Grand Junction Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous

Former justice O'Connor urges changes in judicial elections

Kyle Bachus — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:25:28 GMT

When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor spoke to CU law students this April, she praised Colorado for being one of the few states in the country that has done away with electing state court judges, choosing instead to have them appointed by judicial nominating committees. Justice O’Conner’s belief that popular election of judges leads to a politicization of the judicial process, leading to less independent and impartial decision-making. With special interest groups donating large sums to campaigns and voters generally unaware of judge’s professional abilities, it is little wonder that the United States is one of only a handful of places that utilizes a political ticket for choosing worthy judges.

Justice O’Connor’s concerns are pointedly illustrated by the recent campaign for a Supreme Court in my home state of Wisconsin. In a campaign that cost $5 million, “a small-town trial judge with thin credentials ran a television advertisement falsely suggesting that the only black justice on the state Supreme Court had helped free a black rapist.” The idea that this process lends itself to healthy judiciary by making judges accountable to public opinion, is foolish because 1) the public control over the process is illusory: most voters aren’t making informed decisions, but instead relying on misleading or outright false advertisements like the above, designed and paid for by special interest groups and 2) insulating judges from often capricious public opinion allows them to maintain a distance and independence crucial to well-functioning judiciary.

The co-opting of the very worst aspects of our partisan political process has lead to predictable results. The University of Chicago “found that elected judges wrote more opinions, while appointed judges wrote opinions of higher quality.”

If we as Americans decide that we will prize quantity over quality, as it appears we do, we will get the judiciary we deserve, and our society will be the worse for it.

Thomas Connell

Summer Intern 2008

JD Candidate, 2010

University of Colorado

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Kyle Bachus

A Friend in Need of a Kidney Transplant

Linda Snyder — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:59:52 GMT

Imagine the hope and excitement of graduating from high school and looking forward to the next chapter of your life as you head for college to pursue career of your dreams.

Imagine the devastation as you learn you have a serious condition that will put those dreams on hold and in fact threatens your very life.

This is Kelsey Crider's story. A bright, articulate young woman, Kelsey Crider's future looked promising as she was headed for Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Two weeks after graduation, Kelsey had some routine blood work and initial tests came back indicating she was anemic and her hematocrit was low. Retesting revealed that Kelsey had Medullary Cystic Kidney Disease, a hereditary disorder in which cysts develop deep with both kidneys. The kidney gradually loses its ability to function. At this point, Kelsey's kidneys were only functioning at 12%. She was suffering from kidney failure and needed a kidney transplant.

Fortunately, Kelsey's father was a match and the transplant went beautifully. Unfortunately, even after a heroic measures and a lengthy hospital stay, Kelsey's body rejected her new kidney. She is now on dialysis 3 days a week at four hours each session. Throughout her ordeal Kelsey has persevered with a smile on her face and positive attitude.

Her dream of attending college to become a photographer has been put on hold as Kelsey focuses on recovering from her surgeries and massive doses of anti-rejection medication. Her doctor has advised that her body needs to rest and heal before they attempt another surgery. In the meantime, we want to find her another donor.

Whether you consider becoming a living kidney donor or can pass this story on to your contacts, let's do what we can help this family and give this young lady a chance to reach her dreams.

To learn more, please contact Steve Crider at rockymtngatr@yahoo.com or call 303.530.2929.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Linda Snyder

Special Amenities in hospitals, if you can afford it

Staff Writer — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:21:11 GMT

Imagine being a patient in a hospital, and actually enjoying the experience with a personal chef and a larger room. Such exclusive amenties are being offered more and more every day at hospitals nationwide.

Three such hospitals in Colorado offer incredible amenities for those who are willing to pay the price.

The Rose Center for Preventive Medicine in Denver, The University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora and Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree all offer perks for patients who pay.

This type of customer service focuses on the idea of being patient-centered with little to no wait times and physicals customized for individual needs and desires. The cost of a full physical? $3,450, no insurance accepted.

This expensive and self-pay approach is the start of a new national trend which is occuring at the same time that affordable health care is in a crisis for middle- and lower-class Americans.

At the University of Colorado Hospital, same day results on tests such as heart scans and stress tests are deilvered personally by the physician, by the mere cost of $2,500. For $1,000 extra for someone who needs inpatient care, the University Hospital will provide catered meals, a personal nurse and a bed on the exclusive 12th floor, surrounded by beautiful mountain views.

Sky Ridge Medical Center provides patients with an Amenity Suite including flowers and a private chef for the extra cost of $250 a day.

Both University Hospital and Rose Medical Center have yet to disclose the amount of money these specialiazed programs bring into their hospitals.

A health economist at Princeton University, Uwe Reinhardt, explained "It's more about consumer satisfaction. You pay extra and you get pampered."

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

FDA Recalls Contaminated Sandwiches

Courtney Mills — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:14:38 GMT

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall on approximately 7,500 individually wrapped sandwiches because of potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Listeria is a microorganism and can cause serious infection in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.

These sandwiches were manufactured by IFS, Inc., of South Elgin, Illinois, and are distributed throughout the central United States in vending machines. These prepackaged sandwiches are sold under the names Buffalo Chicken Sandwich #3707, Cuban Sandwich #3795, and Asiago Italian #3770. No illnesses have been reported to date.

If you have any of these sandwich products from IFS you should discard them immediately. The sandwiches were sold in machines in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Local broadcasters try to block EchoStar

Staff Writer — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:13:46 GMT

An article from today's Denver Post reports that local broadcasters in Colorado filed a motion to block EchoStar Communications' last-minute effort to circumvent a court ruling and continue to provide more than 900,000 DISH network customers with its distant-network signals. This is part of a seven-year legal battle in this copyright law case, the story says.

Apparently today is the deadline for EchoStar to shut off its service after a U.S. district court ruling in October 2006. EchoStar is trying to get around it by the following loophole, explained by the company's general counsel:

EchoStar general counsel David Moskowitz said Thursday that National Programming Services will lease a transponder, or a portion of a satellite, from EchoStar to provide distant-network stations. Customers must order the service directly from NPS and are billed separately.
"We asked the court to confirm that the arrangement with NPS is entirely appropriate," he said. "We're confident it's permitted by law."

The National Association of Broadcasters sees it differently:

"EchoStar demonstrates again its arrogant and flagrant contempt for the rule of law," said Dennis Wharton, a a National Association of Broadcasters spokesman. "We're hopeful the courts recognize this latest stunt for what it is: a serial copyright abuser's refusal to comply with numerous court verdicts and federal statutes that preserve the enduring value of local broadcasting."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Not Sufficiently "severe or pervasive"

Staff Writer — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:56:13 GMT

On August 2, 2006, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held that four statements made by a second level supervisor to an employee over a one year period was not sufficiently "severe or pervasive" for the purpose of showing the existence of a hostile work environment. The supervisor commented that the employee's shorts were too short and asked to measure them from the inside of her thigh, asked if she tanned naked, whispered in her ear that he liked her haircut and asked to see her thong underwear. Despite the nature of these comments, the Court concluded that no reasonable jury could find a hostile work place and affirmed dismissal of the claims.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Wal-Mart's Pay Structure

Staff Writer — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:06:22 GMT

Wal-Mart, the largest private employer, publicly announced that it is raising wages at approximately 1300 U.S. stores and introducing wage caps at all stores to try to remain competitive with other retailers and meet a need for workers and managers. Wal-Mart has, in the past, been named as a defendant in lawsuits seeking to change its pay structure.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Adelphia and Motorola Part of SEC Investigation

Staff Writer — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 14:08:19 GMT

An August 5, 2006, AP story out of Washington points to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investment fraud investigation of Motorola Inc., the world's second-largest cell phone maker, and Adelphia Communications Corp., a Colorado-based company that was the fifth largest cable maker in the nation at one time.

Adelphia founder John Rigas and his son Timothy faced a 2004 conviction of embezzling more than $2 billion from the company and misleading investors about Adelphia's financial performance.

Motorola recently became embroiled in a $1 billion lawsuit in which Colorado-based Adelphia--once the nation's fifth-largest cable provider--accused it of knowingly assisting some members of Adelphia's founding family in efforts to create "the false appearance of growth in (Adelphia's) cable businesses during 2000 and 2001."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Group Seeks to Protect Wild Buckwheat

Staff Writer — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 21:31:45 GMT

According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, environmental groups including the Uncompahgre Valley Association are requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service make increasing efforts to protect the Clay Loving Wild Buckwheat, an endangered plant that grows only in Delta and Montrose Counties. The groups ask that the protected areas for this plant increase to include all of the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reported this plant as endangered since 1984.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Warning to Medicare Recipients

Staff Writer — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:26:19 GMT

According to 9 News, the Colorado Division of Insurance is warning of a national telephone scam. According to authorities, some Medicare recipients receive calls from people claiming to be representatives of Medicare and requesting their personal bank account information. The caller tells the Medicaid beneficiary they need a new Medicaid card and will be charged a one-time-fee of $239 to $369. The caller threatens that if the recipient does not pay over the phone, the amount will come out of their next social security check.

According to the Colorado Division of Insurance consumers should never share private information, especially bank routing, credit or debit card numbers with a person that calls them. Medicare's policy prohibits calling an individual and requesting personal information including financial data. The Denver District Attorney warns that victims of this crime may lose more than $250, as the personal information, if shared, could lead to identity theft.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer