bias Tag Archives — Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: August 25, 2013

Defective Drugs And Research Bias

Our firm represents many Alabama clients who suffered serious personal injury from drugs and medical devices. Our current cases in 2013 include claims involving the diabetes drug Actos and transvaginal mesh. If you want to see our current focus on defective products, you can read detailed reports under the Hot Topics section of the Blackwell Law Firm website. When we begin researching a drug or device, I will typically write a report for this section of our website. So, it is regularly updated to include only current topics.

We follow a different philosophy or approach with drug and device cases. Our approach is different than the mass advertising firms you see and hear on television and social media. Those firms typically approach claims by casting a wide net begging for calls. Their approach is to sign-up everything, see what happens, and settle a volume of claims. What is our approach? We focus only on a few products at a time. We know our clients. We work our cases. Why do we limit our approach to only a few products at a time? We want to study these products and gain expertise in their science.

I recently viewed an interesting discussion on an issue important in the medical research. The issue — Why are negative medical tests often concealed or not published? Many consumers (and even doctors) do not realize the extent of research bias. In most cases, your doctor is relying on the directions and warnings approved by the FDA. When the underlying tests are biased (because negative results were omitted), the doctor’s information is not reliable. When it comes to tests, negative results are very important to patient safety.

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Published on: June 18, 2013

How Should Alabama Select Judges?

By Jeff Blackwell

thumbnail_large-1 In January, I wrote about the need to re-think the way we select judges in Alabama. Our costly partisan elections harm our justice system. Is Alabama’s costly system similar to most other states? The short answer is, no. A recent Washington Post article reveals that most other states pick judges through a different method. The article contains a great color-coded map illustrating the process for selecting judges in each state.

Mississippi attorney Philip Thomas also recently wrote about this issue. As usual, his article provides an excellent commentary on the law. Philip advocates an appointment process for selecting judges. It’s a good idea that we should also consider. In his post, Philip notes a recent study showing a:

positive relationship between campaign contributions from business groups and justices’ voting in favor of business interests. The more campaign contributions from business interests the justices receive, the more likely they are to vote for business litigants when they appear before them in court.

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Published on: March 19, 2011

Challenging False Claims Of Malingering By The Insurance Company

By Jeff Blackwell

I recently read an article by attorney Edwin Lamberth titled “Beating the Malingering Defense” on his firm’s blog. Edwin is an excellent attorney practicing in Mobile, Alabama. I’ve discussed personal injury cases with Edwin on many occasions. His post raises a frequent issue in our personal injury cases.

What is the issue? What is the “malingering defense” used by insurance companies and their lawyers? As Edwin notes in his article, defense lawyers will rarely come right out and say your injured client is exaggerating or faking his injuries. If they did, you could prove them wrong and destroy their credibility. Instead, these insurance company lawyers will imply bad motives, cast doubt on the injured person’s efforts or suggest he may be exaggerating. While an outright accusation of malingering could be proven wrong, a hint or cloud of suspicion leaves doubt that is more difficult to defeat. That’s the plan followed by insurance defense lawyers.

How do you handle shadows of doubt cast by insurance company lawyers in your personal injury claim? Most lawyers for injured claimants ignore the shadow of doubt. But, that is the absolute worst approach in most cases. I agree with the advice offered by Edwin in his article.

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