Bad faith insurance companies will no doubt add to the misery Hurricane Ike left behind. Gulf Coast residents are facing power outages, gas shortages, flooded homes and destroyed property. Sadly, some may also face insurance companies that don’t want to pay off on policies. Ask anyone who lives in Florida. That state had eight hurricanes in 24 months. Insurance companies owed a cool $36 billion to customers when they had taken in only $15 billion in premiums. Needless to say, some companies tried to avoid paying policy holders for damaged property.
If an insurance company starts nitpicking your claim, enlist Jim Adler’s help. He’s been successfully fighting insurance companies for 30 years, forcing them to pay victims what they deserve. Jim S. Adler & Associates does not charge to evaluate your case or charge until the firm wins. Even then, clients may pay nothing at all. The courts can order insurance companies to pay all attorney fees.
The Texas Department of Insurance wants to protect you, too. Check out its advice about predators: Crooked contractors often arrive in unmarked vehicles, going door to door offering to do repairs. They may be unlicensed, untrained or dishonest, “trying to make a quick dollar at your expense.” Do not pay the entire repair bill in advance.
Crooked public insurance adjusters ask for a large upfront fee and then disappear without handling your claim. They have been known to refer victims to dishonest contractors for a kickback. They may file false or inflated claims against your policy. They may use your Social Security number or other personal data for identity theft scams.
Cheerleading used to be all about school spirit. But now that it’s become highly competitive – and even considered a sport in itself – it concerns other things, too. Those things include spectacular stunts in which cheerleaders are hurled high into the air – stunts which can go horribly wrong. Such has been the case across America, with many thousands of persons visiting emergency rooms each year due to cheerleading injuries. And such injuries can lead to disability, paralysis or even death. Sprained ankles or strained backs may be the least of injured cheerleaders’ worries. Others may endure a lifetime of pain after a cheerleading accident.
The Dallas Morning News reports that these injuries occur in part because states haven’t done enough to catch up with the growing extremes of cheerleading activity. The newspaper says that “No monitoring system or organization totals injury reports, slaps fines on violators or tracks participation rates in most states, including Texas. Meanwhile, stunts have become more sophisticated and interest continues to peak.”
The Washington Post followed up that report with its own story, avowing that a “growing body of evidence indicates cheerleading has become one of the riskiest athletic activities for women.”
So have fun and show school spirit. Just be aware that cheerleading is not all that safe when cheerleaders are sent flying up, up and away!
Recent scientific studies indicate that bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used in plastic baby bottles and packaging for food and beverages, may be linked to possible risks for heart disease and diabetes. So far the Food and Drug Administration does not agree that BPA is a threat in the food containers and medical devices which it regulates. But two scientists believe such a damaging link exists. As yet, studies on BPA appear to be suggestive but not conclusive. Until BPA is proven to be safe, there’s not much anyone can do to limit exposure. According to Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany in New York, virtually everyone is exposed to BPA via a wide range of plastic products.
“The problem in our society is that we are all exposed to this mixture of chemicals, and which ones are responsible for disease is difficult to determine,” he says. Besides plastic baby bottles, BPA can be found in CDs, sunglasses, canned goods and water bottles. An FDA advisory panel has been meeting on the issue to assess the latest data. We’ll try to keep you posted on the results.
Millions of Americans suffer from high cholesterol, which clogs the arteries and reduces life expectancy. A poor diet, lack of exercise and genetic factors can cause high cholesterol. Drugs, along with diet and exercise, as the TV commercials say, can lower it. But Vytorin, an oft-prescribed drug of TV commercial fame, may pose another risk. A study known as SEAS indicates it not only may fail in fighting cholesterol, but also could lead to cancer. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to agree.
So, is this a matter of he said, she said? Not so fast. The New England Journal of Medicine at first insisted that the study linking Vytorin to cancer was likely based on chance. But in an unusual reversal, the Journal’s editors conceded last week that it’s too early to dismiss such cancer concerns. “Physicians and patients are unfortunately left for now with uncertainty about the efficacy and safety of the drug,” the Journal reports.
Selling in the billions of dollars, Vytorin is produced and sold jointly by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. Merck is the same pharmaceutical giant which produced the discredited drug Vioxx.
And do it unexpectedly, thanks to a narrow wheel base and a high center of gravity that makes the ATV top heavy with a tendency to roll even on flat surfaces. ATVs are advertised as oodles of fun and a great way for hunters to get to and from hunting grounds in all kinds of backwoods areas. But some models, like the Yamaha Rhino introduced to the public in September 2003, had no doors, handle bars and other safety equipment. When they roll, as they frequently have, riders tend to stick a limb out as a natural reaction to brake the fall. The end result? Crushed limbs or worse. But any ATV can result in a serious injury given this vehicle’s basic design flaws. Unsafe at any speed? It’s a definite possibility.
No joke! It’s a VIP flick if you ride on rubber tires — and who doesn’t? This video highlights a little known fact with potentially deadly consequences if you are not in the know: “new” tires can kill you because they may not be new. That’s right. The so-called “new” tire you buy at a store could be so old it’s dried out. Sure, it has all its tread – but the rubber may be almost a decade old. Such tires could cause a sudden, deadly blow-out or tread-shredding accident. Think it can’t happen? Stores all over the country have tires that have gotten old on their shelves. But you can learn how to read the code that dates a tire and avoid such a purchase. Click it below. It’s news you can really use.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897
If you take Lipitor to hold down your cholesterol, don’t worry. Not so with another drug said to do the same thing. The Food and Drug Administration is keeping an eye on Vytorin. It turns out Vytorin may not keep cholesterol down. Worse, it could cause cancer. So far, the FDA says, no evidence definitively links Vytorin to the dreaded disease. But the federal agency is continuing to study research on the matter. The FDA also is asking doctors who prescribe Vytorin to monitor closely patients who use it, in case they experience unhealthy side effects. Vytorin is produced by the same pharmaceutical giant, Merck and Co., which made the discredited painkiller Vioxx.
Bus crashes have taken a terrible toll in Texas of late, including the one north of Dallas which killed 17 Houstonians en route to a religious gathering. Such bus accident tragedies have brought to light many regulatory problems which state and federal officials are trying to address.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has found that within two years, the Texas Department of Transportation revoked the charters of 201 bus lines, often for failing to operate safely. But many bus companies, including the one involved in the Houston charter tragedy, have simply resumed business under another name. While Texas and federal officials come to grips with that problem, TxDOT is asking consumers for their input if they notice poor bus performance. Starting late this month, TxDOT will begin posting consumer complaints about bus lines on its website at www.texdot.gov. Also posted there will be results of the DOT’s own investigations into bus line safety – or lack of it.
