Martin & Jones Blog

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is developing new guidelines requiring higher and more scentific standards than under the Bush administration.  Under the Bush administration, many of the Bush FDA appointees were former pharmaceutical industry or medical device company employees which approved deadly drugs like Vioxx, Avandia and Trayslol and defective heart devices from Medtronic or Guidant.

It was recently reported that renowned actor James Woods resolved a long and bitter medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital arising out the death of his brother receiving treatment there.  An apology by the hospital was a pivotal event in the settlement process during a trial that ironically was in the fourth week. Kent Hospital’s president decided to follow her gut and asked Mr. Woods to dinner to discuss the case - “treating a grieving brother the way she’d want to be treated herself.” 

On November 25, 2009, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ("COA"), in Musch v. Domtar Industries, held that employees' daily post-shift activities of changing clothes and showering due to potential chemical exposure in employer's paper mill was NOT so integral and indispensable to employment that it was subject to overtime compensation under the FLSA. 

A new study published in the Archives of Surgery has concluded that patients are more likely to die from serious traumatic injuries when treated in the emergency room if they do not have health insurance.  Patients with health insurance receive better care, according to the study.  The study found that if a patient is uninsured, he or she may experience delays in treatment or receive different care.

A recent report conducted by the American Rights At Work Education organization exposed T-Mobile and its parent company Geutsche Telekom's (DT) active campaign to discourage U.S. workers from forming a union.