Miscellaneous

• Countrywide, Nation's Largest Mortgage Lender, Sued for Fraud

  Gary Shipman | February 29, 2008 9:05 AM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, charged borrowers excessive and unreasonable fees to borrowers facing foreclosure, according to a lawsuit filed in Delaware on Monday.The action alleges that Countrywide profitted from the excessive fees in order to compensate for its losses in the subprime loan default crisis. While typical mortgage agreement permit Countrywide to...

• Investigation Reveals Pharmacy Policies Cause Errors

  Gary Shipman | February 14, 2008 4:02 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  An investigation by USA Today has revealed that pharmacy errors at the nation's largest drugstore chains, Walgreens and CVS, are caused by corporate policies requiring that pharmacists work long hours and fill prescriptions in as little as two minutes.A study by Auburn University in 2003 projected that the odds of getting a prescription as the result of an error by the filling pharmacist was...

• Jury Awards $6 Million In Drug Interaction Death

  Gary Shipman | October 17, 2007 5:30 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  A jury in Arizona awarded $6 million to the family of a man who died from a toxic interaction between two pain medications - Tramadol and Methadone.The jury found that the pharmacy, Walgreen's, that dispensed the drugs was negligent for failing to warn Eric Warren, a high school wrestling coach, of the danger of taking the two medications together. The jury also held the man's physician...

• $12 Million Award in Medical Malpractice Case

  Matt Buckmiller | October 04, 2007 3:12 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  After a 7-day trial, a jury in DuPage County awarded a record $12 million award to a 7 year old boy who became disabled at birth. The jury found that a Doctor was negligent because of an "unnecessary" 45 minute delay during the initial stages of a Caesarian section surgery, which deprived the child of oxygen, causing his disability. While the boy has normal intelligence he has no control over...

• Jury awards $6 million to motorcycle accident victim

  Gary Shipman | October 01, 2007 7:06 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  A federal court jury in Waco, Texas has awarded $6 million to a man who was critically injured in a motorcycle accident involving a collision with a tractor-trailer.The trucking company placed the blame for the accident on the operator of the motorcycle, who was injured when the truck driver changed lanes, striking the motorcycle and knocing the driver off the bike. The injured man, a 13 year...

• Two Years Later, Katrina Victims Wait for Insurance

  Gary Shipman | September 06, 2007 3:46 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  A report released last week by the American Association of Justice shows that two years after Hurricane Katrina, insurance companies continue to engage in unfair conduct deliberately designed to avoid and delay the payment of legitimate claims. The comprehensive report shows that the insurance companies who have denied hurricane related casualty claims have, during the preceding two years,...

• Three Navy Sailors Missing After Plane Crash

  Jenny Albano | August 16, 2007 11:13 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  On Wednesday, August 15, a command and control plane crashed over the Atlantic while the E-2C Hawkeye was conducting exercises off the Virginia-North Carolina coast. Now 3 Navy sailors are missing at sea.The plane crashed after it launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman about 11 p.m. Wednesday, Navy officials said.Navy officials have announced that they do not know...

• Novartis Discrimination Lawsuit Now a Class Action

  Gary Shipman | August 02, 2007 4:07 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  A gender discrimination action in which female employees of Novartis Pharmaceuticals alleged that there were discriminated against because they were pregnant or had recently given birth has been certified as a class action by a United States District Court Judge in New York.The case, believed to be the second largest gender discrimination case certified as a class action, involves an estimated...

• Bridge collapse in Minneapolis results in 4 deaths

  Gary Shipman | August 02, 2007 1:18 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  A bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul that was under repair collapsed Wednesday during the evening rush hour, killing at least 4 people. The Interstate 35W bridge collapsed for unknown reasons, although the U.S. Homeland Security Department, as of last night, had given no indication of there being any relationship with acts of terrorism. At least fifty vehicles are believed to have fallen...

• Bad Faith Insurance Claims

  Matt Buckmiller | July 30, 2007 9:29 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  One Fourth Of Americans Have Had Valid Health Insurance Claims Denied. While theinsurance company in John Grisham's book "The Rainmaker" is fictitious it is indicative of the way billions of consumers are treated when dealing with their insurance company. In the book, an insured 20-something year old, Donny Eay, is dying of leukemia. A bone marrow transplant would have cured Donny Ray...