Texas customers of Allstate Insurance will get $71 million in refunds, credits and rate reductions for homeowner policies in a settlement that resolves legal disputes with the state over the rates dating to 2004.

The settlement involving Allstate Texas Lloyd's customers was announced by Texas insurance officials Monday.

Allstate will refund almost $37 million for new and renewal policies written between Dec. 1, 2004-April 23, 2006, a period when the state said its rates were too high.

Allstate also will reduce homeowners rates for Allstate Texas Lloyd's customers by 3 percent statewide for new and renewal policies written for one year beginning June 2. And it will credit or refund policy holders 3 percent between Aug. 20, 2007 and June 1.

The company agreed not to increase homeowner premiums from June 2 to June 1, 2009, barring extraordinary circumstances.

Johnson & Johnson and Novartis AG's Sandoz unit recalled some patches containing the painkiller fentanyl, saying manufacturing defects may cause leaks that can lead to fatal overdoses.

The Duragesic patches, made by Johnson & Johnson's Alza Corp., may have a cut along the drug reservoir, exposing users directly to the fentanyl gel inside, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company said in a statement. It's the fifth recall of some version of the patches since 1994.

``Perhaps the time has come for the FDA to order Johnson & Johnson to pull all versions of this product off the shelves,' said Alex MacDonald, a lawyer who represents the families of former patch users. Juries have found defective patches caused the deaths of two users since lawsuits over the products began going to trial in 2006.

Today's recall covers patches in the U.S. and Canada that release 25 micrograms of fentanyl in an hour, Johnson & Johnson said. The expiration dates are on or before December 2009. Duragesic patches generated $1.16 billion in global sales last year, making them Johnson & Johnson's eighth-biggest selling product, spokesman Greg Panico said.

Sandoz distributes the patches. Mylan Inc., based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, began selling a lower-cost copy of the Duragesic patch in 2005, and was joined by other companies including Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Safety Warning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning in December over the patches, saying improper use can cause breathing difficulties and death. That followed a July 2005 alert put out by the FDA after 120 patients taking the drug died. Johnson & Johnson said in November that it faced 72 lawsuits over the patches.

``The FDA continues to engage with the company in its voluntary recall and is investigating the situation,' FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said in an e-mail.

Johnson & Johnson rose $1.09, or 1.8 percent, to $62.97 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading today. The shares have fallen 5.6 percent this year.

The recall ``is small enough that I doubt this will impact the bottom line,' said Jon Fisher, a portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management in Minneapolis. The fund held 3.1 million shares of Johnson & Johnson as of September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Fentanyl is mostly used to treat cancer pain, according to the FDA, and doctors say it's a stronger painkiller than morphine. Duragesic patches contain fentanyl in a pouch between two membranes. In January, Johnson & Johnson received returned patches that had cut edges, prompting the company to notify the FDA, Panico said.

Suzanne Sloane (“Suzanne”) and her husband John T. Sloane filed suit against Equifax Information Services, LLC, Trans Union, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc. and CitiFinancial, Inc. after she was the victim of identity theft and the credit reporting agencies failed to correct errors in her credit report. Suzanne settled with all defendants except Equifax. Following a trial, a jury returned a verdict against Equifax and awarded Suzanne $106,000 for economic loss and $245,000 for mental anguish, humiliation and emotional distress. The trial court also awarded her $181,083 for attorney’s fees. Equifax appealed.

When Suzanne discovered that she was the victim of identity theft, she notified the credit reporting agencies. For 21 months, Suzanne tried to get Equifax to correct the errors in her credit report, which it failed to do. During that time, Suzanne was repeatedly turned down for credit, or offered extremely poor terms because of her low credit score. She also testified that she suffered emotional distress, physical distress, and a breakdown of her marriage because of the credit problems.

The jury found that Suzanne proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Equifax violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C.A. §1681 et seq., by negligently failing to follow reasonable procedures designed to assure maximum accuracy on her consumer credit report, by negligently failing to conduct a reasonable investigation, by negligently failing to remove false information from her credit report, and by negligently reinserting false information into her credit report.

Allstate Insurance Co. and its affiliates are committing "an ongoing crime" by failing to submit all documents the state demanded as part of an investigation of homeowner insurance prices, according to a legal response state officials filed to an appeals court Wednesday.

"There can be no more clearer threat to the safety and welfare of the public than a continuing willful violation of the law," Office of Insurance Regulation officials wrote to the First District Court of Appeal to justify barring 10 Allstate companies from selling new insurance policies in Florida.

Allstate's failure to turn over all the documents led Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to cancel a hearing last week investigating the insurer and to suspend 10 Allstate companies' licenses to do business statewide. He said this action — the first of its kind for his office and the state's boldest move in a long-simmering feud with property insurers — was the only way he could effectively pressure Allstate into providing the records.

Louisiana Attorney General's Office Files Suit Against Insurance Companies

By newsdesk - Posted on January 9th, 2008

Tagged: Allstate  •  Business  •  Insurance  •  Louisiana  •  Monopolies  •  Price fixing  •  State Farm

November 8, 2007: (Baton Rouge, LA) — Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. announced today that his office has filed suit against Allstate Insurance Company, Lafayette Insurance Company, Xactware, Inc., Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, LLC, Insurance Services Office, Inc., State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, USAA Casualty Insurance Company, Farmers Insurance Exchange, Standard Fire Insurance Company and McKinsey & Company for alleged violations of the Louisiana Monopolies Act.

The petition, filed in New Orleans Civil District Court, alleges the above companies have participated in an on-going scheme to rig the value of property damage claims paid by insurance companies to their insureds. They allegedly used damage-estimating software programs to engage in horizontal price-fixing as well. The combination allegedly artificially held down property damage claim payouts with the intended goal of increasing the profits of each company involved. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck Louisiana in 2005, virtually all of the property damage insurers were setting premiums and adjusting claims under this alleged scheme.

“This alleged scheme gave insurers an unjust advantage over policy holders, which they used before, during and after one of the greatest disasters this country has ever suffered, by reaping huge profits from the misfortunes of persons whom they pledged to protect from the risk of loss. I believe this unjust advantage resulted in the unjust enrichment of themselves to the detriment of the state, policy holders, and commerce in Louisiana,” stated Attorney General Foti. “But to be clear, these abuses were not new to the recent hurricanes.” General Foti added.

Source: Louisiana Attorney General

Recently one of my oldest and dearest friends, a man whose Harvard Ph.D. doesn't begin to measure his intellect and wisdom, sent out one of those mass e-mails meant to amuse and appall. "OMG! It's even worse than we thought," his message began. It was followed by something called the annual Stella Awards, a list of the year's seven "most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S." In last place was the tale of Kathleen Robertson of Austin. A jury decided a furniture store owed her $80,000 for a broken ankle she suffered tripping over a toddler running wild in the store. "The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son," the e-mail said. Numbers six through two are more ridiculous. Then comes numero uno. - 76 - 80

GREEN BAY, Wis., Nov. 25 (AP) — A company voluntarily recalled nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef products after two people were sickened, possibly by E. coli bacteria, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture said Saturday. The beef products by the company, American Foods Group of Green Bay, were distributed to retailers and distributors in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The problem surfaced after an investigation by the Illinois Department of Health, which was looking into two reports of illnesses. The bacteria type is E. coli O157:H7, which is harbored in the intestines of cattle. Improper butchering and processing can cause the bacteria to get onto meat. Thorough cooking, to at least 160 degrees internal temperature, can destroy it. E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible. - 77 - 80

By TOM HESTER Jr. Associated Press Writer TRENTON, N.J. Sep 30, 2007 (AP) The Topps Meat Co. on Saturday expanded its recall of frozen hamburger patties to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria that sickened more than a dozen people in eight states. The recall of products distributed to retail grocery stores and food service institutions in the United States was a drastic increase from the 332,000 pounds recalled Tuesday. The recall represents all Topps products with either a "sell by date" or a "best if used by date" between Sept. 25 this year and Sept. 25, 2008. The Elizabeth-based company said this information is found on a package's back panel. All recalled products also have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and-or in the USDA legend, the company said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday it had suspended the grinding of raw products at the Topps plant after inspectors found inadequate safety measures at the Topps plant. The USDA declined to detail the inadequate safety measures. "Because the health and safety of our consumers is our top priority, we are taking these expansive measures," said Geoffrey Livermore, Topps' operations vice president. He said Topps has augmented its procedures with microbiologists and food safety experts. "We sincerely regret any inconvenience and concerns this may cause our consumers," Livermore said. The USDA said three people are confirmed as getting E. Coli from Topps products, with 22 other cases under investigation. Cases were found in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. E. coli causes intestinal illness that generally clears up within a week for adults but can be deadly for the very young, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Symptoms can include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and, in extreme cases, kidney failure. A full list of the recalled products is available at http://www.toppsmeat.com/. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. - 78 - 80

Lawsuit filed against crib manufacturers By Maurice Possley | Tribune staff reporter September 25, 2007 A Hanover Park woman who purchased a crib from Simplicity Inc. that is part of the largest recall of full-sized cribs ever in the U.S. went to court Monday seeking damages for owners of the cribs. Amber Spitzer, whose 1-year-old daughter, Briana, had been sleeping in a Simplicity crib, said: "My daughter is my life, and I would do anything to protect her and I know that there are millions of parents out there that feel the same way. So if the government won't protect our children, then I will." The class-action lawsuit was filed in Minneapolis against Simplicity as well as Target Corp., the company from whom Spitzer bought the Aspen 4 in 1 crib for her daughter in April 2006. Also named as a defendant was Graco Children's Products Inc., the company that licensed its name to Simplicity for some of the cribs that were recalled. * Hidden hazards: Deadly cribs Despite 55 complaints and three deaths, it took years for the government to warn parents about flawed cribs. What parents should know MODELS RECALLED -Simplicity : Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1 -Simplicity cribs using the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and Trio -Read the government recall notice. WHAT TO LOOK FOR -Check whether the drop rail is installed right side up and is securely attached to the tracks in all four corners. -Check the crib for the recalled hardware, which has a flexible tab at the bottom of the lower tracks and open tops on the lower tracks. -Do not use the crib before new hardware is installed. Until then, experts urge caregivers not to take children to bed with them; use a portable crib instead. TO REQUEST A FIX Simplicity at 888-593-9274 or www.simplicityforchildren.com Representatives for Simplicity and Graco declined to comment because the lawsuit was just filed. Efforts to reach representatives of Target were unsuccessful. On Friday, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, prompted by a Tribune investigation, issued a recall of 1 million Simplicity cribs, including the Aspen 4 in 1, that were sold from 1998 until May of this year. Three children died, seven were trapped and there were 55 other incidents—all related to a design flaw and hardware failure involving the separation of the cribs' drop rail from their frame. The recall advises consumers to contact Simplicity for a repair kit. The lawsuit was filed by Charles Kelly, a San Francisco product liability attorney who had represented the family of Liam Johns, a 9-month-old boy who died in April 2005 in Citrus Heights, Calif., in a Simplicity crib. "The recall is grossly inadequate and irresponsible," Kelly said Monday. "Simplicity should be required to tell consumers to dismantle their crib, and return it for a full refund. "A retrofit kit only invites disaster," he said. "Only one retrofit kit needs to be used incorrectly and we could have another death. It was improper assembly ... that caused the three deaths in the first instance." The lawsuit alleges that Simplicity should have warned consumers about the dangers of the cribs or stopped the selling them. "We contend they should have done something after learning of the injuries and particularly after learning of Liam's death," Kelly said. "They did neither." Kelly also said he sent letters to members of Congress asking for hearings into why more than two years elapsed after the first death in one of these cribs before the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall was announced Friday. mpossley@tribune.com Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune - 79 - 80

Got Crocs? Be Careful on the Escalator By SARAH KARUSH Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — At rail stations and shopping malls around the world, reports are popping up of people, particularly young children, getting their toes caught in escalators. The one common theme seems to be the clunky soft-soled clogs known by the name of the most popular brand, Crocs. One of the nation's largest subway systems — the Washington Metro — has even posted ads warning riders about wearing such shoes on its moving stairways. The ads feature a photo of a crocodile, though they don't mention Crocs by name. At her home in Vienna, Va., on Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, Jodi McDermott demonstrates how her son's Croc shoe twisted after being caught in an escalator on August 30, 2007. Crocs and other soft-soled shoes, such as flip-flops, can be prone to escalator entrapment. Four-year-old Rory McDermott got a Croc-clad foot caught in an escalator last month at a mall in northern Virginia. His mother managed to yank him free, but the nail on his big toe was almost completely ripped off, causing heavy bleeding. At first, Rory's mother had no idea what caused the boy's foot to get caught. It was only later, when someone at the hospital remarked on Rory's shoes, that she began to suspect the Crocs and did an Internet search. "I came home and typed in 'Croc' and 'escalator,' and all these stories came up," said Jodi McDermott, of Vienna, Va. "If I had known, those would never have been worn." According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some report the shoes get caught in the "teeth" at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator. The reports of serious injuries have all involved young children. Crocs are commonly worn by children as young as 2. The company introduced shoes in its smallest size, 4/5, this past spring. "Thankfully, escalator accidents like the one in Virginia are rare," the company said in a statement. In Japan, the government warned consumers last week that it has received 39 reports of sandals — mostly Crocs or similar products — getting stuck in escalators from late August through early September. Most of the reports appear to have involved small children, some as young as two years old. Kazuo Motoya of Japan's National Institute of Technology and Evaluation said children may have more escalator accidents in part because they "bounce around when they stand on escalators, instead of watching where they place their feet." In Singapore, a 2-year-old girl wearing rubber clogs — it's unclear what brand — had her big toe completely ripped off in an escalator accident last year, according to local media reports. And at the Atlanta airport, a 3-year-old boy wearing Crocs suffered a deep gash across the top of his toes in June. That was one of seven shoe entrapments at the airport since May 1, and all but two of them involved Crocs, said Roy Springer, operations manager for the company that runs the airport terminal. One U.S. retailer that caters to children, Mattel subsidiary American Girl, has posted signs in three locations directing customers wearing Crocs or flip-flop sandals to use elevators instead of escalators. During the past two years, so-called "shoe entrapments" in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer, though none has caused serious injuries, said Dave Lacosse, who oversees the subway's 588 escalators, the most of any U.S. transit system. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said escalator accidents caused more than 10,000 injuries last year, but the agency has few records of specific shoe problems. Only two shoe entrapments have been reported by consumers since the beginning of 2006. One reported in May involved "rubber footwear." Agency spokesman Ed Kang urged people who have had problems to report them on the commission's Web site. Crocs officials said they were working with the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation on public education initiatives. But the group's executive director, Barbara Allen, said that's not true. Allen said a Crocs official called her in September 2006 about possible cooperation, even suggesting the company might put a tag in its shoes with the foundation's Web address. But since that first contact, Crocs has not called, and nobody from the company will return Allen's calls, she said. Washington Metro's Lacosse and other escalator experts say the best way to prevent shoe entrapments is to face the direction the stairs are moving, keep feet away from the sides and step over the teeth at the end. Lacosse, of the Washington subway system, said he is personally skittish of Crocs and other soft-soled shoes. "Would I wear them? No," he said. "And I tell my children not to wear them either." ___ Associated Press Writer Carl Freire in Tokyo contributed to this report. - 80 - 80