The Director’s Cut

You think that bad stuff just happens? In 2016, 42,000 Americans died because of opioids. 40 percent of those deaths were due to prescription opioids. That is a lot. A lot of dead Americans. But that’s just one year. “Over the past two decades, more than 200,000 people have died in the United States from…

In 2012, the unspeakable happened. A madman, armed with rifle designed for war, slaughtered little children in a school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Butchered them. Left their small lifeless bodies bleeding. An act of horror. The horror deepened when conspiracy theorists began claiming that the parents of the dead children were “actors in an elaborate…

The gigantic March for our Lives event on March 24, 2018 was, perhaps, a watershed moment in American efforts to get some measure of control over gun violence and the all-too-frequent mass slaughter of civilians.  Those efforts have been mischaracterized as an effort to repeal the Second Amendment, but that is too simplistic a view.…

The Georgia Supreme court just upheld a $40 million dollar verdict against Chrysler in a case where a little boy burned to death in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The problem was a plastic fuel tank, at the rear of the jeep, which ignited, so that the child died.  That, in and of itself, is tragic. …

It is well-established that football causes C.T.E. a devastating injury responsible for dementia, and even death.  See last week’s note, “Football Settlement Excludes Players”. The NFL has even created a billion-dollar fund to pay the claims of players who suffer from CTE as a result of playing football. And yet, the pipeline is full:  Hundreds…

Medical devices – artificial hips, etc. – are poorly regulated, and patients who receive them can suffer devastating consequences. A recent New York Times article sheds some light on this shocking industry: Lenzer, J. “Can Your Hip Replacement Kill You?” New York Times, January 13, 2018. The article includes a horrifying anecdote about a physician…

On December 19th, 2017, the New York Times reported that Microsoft has “eliminated forced arbitration agreements with employees who make sexual harassment claims and was also supporting a proposed federal law that would widely ban such agreements.” (Wingfield, N. and Silver-Greenberg, J., “Microsoft Moves to End Secrecy in Sexual Harassment Claims,” NY Times, December 19,…

Recently, Kevin Webb, a former dealership service manager wrote a fascinating letter to to Automotive News.  It is so startling that it is worth quoting the first four paragraphs, in full: With the recent downfall of many media people, including Charlie Rose, maybe the entertainment industry could use a lesson from car dealers.  In my…

Why All Americans Need the Tort System, And Accountability for Wrongdoing. The news that up to 143 million Americans’ private data and personal information has been hacked is shocking.  What is worse are the details.  And what is still worse, are corporate efforts to avoid being held accountable for the damage that this catastrophic breach…

The New York Times published an important and excellent Op-Ed on Tuesday, August 22, written by Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The article, “Let Consumers Sue Companies” highlights an important issue for protection of consumer rights – that is, of your rights. Cordray lays out the issue succinctly: Companies have…