A recent report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services revealed that in 2011 more than one of every five patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNF) suffered serious harm from events such as medication errors, falls, or infections. Among the reasons, described in a Forbes.com article, is that patients are hastily transferred to… Read More
Archives for May 2014
Sixth Circuit Greenlights Lawsuits against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for Hidden Fees
As described in a prior blog post, dozens of employers have sued Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) over allegations that it breached its fiduciary duty as health plan administrator by failing to disclose fees and surcharges it reimbursed itself from billed claims. As reported in Crain’s Detroit Business, a recent decision from the… Read More
Sommers Schwartz Obtains Nationwide Class Certification for Thousands of TMX Finance and TitleMax Employees
In August 2013, Sommers Schwartz initiated a lawsuit against TMX Finance, LLC and TitleMax of Illinois, Inc. on behalf of current and former General Managers in Training (“GMITs”) who claim the company failed to pay them overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state laws. As alleged in the Complaint, the companies required… Read More
Cardiac Stents: Necessary Devices or Unnecessary Profit Centers?
Each year, roughly 350,000 cardiac stents are implanted in heart attack victims to restore blood flow. That’s the good news. The bad news, according to a Bloomberg.com article, is that in the other 350,000 stenting procedures performed annually, the surgery is elective and often medically unnecessary, not only posing the risk of injury and death,… Read More
Michigan’s Whistleblower Act Doesn’t Protect Prospective Employees or Employees Whose Contracts Are Not Renewed
A recent decision from the Michigan Supreme Court determined that the state’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act (WPA) only affords protection to individuals who are actual employees and not prospective employees or contractual employees whose contracts are not renewed. In Wurtz v. Beecher Metropolitan District, the subject of a Wolters Kluwer Employment Law Daily article, the plaintiff… Read More
Meningitis Victims Await Approval of Multimillion-Dollar Settlement
According to a report in the New York Times, the owners of New England Compounding Center and its insurers are close to a deal that would create a $100 million settlement fund for victims of the meningitis outbreak said to have been caused by the Boston-area compounding pharmacy. 750 people in 20 states were injured by… Read More
Update on Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Litigation
Sommers Schwartz continues to fight on behalf of patients injured as the result of defective hip replacement devices manufactured by Stryker Corporation and marketed under the brand names Rejuvenate and ABG II. Attorney Rob Sickels, himself a double hip implant recipient, recently filed a petition with the Michigan Supreme Court seeking to transfer all current… Read More
Recalls of Medical Devices Double over Ten-Year Period
According to a recently released study from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the number of product recalls involving defective medical devices nearly doubled between 2003 and 2012. Perhaps more alarming is the fact that Class I recalls (where a purported product defect has a reasonable probability of death) rose 800%. There is speculation that… Read More
Sommers Schwartz’s Robert Sickels Obtains $1.6 Million Verdict for Plaintiff Whose Doctor Failed to Prevent Her Heart Attack
On April 25, 2014, Sommers Schwartz attorney Robert Sickels obtained a $1.6 million verdict in Saginaw County, Michigan Circuit Court for a woman whose family medicine physician failed to properly treat her coronary artery disease. When the plaintiff began treating with the doctor in 2007, she already had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. At… Read More
FedEx Settles $2 Million Overtime Pay Claim with Service Managers
A federal overtime lawsuit brought on behalf of current and former FedEx Ground service managers recently settled for $2 million. The lawsuit – Bozak v. FedEx Ground Package System Inc. – was filed in May 2011 and claimed that line-haul service managers were mislabeled as exempt from overtime pay, despite frequently performing the work of… Read More