Class-actions have evolved into a type of litigation that is pursued (and defended) by a limited number of specialized law firms. The targets of this brand of litigation are usually major corporations that are alleged to have caused widespread damage to some identifiable “class” of individuals.

The damages involved in class-actions range from serious personal injuries to people exposed to toxic contamination to customers being cheated out of a few dollars on rebates. Sometimes the class is a small one with each member suffering significant harm, and sometimes the class is enormous with each member claiming relatively inconsequential damages.
More Maine Jury Returns $10.8 Million Verdict against Prominent Seattle Law Firm for Allegedly Placing Its Financial Interests Ahead of Those of Its Clients

By Steven DiJoseph 

The college admission process is an extremely stressful experience for high school students and their parents. After grades, complicated applications, and personal interviews are considered by the various colleges and universities, the final decision often comes down to a student’s SAT scores.

The original SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) began in 1926, when about 8,000 students took it. In 1994, the name of the exam was changed to the Scholastic Assessment Test by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which produces the exam. What used to be called the “achievement” tests (in specific subjects such as biology, chemistry, and physics) are now referred to as the SAT Subject Tests.
More College Board Admits Hundreds of Grading Errors on SAT Exam – Damage May Be Beyond Repair, However

Cephalon Inc. was counting on an FDA advisory panel to recommend the approval of its drug, Sparlon, The panel, however, did not agree with Cephalon’s position that the drug’s effectiveness as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) outweighed its potential risks.

While the independent panel of outside experts did not have a problem with the effectiveness of the drug, it was troubled by the paucity of data with respect to concerns that Sparlon presented a risk of causing the serious and sometimes fatal skin condition known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS).    
More New ADHD Drug Fails by 12-1 Vote to Gain Blessing of FDA Panel

By Steven DiJoseph

Excessive Lead in Costume Jewelry Continues to Pose Serious Health Risks to Children – Consumers Should Be Aware of Dangers Associated with Lead Poisoning

Background
As we have previously reported, a longstanding problem with inexpensive costume jewelry is that it often contains excessively high levels of the extremely toxic heavy metal, lead.

Last year in fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) initiated its single largest, individual product recall that involved metal vending machine jewelry.
More Three Recalls Are Announced by CPSC for Jewelry Posing Lead Poisoning Hazard to Children – One Death Reported

Laptop computers are convenient and permit businesses of all types to transport enormous amounts of information to conferences, presentations, and other remote locations. Unfortunately, laptop computers are easily stolen or lost and, when one does “disappear,” unencrypted data is particularly vulnerable to misuse.

Whether as a result of theft or carelessness, the loss of laptops belonging to corporations, financial institutions, data aggregators, schools or colleges, or other large organizations continues to be a subject of great concern in terms of potential identity
More Stolen Corporate Laptops Continue to Expose Employees and Customers to Financial Loss and Possible Identity Theft

According to Forbes.com (3/22/06): “For the first time ever, global spending on prescription drugs has topped $600 billion, even as growth slowed in Europe and North America.”

Based upon figures compiled by IMS health, a pharmaceutical information and consulting company, worldwide sales of prescription medications rose 7% to $602 billion.
More Top 10 Blockbuster Prescription Drugs Worldwide in 2005

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that an Internet marketer will pay a $900,000 civil penalty for violating the CAN-SPAM Act, the largest penalty yet for illegal spam. The company is also permanently prohibited from its unlawful practices, according to a consent decree signed by the company. (http://ftc.gov/opa/2006/03/freeflixtix.htm),

According to the FTC, “since July 2002, San Francisco-based Jumpstart Technologies LLC, has operated as an Internet marketer, providing direct marketing opportunities for its advertising partners and collecting marketing information to sell to third parties. The FTC’s complaint alleges that in its FreeFlixTix promotion, Jumpstart violated the law by disguising its commercial e-mails as personal messages, and by misleading consumers as to the terms and conditions of the promotion.”
More FTC Announces Jumpstart Technologies Will Pay $900,000 for Numerous Violations of the CAN-SPAM Act

The Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., of Bentonville, Arkansas, have announced a voluntary recall of some 643,000 Mainstays Love Seat Rockers and Porch Rockers made in China and Indonesia. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately.

According to the CPSC, poor construction and over-curvature of the chair’s runners can cause instability, imbalance, fracturing of the wood, and tip-over during use. This poses a fall hazard to consumers.
More CPSC Announces Recall of 643,000 Rocking Chairs Sold at Wal-Mart for Fall Hazard – 45 Reports of Injuries

A New York City dermatologist has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska to 20 years in prison sentence and to pay over $880,000 in restitution to defrauded insurance companies after being convicted for unlawfully distributing prescription narcotics and for health care fraud.

The doctor, David Wexler, 61, was found guilty on 17 counts including a finding that the conspiracy to distribute prescription narcotics caused the death of a man named Barry Abler due to a drug overdose. Abler had been part of the conspiracy.
More New York Doctor Gets 20 Years and Must Pay $880,000 in Restitution for Illegal Prescriptions that Resulted in Death

When eight healthy young men volunteered to enter a drug trial of an investigational medication six were given the drug and two were given a placebo. All six who received the drug had violent, life threatening reactions and remain ill; two are in critical condition. 

While none of the victims ever imagined what would happen, it now appears more and more likely that the manufacturer and medical experts associated with the trial should have anticipated the very problem that occurred since a similar drug had produced equally
More UK Drug Trial Disaster Was Predictable Based on Severe Side Effects During 2005 Study Involving Similar Drug