One of our country's perennial debates centers on the meaning of the Second Amendment and the rights this Amendment bestows. The Second Amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Whether this Amendments was meant to give all citizens the right to have guns or merely meant to give the militia this power is and will probably always be a question mark. Whatever the case may be and whether you stand for blue or red, we can all agree that the recent Los Vegas shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort is a tragedy. Now, victims of the shooting are speaking up and aiming to hold accountable those who could have done more to prevent this mass slaughter.
Why 100,000 people die from taking prescription drugs each year
Current government estimates suggest that as many as 70 percent of all Americans take prescription drugs on a regular basis. As alarming as this number might sound, it's even more concerning when we take into account how the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has begun expediting the approval of prescription drugs in recent years.
This has lead to many medications making it on the market and into patients' medicine cabinets without undergoing extensive testing to assess the risks associated with taking them.
Risks posed by fast tracking the approval of prescription drugs
President Trump has recently been pressuring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up the drug approval process so that critically ill patients will be given a better chance to survive. His opponents argue that speeding up the drug approval process may be far less beneficial for patients and could cause significant harm instead.
A study, recently conducted by Yale Medical School, highlights how they found that at least 33 percent of all prescription drugs that were placed on the market between 2001 and 2010 posed significant risks for patients.
A pickup driver stalls, is struck and killed along Eastex Freeway
A pickup driver was struck and killed along the Eastex Freeway early in the morning on September 14. The tractor-trailer driver who struck him reportedly said he didn't see the man before running into him.
The fatal crash occurred just before 1:00 a.m. along the southbound portion of the Eastex Freeway just outside of Greens, Texas. According to witnesses, the 40-year-old driver had been driving his black 4-door pickup within the middle lane of the highway immediately prior to the crash. He reportedly then stopped in the middle of the roadway and turned on his hazard lights.
More FDA warnings regarding the use of Invokana
As the number of Americans, including many here in Texas, who suffer from Type 2 diabetes grows, the pharmaceutical industry has tried to keep pace and provide medications to help control the condition. If you take any such medications, or any medications for chronic illnesses, you already know that most medications prescribe for them come with some pretty scary side effects.
You probably expect your doctor to take the time to weigh the consequences associated with the side effects in relation to the benefits of taking the medication. One of those drugs may be Invokana, which your doctor may prescribe for Type 2 diabetes.
Reich & Binstock partners with Kids' Dreams Matter for Hurricane Harvey Victims
Hurricane Harvey's torrential rain, devastating winds and widespread flooding have cost at least 39 lives, driven over one million people to evacuate their homes in Texas and caused extensive destruction that will likely make it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.
Here is a look at the storm's historic devastation, by the numbers:
20 trillion gallons: That's the total amount of rain that fell on the Houston area after Harvey came ashore, a staggering deluge that represents enough water to supply New York City's needs for over five decades.
$125 billion: Texas Gov. Greg Abbot said his state will need federal relief money "far in excess" of that total. Moody's Analytics has estimated $97 billion in destruction alone and some $108 billion in total damages counting lost output.
80 percent: Texans who don't have flood insurance.
A City of Houston garbage truck driver hits, kills a pedestrian
A female pedestrian was killed early on the morning of Monday, Aug. 14. She was reportedly walking along Gessner Road near its intersection with Bellaire in southwest Houston at the time. As she approached the Gessner's 6800 block, it's then that she was struck by a City of Houston trash truck.
Police first began receiving calls about the crash at around 9:30 a.m. Once crash scene investigators arrived, witnesses informed them that they'd seen the solid waste truck's driver driving in the northbound direction along S. Gessner immediately prior to the crash. It was as the driver approached Bellaire that she is alleged to have made a right turn, despite it being illegal to do so.
Side effects of Essure and what you can do about them
Each day, another woman's story emerges about Essure, a once popular type of sterilization coil not just in the United States, but across the world. Just in the first quarter of 2017 alone, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already been bombarded with some 2,000 claims of Essure complications. There have been a reported 9,000 removals of the coil since 2009.
According to the FDA, women have gone as far as having either fallopian tube removal or hysterectomies to remove Essure. Many had this done after experiencing severe abdominal pain and excessive bleeding after parts of the device broke off inside of them. Other women have reported having suffered fetal deaths or miscarriages.
The Future of Mass Tort--An Extinct or Weakened Animal?
Recently, the Supreme Court made a major ruling on the topic of personal jurisdiction in the case of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California
("BMS"). Personal jurisdiction refers to the court's power over the parities in a lawsuit. Personal jurisdiction has and may always be a thorn in the side of plaintiff attorneys.
The doctrine stems back as early as 1878 in the case of Pennoyer v. Neff where the Court held that every state possesses exclusive jurisdiction over persons and things within its boundaries and that no state can exercise direct jurisdiction over persons or things outside of its boundaries. According to Pennoyer, a court can enter a judgment against a non-resident only if the party 1) is personally served with process while within the state or 2) has property within the state, and that property is attached when the suit is filed.
A Texas spine surgeon sued for using defective medical devices
New complaints have emerged against a North Texas spine surgeon accused of having left several patients of his either permanently disabled or dead. According to lawsuits that have been filed against him so far, some of the patients' injuries may be related to doctor's use of titanium surgical devices made in-house.
One patient that has filed a lawsuit against the doctor is a 84-year-old real estate agent who says she was operated on by the doctor in 2011. She had to stop showing properties after her surgery that same year because she found herself constantly in pain and wheelchair bound after it.
