Category: Legal News

More Than 1 Million Pounds Of Beef Recalled Due To E.Coli.

Posted on August 11, 2008 by James Sabatini - Defective Products, General, Legal News

More than a million pounds of fresh ground beef has been recalled by an Omaha meat processing plant after 31 people were reported to have tested positive for E. Coli. Last month Nebraska Beef recalled approximately 5 million pounds of ground beef after reports of E. Coli.

The tainted beef was sold at Whole Foods, who buys their beef from Coleman Natural Foods, not Nebraska Beef; but Coleman uses the Nebraska Beef plant to process their beef. As a result Whole Foods also issued a recall of all ground beef sold at their stores between June 2 and August 6. It recommended that consumers should dispose of the beef bought between these dates.

Federal inspectors have been at the plant watching the processing of meat trying to determine the source. What’s disturbing is that they have not found the source, yet Nebraska Beef continues to process beef.

Disabled Truck Drivers Still Driving On The Road

Posted on August 6, 2008 by James Sabatini - Legal News, Truck Accidents

The Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog, has found about 4%, or 563,000 U.S. truck and bus driving license holders are receiving full federal disability benefits while still holding their commercial driver’s license. Drivers’ disabilities include hearing, vision, and seizure problems. Some are so severe, license holders would generally be denied certification to drive trucks and buses. Yet, these truck drivers remain on the road endangering the safety of everyone else traveling on Connecticut and the nation’s roads and highways.

If you have been involved in a truck accident, feel free to contact our Hartford truck accident lawyers.

Motions to Dismiss In CT Malpractice Cases – A Disturbing Trend

Posted on July 31, 2008 by James Sabatini - Legal News, Legal Strategies, Medical and Dental Malpractice

We have been seeing and experiencing in our own medical and dental malpractice cases a disturbing trend. Defendants are filing Motions to Dismiss malpractice lawsuits on the ground that the written opinion attached to the lawsuit does not comply with General Statutes Section 52-190a. The statute requires that a plaintiff in filing a medical or dental malpractice lawsuit must attach to the lawsuit a copy of a written opinion authored by a similar health care provider stating that malpractice occured and as a result of the malpractice the plaintiff suffered injuries. The identifying information of the author of the report is redcated when attached to the lawsuit.

Nothwithstanding the fact that Section 52-190a does not require that the author of the written opinion broadcast that he or she is a similar health care provider, defendants are routinely injecting such a requirement into the statue and using it as the basis for a Motion to Dismiss. The case law is virtually unanimous in holding that the statute has no such requirement, thus the lawsuit cannot be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

In one of our pending dental malpractice cases, the Court just rejected defendant’s argument that the written opinion was defective due to the fact that it did not state that the author of the opinion was a similar health care provider. The motion to dismiss was denied.

Connecticut Fails to Increase Car Insurance Policy Limits

Posted on July 10, 2008 by James Sabatini - Car Accidents, Hot Topics, Legal News

Amazingly, the Connecticut Legislature was unable to get House Bill No. 5515 An Act Increasing The Financial Responsibility Limits for Motor Vehicles out of committee. The proposed legislation would have increased the auto libability insurance minimum limits from $20,000 per individual/$40,000 per occurrence to $25,000 per individual/$50,000 per occurrence. What are elected representatives were thinking in killing this bill is beyond me. Connecticut is one of the most expensive states to live in. If you are involved in a car or truck accident and sustain serious injuries, your medical bills alone will exceed $20,000. Yet, Connecticut continues to allow motorists to drive with minimal coverage of 20/40. Furthermore, if you are hit by someone who was at fault for causing the collision and both the tortfeasor and you have a 20/40 policy, there is only $20,000 total to compensate for your injuries. Aynone driving in the State of Connecticut should have at least 100/300 policy limits with conversion underinsured motorist benefits. Conversion underinsured motorist benefits allows for the stacking of your policy on the tortfeasor’s policy. Without conversion, you cannot stack and the available underinsurance will be less or non-extistent. Here is how conversion works. Lets say that the tortfeasor and you have a 100/300 policy and your injury claim is worth $200,000. If you do not have conversion then since the policy limits are the same, there is only $100,000 in insurance for your injuries. If there is conversion, you will get the $100,000 from the tortfeasor and $100,000 from your own policy for a total of $200,000.

AAJ Publishes Top Ten List Of Worst Insurance Companies

Posted on July 9, 2008 by James Sabatini - Hot Topics, Legal News

The American Association for Justice has published its ten worst insurance companies for consumers. Forget what you see on TV, as a consumer you are not in good hands with Allstate. Each of the top ten companies will use various unfair tactics to increase profit. In many instances, the companies attempt to increase profits at the expense of their policyholders in the form of denial of legitmate claims or refusing to resolve the claim for a fair, just and reasonable amount. So if you are consumer shopping for car, property or disability insurance be mindful of this list. If you have an existing policy with any of these insurance companies think about switching to a new company the time of renewal.

Free Consultation