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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 1, 2008, issued a Public Health Advisory to alert health care providers, patients, and caregivers to new safety warnings concerning Chantix (varenicline), a prescription medication used to help patients stop smoking. Serious neuropsychiatric symptoms have occurred in patients taking Chantix. These symptoms include changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and attempted and completed suicide. Chantix has been suggested as being a possibly significant contributing factor to the bizarre and tragic death of musician Carter Albrecht on September 5, 2007. The FDA action adds credibility to the belief that Chantix is a dangerous product and may spur attorneys reviewing potential cases to institute litigation. The FDA is issuing this Alert to highlight important revisions t

New York Citys final 2007 traffic fatality data, released on January 28, 2008, shows that fatalities from motor vehicle accidents in New York City dropped to the lowest level since records started being kept in 1910: 271 traffic fatalities citywide, down more than 30% since 2001. There were also an all-time low 136 pedestrian deaths last year-13% fewer than previous lows in both 2004 and 2005. Since 1990 pedestrian fatalities in NYC have decreased by 62%. Prior to 1950, pedestrians accounted for of all traffic fatalities. Since then, the percentage has decreased to only . NYC Fatal Accident History 2000-2007 Year Pedestrian Bicycle Driver Passenger Motorcycle Total 2000 18718 95 59 21

New York's legislative leaders, at the request of Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, have introduced a new and comprehensive bill known as the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) that establishes vital protections against sexual predators so that users of the Internet can more safely surf the Web. e-STOP would require sex offenders to register their email addresses, instant message screen names and any other online identifiers, and would give access to that information to online social networking companies. Those sites would then be able to prescreen and block access by convicted sex offenders. According to the state Division for Criminal Justice Services, there are nearly 25,000 registered sex offenders in the state. 9,565 are level 2 registered sex offenders (moderate risk to commit another sex crime). 6,515 are level 3 registered sex offenders (high risk to commit another sex crime and a threat to public safety exists). Sex offend

Subpoenas were issued to Myspace by a federal grand jury last month. The subpoenas issued are connected to the suicide of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl from Missouri. Megans suicide is linked to Lori Drew, Drews teenage daughter and Ashley Grills, Drews former employee who set up a fake online account under the social networking site, MySpace. Drew, her daughter, and Grills used the identity Josh Evans, a good-looking 16 year-old to befriend Megan. Josh contacted on Megans MySpace account one month before her suicide with friendly messages, but the final message to Megan said The world would be a better place without you. Megan hung herself in her bedroom closet and died the same day. The Drew family and Meir family were neighbors and lived a few blocks away from each other. Megan and Drews daughter were friends, but their friendship died down when in junior high school. Drew denies commenting on Megans Myspace page only stating that

We have learned that the Nassau County, New Yorkjury clerk is warning citizens reporting for jury duty of a scam being perpetrated to improperly learn personal information, including dates of birth and social security numbers, for apparent use in identity theft. The scam consists of a telephone call wherein the caller tells the person receiving the call that they failed to report for jury duty. The caller states that a summons was sent and that the failure to respond to it may be grounds for the imposition of a penalty. The caller also tries to convince the target that he or she may have thrown out the subpoena without realizing what it was. Of course, the target has no idea about the subpoena because none was ever sent. After arousing sufficient fear in the target, the caller offers to make an arrangement to help. To do so, however, requires divulgance of the target's date of birth and social security number, so says the caller. Once the caller receives the info

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on January 25, 2008, a nationwide recall of all lots of heparin and saline pre-filled flush syringes manufactured by AM2 PAT, Inc., of Angier, N.C. Two lots have been found to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, a bacterium that can cause serious injury or death, and have in fact caused blood infections in patients. These syringes are manufactured by AM2 PAT under the brand names Sierra Pre-filled, Inc. and B. Braun. They are sold in fill sizes of 3mL, 5mL and 10mL and syringe sizes of 6mL and 12mL. Consumers and health care facilities with any of the recalled, pre-filled Heparin Lock or Normal Saline IV Flush syringes should stop using the product immediately. Health care facilities should immediately quarantine the products in their inventory and return them to their distributor. Individual consumers should return them to the location from which they were received, such as a pharmacy or hospital. They should a

The National Transportation Safety Board said earlier this month that undersized gusset plates in the Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis were "the critical factor" in the bridge collapse of August 1, 2007, that killed 13 people and injured 100. Chairman Mark Rosenker said the plates, which connected steel beams, were roughly half (1/2 inch rather and 1 inch) the thickness they should have been because of a design error. Investigators found 16 fractured gusset plates from the bridge's center span, he said. The NTSB's final report is expected this fall. This past Sunday marked the 180 day deadline for filing a notice that a lawsuit is going to be brought against the state of Minnesota. The deadline for wrongful death filings is one year from the date of accident. Damages recoverable from the state are capped by law at $1,000,000.00. Lawmakers are considering a compensation fund that would offer more

An analysis by researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School found that the median waiting time to see a physician in hospital emergency departments jumped from 22 minutes in 1997 to 30 minutes in 2004, a 36% increase. Ominously, according to results published in the journal Health Affairs, wait times more than doubled for the sickest heart attack patients. In 1997, half of them got to see a doctor within eight minutes; in 2004 it took 20 minutes. For a quarter of the heart attack patients, the wait reached 50 minutes or more - a particularly disturbing lag because chances of surviving a heart attack are known to worsen when treatment is delayed. Such improper care can be grounds for a claim under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). Under the EMTALA, a hospital and doctor must follow the standard screening practices of the hospital to attempt to identify an emergency medical condition for all patients p

The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey directed that a no-bid 18-month contract worth $28 million to $52 million contract be awarded to The Ashcroft Group, the consulting firm of former Attorney General John Ashcroft, to monitor a large settlement of criminal accusations against medical device manufacturer Zimmer Holdings and four smaller companies accused of paying kickbacks to doctors who recommended and used the company's knee and hip implants. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie directed that the contract be awarded to his former boss with no public notice. Mr. Christie said the fees were imposed in lieu of fines. If that be so, the practical effect is to force companies prosecuted on taxpayers' money to pay for their criminal acts not by compensating the taxpaying public, but by compensating those connected with the prosecutors. In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Zimmer said it

MySpace, the country's largest social-networking Web site, has agreed with attorneys general of 49 states to take new steps to protect children from sexual predators and bullies on its site. MySpace also agreed to lead a nationwide effort to develop technology to verify the ages and identities of Internet users. The popular online hangout will create a task force of industry professionals to improve the safety of users, and other social-networking sites will be invited to participate. ''We must keep telling children that they're not just typing into a computer. They're sharing themselves with the world,'' said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. The exponential growth of sites such as MySpace and Facebook, with teenagers making up a large part of their membership, has created a new potential venue for sexual predators who lie about their age to lure young victims and for cyber bullies who send threatening and anonymous messages. The sites allow any Interne