Florida Man Suffered TBI, Was Paralyzed In Crash: When Will He Get His $10.75 Million Award?

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Posted on 20th February 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Florida’s law regarding caps on jury awards is disgracefully flawed.

Just consider the case of a Sunrise, Fla., man who sustained severe brain injury, and was paralyzed, in a crash 14 years ago.  His family has been trying to get his judgment of $10.75 million approved for four years now, according to The Ledger of Florida.  

http://www.theledger.com/article/20120218/NEWS/120219322/1001/business?Title=Damages-Claims-Against-Public-Agencies-Advance-in-the-House-

You see, under the law in the Sunshine State lawmakers have to sign off on judgments against the government that are more than $200,000. And Eric Brody’s case involved a public official: a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, according to The Ledger.

Brody, 32, was paralyzed and must now use a wheelchair — and suffered traumatic brain injury — when he was struck by the officer’s car in 1998.  

Last week a subcommittee of the Florida House passed 16 “claims bills,” meaning they reviewed the cases of plaintiffs who were killed or hurt in incidents involving police officers, bus drivers and other public employees, The Ledger reported. And Brody’s case was one of those approved.

In the case of Brody’s family, they have been coming to Florida legislators for the last four years, without having their claims bill aproved. But now the family has at least two lawmakers on their side: Rep. Marty Kiar and Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Kiar was apparently part of the subcommittee that voted in favor of Brody getting his $10.76 million award, and Haridopolos told The Ledger that getting the Brody family its money was one of his priorities this year.

But there’s still several catches before Brody can get his $10 million award.

“A discrepancy between the House and Senate over caps on fees for lawyers and lobbyists will have to be ironed out,” The Ledger wrote of one of them.

Why should a plaintiff such as Brody have to go through hoops to get the award a jury believes he deserves?

It’s absurd that Brody and his family have to wait for their money.

 

 

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Unit Recalls 574,000 Bottles Of Infant Tylenol

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Posted on 19th February 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

Pity the public relations executives at Johnson & Johnson. They’re working overtime again.

The New Brunwick, N.J.-based pharmaceutical giant has another recall on its hands. The company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit, which according to the Associated Press has had about two dozen recalls since September 2009, now has another one on its hands.

On Friday the company announced that it was recalling 574,000 bottles of grape-flavored Infants’ Tylenol from retailers across the nation.  

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/139511008.html?cmpid=15585797

There’s much irony in this, irony a PR person won’t find amusing. These recalled bottles, which had been redesigned to supposedly make it easier to measure Tylenol doses, were unveiled three months ago. Johnson & Johnson boasted that this was a big safety improvement. 

But there soon was a hitch: Consumers started complaining that the plastic syringe, used to give babies their Tylenol, was pushing a so-called “flow restrictor,” into the bottle. Hence the recall.

And here’s my favorite understatement of 2012 so far:

“Today’s news about the Infants’ Tylenol recall is clearly disappointing after all the progress that McNeil has been making to ensure it products meet the highest level of quality and consumer satisfaction,” CEO William Weldon said in a prepared statement.

Disappointing, indeed.