April 10, 2012 – Sometimes, you just need to let the headline do the talking. Case in point from today’s International Edition of Scandinavia’s largest subscription-based newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat: “Thousands of Finns may have faulty hip implants” To view a short video about one particular “Finn” who underwent bilateral hip replacement surgery and understands, go…
Recalled DePuy ASR hips among devices untested March 29, 2012 – In its upcoming May edition, Consumer Reports presents the results of its investigation which calls into question the current process of medical device regulation that their advocacy wing, Consumers Union, believes fails to “protect patients from harm.” Entitled “CR Investigates: Dangerous medical devices,” CR…
“I believe that we parents must encourage our children to become educated, so they can get into a good college we cannot afford.” – Dave Barry – In a classic example of supply-and-demand and in response to the realities of an economy that has left many people lacking the wherewithal to meet the post-secondary educational needs of…
Mark Brunell’s Career Earnings of $50 Million . . . Gone! March 9, 2012 – With the NFL Scouting Combine recently concluded and Draft Day fast approaching, many college football players, no doubt giddy with anticipation, will soon be eagerly awaiting that life-changing phone call from an NFL team which will hopefully set them on…
A Full Year Before World Wide Recall The New York Times reports that an executive for DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, sent an email to top executives of the company about the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s unwillingness to approve one of the metal-on-metal artificial hips it manufactured because “a significant…
“Structured Settlements” That’s right! The phrase “structured settlements” is the most expensive Google Adword in the solar system according to Harvard behavioral economist Sendhil Mullainathan. On January 31, 2012, National Public Radio’s Marketplace segment featured a revealing conversation with Professor Mullainathan entitled “How Google searches are leading economic indicators.” What is a structured settlement? In…
January 25, 2012 – Johnson & Johnson, parent company of DePuy Orthopedics, maker of the since recalled metal-on-metal ASR artificial hip systems, recently took quarterly charges of more than $3.0 Billion according to the New York Times. As a structured settlement company with a personal interest in the litigation that has developed in light of…
January 20, 2012 Treasury Issues Final Regulations Under 104(a)(2) Physical Injury Damages Exclusion Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2) is the foundation upon which structured settlements, which provide guaranteed future periodic payments on an income tax-free basis for personal, physical injury claimants, is built. On January 20, 2012, Treasury issued its FINAL regulations under…
Because Your Longevity Risk is Increasing, That’s Why! With apologies to our younger readers, remember the 1977 Dannon commercial that linked the high centenarian population of then-Soviet Georgia to eating yogurt? What a difference a generation makes! When Congress passed the Social Security Act in 1935, average life expectancy at birth was only 62.81 years. …
In its post Top 5 Causes of Accidental Death in the United States, list-oriented website Listosaur.com takes a look at some statistics that contribute to the rankings of a list we all strive to avoid being featured in. Their blog suggests that if people would simply stop drinking, being distracted and being young while driving,…