June 2009 Archives

University of Pennsylvania doctor Gary D. Kao defended the quality of the brachytherapy radiation program he said he established and led at the hospital in a "field" hearing of the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday.  In brachytherapy, physicians permanently implant in a prostate from 80 to 120 tiny metal "seeds" that emit radiation over a 10-month period. If improperly placed, the seeds can damage nearby organs while delivering less-than-optimal doses of radiation to the prostate. 

A NRC medical expert "noted that the seed placement in the cases reviewed was quite erratic and not consistent with current medical standards."  Ongoing investigations by the VA and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees medical use of radioactive materials, found that 57 of the patients were under dosed. Another 35 patients got too much radiation to nearby tissues and organs, including 25 whose rectums received potentially dangerous doses.  

Excerpted from Philly.com.

A consumer organization is asking Congress to investigate the actions of the FTC, charging that the FTC, like the SEC, has ignored and protected pyramid and Ponzi schemes, causing as much as $10 billion per year in consumer losses. The losses over time are far greater than those suffered by investors in Bernard Madoff's Wall Street Ponzi.

Pyramid Scheme Alert, a non-profit consumer group founded in 2000, has released a 21-page whistle-blower's report that details a dramatic shift in FTC policy that began in 2001 and has left the public exposed to deceptive "business opportunity" frauds. Written by the group's president and investment expert Robert L. FitzPatrick, the report says most of the schemes are disguised as "multi-level marketing" (MLM) companies or as online "cash gifting" schemes. The report is entitled, "The Main Street Bubble: A Whistle Blower's Guide to Business Opportunity Fraud; How the FTC has Ignored and Now Protects It." 

Excerpted from PRWeb.com.

Banking experts say disputes over development land values threaten to become more common as loans for the properties enter default leaving room for battles over differing appraisals. An example of that was on display in an Ann Arbor courtroom this month as Bank of Ann Arbor sought over a half-million dollars from developers Francis and Marcus Yono after they defaulted on lots in West Bloomfield and Brighton Township.

The bank's appraisal valued the 26 lots securing the loan at $2.09 million, while the developers' valuation was $2.75 million. The outstanding loan amount is about $2.6 million, leaving the court battle over whether the Yonos are free and clear, or owe the bank $530,000 on the loan, plus more in unpaid property taxes.

While deficiency cases are most often settled out of court, lawyers and real estate professional said, the valuation discrepancy - and the possibility of an award to the bank - in this case prompted the trial.

Excerpted from Mlive.com.

In Excavation and Trenching Safety, safety engineering expert James Umack, writes:

Competent Person

The competent person has the responsibility to examine the area of the excavation to determine that no recognizable conditions exist which would expose employees to injury from possible moving ground before work is permitted in or adjacent to the excavation. The excavation must not be opened until the competent person has determined that it is safe to do so. The competent person must inspect the excavation at the beginning of each day before workers are exposed to ensure that no changed condition, such as water entering the excavation, has increased the danger. Excavations must be inspected by the competent person after every rainstorm or other hazard-increasing occurrence and the protection against slides and cave-ins increased, if necessary, before excavation activities resume.

Below Grade Hazards

Before opening the excavation, the location of all underground installations such as sewer, water, fuel, electric lines, telecommunication lines, tanks, etc., must be located and marked so that they may be avoided or approached with caution. Many regions have a single telephone number that will alert the owners or managers of underground installations that an excavation is intended that may impact their facility or equipment. The operator of that underground installation then is required to mark on the ground their approximate location.

 

Michael Burton, 48, claims he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Otilia Burton, his wife of 13 years, on July 16, 2007.  The expert's testimony likely dealt another setback to the defense strategy for Michael Burton, a former Pasadena firefighter who prosecutors accuse of murdering his wife before trying to take his own life. During the samurai sword attack that killed Otilia Burton, she suffered some of her wounds while she was sitting or lying down on the floor of her home, a prosecution expert testified Monday in West Valley Superior Court.

Randolph Beasley, a crime scene expert for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, testified for nearly four hours Monday about the blood spatters he analyzed in the Burtons' Rancho Cucamonga home following the incident. The expert's testimony - consisting of detailed analysis of blood and other evidence found in the Burtons' home - took up the entire day of Monday's proceedings, the sixth day of testimony in Burton's murder trial.

Excerpted from DailyBulletin.com.

In Excavation and Trenching Safety, safety engineering expert James Umack, writes:

Excavation and trenching may present substantial risk of injury to person working in the excavation or adjacent to the edge. Safety guidelines have been developed through years of experience working with and in excavation. Many of these guidelines have been adopted by OSHA and have been made mandatory for all trenching and excavating activities.

Permits

Many jurisdictions require a permit before commencing large excavation activities to ensure the safety not only of the workers but also of the community. The permit notifies the regulatory agency of the excavation activity and requires the organization doing the digging to place a competent and knowledgeable person in charge of the dig. The permit may be specific for a single excavation or may be issued on an annual basis for a firm that does many excavations.

Toxicology expert Dr. Daniel McCoy testified Friday that Ali Eichhorst, charged in the 2006 fatal traffic crash near Linton, IN, had a blood/alcohol level of .22 percent at the time.  Both occupants in the vehicle involved were intoxicated more than twice the legal state limit, according to testimony given in a Greene Superior Court case on Friday morning.

Eichhorst, 21, is charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing a death and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with an alcohol concentration equivalent to at least .08 gram of alcohol in blood or breath resulting in death -- both class C felonies. The case is now under deliberation by a 12-person jury.

Excerpted from GCDailyWorld.

RIAA was awarded statutory damages of $1.92 M for infringement of 24 MP3s in Capitol Records v  Thomas-Rasset.  This amounts to $80,000 per song file.  The defendent never called her technical expert to testify and her attorneys never challenged the evidence offered by the RIAA's MediaSentry and Doug Jacobson.  Slashdot.org reports:

Also, neither the special verdict form nor the jury instructions spelled out what the elements of a 'distribution' are, or what needed to be established by the plaintiffs in order to recover statutory — as opposed to actual — damages.

The 3M Co. pollution case in Washington County, MN, went to the jury Wednesday. Work on the case began five years ago when PFCs were discovered in drinking water.
TwinCities.com reports:

"This is a recurring environmental nightmare," said plaintiffs' lawyer David Byrne. He argued that the Maplewood-based company caused chemicals to seep into groundwater, damaging property values of his clients: Gary and Karen Paulson, Brad Krank and Bill Henry.  Plaintiff's environmental experts suggested the damage might be 15 percent to 25 percent of property value. .

Not so, said 3M attorney Cooper Ashley. The tiny traces of chemicals already have been removed from the drinking water of the plaintiffs, he said, so there was no harm to the property values of their homes.  

Five time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner Jeremy Mayfield was indefinitely suspended last month after failing the organization's random drug testing.  Penn State professor Dr. Charles Yesalis, a leading drug testing expert in sports says Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corporation is "highly reliable regarding the risk of a false positive.  Any of this is only as good as the people doing the test. So if you have a bunch of incompetent boobs like some other labs have had, the results can be (arguable). But if you have a good lab like David's, the risk of a false positive is very, very, very low."

However, Yesalis does not agree with drivers not being given a list of banned substances. How can drivers be suspended for taking something if they don't know what is on the list?  NASCAR officials said every driver has been tested at least once this year.

Excerpted from Tennessean.com.

Australian medical expert, Professor Booy states that although the spread of the influenza  virus H1N1 around the world has revealed it is not as deadly as initially feared, it should not be underestimated.  PattayaDailyNews reports:

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the outbreak to be a "pandemic" on June 11, it was at pains to point out that this was because of the global "spread of the virus," not its severity. The countries of the Developed World should have no problem containing the virus, though the WHO is more concerned about countries in the Developing World, with limited resources, poor health care, few hospitals and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems. The WHO also said in a recent report, however, the new virus 'appears to be more contagious than seasonal influenza' and that nearly everyone in the world lacks immunity against the new disease. The report added that the new H1N1 flu virus has the potential to unpredictably mutate into a more virulent form, resulting in a pandemic that may circle the globe in at least two or even three waves.

Toxicology expert Dr. David Black is the only person who can put his stamp of approval on the return of one of NASCAR's top drivers, Jeremy Mayfield.  Mayfield, a 40-year-old driver from Owensboro, Ky., who has five wins in the Sprint Cup series, was indefinitely suspended last month after failing a drug test.  Black is the founder and CEO of Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corporation which does all the testing for NASCAR, and Mayfield became the first Sprint Cup driver to have a positive result under the organization's random drug testing policy that was implemented this season.  Tennessean.com reports:

"In my case, I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over-the-counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test," Mayfield said in a statement...

"No, that's not possible," said Black, who declined to say what drug was found. "We have a strong policy and we have a clear violation of the program. The interpretation of the test result does not leave room for doubt or misunderstanding."

AstraZeneca seems to be winning its war against the 10,000 plaintiffs who claim Seroquel causes weight gain and diabetes.  A judge ruled that there was not enough evidence that Seroquel triggered a woman's diabetes because she was already unhealthy by the time she started taking the drug. In Thursday’s case, Judge Joseph Slights III ruled that a medical expert could not say that Nina Scaife's diabetes was specifically caused by the drug.

• AZ has won two summary judgments and a third was withdrawn.
• In Delaware, 108 cases have been dismissed (about 15 percent).
• In the federal multidistrict litigation, 1,881 cases (about 23 percent) have been dismissed either by the judge or by plaintiffs themselves.

AZ is also winning the war in the marketplace: sales of Seroquel rose roughly 10% in the first quarter of 2009 to $1.1 billion despite publicity surrounding the drug.

Excerpted from Bnet.com.

Alcohol testing expert Paul L. Glover testified Tuesday that Charla Davis' blood-alcohol level may have been twice the driving limit when she smashed into a vehicle's door and ran down three people last August.  The expert, head of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services' alcohol testing branch, projected Davis had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 or greater at the time of the hit-and-run wreck on a Belmont, NC, bridge. Tractor-trailer driver Ronnie Gene Eudy, 40, who had stopped to help an ailing motorist, was killed, and two others were injured.  GastonGazette.com reports:

Glover used a process known as retrograde extrapolation to estimate Davis' alcohol concentration. Belmont Police Lt. Richard Spry testified that he smelled alcohol on Davis' breath when she arrived at the police station for an interview at 10:14 a.m. the morning after the wreck.

Banking expert Keith Geary testified in Oklahoma City that Frontier State Bank should not change its policies and should continue to fight the FDIC in court.  FSB says it has been profitable in every quarter since 2002 and has not violated any regulation or law while the FDIC said FSB's policies should change because the bank is exposed to rate swings.  EarthTimesOnline reports:

The FDIC started an exam in April 2008, and filed a complaint in October. The rare administrative hearing started last Monday. The administrative law judge, an FDIC employee, has 45 days from the hearing’s conclusion to issue a decision to a three-person FDIC panel. The panel then has 45 days to uphold or overturn the judge’s decision. The losing side has 30 days to reply, followed by a 15-day window for the prevailing party to respond.

The Community Association for the Restoration of the Environment in Granger, WA, has withdraw its lawsuit against the DeRuyter Brothers Dairy over air emissions.  Environmentalists have been largely unsuccessful in bringing the federal Clean Air Act to bear on the emissions of gases, such as ammonia, from large animal-feeding operations. UC Davis environmental air quality expert Frank Mitloehner says it is very difficult to do since emissions vary depending on the time of day, the temperature and humidity as well as where the measurement is taken and whether the urine and feces that breed the pollutants are fresh or old.  YakimaHerald.com reports:

With at least 74,000 cows on 72 farms, the Lower Yakima Valley is dense with dairies. Complaints about odor are routinely collected by the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency, according to officials at the agency. That odor isn't caused by a single substance but rather a number of compounds.

Rap star 50 Cent's lawyers questioned an architecture expert in the celebrity's case against the Bloomfield engineering firm BVH Integrated Services Inc.  Lawyers for 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, said the estimate BVH gave him before he bought his Farmington mansion is 2003 was more than $2 million off the mark. Jackson said he paid the company $14,000 to conduct an inspection and give an estimate on the cost of work needed at the home, which he bought for $4.1 million from Mike Tyson.  WFSB.com reports:

In court Thursday, Jackson's attorney, Michael Feldman, asked his expert witness, architect James Cicalo, if it was important for Jackson to get accurate figures before buying the home.  "Any purchaser wants to know what to expect," said Cicalo, of FSI Architects. During several hours on the witness stand, Cicalo told Hartford Superior Court Judge Eliot Prescott that he believes BVH was off on many of its estimates, perhaps by as much as $2 million.

Brandon Hampson, 39, will try to use the "Zoloft defense" in his Nassau County domestic violence case.  Accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Hampson hopes a Pfizer Inc. medical expert will opine in his defense that the pill or withdrawal from it spurs violence in some users.  Judge Rhonda Fischer will rule in First District Court on a prosecution motion challenging her decision to allow testimony by the defense witness for Pfizer Inc.

Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania medical ethics expert, said having Jacobs testify is a problem, given his payments from Pfizer.  "When you get into a position where you're being asked to comment on a drug made by a manufacturer who pays you, that poses an ethics problem," Caplan said.

Excerpted from newsday.com.

Business expert Shuchi Satwah, vice-president of Washington D.C.-based Nera Economic Consulting, testified Monday in Bob Waxman's fraud and theft trial.  The expert said the 77 deals she studied had no commercial value for Philip Services Corp but generated handsome profits for Waxman's copper trading company.  In total she found Philip lost $8.6 million on copper trading while Waxman's companies profited $5.5 million.

The deals "looked like financing for PSC at very high interest rates," she testified. "PSC was getting cash in the door right away and agreeing to pay for it in two or three months."

Excerpted from thespec.com.

Engineering expert Dr. Dennis Torok has been invited to provide opinions on the possible causes of the significant increase in home runs being hit in the "new" Yankee Stadium.  Torok is an expert in wind effects around buildings and stadiums and says there are several ways to reduce the wind patterns at Yankee Stadium without altering the playing field. The team could change the slope of the roof or put attachments on it to deflect wind that whips into the stadium.  Marketwire reports:

Structural design and directional orientation of baseball stadiums can affect wind patterns and spatial distribution of wind speeds within the confines of a stadium both at ground level and higher elevations. This can influence the flight trajectories and distance traveled by baseballs. Wind approaching from certain directions can exacerbate the effects. The study of stadium-related wind effects, early in the design phase of proposed stadiums and prior to structural renovations on existing stadiums, can yield further understanding as to a stadium's potential labeling as a "hitter-friendly" or "pitcher-friendly" ballpark.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a New Hampshire man believed to have drowned in Lake Winnipesaukee after falling overboard from the MS Mount Washington has been settled out of court.  Karen Sylvestre argued that the owners and employees of the Winnipesaukee Flagship Co. were negligent in causing the death of her husband, 45-year-old James Nelson Sylvestre but the defense medical expert opined that because of Sylvestre's high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and weight, Sylvestre could have suffered a stroke and fallen overboard.

Sylvestre was attending a party in October 2006 when he went overboard. His body was not found until nearly a year later.

Excerpted from ConcordMonitorOnline.