Memphis Injury Lawyer Blog

When young love knows no bounds and overflowing passion clouds all reality, many of us become entangled in unforeseen future consequences: Unintended pregnancy, unexpected changes in living arrangements and never planned for debts. One of these latter obligations can arise from federally backed student loans. These loan programs are not limited to colleges and universities. Trade schools, cosmetology academies and similar institutions can have financial programs where a spouse or life partner can be asked to guarantee the repayment of such a student loan.

The first step where a spouse can first become co-obligated on such a loan is the Guaranteed Student Loan Application. Next come the Loan Documents themselves which may require a signature too. Sadly, the final stop on this financial freight train is the Marital Dissolution Agreement which comes at the tearful end of the marriage. Not only can this document free one from legal obligation to pay for a co-signed student loan, but it can also require a person to pay an agreed upon share of the student loan as well.

But there is a catch. A BIG catch. If you have already co-signed the student loan a Tennessee divorce court cannot remove you from legal responsibility for the loan. The most that such a court can do is to require your former spouse to pay the loan and to "hold you harmless" from the loan. This means that the student-spouse is required to timely pay the loan. But the lender can still seek the balance of the loan in full from the non-student if the payments are not made as agreed.

In the case that we dealt with today,the Husband missed several payments and the Lender sought repayment from the former Wife. Wife filed a contempt pf court action on the divorce court because former husband failed to "hold her harmless" by making timely payments. The Court ruled that former Husband could either satisfy the Lender and therefore hold Wife harmless or spend a few days as a guest of the county. Husband decided that he would find a way to get the payments made as he thought horizontal stripes did not become him.

Posted by William M. Monroe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce, Support And Custody

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Reuters News Service today updates the report on the recall of over 40 different childrens' cold and flu preparations manufactured at the Fort Washington, Pa plant owned and operated by McNeil:

U.S. inspectors found thick dust and contaminated ingredients at the Johnson & Johnson plant that produces Children's Tylenol and dozens of other products that were recalled last week.

A Food and Drug Administration report released on Tuesday said its inspectors found thick dust and grime covering certain equipment, a hole in the ceiling and duct tape-covered pipes at the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, facility that made 40 products recalled last Friday.

Inspectors also found raw ingredients contaminated by an unspecified bacteria, a lack of quality control procedures and poor handling of complaints, according to the report dated April 30.

The findings were a further blow to J&J's reputation, as the FDA later on Tuesday urged parents to choose private label alternatives for the over-the-counter medications and said it was weighing possible further regulatory action.

"Consumers should not use these products," Deborah Autor, director of the Office of Compliance at FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research told reporters in a conference call, even though the chance of getting sick from the recalled products was "remote."

There were 46 consumer complaints about dark material in the liquid products between June 2009 and April 2010, according to the FDA report.

J&J, which has issued four major product recalls in the last year, said on Tuesday that the quality problems at the plant "are unacceptable to us" and that it would continue to work closely with the FDA to fix them.

The company has suspended production at the plant.

"We will not restart operations until we have taken the necessary corrective actions and can assure the quality of products made there," said a statement from J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit.

On Saturday, the FDA urged consumers to stop using liquid Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec for children and infants after a broad recall late on Friday.

Investors have largely shrugged off the recall as a minor financial concern for J&J, maker of a wide variety of devices, medicines and other consumer products. While the Tylenol brand is closely connected with its public image, it amounts to a tiny fraction of nearly $62 billion in annual sales.

"The latest recalls of children's Tylenol probably means there's just less upside to J&J's earnings estimates," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Glenn Novarro. "They can manage the expense side to make up for this. J&J just doesn't miss numbers."

But officials at the FDA, which has vowed closer industry oversight under the Obama administration, said the recall served as an example of companies' responsibility to ensure the quality of the products they make.

"While the potential for serious health problems is remote, Americans deserve medications that meet FDA standards for quality, safety and efficacy," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told reporters.

The FDA's report said inspectors found raw material used to manufacture several lots of Children's and Infant's Tylenol was contaminated with bacteria, but none of the finished drug product sampled tested positive.

Agency inspectors will complete a more detailed, narrative report for FDA officials to evaluate and determine if further action is needed, the FDA's Autor said. That could include sending a warning letter, seizing products, seeking a court order to halt manufacturing or pursuing criminal penalties.

J&J survived a massive recall of intentionally contaminated Tylenol products in the 1980s and its handling of the matter is widely studies as as a model business and public relations case.

Branding expert Robert Passikoff said so far the company has done everything right in handling the latest recall.

"There's no way to excuse it and J&J isn't. What they're looking to do is fix whatever the problems are," said Passikoff, head of Brand Keys Inc. Customers are loyal to the Tylenol brand "and that goes a long way."

For more specific information, the FDA has published a redacted version of its report. A specific problem taken directly from the FDA report states:

The Quality Control Unit (QA) authorities most responsible for overseeing daily operations at the Fort Washington facility did not ensure that the responsibilities of the Analytical, Microbiological, Compliance, and Quality Assurance departments were enforced for rejection and withholding from approval any raw material component that contained known contamination of gram negative organisms.

Let all buyers beware of this potential hazard to our children.

Posted by William M. Monroe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Dangerous Products , Personal Injury Prevention

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On May 2, 2010, the McNeil division of Johnson & Johnson voluntarily recalled 43 different OTC products due to "quality control issues. This innocuous sounding phrase covers a wide variety of problems which include:

Some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles.

The list of recalled products reads like a list of many parents' medicine chests for young children:

TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 1 OZ. GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-144-01
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. GRAPE FLAVOR*

50580-144-15
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 1 OZ. CHERRY DYE FREE

50580-167-01
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. CHERRY FLAVOR

50580-143-15
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 1 OZ. CHERRY FLAVOR

50580-143-30
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. GRAPE - HOSPITAL

50580-144-18
CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.25 OZ. GRAPE - SAMPLE

50580-144-40

CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSIONS
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 2 OZ. CHERRY BLAST FLAVOR

50580-123-02
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. CHERRY BLAST FLAVOR

50580-123-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® DYE-FREE SUSPENSION 4 OZ. CHERRY FLAVOR

50580-166-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. GRAPE SPLASH

50580-296-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. BUBBLEGUM FLAVOR

50580-407-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. VERY BERRY STRAWBERRY FLAVOR

50580-493-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 1 OZ. CHERRY BLAST FLAVOR – SAMPLE

50580-123-01
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. CHERRY BLAST FLAVOR – HOSPITAL

50580-123-03

CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSIONS
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COUGH & SORE THROAT CHERRY FLAVOR

50580-247-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COUGH & RUNNY NOSE CHERRY FLAVOR

50580-249-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS DYE-FREE SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COLD & STUFFY NOSE GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-253-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS DYE-FREE SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COLD & COUGH GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-254-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS DYE-FREE SUSPENSION 4 OZ. MULTI-SYMPTOM COLD GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-255-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. FLU BUBBLEGUM FLAVOR

50580-386-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COLD GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-387-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COLD & ALLERGY BUBBLEGUM FLAVOR

50580-390-04
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® PLUS SUSPENSION 4 OZ. MULTI-SYMPTOM COLD GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-391-04

MOTRIN® INFANTS’ DROPS
CONCENTRATED MOTRIN® INFANTS’ DROPS 1 OZ. BERRY DYE FREE

50580-198-01
CONCENTRATED MOTRIN® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. BERRY DYE FREE

50580-198-15
CONCENTRATED MOTRIN® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. BERRY FLAVOR*

50580-100-15

CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSIONS
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. BERRY DYE FREE

50580-184-04
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 2 OZ. BERRY FLAVOR

50580-601-02
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. BERRY FLAVOR

50580-601-04
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. TROPICAL PUNCH FLAVOR

50580-215-04
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. GRAPE FLAVOR

50580-603-04
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. BUBBLEGUM FLAVOR

50580-604-04
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 1 OZ. GRAPE SAMPLE

50580-603-01
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 1 OZ. BUBBLEGUM SAMPLE

50580-604-01
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 1 OZ. BERRY SAMPLE

50580-601-01
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. BERRY HOSPITAL

50580-601-50
CHILDREN’S MOTRIN® SUSPENSION 4 OZ. COLD BERRY FLAVOR

50580-902-04

CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® LIQUIDS IN BOTTLES
CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® 4 OZ. BUBBLEGUM SYRUP

50580-721-04
CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® DYE FREE 4 OZ. GRAPE SYRUP

50580-730-04
CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® SUGAR-FREE DYE-FREE 0.5 OZ. GRAPE

50580-730-15
CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® SUGAR-FREE DYE-FREE 0.5 OZ. BUBBLEGUM

50580-721-15
CHILDREN’S ZYRTEC® SUGAR-FREE DYE-FREE 2 X 4 OZ. BUBBLEGUM LIQUID

50580-721-08

CHILDREN'S BENADRYL® ALLERGY LIQUIDS IN BOTTLES
CHILDREN'S BENADRYL® ALLERGY 4 OZ. BUBBLEGUM FLAVORED LIQUID

50580-535-04

* CONCENTRATED TYLENOL® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. GRAPE FLAVOR is also included in JOHNSON'S ® Baby Relief Kit.

*CONCENTRATED MOTRIN® INFANTS’ DROPS 0.5 OZ. BERRY FLAVOR is also included in JOHNSON'S ® Baby Relief Kit

For a complete report, please go to the government website http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm210443.htm. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Posted by William M. Monroe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Dangerous Products , Personal Injury Prevention

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The wail of emergency sirens has split the silence of the early evening air. Families try to go about their bedtime routines as thunder and lightning roar through Shelby County. Sleep is a rare commodity for parents and children alike. Similar to some nightmarish Christmas Eve where instead of images of sugar plums dancing in our heads, we see Elvira go swirling through the Kansas skies caught up in a funnel cloud.

This Spring has brought a frightening mix of wind and water to the Mid South. The result has been a life altering combination of personal injury, property damages and thoughts of steps to be taken to prevent these calamities in the future. The old saying is more true now than ever: every one complain about the weather but no one does anything about it. However, we can become better prepared to deal with the less than perfect storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has may resources to help us not only deal with but to prepare for natural disasters. Floods happen. Hurricanes happen. Dams break. the list goes on and on. Please take a moment to review the link that is copied above and also please follow it for appropriate advice to fit your needs.

Posted by William M. Monroe | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Personal Injury Prevention

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