from WRAL.com

Wednesday, February 2, is Groundhog Day. Two important things will be happening:  Puxatawny Phil and groundhogs everywhere will be looking for their shadow… and NC State Troopers will begin cracking down on distracted drivers.

According to an article on WRAL.com, nearly 58,000 people are involved in a distracted-driving crash in North Carolina every year…more than 13,000 are injured…and 119 people die. Got that? People die because someone is texting (even though texting is illegal), or talking on a cell phone, or reading, or eating, or adjusting the radio, or applying makeup.

“I see a lot of people driving with their elbows on the steering wheel, texting with one hand,” Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Gordon said.

Troopers will be conducting a two day campaign, looking for distracted drivers. They will focus on portions of Interstates 95, 85 and 40 from the Virginia state line through Wake, Durham, and Johnston counties.

It’s a shame that we need a special campaign to stop distracted drivers. People shouldn’t die because another driver decides to answer a phone call.

To read the full article on WRAL.com, click here:  Crack Down

If you have been involved in a car wreck and would like to discuss your legal options, please visit the HensonFuerst Attorneys website at http://www.lawmed.com/north-carolina-auto-accident-lawyer.php. If you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers.

What does your car say about you? Or, more important, how your car make you feel? According to an article on ScienceDaily,  a scientific study shows that people who view their car as an extension of themselves have stronger aggressive driving tendencies.

One third of all car accidents that result in injures and two thirds of all fatal car wrecks are caused by aggressive driving. According to the research, people who think of their car as a reflection of their self-identity—regardless of what that identity is—are more likely to behave aggressively on the road, breaking the law in the process. Similarly, people who value their possessions (cars and other things) and have a greater sense of materialism also drive more aggressively. And young people who are just beginning to drive or who have purchased their first vehicle are more likely to show off and drive aggressively.

The study findings suggest that:

“…the perception of the car as an extension of the self leads to more aggressive behavior on the road rather than increased driving cautiousness,” the authors wrote, adding that “individuals may view cars and the road space they occupy as their territory and will seek to maintain control over it and defend it as necessary.”

Unfortunately, they research just correlated attitude and driving behavior; it didn’t offer any advice. Some take-away thoughts:  Be especially watchful of flashy sports cars on the road, the kind that might make their owners feel more powerful…a teen’s first car should be purchased with safety in mind, as opposed to image…and remind yourself daily that your car is nothing more than a tool to get you from place to place. It’s okay to love your car, just not too much!

To read the full article on ScienceDaily, click here:  People Who Really Identify With Their Car

To learn more about safe driving tips, visit our website here: HensonFuerst Auto Accident page. If you have question, HensonFuerst has answers. http://www.lawmed.com/

Every year, the ADA holds a series of fundraising cycling events called the Tour de Cure. The Tour—held in 44 states nationwide—is a ride, not a race. During the two-day event, cyclists can ride 10 miles or 150 miles. The object is to ride, not to “endure.”

In 2011, more than 55,000 cyclists in 80 events raised more than $18 million to support the ADA. The HensonFuerst Cycling Team raised more than $34,000, making it the 34th top fundraising teams in the United States. The team, captained by Thomas Henson, who has had type 1 diabetes since age 9, is now preparing for the 2012 race.

The local 2012 Tour de Cure will be held on June 2-3, beginning in Cary, North Carolina. If you would like to join the HensonFuerst Cycling Team, we’re taking on new members! Currently, the HensonFuerst Cycling Team has 40 members, of all skill levels—beginners, recreational riders, and triathletes. While the Tour is our premiere cycling event, we participate in other charity rides throughout the year. To join us, or for more information, please contact Thomas Henson at ThomasHenson@lawmed.com.

If you don’t want to ride with us, you can still participate. We invite everyone to come watch the ride and cheer on the cyclists. And, of course, we welcome donations to benefit this very worthwhile cause. Our goal this year is ambitious:  $5o,000. To support the HensonFuerst Cycling Team in the Tour de Cure, visit the personal Tour page of team captain Thomas Henson here:  Donate to help stop diabetes!

Thank you!

Several young people in Raleigh, North Carolina, are learning the hard way that you don’t have to be the person behind the wheel in a fatal accident to be responsible for a wrongful death. According to WRAL News, three teens and a young adult have been charged with crimes in connection to a fatal single vehicle accident that happened earlier this month.

The accident happened on the morning of January 7th on Rainwater Road in Wake County. The driver, a 16-year-old boy, and several of his friends illegally acquired alcohol for an underage drinking party. After attending the party and drinking for several hours, the driver and the 17-year-old female victim got into his Jeep to head home. Reports from the accident show that the vehicle was traveling at 75 MPH in a 30 MPH zone when the boy lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree. The female victim in the passenger seat died at the scene.

In the weeks following the crash, not only has the driver of the Jeep been charged in connection with the girl’s death, but also, so have the 21-year-old man who bought the alcohol for the teens, the host of the party, and the minors who contributed money to have the alcohol purchased.

The North Carolina wrongful death lawyers with HensonFuerst may be able to help you if you have lost a loved one because of the negligence of a drunk driver. Contact an experienced attorney today.

Elizabeth Molloy, from WRAL.com

Car wrecks are the leading cause of death among North Carolina teens, and crashes are surprisingly common. In NC, teenage drivers are involved in car wrecks approximately every 24 minutes.

According to research, the most common mistakes that cause teen wrecks are speeding, inattention and distraction, and failure to yield. And while drunk driving is still rare among teens, it accounts for some of the most tragic and memorable motor vehicle fatalities.

One recent example—Wake County’s first in 2012—is the death of 17-year-old Millbrook High School student Elizabeth Molloy. According to an article on WRAL.com, the driver was 16-year-old fellow student Garrett Prince, who lost control of his 1999 Jeep SUV while driving 75 mph in a 30 mph zone, and ended up hitting a tree. Prince could face charges of felony death by motor vehicle, provisional DWI, careless and reckless driving, having an open container of spirituous liquor, speeding, and possession of marijuana. Jared Sink, man in the neighborhood where the wreck took place witnessed the crash and pulled Molloy from the burning wreck, said what probably everyone is thinking:  ”[It's] just absolutely tragic. To all the young people out there, there’s no taxi that’s more expensive than someone’s life.”

Parent/Teen Driving Agreement

Teens know that underage drinking is illegal, but that doesn’t stop some of them from drinking. They also know—in theory—that they shouldn’t get into a car with someone who has been drinking, but many of them disregard that advice. Why? Sometimes because the teen doesn’t have the confidence to stand up to peer pressure…or because they are afraid to call their parents for an alternate ride home…or because they don’t realize that a taxi is a viable option.

Those are some of the reasons why a Parent/Teen Driving Agreement can be an important tool. The University of North Carolina (UNC) Highway Safety Research Center and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol have created sample Parent/Teen Driving Agreements. It’s a formal agreement between parents and teens. It includes specific things that both parents and teens agree to do. Parents have found that driving agreements work well to keep teens safe when they first begin to drive on their own by making expectations clear.

The agreements are valuable once your child is old enough to be out with friends, even if he or she is not actually driving. An agreement should outline parental expectations for safety, such as never riding in a car with an impaired driver, always wearing a seatbelt, obeying the speed limit, and avoiding distractions, including texting, talking on a cell phone, eating, or applying make up. That’s the teen side of the agreement. The parent side of the agreement should given the child options for how to get out of a potentially hazardous situation, and outline how parents will support their child’s efforts to stay safe.

For example, agreeing that if a child ever feels unsafe, he or she can call home at any hour and request a ride home…without risk of punishment. (As much as parents might want to lash out at a child who has been drinking or at an unauthorized party, the goal is to get the child home safely. A strongly negative reaction from a parent might cause the child to avoid calling in the future, and possibly getting into a dangerous or fatal situation. That’s not to say that discipline can’t be taken for any rule-breaking, but the ride home should be calm and concerned—any discussions or repercussions should wait for the next day.)

We’ve done some of the research for you and attached links to three separate Parent/Teen Driving Agreements. Look at all of them, take what you like from each, and create your own custom agreement. We like the first one, from the UNC Highway Safety Research Center because it allows teens and parents to write their own agreement items in their own words—that means teens aren’t just skimming over the task without thinking. And any additional minute of thinking about driving safety is another opportunity to keep our children safe.

Sample Agreement 1:  University of North Carolina (UNC) Highway Safety Research Center

Sample Agreement 2: North Carolina State Highway Patrol

Sample Agreement 3: North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles

PROJECT IGNITION

Project Ignition, funded in part by the National Youth Leadership Council, helps students, teachers, and communities address teen driver safety. Students themselves design and lead awareness campaigns–every year, 25 grants are awarded to high schools across the country. The teams often find their inspiration from personal tragedy, but their powerful messages reach across county and state lines. Some examples of the kind of service-learning encouraged by Project Ignition are holding a mock crash on campus, and learning and applying the physics of crashes from a science class, including the potential effects of velocity and crashes on the human body.

This year, we’d like to congratulate the two North Carolina high schools that won grants:

• Pine Lake Preparatory in Mooresville, North Carolina. Title: “Increasing Your Survival Odds.” The Pine Lake Prep Project Ignition team will lead an in-depth 15-30 week integrating the NC Driver’s Ed curriculum to promote safe driving and better driver “road awareness” utilizing a five-prong approach: (1) mock accident scene, (2) speaker series, (3) student-based research projects, (4) obstacle course on site, and (5) service learning.
• Lincoln Charter High School in Denver, North Carolina. Title:  ”As the Wheel Turns.” The Project Ignition team of Lincoln Charter believe that teen driving accidents are a rampant and tragic problem in their area. Their emphasis is to reduce the number of student drivers who exercise unsafe driving habits such as eating, allowing excess passengers, or driving while emotionally inept.

About HensonFuerst

At HensonFuerst, we’ve seen the devastating effects of car wrecks and DWI injuries far too often. It’s never pretty, but there is something particularly tragic when the injured individual is a young person who has barely had a chance to live. Our hearts go out the the family of Elizabeth Molloy, and all families touched by the catastrophe of a DWI wreck. We wish you peace.

Defective Hip Replacement Devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered all producers of “metal-on-metal” hip replacements to study the implants after thousands of patines have had the devices fail, causing tissue damage and requiring second replacements. This serious problem started with DePuy hip replacement devices, and has be expanded. Anyone with a hip replacement should check with their physician to make sure that their devices aren’t in the process of failing.

• Hip Replacements to be Evaluated for Safety
• Hip Implant Complaints Surge
• Hip Replacements Fail, Sometimes Without Symptoms
• Diagnosing Hip Replacement Injury
• VIDEO: DePuy Hip Replacement Injury

Transvaginal Mesh

Over the past three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration received nearly 4,000 reports of severe complications (including 3 fatalities) associated with surgical mesh used to treat pelvic prolapse. The most frequent complications include erosion through the vaginal wall, infection, abscesses, pain, and urinary problems.

• Failure of Surgical Mesh a Serious Worry for Women
• VIDEO: Transvaginal mesh

• Want to Thwart Teen Texting? There’s an App for That!
• Decide to Drive
• Three Common Mistakes Made by Teen Drivers
• Young Victim Pushes for Cell Phone Ban
• NC Drivers Still Breaking Simple Laws

VIDEOS
In addition to blogs, we also create videos about important health, medical, and legal topics. To see all of our available videos, please visit our YouTube channel here:  HensonFuerst YouTube Channel.  Here are links to some of our motor vehicle and car wreck videos:

• What to Do If You Are in a Car Wreck
• How Much Car Insurance Should I Get?
• Do You Need To Hire a Lawyer after a Car Wreck?
• What to Keep in the Trunk of Your Car to Prepare for a Wreck
• Why Motorcycle Wreck Cases Are Different from Car Wreck Cases

Gastric banding, such as the popular Lap-Band, is a surgical procedure that reduces the size of the stomach. A silicone band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that fills up faster and supposedly makes you feel full much more quickly. The band is not solid like a rubber band–it is more like a balloon that is filled with salt water (saline). The more water in the band, the tighter it squeezes the stomach. The amount of saline in the band can be adjusted because the band is attached to a long tube, ending at a small button-like knob that is placed just below the skin during surgery. A doctor can draw fluid out of the band, or add more fluid in, just by inserting a syringe into the knob.

FDA Warning

Last week, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has taken action against eight California surgical centers and a marketing firm for misleading advertising of the Lap-Band. At issue is the idea of advertising a very serious surgical procedure without proper warnings and cautions, making gastric banding look like a simple fix for a lifelong problem.

“The decision to undergo a gastric banding procedure should be done in close consultation between a patient and his or her health care provider,” said Kimber Richter, M.D., deputy director for medical affairs in the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “It is important for the patient to fully understand both the risks and the benefits of the procedure and for the health care provider to be sure the procedure is appropriate for the patient.”

According to the FDA, the risks of any surgery—including gastric banding—include the possibility of death. In addition, known complications of gastric banding include:

Eating with a Gastric Band

When people hear that gastric banding will force them to eat less, they may not realize exactly what that means. According to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, you need to eat only soft foods (like mashed potatoes or baby food) for the first five weeks after surgery. Then, you will still need to ay close attention to your diet—gastric banding isn’t a miracle fix; you’ll still need to eat well. Many patients have difficulty with solid foods in the morning. In addition, eating too much food or big chunks of food can block the outlet–the outlet is about the size of a dime, so food needs to be eaten in small bits and thoroughly chewed.

In addition, the stomach pouch can only hold about 1/4 cup of food. Visually, that’s about the size of a deck of cards. That’s the total amount of each meal—any more than that can stretch out the pouch and potentially cause health problems.

The Institute also recommends that you avoid high-fiber foods, including (but not limited to):

• dried fruits
• asparagus
• pineapple
• corn (especially popcorn)
• grapes
• nuts and seeds
• carbonated beverages

Glamorizing Lap-Band

For some people, gastric banding can be a literal life-saver. But some people are attracted by what might be considered a simple way to lose weight.

“FDA’s concern is that these ads glamorize the Lap-Band without communicating any of the risks,” says Steven Silverman, director of the Office of Compliance in FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “Consumers, who may be influenced by misleading advertising, need to be fully aware of the risks of any surgical procedure.”

Gastric banding is anything but simple. In fact, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, at least four people have died of Lap-Band complications at the eight California surgical centers involved in the FDA warning. This is not a surgery to be undertaken lightly.

If you are considering gastric banding, talk with your doctors about all the pros and cons…and ask to talk with people who have already had the surgery. There may be a support group that meets in your area. Understand that your life will change dramatically after the surgery, and not just because you might lose weight.

This is not Bayer’s first appearance at the FDA scrutiny rodeo. In 2008, Yaz was the best-selling birth control pill in the United States, pushed by an advertising campaign said to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars. You might remember these original ads:  A group of beautiful, young women in a cool restaurant or club are talking with their friend, who happens to be a doctor. She informs her friends that Yaz is birth control, but also prevents severe premenstrual symptoms and clears up acne. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  The FDA cracked down, and in 2009, Bayer was required to run a $20 million advertising campaign designed to correct its previously deceptive—and some might say irresponsible—commercial ads. Bayer’s new ads warned that nobody should take Yaz hoping that it would also prevent PMS or pimples.

This new problem is more serious.

According to an article in The New York Times, there has been a question of whether Yaz, which contains a synthetic form of progestin called drospirenone, is more likely to cause blood clots than other, more conventional contraceptive pills. In October 2011, the British Journal of Medicine published research showing that women taking Yaz or Yasmin had double the risk of blood clots, compared with women taking older contraceptives.

Currently more than 10,000 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of women who were harmed by Yaz or Yasmin…including about 100 fatalities. According to The New York Times:

In documents released recently in those lawsuits, David Kessler, a former F.D.A. commissioner working as an expert witness for the plaintiffs, said that Bayer researchers found increased reports of blood clots in women using Yasmin in the United States, compared with those using three other pills, but did not provide that information to the F.D.A. in a 2004 safety review.

“Bayer presented a selective view of the data, and that presentation obscured the potential risks associated with Yasmin,” Dr. Kessler testified. He also said the company promoted the pill for alleviating premenstrual syndrome, when it was not approved for that use.

To many experts and non-experts alike, blood clots are too great a risk. And many young women may not understand what “blood clots” really means. It sounds innocuous and minor, but the results can be devastating. If the clot lodges in the heart, it can cause a heart attack…if it lodges in the brain, it can cause a life-changing stroke. According to an article in the New York Daily News:

“I can see no real group of patients that this drug benefited over existing alternatives,” said Mark Woods of New York University School of Medicine. “Without any clear benefit, and given the potentially catastrophic risk, I voted no [to keeping the drug on the market].”

If you are a woman who has been injured after taking Yaz or Yasmin birth control pills and have questions about your rights, feel free to call the experienced attorneys of HensonFuerst. Someone is available to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-4-LAWMED. If you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers.

RESOURCES

To read the article in The New York Times about the 2009 advertising correction, click here: A Birth Control Pill That Promised Too Much

To read the article in The New York Times about the blood clot risk, click here: More Detail on Risk Urged for a Contraceptive Label

To read the article in the New York Daily News, click here: Yaz and other birth control pills to get harsher labels

Is your insurer on the list?

AAJ’s List of the Worst Insurance Companies

1. Allstate—the worst of the worst, called a poster child for insurance industry greed. The number of complaints filed against Allstate are greater than those of almost all its major competitors combined. The company fights its clients to avoid paying for claims. According to a former Allstate adjuster, “We were told to lie by our supervisors—it’s tough to look at people and know you’re lying.” Former employees call the company’s unofficial policy the “three Ds”: Deny…Delay…Defend. Adjusters say they were rewarded for keeping claims payments low, even if they had to deceive their customers.
2. Unum—one of the nation’s leading disability insurers, with a long reputation for unfairly denying and delaying claims. As an example: Debra Potter, who developed multiple sclerosis and became totally disabled. But when she filed a claim for disability, Unum denied the claim saying, in effect, that she was making it up without doctor verification. Her doctor wrote note after note explaining that the disease and disability were real, but Unum continued to deny the claim for three years. She only got justice when she hired a lawyer.
3. AIG—the world’s biggest insurer, but with a long history of claims-handling abuses.
4. State Farm—the nation’s biggest property casualty insurance company, with a reputation for its deny and delay tactics. According to the AAJ, the extreme lengths the company goes through to avoid paying claims include forging signatures on earthquake waivers after the deadly Northridge earthquake, and altering engineering reports regarding damage after Hurricane Katrina.
5. Conseco—sells long-term care policies that are supposed to help take care of people when they are old and need help.  The company’s tactic is to wait and delay, knowing that if it waits long enough to pay out claims, its customers will die.
6. WellPoint—according to the AAJ, Wellpoint routinely cancels the policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients.
7. Farmers—rewards adjusters who meet low payment goals, sometimes with such measly rewards as pizza parties. One example: 60-year-old Ethel Adams, who was involved in a multi-vehicle accident that put her in a coma for nine days and left her with devastating injuries, including the losing the use of her legs. Incredibly, Farmers denied her claim, reasoning that the driver at fault had acted in a moment of intentional road rage, and thus the crash was not an accident. The company’s denial caused an outcry, and Farmers Los Angeles headquarters was flooded with calls and emails from angry policyholders threatening to boycott the company. Farmers only caved when the Washington State Insurance Commissioner threatened the company with legal action.
8. UnitedHealth—this company has been plague by accusations of greed so rampant that it puts patients at risk.
9. Torchmark—this company has subsidiaries that offer low-cost burial insurance, cancer insurance, and life insurance. The company has come under fire for a variety of transgressions, including charging minority policyholders more than whites.
10. Liberty Mutual—like other companies, they adopted a policy of deny, delay, and defend. In addition, Liberty Mutual has been cited by regulators for systematic bid-rigging.

To read the full report from the American Association for Justice, click here:  The Ten Worst Insurance Companies In America