Fire officials say oil from a deep-fried Thanksgiving Day turkey sparked a house fire in suburban New York. There were no injuries reported in Wednesday's fire at the North Babylon home. Firefighters were there for about two hours. The North Babylon fire chief says the family put the turkey in too fast and the oil boiled over, sparking flames. The home's exterior and rear deck were damaged. The fire started to spread inside but firefighters stopped it. The home is habitable. Fire officials say the family is headed to a relative's for holiday dinner. The family was not identified.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Deep-Frying Turkey Sparks House Fire in New York Suburb
Miami Condo Association Sues QBE Insurance Over Hurricane Claims
A Miami condominium association is suing its insurer, QBE Insurance Corp., and its Florida general managing agent, for more than $500 million in damages, claiming bad faith and deception in handling hurricane claims. Daniel S. Rosenbaum, the managing partner of Katzman Garfinkel Rosenbaum, LLP, in West Palm Beach, said his firm obtained a judgment against QBE from a federal court jury trial in February, 2009 for approximately $25 million, plus another $1.75 million being awarded in attorneys' fees, for Buckley Towers Condominium in Miami. Rosenbaum said he has now filed another lawsuit in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. This second lawsuit for $500 million is against QBE and its managing general agent, Florida Intracoastal Underwriters Limited Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brown and Brown, Inc. The new lawsuit accuses both companies of engaging in deceptive and fraudulent bad faith claims handling practices as a general business practice, and having a specific intent to injure Buckley Towers while it sought insurance coverage to repair the heavily damaged buildings. According to the law firm, earlier this year, the Miami-Dade County Unsafe Structures Board condemned as unsafe the two 17-story towers, located at 1321 N.E. Miami Gardens Drive. The buildings were ordered to be demolished in late 2010 unless repaired, which Rosenbaum said cannot be done without the insurance money awarded to Buckley Towers. Buckley Towers has 564 units with more than 1,200 residents. "QBE, as a business decision, decided to let the buildings be condemned and physically torn down, and the residents forced out of their homes," the lawsuit states. "These condemnation proceedings would have been avoided had QBE fairly and honestly adjusted the claim." The lawsuit alleges that QBE, in concert with Florida Intracoastal Underwriters, intentionally delays and fails to settle valid claims because it can "take advantage of the socioeconomic conditions of residents," the lawsuit states, "and the inability of residents to raise the money to make the repairs." Rosenbaum said QBE issued a hurricane insurance policy in May, 2005 to Buckley Towers. Hurricane Wilma struck the two Y-shaped, lakefront towers on October 24, 2005. The condominium association notified the insurer of extensive damage to roofs, windows, sliding glass doors, as well as extensive structural damage to the buildings. The association filed a federal lawsuit for its losses when QBE refused to pay any part of its claim, according to the attorney. In the new lawsuit, Buckley Towers states that Florida Intracoastal Underwriters and QBE hired as its contact person an estimator whose Florida insurance adjustor's license was revoked for failing to disclose felonies, including one for insurance fraud. The company also retained engineers and inspectors "in an attempt to minimize the damages that Buckley Towers sustained," and has done this routinely, as a business practice, to communities all over Florida. According to the lawsuit, "QBE continued to insist that the damages were simply wear and tear, pre-existing or non-existent conditions."
U.S. Finds Strong Link Between Chinese Drywall and Corrosion
Federal safety officials say they have discovered a strong link between drywall made in China and the home corrosion reported by thousands of U.S. property owners whose homes used the drywall. The results are from an indoor air study of 51 homes and come just weeks after the Consumer Product Safety Commission "We now can show a strong association between homes with the problem drywall and the levels of hydrogen sulfide in those homes and corrosion of metals in those homes," the CPSC said in its announcement of the air quality results. The agency said it can now move forward working with Congress and the White House to develop effective remediation methods for homeowners and further investigate the health effects. "Ongoing studies will examine health and safety effects, but we are now ready to get to work fixing this problem," said U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. In addition to releasing the air quality findings, CPSC also unveiled additional preliminary research findings on corrosion safety issues. One study compared 41 "complaint" homes in five states with 10 noncomplaint homes built around the same time in the same area as the complaint homes. The findings showed that hydrogen sulfide gas is the essential component that causes copper and silver sulfide corrosion found in the complaint homes. Other factors, including air exchange rates, formaldehyde and other air contaminants contribute to the reported problems. In ways still to be determined, according to the researchers, hydrogen sulfide gas is being created in homes built with Chinese drywall. Earlier studies found large amounts of elemental sulfur in the Chinese drywall. CPSC is investigating drywall from other sources that may mimic the problems found with Chinese drywall. CPSC is meeting with drywall manufacturers and others who are studying this issue to take their findings into consideration. The study also found elevated formaldehyde readings in both the control and complaint homes. This is typical for new, more air-tight homes due to items such as cabinets and carpets which emit formaldehyde. Both formaldehyde and hydrogen sulfide are known irritants at sufficiently high levels. The concentrations measured in this study were below those levels. Investigators believe that the additive or synergistic effects of these and other compounds in the subject homes could cause irritant effects evident in the homes. While drywall-related corrosion is clearly evident, CPSC said long term safety effects are still under investigation. To date, CPSC has received more than 2,000 reports from consumers and homeowners concerned about problem drywall in their homes. The complaints have raised concerns for CPSC said it continues to search for homes exhibiting the corrosion and health effects under study. In addition to a direct call to consumers, CPSC is contacting all states to ensure that all homes with these problems have been reported to CPSC. Officials said they are also working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to monitor imports of possible Chinese drywall but they believe that no new Chinese drywall has entered the U.S. in 2009. CPSC said it has secured the The technical
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Stanford Sues Lloyd's of London for Defense Fees Under D&O Policy
Allen Stanford, who faces U.S. criminal and civil charges for allegedly leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, is suing Lloyd's of London for defense costs. Lloyd's had advanced some legal fees under a directors and officers policy. But the insurer sent a letter on Nov. 16 declining to extend coverage for beyond Aug. 27, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Houston Friday. The insurer has declined to provide additional funds, the lawsuit said, because claims resulting from fraud and money laundering are excluded from coverage. Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford's former chief investment officer, and former Stanford accounting executives Mark Kuhrt and Gilbert Lopez are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, court records show. The defendants, who are accused of involvement in a scheme using certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by the firm's offshore bank in Antigua, have battled to come up with funds to pay their attorneys. Stanford and Pendergest-Holt had their assets frozen when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges in February. Kuhrt is represented by a court-appointed attorney. Dick DeGuerin, Stanford's attorney who resigned from the case because he was not paid, said in an April court filing that the the cost of defending the former billionaire would exceed $20 million. A representative for Lloyd's could not immediately be reached by email for a comment. Stanford, Pendergest-Holt, Kuhrt and Lopez have all pleaded not guilty. Stanford is in a Houston jail awaiting trial. The case is Laura Pendergest-Holt, R. Allen Stanford, Gilbert Lopez and Mark Kuhrt v Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London and Arch Specialty Insurance Co., U.S. District of Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 09-03712.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Most Americans Want Congress to Address Cost of Malpractice Suits
Most Americans want Congress to deal with malpractice lawsuits driving up the cost of medical care, says an Associated Press poll. Yet Democrats are reluctant to press forward on an issue that would upset a valuable political constituency -- trial lawyers -- even if President Barack Obama says he's open to changes. The AP poll found that 54 percent of Americans favor making it harder to sue doctors and hospitals for mistakes taking care of patients, while 32 percent are opposed. The rest are undecided or don't know. Support for limits on malpractice lawsuits cuts across political lines, with 58 percent of independents and 61 percent of Republicans in favor. Democrats are more divided. Still, 47 percent said they favor making it harder to sue, while 37 percent are opposed. The survey was conducted by Stanford University with the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Limits on jury awards in malpractice cases could reduce the federal deficit by $54 billion over 10 years, "In this country, there are just too many people who are just out for a quick buck,'' said Christine Vasquez, 67, a retiree from Clarkston, Michigan. "I think our insurance costs would go way down if (doctors) didn't have to be so scared to be sued all the time.'' In the poll, 59 percent said they thought at least half the tests doctors order are unnecessary, ordered only because of fear of lawsuits. The issue pits two of the most powerful lobbies in Washington against each other: doctors and trial lawyers. Doctors complain that fear of frivolous lawsuits prompts them to practice defensive medicine, running up costs. They say malpractice insurance premiums are so high in parts of the country that some doctors avoid certain areas, even relocate. Lawyers argue that limits on lawsuits infringe on the constitutional right of each citizen to have his or her day in court. And they point out that 44,000 to 98,000 people die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors -- from misdiagnosis to getting the wrong medication -- a glaring problem for a country that prides itself on the world's most advanced medical care. The poll suggests that patients see medical errors as fairly common. Twelve percent of those who'd been in the hospital in the past five years -- and 10 percent of those who'd been to the doctor in that time period -- said they thought there had been a mistake in their treatment. People were more forgiving of errors in the doctor's office than in hospitals. Republicans have been sympathetic to the complaints of doctors, while Democrats tend to line up with the lawyers. Over the years, the two sides have fought each other to a standstill. Obama tried to Such limits can work against people who have suffered the most harm. A family whose youngster was left brain-damaged by an anesthesiologist's mistake probably wouldn't be able to offset the costs of lifelong care. Instead, Obama wants to develop alternatives to going to court, such as programs through which doctors and hospitals own up to mistakes, offer restitution and take corrective action to prevent other patients from being harmed. His administration is providing $25 million in grants for states to experiment with alternatives to lawsuits. Congress could give a boost to these experiments by providing temporary federal protection from being sued to hospitals and doctors who take part. But Democrats are having none of it, perhaps mindful that lawyers are among their party's most generous campaign contributors. And Republicans, by their lockstep opposition to the health care bill, have given up the leverage they might have had to get malpractice curbs included. "The bill addresses one of the problems with the health care system, which is lack of coverage, but it doesn't address the root causes of an extraordinarily inefficient delivery system,'' said Philip Howard, founder of Common Good, which advocates for changes to the malpractice system. Some trial lawyers took issue with the AP survey, saying the poll question did not fully address the harm patients suffer from medical malpractice. "If (people) knew about the frequency of medical errors, we believe they would have answered this question very differently,'' said Linda Lipsen, a top lobbyist for the American Association for Justice, which represents lawyers. The poll was based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,502 adults from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The interviews were conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. Stanford University's participation was made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that conducts research on the health care system.
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