Monthly Archives: November 2007

Merck Offers to Settle Vioxx Cases for $4.85 Billion

In a reversal of sorts, Merck has offered to settle approximately 27,000 Vioxx claims for $4.85 billion. Merck has offered to settle these cases without admitting liability or fault. Vioxx was pulled from the market in September 2004 after a scientific study showed that Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes for patients taking Vioxx for more than 18 months.
In order to participate in the settlement, claimants will have to meet certain criteria including medical proof of a heart attack or stroke and that the patient received at least 30 Vioxx pills and took them within two weeks or less of the medical event that caused the injury.

Catholic Bishops Have a New Lawyer

Anthony Picarello became general counsel for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops this past September, succeeding Mark Chopko who had been the bishops’ counsel since 1988. Picarello is a life-long Catholic who adheres to the same principles exhibited by Chopko in dealing with survivors of priest sexual abuse. He may even be more strident. Here is an excerpt from a November 5th Catholic News Service interview concerning how the Church is handling the priest abuse crisis:
“The church has a lot to be proud of in that respect,” Picarello said. But the media coverage “leaves people with the impression that the church is not adequately addressing these issues. … It’s as if the scandal is intensifying, and it’s not at all.”
Picarello thinks that new laws opening the statute of limitations for survivors of sexual abuse is fundamentally unjust and especially unfair that these settlements are coming at a time when the church is “hitting its stride” in implementing procedures for the prevention of child sex abuse by priests.
Picarello has passed the public relations/spin control test for the USCCB but he surely has failed the smell test for the general public.

Airbag Failure Causes Auto Accident Fatalities

According to a Kansas City Star analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s data on auto accidents between 2001 and 2006, at least 1,400 people died in front impact auto accidents in which airbags failed to deploy. Airbag deployment failure is a leading cause of concern for drivers who rely on the airbag as a last resort defense in the event of a serious auto accident. The most disturbing issue is the lack of effective measures the NHTSA seem to take in correcting this problem. Airbags are an important safety feature in an auto. The regulatory agencies charged to supervise auto safety need to take a more proactive approach to resolving this important safety issue.

Merck HIV Vaccine

Merck’s HIV vaccine was canceled because it didn’t work. At least, that’s what the pharmaceutical gian told us. Now, it seems that the vaccine may actually make some people more susceptible to the virus. Merck had boasted that the vaccine was the greatest hope yet in preventing HIV before it was canceled in September. The vaccine couldn’t give a patient the HIV virus. However, it could render one’s immune system more vulnerable to the deadly virus.

AquaDot Toy Recall

A toy that made Wal-Mart’s list of top picks is being recalled from the market. AquaDot are arts and crafts toys, 4 million of which are being recalled due to swallowing dangers. In addition, the swallowed toys become a toxic substance within the human body. Spin Master Ltd. of Toronto is arranging terms of the recall.

Rev. Donald McGuire Granted Bail, Kicked Out of Jesuits

Father Donald McGuire had a mixed day yesterday. He was granted bail and allowed to live at home under the supervision of two friends as long as he wears an electronic monitor. That was the good news for him. The bad news arrived when he was informed that he had been dismissed from the Jesuit Order. Now, he was not dismissed from the priesthood, just the Jesuits. He still remains a priest unless or until the Vatican decides to commence laicization procedures against him. Laicization is an internal church process whereby a priest is “reduced” (that’s the language the church actually uses!) to the lay state ie. he’s essentially no longer able to function as a priest. Laicization takes place in the context of a church trial and is considered a penalty. There are two types: voluntary and involuntary. Involuntary laicization occurs when a priest is accused of behavior such as sex abuse of a minor. Unlike other priest abusers, McGuire was convicted of molesting a boy and now faces a federal charge related to the abuse.

Auto Accident in Pinellas County and Standard Time

While we all probably looked forward to getting an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning, there are some downsides to reverting from daylight savings time to standard time. For one thing, it gets darker in Florida about one hour earlier than we may be accustomed. This can prove hazardous for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike. The early dusk can complicate driving, make it harder to spot others on the roadways, and lead to an increase in traffic accidents. This, coupled with the impending holiday season, can make for a distracted driver. Auto accidents tend to climb during this period so we need to take extra precautions when driving. Here are a few tips to avoid that costly and painful auto accident: 1)don’t drive if you’re too tired, 2)don’t drive if you’ve been drinking alcohol or taking any type of prescription narcotics, 3)allow for more time to reach your destination.
Auto accidents in Pinellas County occur at a rate of 38 per day. There are over 300 auto accident fatalities each year in Pinellas and Hillsborough County alone. Let’s be careful out there!

Astra Zeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb Hit with Double Damages in Class Action Lawsuit

A federal judge in Massachusetts has awarded double damages in a class action lawsuit against the two pharmaceutical giants Bristol Myers Squibb and Astra Zeneca for illegally inflating the prices of physician administered drugs. According to Massachusetts law, a court can order double or even treble damages in a lawsuit against defendants for unfair and deceptive conduct if their actions are found to be “knowing and willful.” Judge Saris found that the drug companies’ conduct in inflating the prices of the drugs in question was knowing and willful, because they knew that Medicare patients and their insurers would have no choice but to pay 20% co-insurance on the “grossly inflated phony drugs.” She awarded double damages against Astra Zeneca because it “sold its drug Zoladex based on its profitability to the doctor’s office…[t]he damage to the sick and old beneficiaries was inevitable.” She awarded double damages against BMS for certain years for the drugs Taxol, Cytoxan and Rubex.

Retired Catholic Bishop Hit with Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Bishop Priamo Tejada, the retired bishop of Bani in the Dominican Republic, is facing a sexual abuse lawsuit from a Cuban man who says the bishop molested him for the past 11 years. Recently, the retired bishop has been working in the Diocese of Venice. As usual, the Diocese of Venice is claiming to have no prior knowlege of Tejada’s problem but a 2000 Venice Police Department report might show otherwise. The report states that Tejada made unwanted sexual advances toward a local doctor and admitted that he was homosexual. It’s not clear from the Naples Daily News story when the incident became public or whether such an incident was in the bishop’s personnel file at the Diocese of Venice.

Jesuit Donald McGuire Charged with Molesting Boys

Jesuit priest Donald McGuire has been charged with a new federal complaint of molesting boys. McGuire was transferred from state custody to federal custody where he remains in Chicago. According to the 24 page federal affidavit, McGuire continued to function as a Jesuit priest and molest boys during a time period when the Jesuits had placed numerous restriction on him. However, McGuire ignored the restrictions and continued to travel with the boys and molest them.
In response to the new federal charge, the Chicago Province of the Jesuits issued a statement that they had cooperated extensively with the federal government. This seems hardly the case since they never released their own internal documents (until forced to do so) that revealed sexual abuse of minors dating back to 1969. How many young children could have been spared if the Jesuits had actually cooperated with the feds back in the 1960’s when they first knew that McGuire was harming children?