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Yesterday the pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer agreed to pay 2.3 billion dollars to settle civil and criminal lawsuits that alleged it illegally marketed Bextra, its arthritis drug, which has since been withdrawn from the market due to concerns that it caused severe skin reactions and contributed to clotting event, including heart attacks and strokes. Pfizer, which is in the midst of a deal to acquire the pharmaceutical manufacturer Wyeth, agreed to this settlement ending the litigation that stemmed form the illegal marketing accusations.

Locks Law Partner Marc P. Weingarten was recently awarded the most prestigious international award given by the American Association of Justice (AAJ), the national organization of plaintiff trial lawyers. At the Annual Convention of AAJ in San Francisco in July, Marc received the 2009 Jackass Penguin Award from the International Relations Committee and the International Practice Section of AAJ. Although the name sounds odd, the history of this award is quite honored. About 15 years ago, a delegation of AAJ officers visited South Africa to help launch an association of plaintiff lawyers in that country, called the South African Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (SAAPIL). While there, the lawyers visited the beach in their spare time and were quite taken by the delightful little birds indigenous to the area known as jackass penguins. They decided to name the annual international award from AAJ after these little creatures.

As a follow up to my blog post of August 6, New York State last week passed a law that makes texting while driving illegal. Assuming even reasonable police enforcement of that law, we all know that it will likely have little effect in changing the behaviors of those who insist on texting while driving. What can be done?

Leave it to a police chief in the small township of Gwent, Wales. The Gwent Police Department has produced a graphic video (WARNING: the video spares nothing in its very realistic depiction of the carnage) that depicts what happens when a distracted, texting young adult is also behind the wheel of a car. This effort by the Gwent Chief is remarkable in its frankness and honesty, but will it make a difference?

Marc P. Weingarten, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Locks Law and Joseph M. McGill, a senior associate in that office recently were successful in the jury trials in Philadelphia state court for two gentlemen who tragically died of mesothelioma. The cases were tried together, in a consolidated manner, before one jury. One man died of mesothelioma at the age of 93 and was awarded $492,000. The other gentleman died of mesothelioma at the age of 63 and was awarded $732,000.

These trials were unique because the only exposure they had to asbestos was in the installation and repair of automobile brakes and clutches. These so-called friction defendants have a scorched earth policy of never settling cases, although in these cases they offered each plaintiff $100,000 to settle before the trial began. The 93 year old victim was able to prove his case against Bendix and the other gentleman proved his case against Borg-Warner.

Most people think of carbon monoxide poisoning as coming from automobile exhaust or faulty heating systems and indeed much of it does come from those sources. However, in the summer time houseboats can become a significant source of injury and death from this lethal poison gas.

Many houseboats are designed with gasoline powered generators in addition to the gasoline engines that run the boats. The generators are used to operate the air conditioning and lights on the boat. The generator is usually located below water level and emits exhaust out the side of the boat near the deck on the stern of the boat. Many deaths have occurred as a result of adults and children swimming in the area near or beneath the deck where they can be exposed to lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide in less than a minute. Renters of houseboats have also been poisoned inside the boat while sleeping with the air conditioner on.

In the United States physicians are permitted to prescribe medications to patients to treat conditions that are not specifically listed in the label, or product insert, for that medication. All medication labels must be approved by the FDA, and those labels list the conditions and diseases that FDA believes the drug is safe and effective in treating. If a physician uses a drug to treat a condition NOT listed in the label this use in called off-label use. There is less scientific evidence to support non-approved uses.

If you drive anywhere in the city of New York (or apparently anywhere else in the tri-state area as well) the sight of a driver with a cell phone pasted to his or her face is common. See that car ahead, speeding up and slowing down for no apparent reason? Get up next to it and what do you see: the driver on a cell phone. An erratic lane changer: drunk or tired maybe---nope: cell phone. And how about the SUV driver that races you to the red light, and then when the light turns green seems to be unable to find the gas pedal he was so familiar with only seconds before? Is he really trying to get you steamed? Nah---cell phone!

The use of ghostwriters---professional writers who assist non-writers to write a book or article and who are paid for their work but receive no public credit for their efforts---hence the ghost in the term---are widely used. It is common for professional sports stars, politicians or actors to utilize ghostwriters when writing their Great American novel. Football players play football: they dont write for a living. Politicians schmooze: they dont write for a living. And actors act, not write. So its no surprise that when an actor or athlete writes a book, he or she doesnt do it alone. The player, star or politician provides the material, anecdotes and subject expertise and the ghost provides the writing ability. And together, they produce a polished work.

Many of you have no doubt heard the repeated hue and cry of some who complain that doctors are being put out of business because of medical malpractice claims and the increasing malpractice insurance premiums they must pay. The press accounts of patients going without doctors in parts of the country where insurance premiums for doctors are alleged to be the highest are repeated almost daily. Likewise, the tales of the paucity of obstetricians and other high risk specialties, again allegedly due to high malpractice insurance premiums are spread like a virus through the internet and blogosphere.

CNBC reports that the tough economic times have taken their toll on the Repo Man as well. The creditors who hire the repo men have been trying to cut costs, which has led to a decrease in revenue and jobs in the automobile repossession business. Even though delinquent auto loans are at a record high, creditors are desperate to keep present loans serviceable primarily because the values for repossessed cars (and used cars generally) have fallen, just like real estate prices have during this Great Recession.