Mesothelioma Bill

Congress and the Administration are trying once again to deny rights to victims of mesothelioma and their families. They are again pushing the massive mesothelioma settlement bill through Congress.

The proposed mesothelioma bill has one goal - to save the corporations who knowingly harmed their employees for years and years. These businesses knowlingly exposed their workers to harmful asbestos without adequate protection knowing that their employees would very likely be stricken with mesothelioma. Now that the workers and their families are seeking compensation that they are legally entitled to for the wanton disregard that their employers showed toward their health, the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration are paying them back for putting the Republicans in power.

Don't believe it. The Mesothelioma Bill is nothing more than a presidential pardon for corporate wrongdoers at the expense of innocent workers who were unsuspectingly just doing their jobs. Now the workers and their families are paying for it with their lives. Don't let the wrongdoers off the hook. Reject this bill!

To find out more about asbestos and its link to mesothelioma - visit a website that explains the link between asbestos and mesothelioma. Here are two law firm websites that deal with asbestos and mesothelioma - Mesothelioma Lawyers Network and The Law Firm of Peter G. Angelos - one of the major mesothelioma lawyers in the US.

Happy Thanksgiving

On this day where all Americans give thanks, I would like to thank the trial lawyers who have fought the corporations and insurance companies to give us safer products. Trial lawyers are responsible for airbags, seatbelts, antilock brakes and many other automobile safety features - not to mention safer toys for our kids.

As a parent of three children, personally thank you for helping to protect my legal rights and those of my family. I thank you for helping to keep corporate America walking the straight and narrow.

Thank you Trial Lawyers!

The Rights of Enemy Combatants

The Bush Administration today showed its true colors. For years, they have argued vehemently that the government is not bound by constitutional protections like habeas corpus, the right to a speedy trial, or even the right to know the charges that are being brought against you when it comes to enemy combatants.

Jose Padilla - an American citizen - was denied those rights for three years. He was held without being charged as an "enemy combatant."

Today, the Bush Administration showed its true colors by turning tail and running away rather than argue its position to the US Supreme Court. Today, less than a week before it had to file its answer in the US Supreme Court, the Bush Administration finally charged Padilla.

Clearly, the Bush Administration realizes that it never had a leg to stand on - so they turned tail and ran.

Now, I am the last one to argue that we should be soft on criminals - let alone terrorists, but I believe that when we allow ourselves - through our leaders - to ignore the fundamental constitutional rights that make our democracy different - in fact the fundamental rights that our forefathers fought for - we bring ourselves down to the level of the despots and the terrorists who we claim to be fighting.

Jose Padilla may be evil. He probably deserves to be severely punished for what he allegedly planned to do. But he is an American citizen and he deserves to have the rights and privileges promised him by the US Constitution.

Legal Rights and Torture

Isn't it interesting that the same people who want tort reform - read injured victims have no recourse against the corporate wrongdoer, are the same people who want to authorize the US to torture prisoners in this war on terror.

I think there is a commonality....

Impact of Tort Reform

If you think tort reform is good, you don't understand what is really happening.

Read this article - http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1006-22.htm

Hurricane Katrina Claims

Recently, I spoke with an attorney from Mississippi who told me that she is representing hundreds of victims of Hurricane Katrina against the insurance companies. The insurers are basically claiming that unless the victim can prove that his or her damage was caused by the wind and rain - as opposed to the flooding - they cannot recover. Of course, none of the victims can claim that because they, along with everybody else had fled north to escape the destruction.

So the insurance companies are offering ten cents on the dollar to victims who have nothing. The insurers claim they can't pay any more or they would go out of business.

Hmmm. Why do we buy insurance again????

Vioxx Verdict

It has been a while since I posted, but with the recent verdict in the Vioxx case and Merck's apparent desire to try every case, I couldn't help myself.

This is all about money. Merck made money for five years on Vioxx - lots of money - billions of dollars. Merck sold a drug that was clearly defective. They knew it caused heart attacks and strokes, yet they sold it anyway. Many people died and many others suffered because of Merck's insistence on profits over people.

Now they are trying to escape responsibility for their reckless disregard of peoples' lives. They say they are going to fight every case. I can see that they should defend themselves against people who are taking advantage of the situation, but why in the world would they fight legitimate claims. I mean many people who took Vioxx died. Merck knew the risks and misled the medical community and the public about them. Merck should own up to its responsibility.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will. So, if you have a Vioxx claim, you probably need a good Vioxx lawyer. There are lots of them out there, but here are a few good Vioxx law firms - Kline & Specter, the Law Firm of Peter Angelos, Trief & Olk.

If Merck won't act responsibly, you need a law firm that will fight at trial and bring them to their knees.