A judicial panel has decided that Darvon/Darvocet lawsuits will be consolidated for purposes of discovery.  The lawsuits will be part of multidistrict litigation, and will be centralized in federal court in Kentucky.

At least 17 Darvon/Darvocet lawsuits will be transferred to the multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and any new lawsuits filed will also be transferred there.  As part of discovery, Darvocet lawyers will research several issues – whether propoxyphene-containing medications like Darvon and Darvocet have defects that may be dangerous, and whether the defendants – Eli Lilly in the case of Darvon, and Xanodyne in the case of Darvocet – were aware of the dangerous side effects from the use of these medications.

The defendants had argued against consolidation of all the lawsuits, saying that pretrial proceedings would likely focus on each individual plaintiff’s health.  However, the panel disagreed with the defendants, saying that the benefits of having multidistrict litigation outweigh the differences in individual cases.

The move to centralize all Darvocet/Darvon lawsuits into single multidistrict litigation began in December 2010.  The petition was filed soon after a recall of all propoxyphene-containing painkillers.  The recall included both Darvocet and Darvocet as well as the generic versions.  The recall was announced in November 2010, when the Food and Drug Administration concluded that the use of propoxyphene-containing medications like Darvon and Darvocet increased the risk of cardiac disorders including cardiac arrhythmias or change in cardiac rhythm, tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and myocardial infarction.

The Food and Drug Administration panel that investigated the side effects of Darvon/Darvocet, also concluded that the side effects included suicidal fantasies, suicide risks, seizures and addiction.  Until the recall was announced, the FDA had received more than 3,000 reports of serious side effects resulting from Darvocet use.

A Los Angeles motorcyclist was killed in an accident near Point Mugu State Beach earlier this week. According to the California Highway Patrol, the 22-year-old motorcyclist was riding on Pacific Coast Highway on the 4th of July, when a car pulled out of a beach parking lot and into the path of the motorcycle.  The motorcyclist hit the driver’s side of the car, and was thrown off.  He sustained serious injuries, and was rushed to the hospital.  However, he later succumbed to his injuries.

The victim was part of a group of motorcyclists that had been headed back to Los Angeles from Fillmore.  The California Highway Patrol does not believe that alcohol or drug use was involved in this accident.

However, this accident illustrates to Los Angeles motorcycle accident lawyers the dangers to motorcyclists when they are struck by cars that are pulling out of parking lots or garages.  These kinds of accidents occur more often during summer when there are more motorists on the road.  A motorcyclist can be taken completely unawares when a car backs out into the rider’s path.

This is the reason why Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorneys always advise that motorists look out for motorcyclists when they are pulling out of a parking lot.  Motorcycles can be easy to miss, and can easily fall in a vehicle’s blind spots, which is why a motorist must be extra careful.

A motorcyclist’s risk of an accident always increases during summer, when sharing the streets with more drivers on the road.  It’s not hard to see why summer is one of the most dangerous times for motorcyclists.  Many of these are inexperienced teenage and young drivers, vacationers, or people generally distracted by their summer plans.

Parents and grandparents shopping for holiday gifts for children can look forward to some good news from the Consumer Products Safety Commission. In 2009, there was a decline in toy-related deaths across the country. The CPSC is crediting this decline to the fact that more recalls are being announced, yanking unsafe and defective toys from our shelves.

There were 44 recalls in 2010, compared to 50 last year and 152 the previous year. When it comes to children below the age of 15, there were 12 deaths in 2009, down from 24 deaths each in 2008 and 2007.

Not all was good news, however. There was a slight increase in the number of toy-related injuries last year. Overall, in 2009, there were approximately 185,900 toy-related injuries that required children to be taken to the ER. Most worryingly for California product liability attorneys, these toy-related injury numbers have been on a steady increase from 2005. Approximately 27% of toy-related injuries in 2009 were related to the use of scooters. They accounted for approximately 49,500 injuries last year.

Many toy-related injuries involve children below the age of three, when they get their hands on toys that are meant for older children. Parents must look at the packaging of the toy carefully to make sure that it’s safe for children below the age of three to use. However, many times, younger children in the house are able to get their hands on toys owned by their older siblings. These toys may have detachable parts that may pose a serious choking or aspiration hazard for a young child. Besides, children may even swallow small parts, causing internal injuries.

This Christmas season, make sure that you buy age-appropriate toys, and encourage your children to use proper safety gear while using these toys. Supervise children when they play with toys.

According to information released at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting, the more serious and severe a dog bite involving a child, the more likely that eye injuries are involved.  Besides, eye injuries in a dog bite mean extensive hospitalization for the child, and possibly even the need for multiple surgeries.

The doctors who presented the paper said that half the children who were treated for eye injuries from dog bites required surgery and 18% of the children needed to be hospitalized again for additional surgery.  In almost all the children who suffered eye injuries in a dog bite, the eyelids were severely damaged.  However, children were less likely to suffer corneal damage or fractures of the bones surrounding the eye during a bite.  Some of the most common breeds involved in attacks were German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Rottweilers.  The average age of a child who suffered eye injuries in a dog bite was 3.9 years.

Moreover, children who suffered eye injuries were more likely to suffer complications in the future, including tear duct obstructions and scarring.  The 18% of children who required additional surgery, needed at least 15 different types of revision procedures to correct these complications.  Overall, eye injuries seem to be an indicator of the severity of the attack.  For instance, children who suffered eye injuries, were also found to have more facial zones that were badly injured and more facial lacerations.  These children required more extensive medical treatment and hospitalization.  They also typically required a longer recovery time.

Los Angeles dog bite lawyers suggest that whenever children are involved in a serious dog bite that includes facial lacerations and even minutely damages the eye, it’s always prudent to consult with an ophthalmologist right at the very outset.  This can help determine whether there has been eye damage that requires surgery, and could reduce the need for revision surgery later.

Reputation management is becoming more and more important these days.  When someone searches for you online, you want to be sure they find information that is accurate.  If you are a business owner and move offices, does the internet know?  You may update your website and your Google Places listing but what about the 10, 20 or 100 other sites that have you listed under your old address.

It is important to keep a record of all of the websites that your business is listed on.  If you forget to update a popular directory like Yahoo’s directory you could miss out on a lot of future business and never even know it.  Below is an example of attorney David Lederer.  I have linked to several profiles that are reputable and able to be updated by him.  With the thousands of directory sites that are out there now, you may never be able to update them all but do your best to change as many as you can.

David Lederer’s Profile

David Lederer’s LinkedIn Profile:  LinkedIn is a very popular and well respected, professional directory.  Having a profile on LinkedIn allows you to control the information that people find about you.  Make sure to keep your profile updated if you changed your job, address, phone number or email address.

David Lederer’s FindLaw Profile:  FindLaw is an attorney specific directory that allows lawyers to list their business information, experience and other credentials.  The search engines respect websites like FindLaw because they are constantly updated, do quality control on all profiles and specialize in one particular area, lawyers.

Those are only two examples but you can find hundreds more online.  It is always good to have profiles in industry specific listings and a couple of the major listings like Google, Yahoo and YP.com.

Remember to protect your information by knowing where it is and how to update it when necessary.

The California moral brigade is out in full force to cast stones at 42-year-old Christine Hubbs, the Livermore woman who is facing charges of sexual assault of two teenage boys.  It’s important to Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers to step in, and point out that Hubbs continues to remain innocent until proven guilty, and that additional circumstances surrounding the alleged assault don’t really matter.

Hubbs faces 67 counts in all of sexual assault, including unlawful sex with a minor and exhibition of lewd material to a minor.  Prosecutors allege that she first made an advance towards one of the alleged victims when he was 14 years old.  After the alleged sexual assault incident in December 2008, she allegedly sent the boy sexually explicit text messages, and asked him to keep in contact with her.  There were two victims in all, and one of them was allegedly taken to a motel for sexual intercourse.  Prosecutors also say that Hubbs fueled the relationship by getting the boys expensive gifts, including video games.  She’s currently being held on $20 million bail.

It has been very amusing to see parts of the media salivating over unimportant details of the alleged assault.  The media has gone all out to paint Hubbs as a heartless Jezebel, and everything from her daughter’s personal relationships to the way Hubbs dresses has been dragged out into view for public consumption.

For instance, Hubbs apparently drove a Hummer with a license plate that had the letters “HUMDNGA” printed on it, and the media has taken silly details like this and run with the story.  There has also been much made over the allegation that one of the victims was her daughter’s ex-boyfriend. Local TV stations have been talking to neighbors who sniffed at how Hubbs dressed like a girl half her age, and gave the local children rides in her SUV.

None of this is even relevant to the case, and the media should be doing a more responsible job of keeping attention focused strongly on the facts, and nothing else.  But that, of course, would be much too boring. In the meantime, this woman’s reputation and personal life are being dragged over the coals.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has settled the rest of the gender discrimination claims that were brought against it by thousands of its current and former female employees.  The company has agreed to pay more than $152 million to workers who were employed by company between 2002 and 2007.

Of the settlement, $60 million is meant to cover back pay.  Besides the $152 million, Novartis will also have to pay an additional $22.5 million for company programs aimed at eliminating discrimination in the workplace.

That announcement came just a few months after a jury in May awarded a punitive damages verdict against Novartis of $250 million.  The jury had found that the company had discriminated heavily against its female employees.  This discrimination took the form of giving female employees lower pay than male employees, and discriminatory practices during promotions.  It was the largest gender discrimination award in US history against any company.  This new settlement replaces the punitive damages.  In May, a New York court also awarded 17 named plaintiffs and nine testifying witnesses, compensatory damages of $3.4 million.  That is part of the settlement of $152 million announced this week.

As part of the settlement, Novartis has also agreed to undertake a series of measures as part of a three-year program aimed at the treatment of female employees equally with male employees.  These programs will include revising the company’s sexual harassment policies and bringing in external specialists to identify gender discrimination in the company, and to correct it.

The settlement has not yet been approved, and it will go before a federal judge in Manhattan soon.  As the largest punitive damages verdict against any company in a gender bias lawsuit, the Novartis discrimination class-action will set a standard for other gender discrimination claims to follow.  The case had been heavily followed by Los Angeles employment law lawyers and corporations across the country.  It also came after a court ruled that a massive gender discrimination class action against Wal-Mart could proceed.

By now, almost everyone knows the pool safety drill – never leave the children unsupervised in the water, install 4-feet high pool fencing and make sure that all doors that lead to the pool are latched. However, if you own a property with a swimming pool, there are other things you can do to make sure that your pool is drown-resistant.

It’s important for property owners to make sure that there is a special pool safety first aid kit available right at the poolside. This kit must be available and accessible in case of an emergency. Pool safety experts and California premises liability lawyers also suggest waterproof telephones if you need to call for emergency medical help.

Property owners can also consider pool alarms. There are new and sophisticated models available these days. You can buy different kinds of alarms depending on the kind of pool you have. There are separate alarms for in ground pools and above ground pools. For instance, one alarm device detects waves in the water when an object, like a child, falls in, and will sound an alarm both inside and outside the house. Have alarms on all doors that lead to the pool.

There are other gadgets you can buy to drown proof your pool. For example, all in ground pools need a pool cover. It’s not merely enough to have a cover that’s meant simply to protect the pool from dirt and debris. It’s important to have a pool cover that meets industry standards. Your pool cover should be able to support the weight of a person walking on it.  It’s also important to make sure that your hot tubs are covered and locked when not in use.

Inflatable pools are a major drowning risk in children below the age of five. These are very popular because they’re easy to install, and work out cheaper than in-ground pools. However, these pools can hold thousands of gallons of water, and offer very little protection against drowning. Parents must know that all that open, easily accessible water makes the pool a drowning magnet.

Consistent and chronic headaches are one of the complaints most often reported by people who live with a Traumatic Brain Injury. New research seems to indicate that these painful headaches can be eliminated using special eyeglasses lenses that contain prisms.

The study was conducted by physicians at the University of Michigan Medical School. The results of the studies seem to indicate that the severity of headaches, dizziness and anxiety reported by patients who suffered a brain injury, can be lessened to some extent by using these lenses. According to the researchers, this is a brand-new approach to the treatment of post-concussive symptoms.

Researchers have known for long that traumatic brain injury can result in vision problems. Now however, they believe that the vision problems that result from TBI are also responsible for post-concussive symptoms, like headaches and dizziness. Up to 25% of patients suffering from TBI continue to suffer from post concussive symptoms for about a year after suffering the injury.

The brain injury causes a condition known as vertical heterophoria, or visual image misalignment. In order to cope with this misalignment, the eye muscles are forced back into proper alignment. This leads to strain on the eye muscles, and can result in post concussive symptoms like dizziness, anxiety, neck pain and headaches. When the researchers used eyeglasses with prisms to realign the images, it led to a reduction in the strain on the eye muscles. The eye muscles were now less fatigued and stressed, and therefore, there was a massive reduction in the severity of the person’s postconcussive symptoms. In fact, the researchers found that the symptoms were reduced by as much as 71%.

Traumatic Brain Injury is one of the most common conditions afflicting veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. These also occur frequently in auto, truck and motorcycle accidents, falls and assaults. Considering that up to 6 million people in the United States suffer from a Traumatic Brain Injury, and that many of these people suffer from postconcussive symptoms, these findings are very encouraging to Los Angeles brain injury lawyers.

The month of May has been dedicated to motorcycle and bicycle safety across California. The campaign coincides with summer, and the fact that higher numbers of bicyclists and motorcyclists will be on California roads. The California Department Of Motor Vehicles has brought out a new safety video that aims at educating motorists about motorcyclist and bicyclist safety.

The video is titled Sharing the Road with Motorcycles and Bicycles, and runs for approximately 5 1/2 minutes. It features a series of safety tips and information for motorists. Some of these tips that seem to be lost on many of California’s motorists are:

• Pay attention to motorcyclists and bicyclists while you’re driving
• Look for motorcyclists and bicyclists, especially at crowded intersections
• Check your mirrors before leaving lanes
• Check your mirrors before merging

To these tips, Los Angeles personal injury lawyers would add their own advice:

• Give bicyclists a space of at least 3 feet as you pass them by. Don’t drive too close to a bicycle.
• Don’t yell at bicyclists.
• It’s not fun to drive close to a bicyclist and blow your horn. It not only scares the cyclist, but could also cause him to fall off his bicycle with serious consequences.

The number of bicyclists on California’s streets has always been huge, and these will increase now that summer is here. Bicycle safety has been a thorny issue in California, and there have been certain high-profile incidents recently that involved aggressive driving by motorists.

California has seen a massive increase in the number of registered motorcycles to up to 800,000 in January 2010. There is no excuse for motorists to ignore motorcyclists’ rights when there are these many motorcycles on the roads. Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorneys have long been concerned about high motorcycle accident rates in the state. In 2009, there was a drop in fatalities, but that could be attributed to the effects of an economic recession.

With the month of May being dedicated to these serious safety issues, it’s the right time for law enforcement agencies in California to take up these concerns more seriously.