Missouri Injury Law Blog

As many people have heard, Zicam, a popular homeopathic product that claims its use shortens the length of a cold, was the subject of a 12 million dollar class action settlement in 2006, however, the product remained on the market. Now the FDA has issued an advisement cautioning consumers against using Zicam.

Currently, the personal injury lawyers at Sansone Law are representing several individuals for loss of smell and against Zicam. If you believe you have suffered Anosmia (loss of smell) from the use of Zicam you may have a case.

The loss of smell is a very serious and debilitating problem that also practically eliminates someones sense of taste along with their sense of smell due to the interplay between taste and smell. For more detail on Anosmia - loss of smell and it affects see the Anosmia Foundation.

Contact Us Now - Injury Lawyers that handle Zicam Loss of Smell Cases

Zicam and other Homeopathic remedies largly unregulated - Dever Post Article

For about a week myself and other personal injury lawyers were waiting to see the President's speech to the AMA in Chicago, IL today. For about a week there have been concerns that Obama would advocate limitations on medical malpractice cases in order to get the AMA to support his health care initiatives.

Today, I was relieved when I heard him say the following:

"[...] I’m not advocating caps on malpractice awards which I believe can be unfair to people who’ve been wrongfully harmed, I do think we need to explore a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first, let doctors focus on practicing medicine, and encourage broader use of evidence-based guidelines. That’s how we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine reinforcing our current system of more treatment rather than better care.”

Personal injury trial lawyers are usually painted as the special interest group that does not want any limitation on injury lawsuits. This is true as personal injury lawyers are the only group that advocate for those who may be harmed in the future. Individuals and families that have never been affected by medical mistakes usually see this issue as lawyer greed, however, those same people realize the importance of the issue of patient rights and justice as soon as their lives are touched by it.

Recently, a Missouri personal injury defendant sought an order by the trial court compelling the Plaintiff to sign an authorization allowing the defendant's counsel to meet with Plaintiff's treating doctor without the plaintiff or any of their representatives present, as the doctor refused to do so without an authorization. The case went to the Western District Court of Appeals on a writ of prohibition, the Court ruled yesterday that a personal injury plaintiff cannot be compelled to sign an authorization consenting to an ex parte communication with their treating physician.

The court found "nothing in the discovery rules which gives the circuit court the authority to compel a
party to sign a medical authorization form when informal discovery is involved. Of course, a
party may consent to signing a medical authorization form during informal discovery, but the
circuit court cannot force a party to do so."

The full opinion is available here: Ex rel. Collins v Roldan