Tonight on HBO, an important topic affecting the rights of injured people will receive a different kind of publicity. The documentary drama, Hot Coffee, covers the highly misunderstood product liability case against McDonald's, as well as several other noteworthy cases demonstrating how Americans' access to the civil justice system has changed over recent years. Tort reform is examined with an eye towards the role of the media and corporate America in mischaracterizing how juries and the civil justice system handle situations of personal injury and damage awards.
Tort reform and the McDonald's hot coffee incident
Most wanted list unveiled by the NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its list of critical transportation issues affecting safety for 2011. The list highlights ten key areas to focus on to reduce accidents, save lives and lessen the hazards of driving, flying, riding trains or taking other public transportation. While the list is intended to place an emphasis on areas of top concern, the NTSB remains committed to discovering the cause of all transportation accidents, improving transportation safety, and serving as a resource to help accident victims and their families.
Criminal charges in fatal truck accident case
The April accident that claimed the life of an Indiana construction worker led to an arrest on Wednesday. The driver in the fatal tractor-trailer accident is being accused of causing a death while operating a vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance. A blood test conducted by authorities after the incident revealed the presence of marijuana in the truck driver's bloodstream.
Early result in contaminated blood thinner litigation
Significant litigation has arisen in connection with Baxter International Inc. and its supplier, Scientific Protein Laboratories. The defective product claims stem from contaminated heparin, a blood-thinner, distributed to patients all over the country. The drug allegedly became contaminated during a portion of the supply chain that occurred in China. Officials at Baxter International claim that the contaminant, a cheap substitute made from pig intestines, was purposefully put into the heparin. That claim has been denied by the Chinese government.
RV driver killed in collision with semi truck
Mechanical difficulties forced a Canton man and his family to pull their RV to the side of the road on Monday. While the 35 year-old driver of the RV worked under the vehicle to make repairs, a semi truck collided with them on the shoulder of Interstate 39. The resulting injuries cost the RV driver his life and sent the three passengers, a woman and two children, as well as the semi driver to the hospital.
Two killed in semi-truck collision
The identities of two Springfield residents who were killed in a collision with a semi-tractor trailer on Wednesday were released. The fatal truck crash involved the driver and passenger of a Pontiac Grand Prix which crossed the median on Interstate 70 and was struck by a semi-trailer in the westbound lanes. The driver of the semi suffered only minor injuries in the accident.
