Studies indicate that there is a 40% increased risk of bladder cancer in people who took the drug for more than one year, as compared with those who never took it. Actos, used to manage people with Type 2 diabetes, is made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc.

Possible symptoms of bladder cancer can include:
• Abdominal pain
• Blood in the urine
• Painful urination
• Urinary frequency
• Urinary urgency
• Urine leakage (incontinence)

If you have taken Actos and are concerned of the risks, contact your physician for an evaluation of your diabetes and appropriate medical management. If you have developed bladder cancer following the use of Actos, or have questions about the risks of this drug, contact our office for an evaluation of your legal rights.

Our law firm is committed to providing you information regarding defective products, including pharmaceuticals. Our person injury attorneys are available for a free initial consultation to explain your legal rights.

New medical research suggests that the use of Chantix increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and stroke. Chantix (which is the trade name for the drug varenicline) is a smoking cessation drug, manufactured by Pfizer, and which was approved by the FDA in 2006.  The new study results follow a safety notice issued by the FDA last month, warning Chantix users with cardiovascular disease of a possible increase in the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal published the results of a review study indicating that the risk of serious cardiovascular events in Chantix users is 72% higher in tobacco users than non Chantix users. While Chantix has not yet been recalled, at least one of the authors of the study suggested that it should be pulled from the market until a complete investigation has been performed.

The lead author of the study was Dr. Sonal Singh. Dr. Singh says the FDA and Pfizer have failed to pursue signs of this known risk since Chantix was approved in 2006, according to a New York Times article on the study.

“The F.D.A. should have already put it on their warning label,” Dr. Singh said. “The risk is substantial, the risk is present in smokers without heart disease, and Pfizer knew about this for five years.”

Our law firm is committed to the safety and well being of our clients and friends. If you or someone you know has been injured by a dangerous product, we are always available to discuss your rights.

The Toledo Blade reported last week on the not guilty plea entered by the former owner of a group home, where two residents died in 2008 from excessive heat.

The plea stems from an indictment against the former owner of the home on two counts of involuntary manslaughter. According to authorities, the living conditions of the group home included the residents’ room recording a temperature of 90.5 degrees and one of the deceased residents having a body temperature of 105.5 degrees at admission to the hospital.

Heat related illnesses and death in the elderly population are preventable, with appropriate care. While the elderly population is at a higher risk of illness due to excessive heat, nursing homes and long term care facilities are required to provide appropriate conditions for the safety and well being of residents. Unfortunately, many are poorly run, with overworked staff, run-down facilities, and an environment that fosters abuse and neglect.

The CDC provides some good information on dealing with heat issues in the elderly. As summer approaches and the temperature rises, be on the lookout for signs of heat illnesses and risk factors in our elderly family members and neighbors.

If you have questions or would like to discuss any issues relating to nursing home or group home neglect or abuse, please contact the personal injury lawyers at Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer at (419) 843-2001 or at gallonlaw.com.

This type of insurance coverage has several practical benefits:

- Medical payment coverage can, and often does, overlap with other insurance (such as health insurance) that might apply, in order to cover copayments and deductibles.

- Medical payment coverage will cover prescription and other out of pocket expenses that might not otherwise be covered under health insurance.

- If trial of a personal injury lawsuit becomes necessary, the payment of medical expenses by medical payment coverage, as opposed to that of discounted health insurance, can more fully reflect the actual value of the medical services and thereby mirror the real extent of injury. This fact makes the jury realize the full extent of injury to a victim, as opposed to a “discounted” claim, resulting from health insurance payments of less than the real value of a medical bill.

I encourage clients to take advantage of the premiums they have paid over the years for their medical payment coverage. It would be a mistake, in my opinion, to purchase this overlapping coverage and then fail to utilize it.

Please feel free to contact our office with any questions regarding medical payment coverage or any other injury related issues.

Last week was Drowsy Driving Awareness Week, a public awareness campaign promoted by the National Sleep Foundation. Everyone on the road should be aware of the dangers of driving while drowsy:

- Being awake for more than 20 hours results in impairment equal to a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the legal limit for drunk driving in Ohio!

- The financial costs for drowsy driving crashes are estimated at $12.5 billion annually.

- Half of American adults have consistently admitted that they have driven drowsy in the previous year.

What can be done to prevent this problem? Know the risk factors and tips for staying awake and staying alive.

Those most at risk for drowsy driving include young drivers (especially males aged 16-25), late and early shift workers, commercial drivers, people with untreated medical conditions and business travelers who suffer jet lag and fatigue.

Prevention tips for drowsy driving are really based on common sense. For example, the best way to prevent drowsy driving is to keep good sleep habits. In addition, the following tips may keep you and the rest of us safe on the roads:

- Don’t drive if you are tired.

- Don’t drive at times when you would normally be sleeping.

- Don’t drink any alcohol if you are even a little bit sleepy

- Get off the road if you notice signs of fatigue

- Pull over (in a safe spot) and take a quick cat nap

- Drink caffeine (but this should not be relied upon for long periods)

- Drive with a friend

As you are traveling over the upcoming holidays, please keep the dangers of drowsy driving in mind and follow these tips for safety for a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

For years, Allstate’s mission has not been to keep you in “good hands” but to place profits over its policyholders and those injured by their negligent insured drivers. As part of this mission, the worst insurance company in America, according to a 2008 investigation, has spent lots of money devising software that helps their bottom line when handling bodily injury claims, by taking the human element out of claims adjusting and leaving it to a computer program.

This week, however, Allstate agreed to a $10 million dollar regulatory settlement after an investigation into the company’s Colossus software. Colossus is software licensed to Allstate and other insurance companies to help them predict the settlement value of injury claims. Unfortunately, the software is unable to take into account the human factors involved, like chronic pain, sleepless nights, or anxiety attacks. These various factors differ from claim to claim and person to person.

The settlement, though small for a multi-billion dollar company, provides that Allstate agrees “to implement procedures to ensure transparency and fairness for consumers who have bodily injury claims,ccording to New York State Insurance Superintendent James Wrynn. The funds are targeted to be used to train examiners to monitor the use of software in adjusting claims.

Allstate agreed to modify their claims handling process to provide notice to claimants that the Colossus software may be used in the adjustment of their bodily injury claims. At the same time, Allstate assures that they will not establish a rule requiring claims adjusters to settle bodily injury claims solely on the value recommended by Colossus. They also agreed not to provide incentives for claims adjusters to settle claims at the value recommended by Colossus.

So, transparency and fairness are now (apparently) Allstate’s stand. I remain skeptical . . .

-  When discharge from the hospital is set to take place with short notice, it may be important to ask the hospital administration for an appeal of the discharge, which will buy you some time to choose an appropriate facility.

-  The social worker at a hospital is often a good resource for information regarding local nursing homes. Be sure to question this person with regard to any concerns you may have.

-  Get in touch with your local area office on aging which can provide you a list of nursing homes in your area and can get you in contact with the nursing home ombudsman. The ombudsman can provide you with information regarding staffing, administration and any persistent problems that a nursing home may have.

-  Visit the facility you are considering, and do it more than once. Different visits at different times of the day will provide you with the opportunity to see the nursing home during different activity times like mealtimes and medication passes and social hours. These visits will provide you with an overall feel for the nursing home and an opportunity to interact with residents.

-  Look for residents in activity areas during your visits and see what they’re doing. This will provide you with a feel for how residents are treated and the amount of attention they get.

-  Check out the cafeteria and the food and drinks provided to the residents. See if the kitchen is clean and if the food looks appetizing and feel free to ask for a meal if you visit the facility at a meal time. Often times with the vulnerable elderly, malnutrition and dehydration can be common place. If a meal is unsavory, it makes these conditions all the more likely.

-  Consider the various odors throughout the facility. A good quality nursing home should be clean and odor free. While there will be occasion that there will be some odor permeating in the building, it should not be persistent.

-  Ask the prospective facility for copies of their most recent state inspections. These reports list recent violations by state inspectors. Once you’ve reviewed the reports, sit down with the administrator of the facility and question how the deficiencies have been corrected.

-  If at all possible, try to find a facility close to home. If you or a loved one is unable to stay at home, it helps the transition to know that you are at least in an area you are comfortable with and in an area where you will have visitors and may know some fellow residents.

-  Once a nursing facility is chosen, if you are a loved one, visit often. This will help you ensure that the patient’s care plan is being followed and that you are familiar with the staff involved in the patient’s care and are able to monitor that care appropriately. If you are the resident of the nursing home, be aware of your local ombudsman office and develop a relationship with both the director of nursing and the administrator at the facility. This will provide you with an outlet for any complaints or concerns you may have regarding the care being rendered.

Choosing a nursing home or an extended rehabilitation facility can be a very difficult task. If you follow these guidelines and become familiar with the nursing home residents bill of rights provided by Ohio law, you will gain peace of mind and hopefully have a quality experience.

The study ranked the most common injuries, estimated to be resulting from error, by cost:

Bed sores – $3.9 billion

Post-operative infections – $3.7 billion

Device complications – $1.1 billion

Complications from failed spinal surgery – $1.1 billion

Hemorrhages – $960 million.

And those are just the economic costs. Oftentimes, the most devastating aspects of injury to a victim of medical errors are the non-economic aspects. These include the grief that comes with the loss of the loved one, or the inability to maintain normal functions of life, or chronic pain.

There are many patient safety resources available to assist patients and their families with being proactive in the administration of their health care. Hopefully, this study – among other similiar studies of recent years — will cause more legislative safeguards to be put into place on the national level in order to lessen not only the economic impact of this problem, but also the devastating effects that medical errors have on the lives of those injured.

As always, if you have an injury that you would like to discuss, please contact our office for a free consultation.

Allegations of abuse are coming from all over the country and include:

• performing many unnecessary “baby root canals” and crowns
• taking many unnecessary x-rays
• threatening children and calling them names
• causing injury by restraining children in “papoose boards” essentially a straight jacket with a firm back board
• forbidding parents from being present in the examination room
• offering bonuses to clinics that were able to “convert” patients from a routine checkup to major procedures on the same day, including performing as many root canals or crowns as possible

These alarming stories have been investigated by media outlets for some time. An investigative report from the Washington, D.C. area shows video of a child being restrained and having his nose pinched while forcing his mouth open.

In January, the United States settled a False Claims Act with FORBA for $24 million dollars. Unfortunately, none of that money will be used to compensate the children who suffered through any unnecessary procedures. However, other remedies may be available and our law firm is committed to ensuring that your rights to compensation are protected.

If your child has undergone dental treatment at Small Smiles  in Toledo, or any other of these clinics, please contact our office at gallonlaw.com or at 419-843-2001 for a free evaluation of your claim.

Michael D. Bell
Attorney, Personal Injury Section
Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer Co., L.P.A.

Regardless, the safest practice would be to not use the cell phone at all while driving. However — at least according to this study — the act of texting while driving significantly increases the risk of crashing.

On a similar note, the City of Toledo has recently passed an ordinance which bans texting while driving. This law went into effect on January 1, 2010. Repeated violations of the law could cost a driver jail time and fines up to $1,000. While this new law will undoubtedly be difficult to enforce, the University of Utah study seems to suggest that the significantly increased risk of texting while driving, as compared to talking on a cell phone while driving, justifies some action be taken to keep drivers safe.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an automobile accident, please contact our office at gallonlaw.com or via phone at 419-843-2001 or toll-free 800-352-1976 for a free consultation and evaluation of your claim. Our personal injury attorneys have extensive experience dealing with automobile collisions throughout Ohio and Michigan and have a history of recovering for our clients who are injured and/or killed through no fault of their own.

Michael D. Bell
Attorney, Personal Injury Section
Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer Co., L.P.A.