The New York Times reports that since 2001, employees’ average cost of an annual health care premiums for family coverage has nearly doubled – to $3,300, up from $1,800 – while incomes have come nowhere close to keeping up. Factor in other out-of-pocket medical costs, and the portion of the average American household’s income that goes toward health care…

NBC5i reported that a gas rig worker was injured Monday morning at a gas rig in Krum. It happened just before 11 a.m. at Barnett Oil Lease on Burns Ranch Road. The worker was injured after something malfunctioned on the rig, according to Tom Reedy, spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office. The worker was taken by helicopter to…

Judy Kostura, an Austin lawyer with a wealth of expertise in insurance subrogation matters, has a good op/ed in today’s Austin American-Statesman: Why you should always read the fine print Judy Kostura, LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR, Thursday, April 17, 2008 Wal-Mart’s recent efforts to deprive an employee of her injury settlement highlight an unfair advantage insurance companies enjoy in the legal…

A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association accuses pharaceutical giant Merck of deception in promoting Vioxx. According to the researchers, who had access to thousands of documents gathered in lawsuits involving Vioxx, Merck “waged a campaign of deception to promote its drug, moving slowly to warn of possible hazards while at the same time…

State Farm boosting home rates again, especially on coast, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today. “State Farm blamed the increase along the coast on the increased cost of reinsurance, which insurance companies buy to guard against the huge losses associated with hurricanes. Galveston County residents who have both home and auto insurance through State Farm will see their rates go…

Jury service in the United States is unique among justice systems worldwide, so much so that American juries have been called the “bulwark of democracy.” In fact, our Founding Fathers believed trial by a jury of one’s peers to be of equal importance with representative government, and both concepts were integral in drafting the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson…

A California judge has ruled that Starbucks Corp. must pay baristas in that state more than $100 million for forcing them to share tips with shift supervisors. San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett also found that state law prohibits managers and supervisors from profiting from employee gratuities and issued an injunction to stop the practice. Starbucks said it…

OMAHA, Neb. — A 6-year-old girl who underwent a rare transplant surgery after her intestines were sucked out in a swimming pool has died in an Omaha hospital. Abigail Taylor’s family said she died Thursday evening. Bob Bennett is an attorney for the Taylor family. He said Abigail’s parents were with her when she died at Nebraska Medical Center…

Jamie Jones, the young woman who alleges that she was drugged and raped by her Halliburton/KBR co-workers while she was in Iraq, has filed suit in federal court in Houston. Halliburton wants to force Jones’s claims into arbitration per her employment contract, which is outrageous given the inquities of arbitration against the plaintiff. Halliburton’s attorneys argued that the contract…

Medicare, soon to be followed by private health insurers, will no longer pay for medical treatment of preventable injuries caused by medical errors. Medicare lists eight “hospital-caused preventable injuries,” including urinary tract infections from catheters, falls, pressure sores, and embolism. After October 1st, if a Medicare patient develops one of these eight injuries, Medicare won’t pay for treatment. Apparently…