are outside the reach of American courts and civil judgments are not enforced in China, they can simply ignore the scores of lawsuits filed by innocent homeowners. To add insult to injury, many of the homeowners had their homes destroyed by hurricanes and rebuilt using the defective drywall. They now face the reality of having to tear out the drywall and affected wiring and plumbing and start over. So, in the Republican zeal to entice more business to our state, long-held legal concepts were tossed aside and innocent victims are left with the consequences. And where is all of that new business we were promised?

More than 4,000 people die every year in collisions with trucks. Over 80,000 more are seriously injured. More people die in collisions with trucks than in collisions with planes, train, ships and interstate buses combined. There are many causes for the accidents but many are preventable and are the result of many trucking companies cutting corners. Research performed by the American Association of Justice from data obtained from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) showed there were more than 28,000 trucking companies operating on U.S. roads with safety violations. These companies represent more than 200,000 trucks. West Virginia, North Dakota, Nebraska, Vermont and Iowa had the most.

There are more than 9 million trucks on U.S. roads that make up only 4% of all passenger vehicles but are involved in 12% of all fatalities. The vast majority of the people killed are drivers and passengers of the vehicle the truck hits. Even though there are many reasons for the accidents there are many due to violations of companies trying to cut corners. Some of the violations include overloading truck, allowing unqualified or untrained drivers on the road, failing to properly maintain tires and brakes and compensation systems that promote drivers to exceed speed limits and maximum driving hours.

Trucks are vital to our economy and haul nearly 70% of all our freight. This being said, they are also inherently dangerous due to their size and weight. Because of this we need to ensure our regulations are strictly enforced. Data on all 28,274 trucking companies can be found online.

I blogged earlier this year regarding the FDA’s reprimand of Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz, the most popular birth control pill in the country, and its sister brand Yasmin. Bayer was ordered to stop running misleading ads that claimed Yaz was a cure for PMS and acne. Bayer responded with supposed “corrective” ads, but still pushed its money-making drug as a modern, sassy alternative to the old style birth control pill. Earlier this month, Bayer was once again reprimanded by the FDA after a failed inspection of several batches of Yaz’s key ingredient.

Criticism and complaints have been mounting from former users of Yaz. As a result, Bayer is currently facing at least 74 lawsuits filed in connection with injuries caused by Yaz and Yasmin. The plaintiffs in the filed cases claim the pills put women at higher risk for strokes, blood clots and other health problems than other birth control pills on the market. Until the scientific data is more definitive, women may be taking unnecessary risks by using these drugs. Its up to them to weigh the potential risks to their health.

In 1997, the Louisiana legislature filed the Omnibus Premium Reduction Act Of 1997 known as the No Pay/No Play statute. This law bars uninsured drivers from recovering damages for the first $10,000.00 of property damage and the first $10,000 in bodily injury. There are exceptions to this rule. If an individual is convicted of a DWI and/or pleads No Contest, someone intentionally causes an accident, someone flees from the scene of an accident, and/or, at the time of the accident, someone was in the commission of a felony offense under the law, then the No Pay/No Play statute does not apply. While I find that the exceptions are meaningful and have merit, the overall statute is too harsh for someone who does not have insurance on their vehicle at the time of the accident.

I do believe each individual should take personal responsibility for his actions and we should all carry insurance on our vehicle if we intend to operate that vehicle. However, I am a realist and know that oftentimes, people must choose between putting food on their table and paying the rent, or paying their insurance premium. I also know that people often receive invoices for insurance payment, and for whatever reason, it is misplaced and is not properly paid on time. While the No Pay/No Play statute is a well-intended law, I have found in my practice that this law rewards insurance companies for insuring at fault drivers who cause serious injuries and property damage and the insurance company is absolved from paying valid claims simply because a person did not have insurance on their vehicle at the time of the accident. The insurance companies are, once again, reaping a windfall regarding the fault of one of their insured drivers.

Since this law went into effect, I have spoken with numerous individuals who have been devastated by the No Pay/No Play law. They were were denied the first $10,000.00 of property damage and the first $10,000.00 in bodily injury on the basis that, for whatever reason, they did not have insurance on their automobile at the time of the accident even though that individual was not at fault in any way in causing the accident. Almost ever single time I have encountered this scenario, the person who did not have insurance on their vehicle was a person who was in dire financial circumstances to begin with, and, subsequent to the accident, were faced with the loss of their vehicle and mounting medical bills as the result of someone else’s negligence.

While people should certainly take responsibility for their actions and have some consequence for not having insurance on their vehicle, the No Pay/No Play law is too severe. It usually penalizes that portion of our citizenry that can least afford the penalty, and it rewards the at fault driver’s insurance company. I would think that a more appropriate penalty would be that the uninsured driver who is not at fault would not be allowed to make a claim for pain and suffering. However, he would be able to recover his property damage and have his medical expenses paid. This would still penalize the uninsured motorist, yet allow him to keep his transportation and not incur additional expenses he can ill afford. Additionally, this scenario does not reward the at fault driver’s insurance company.

OKK Trading Co. agreed to penalties of $665,000 for knowingly importing and selling toys containing dangerous lead levels. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had filed complaints alleging violations of child safety standards and other federal laws by OKK.

This is yet another example of the profits at any cost business model that is pervasive in our economy today. Companies that profit by knowingly evading safety laws, especially those designed to protect children, should face the stiffest civil penalties allowed by law and consumers should be better informed so they can boycott those companies. If they are driven only by profit the best place to hurt them is in their pocketbook.

The U.S. Justice Department announced a settlement with Pfizer, Inc., the world’s largest drug maker, who will pay a record $2.3 billion civil and criminal penalty for unlawful prescription drug promotion. Pfizer illegally marketed four of its drugs including Bextra and Lyrica for non-FDA approved medical uses. The FBI said the corporate giant was blatantly violating the law and misleading the public through false marketing claims. If the record penalty wasn’t newsy enough, its not even the first , but the fourth such settlement with repeat offender Pfizer in the last ten years.

Pfizer illegally promoted its drugs by treating doctors to all-expense paid “consultant meetings” at resorts across the world. Perks included massages, golf outings and meals, among other things.

And why should we care? Because it ends up costing all of us. $1 billion of the penalty will reimburse Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs funded by taxpayers. At a time when all consumers are tightening their belts and watching their budgets, health care costs continue to escalate due in part to greed and illegal profiteering by pharmaceutical makers like Pfizer.

Pfizer recently announced its intentions by years end to acquire its rival Wyeth for $68 billion bolstering its position as the world’s largest drug maker by revenue. Apparently the rich get richer despite record criminal penalties. Go figure.

An 18-wheeler loaded with sand flipped on its side exiting Interstate 20 at Jackson Street in Monroe, Louisiana. The incident has closed the roadway causing traffic backup and rerouting. The overturned truck is leaking diesel fuel. Why did the truck driver flip his truck? These accidents are preventable.

The flipping of a truck is usually the result of the negligence in the handling of the truck and the trailer by the driver, operating at an excessive, dangerous, and unreasonable speed under the circumstances, in failing to reduce his speed in obedience to the warning signs posted on the on-ramp, and in failing to properly arrange, stack, and secure a cargo on a trailer for highway travel so it would not shift or change its center upon the stress of turning sharp curves.

Medtronic, Inc., Boston Scientific and five other medical device manufacturers have been accused of coordinating a nationwide sales campaign which illegally promoted their surgical devices for off-label uses in a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the companies encouraged doctors and hospitals to use perform cardiac ablation as an inpatient procedure, greatly increasing the costs and thereby defrauding the federal Medicare reimbursement program. Additionally, the companies urged doctors to use the ablation devices even when less invasive alternatives were appropriate, hospitals were advised how to inflate Medicare reimbursements and cash kickbacks were paid to the doctors and hospitals.

The illegal kickbacks and other means of enticement resulted in inpatient misuse of surgical ablation procedures normally used to create controlled lesions or scar tissue on the heart muscle for treatment of atrial fibrillation. For the majority of patients, cardiac ablation can be performed safely in an outpatient procedure at a much lower cost and inpatient admission was not medically necessary.

As the country debates the need for of health care reform and bringing spiraling medical costs and premiums under control, it is even more imperative for law breakers who add to our health care misery be brought to task for their greed and fraud. Avoidable medical mistakes, profit-at-any-cost pharmaceutical manufacturers and unscrupulous medical device manufacturers are part of the problem; addressing them effectively through regulation, oversight and reform is part of the solution.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is increasing its use of Global Positioning System history logs as supporting evidence in 18 wheeler and other commercial drivers’ hours-of-service audits, an executive with Qualcomm Inc. said last week.

Norm Ellis, Qualcomm’s vice president and general manager for transportation and logistics, said the company had “seen an uptick” in FMCSA’s use of electronic data in enforcement actions.

Electronic data, such as the position logs generated by GPS-based tracking systems and electronic onboard recorders, have been used by FMCSA since December, when it lifted a more than decade-old moratorium on using electronic data to verify hours. The agency now requires carriers using GPS tracking and EOBRs to retain data generated by these systems for six months.

GPS efficiently manages and tracks drive times to ensure compliance with Hours of Service (HOS) regulations by tracking drivers’ duty status with wireless timesheets.  GPS can verify accuracy of driver logs.  The use of GPS technology will advance safety in the Trucking Industry to the motoring public.

In Glenmora, Louisiana, northbound traffic was blocked on U.S. Highway 165 after an 18-wheeler tanker truck accident.  A 2001 Freightliner from Texas was northbound on the highway when the truck driver lost control and ran off the right side of the road causing the tanker to over-turn.  The truck was hauling approximately 7,000 gallons of diesel, and the crash caused the tank to rupture and spill diesel on the roadway and into the median.  The crash caused all northbound lanes of traffic to be closed.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, I-20 was backed up for miles after an 18-wheelers collided with a car.  Police say the tractor-trailer 18-wheeler drifted out of its lane, clipped a Honda Accord and then hit the guardrail.  The 18-wheeler was dangling over the rail.  Crews had to be called to clean up the diesel fuel that dripped from the tank of the rig. Traffic was shut down at the crash site.

In LaPlace, Louisiana, State Police shut down the eastbound lanes of I-10 because of a collision involving two tractor-trailer 18-wheeler rigs.  Police say the two 18-wheelers crashed and caught fire shutting down the interstate.  One 18-wheeler was carrying compressed cardboard and the other sulfuric acid.  According to State Police, I-10 east had to be completely shut down to traffic.

If you travel the highways, you realize that there are a large number of 18-wheelers operating in front, beside, and behind you.  Driver fatigue, sleepy drivers, deadlines, and hours of service are coming together jeopardizing the safety of the motoring public: the housewife, the dad, the soccer mom, and the children.  These accidents have a common thread: truck driver negligence.  None of these incidents indicate a passenger vehicle causing or contributing to the collision.  We encourage Department of Transportation officials continue their vigilance in safety inspections and hours of service audits.  The money is well spent to prevent accidents as described above and the economic impact to clean up the mess and the rerouting of traffic.