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“BUT I WANT IT NOWWWWW!” This takes me back to watching or reading “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Remember Veruca Salt, the spoiled brat who had an enormous appetite for instant-gratification who could never be satisfied? I recall thinking as a child that I would have been better off facing the furnace where the bad eggs were sent than dealing with my parents if I copped such an attitude. You see, before cell phones, computers, etc., the former generations were made to “wait.”  We had to “wait” until payday to go shopping.  We had to “wait” for Saturday mornings to watch our favorite cartoons.  We “waited” for our best friend’s mom to hang up from her call so we could have our time to talk.  And while we waited, we entertained ourselves by finding something else to do. Usually, by rushing things that shouldn’t be rushed, the outcome is not a favorable one (this coming from a woman who has had two speeding citations in the past month).  I teach my children that patience IS a virtue and that they will respect things a lot more if there is a little work in waiting for them.  I try to assure them that they will not die if they don’t get that really cool chocolate scented eyeshadow as it is being stocked on the shelf.  So far, I have been right on.

Barley and Guinness are ready for spring, but it’s funny how these two boys are totally different when it comes to the weather. Barley dislikes the heat so much that when the weather warms up I have to set up a fan to blow directly on him, especially at night. In the hotter months, Barley will lie on the air conditioner vents to stay cool and the fan must be blowing on him, too. When winter is here, Barley will lie outside in the snow for hours and roll around in it. He prefers the cold weather. Now Guinness, on the other hand, loves the sunshine and warmer temperatures. He will stay outside all day and bask in the sun.  Then at night, he goes under the deck and sits there until we go out and bring him in for bed.  I have no clue why he does this, but it is only when spring has arrived and the temperatures are warming up. These two brother dogs remind me of my own to sons. They are night and day.  All our boys – two- and four-legged - have been raised the same way, but have totally different personalities. The oldest boys are more reserved with their emotions, and the youngest boys are all about having fun.  One thing I can say - there is never a dull moment at our house.  When I get home, no matter what time, day or night, the one thing I can count on is my four-legged boys running down the driveway and jumping on the car to welcome me. It doesn’t matter if I’ve been gone for eight hours or eight minutes, I always get the same greeting from them.   I love that they love me unconditionally. Now that spring is here, enjoy the outdoors with your pets.  A tired pet is a less destructive pet. Please spay and neuter you pets to help control the animal population and please remember that dog fighting is not a sport. It’s abuse that needs to be reported to the local authorities. Bark on, Bordas Dog Nation, bark on!

Have you ever spent any time in the Intensive Care Unit hospital waiting room? Have you been in a hospital parking lot when a life-flight is arriving or departing?  Have you ever visited the morgue? Having had several years of hospital experience that includes autopsy assistance and the trauma page response team, I can say yes to all three of these questions.  I’ve seen the patients.  I’ve seen the families. Talk about reflecting on what really matters - it certainly isn’t that bad haircut or the scratch someone left on your car at the mall. As a paralegal, I truly can envision what some of our clients have experienced and lived through before they walk through our door asking for help. Sometimes it is because of a personal experience while other times it is because they were a bystander while a relative or dear friend was fighting to survive. When a paralegal assists with the investigation into these situations that ultimately leave people with unanswered questions, that moment to reflect comes as you work through the cases. The words on the medical records and the voices of the families become almost like a movie in your mind where you envision the events as they unfold. So when a family on the receiving end of an accident, incident or negligent act comes to the firm asking for our help, I strive to do my very best to find the answers to the questions they are seeking.  Along the way though, I always reflect.  I remember the waiting rooms.  I remember the helicopters in the silent night and I remember the finality of the morgue.  These are things that drive me to fight for justice and lend a caring hand to those who need us because they have already been through so very much. There are no words to describe the inside of a morgue and the reality that we are not invincible. We are very fragile, crafted beings here in this world.  We are mortal. Count your blessings and if you can’t seem to concentrate on that, then go sit in the waiting room of a critical care unit or an emergency trauma department.  You will find those blessings very quickly.

I recently had a chance to get together with my girlfriends for a night out, and we decided that dinner and a movie were long overdue. We had our restaurant picked out, but weren’t quite sure what movie to see. I really don’t go to the movies that often, but I was eager to see the remake of Beauty and the Beast and, a little surprisingly, my friends agreed this was one they wanted to see as well. As expected, the movie did not disappoint.  If you grew up in the early 90s or had children who grew up then, you will be familiar with the original 1991 Disney classic.  This remake is true to the original movie and, for me, it brought back a lot of wonderful memories of when my girls were little.  I can still see my daughter, Stefanie, in her pretend high heels and her yellow “Belle” dress dancing in my living room.  My girls watched that movie every day for what seemed like months.  So, for a little over two hours, I was transported to another place and time--reliving all of the great music, noticing little things that I had forgotten about the original movie and, more importantly, escaping the problems of everyday life and the problems going on in our world today. That is the power of movies—they allow us to escape from reality if only for a couple of hours.  They can take us to places we’ve never been, introduce us to people we may never get to meet and allow us to experience cultures we may never get to experience.  Movies can also have a strong impact on our fashion choices and trends.  Who can forget the slouchy sweatshirt inspired by the movie, Flashdance; or the tailored menswear style of Diane Keaton in Annie Hall; or the “thrift store” look made popular by Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan?  Movies, and movie slang, can even influence our speech.  The word “whatever” (with the emphasis on the second syllable) took on a whole new life after the Alicia Silverstone movie, Clueless.  Let’s also not forget that for many young people growing up, that first kiss with a boyfriend or girlfriend took place in a darkened movie theater.  These are just a few of the ways movies impact our lives. So make it a date—treat yourself if nothing else—and take some time to go see a movie.  Sit back in that easy chair (they are incredibly comfy now-days), relax, forget your worries and allow yourself to be transported to another place and time and, most importantly, don’t forget the popcorn.

We are all supposed to benefit from America’s medical system and medical research. However, in the drive to make maximum profits, the manufacturers of medical devices and pharmaceutical companies often put Americans in unnecessary danger. The background reason this happens is perfectly clear. Health care adds up to one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Blockbuster drugs and new medical devices can bring these companies hundreds of millions, if not billions, in profit. But when good judgment is not used in the pursuit of these profits, the result can be death and disfigurement for innocent Americans. There are many historical examples. The painkiller Vioxx stormed the market to great acclaim, but it ultimately turned out that the company had concealed the increased risk of heart attack, and other major complications, in an effort to collect those massive profits. Once popular types of silicone breast implants leaked, causing dire complications for tens of thousands of women. The lethal danger of thalidomide was concealed, causing terrible birth defects. Patients, and the legal system, serve as an important check on the pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies. By promptly raising the issue of complications, harmful side effects, and even wrongful deaths with an attorney and in our courts, companies that might otherwise reach too greedily for quick profits are reigned in and given a reason to think twice. But most importantly, quick action on the part of patients and raising problems with drugs and medical devices saves lives by triggering recalls or the removal of dangerous drugs from the market. At any given time, certain dangerous drugs and devices are being recalled, and it is imperative for people affected by those situations to contact an attorney. For example, the Bard Compost type of hernia mesh has been recalled as it has caused serious infections, failure of surgical repairs and even unnecessary deaths. This comes not long after a variety of what are called “transvaginal meshes” caused debilitating injuries to women who had them used on them in a variety of surgeries. A chemotherapy drug called “Taxotere” that was rushed to the market to expand profits, caused permanent hair loss for those who took it, and it was used despite the availability of a substitute drug that did not have that side effect. Additionally, it has been learned in recent months that Johnson & Johnson marketed talcum powder to women for feminine hygiene purposes for decades and had long been aware that there was a tendency of talcum powder to cause ovarian cancer and other diseases. These circumstances where companies market something as perfectly safe that they know to be dangerous are more common than people think, and, of course, much more common than they should be. When a company, even a famous one like Johnson & Johnson, conceals the truth to its customers this way, it is imperative that the courts bring those companies to justice and fairly compensate the victims.

Class reunions – some folks like them, but a lot of people don’t. Personally, I really enjoy them and look forward to seeing old friends and classmates, reliving old adventures, retelling stories and remembering past flames. My graduating class was small in comparison, only 42 (if I remember correctly), and in the last 45 years, we have lost several beloved members of our class.  When a classmate dies, we tend to examine our own mortality.  When we’re young (and dumb), we think we’re indestructible and will live forever.  We take a lot of stupid risks, like speeding (of course, age doesn’t always make you wise to dumb choices).  But after you graduate, from high school and/or college, it doesn’t take too long in the “real” world of getting up and going to work every day, paying your mortgage and raising your children that we realize we aren’t indestructible.  To the contrary - we discover our weaknesses, most easily identified when you are dealing with a 2-year-old in the grocery store.  As we age, our own bodies confirm that we are weak like when we become fearful of that dreaded call from the doctor with our test results. And then there’s when you realize you can’t hoist yourself up on the kitchen counter to reach those items in the top of the cabinet, or when you decide to jump over a shallow stream and realize your knees no longer have that cushion when you land (like a ton of bricks).  When did that happen?? We are rather fragile beings.  Don’t wait too long before you decide to start to take better care of your body and foster your relationships, whether with family or friends. Find something to be passionate about that doesn’t benefit you directly, like animal rescue or visiting a lonely person in a nursing home.  Life is short. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Forty-five years have gone by in a flash.  I hope to make it to my class reunion this year and reconnect with some old and dear friends.  Do you have a class reunion coming up?  Go, reconnect and enjoy!

Most of you reading this article are aware that there are thousands of automobile crashes every single day in this country, sometimes resulting in very serious injuries or even death. What you may not know is that often times the cause of the injury and/or death may be a defective product connected to the motor vehicle in question.  Unfortunately, it’s easy for injured individuals and the surviving family members to overlook these cases that attorneys call product liability cases, particularly when the focus is on the at-fault driver during the initial case consideration.  It is almost as frequent for attorneys who do not typically undertake product liability cases to overlook the type of vehicle defects that sometimes cause the more serious injuries and death as the people suffering the injuries. Every attorney who undertakes representation of a family who has suffered serious traumatic injuries or death by way of an auto accident should, of course, be asking who is the responsible party for the client’s injuries; that is, not only who caused the automobile crash, but also who is responsible for the client’s injuries. The answers to these questions may not be the same. In attempting to determine if an automobile product defect played a role in one’s injury or death, you should consider a number of factors, including if the car seat was appropriate. During a car crash, seat backs can collapse backwards, causing the driver or passenger to be ejected from the automobile, to cause their hands to come free from the steering wheel, to cause their feet to come away from the brake, causing broken necks, severe brain injuries and in some cases, death. Scott Blass and I tried Strope v. Honda a number of years ago in which that very thing occurred. Judy Strope was the unfortunate victim as she was stopped in traffic, rear-ended by a pickup truck, the seat back collapsed, she was forced into another lane of traffic, t-boned and died. But for the seat breaking and a defective seat belt, Judy would have suffered minor injuries and would still be with us today. That case was successfully tried in Ohio County to a multi-million dollar verdict. Another product area that one should consider are roof crushes. Roof crushes can lead to catastrophic injury and death. They most often happen when a vehicle is broad-sided, rolls over and the roof collapses on the passengers causing severe brain injury and in some cases, decapitation. Scott Blass and I likewise were successful in bring about a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a young husband with several children who died in the Northern Panhandle a number of years ago as a result of the roof crush. Air bags, particularly the Takata air bag for example, have seriously injured many people in this country. This is often overlooked by people whose families settle for thousands of dollars in serious injury and death cases when in fact their attorney should be considering a product liability case so as to collect from the real party at fault, the manufacturer. Seat belts, as mentioned above, also are a source of injury and death when not properly installed. Once again, Takata has had a number of problems in this area that brought about injury and death, and it was this very thing that contributed to the death of Judy Strope in the seat back collapse case referenced earlier. Defective car tires are also a problem and can cause blowouts and tread separation. This problem is particularly troublesome in the south where automobile tires are more likely to rot over a long period of time, and especially in vehicles that are not driven or used frequently; that is, a person may have an automobile that is 10 or 15 years old, with only 8,000 or 10,000 miles, and the tires appear to be safe, but may have actually rotted to the point that blowouts may occur, seriously injuring the occupants. Another area that one’s attorney should consider is the gas tank fuel system. Fuel fed fires are another source of injury and often times, horrible deaths. My son, Jamie, has been involved in fuel fed fire cases and successfully settled these cases for many millions of dollars. All in all, the message should be that when a person is seriously injured or whose loved one has suffered death as a result of an automobile accident, there needs to be more investigative work done with respect to the crash than just reviewing who caused the accident. At Bordas & Bordas, we have over 40 years of experience and 17 lawyers licensed in numerous states that have obtained outstanding results in the past for our clients who were severely injured or killed due to product defects. If you feel you have been seriously injured by a defective product, please call us for help.  You have nothing to lose but a few minutes of your time.

For someone who came of age in an era of no internet or connected tech. I have, like most others I think, quickly and completely embraced the tech era of cell phones, Echo speakers, smart TVs and other connected devices. The time saving and information benefits offered by these devices are simply too enticing to ignore, and once you start to experience them, there really is no going back. Not to mention the increasing need for them simply to participate in our daily activities. However, one thing that is also becoming increasingly clear is that vast amounts of data collected from these devices— including our phones, fitness trackers, smart refrigerators, thermostats and cars, among other connected tech. — are increasingly being creatively utilized in U.S. legal proceedings to prove or disprove claims by people involved and to disseminate personal information about you. For instance, in Pennsylvania, a woman who claimed she was raped had her case dismissed after authorities collected data from the woman's Fitbit and found that it contradicted her version of her whereabouts during the alleged assault. In Ohio man whose house caught fire claimed he was forced to escape through a window. However, his pacemaker data, obtained by police, showed otherwise, and he was charged with arson and insurance fraud. In another recent case that made headlines, authorities in Arkansas are trying to obtain data from a murder suspect's Amazon Echo speaker to use as evidence against him. Other instances where technology has intersected with the law in new and profound ways involve privacy. For instance, TV maker Vizio was fined by the US Federal Trade Commission in February when it was discovered that Vizio had been secretly gathering data on viewers it collected from its smart TVs and selling that information to marketers. Which, incidentally, is the entire business model for social media sites. In another unusual case, last month the maker of a smartphone-connected sex toy called We-Vibe agreed to a court settlement of a class-action suit from buyers who claimed "highly intimate and sensitive data" was, without permission, uploaded to the cloud – which has been repeatedly shown to be vulnerable to hacking. The seemingly overarching theme amongst these and other cases is that privacy, if not dead already, is certainly on the path to extinction. The expectation of privacy is radically different today than it was even a generation ago. Not only are we being constantly monitored and spied on, behind the scenes, but social media has seemingly transformed the human experience into one of publicly volunteering the formerly private details of their lives on a near daily basis. The "always on" nature of the "internet of things" devices, coupled with our increasing dependence on social media, means huge amounts of personal information are constantly circulating among companies, the cloud and elsewhere, with very few standards or regulations on how this data is to be protected or used. The danger in all this is that we are increasingly abdicating our personal privacy, autonomy and even human sovereignty to an omnipresent combination of corporate and government institutions in true neo-Orwellian fashion. While this data collection can be highly beneficial, in law enforcement for instance, it remains ripe and low hanging fruit for abusive behavior and the law of unintended consequences, and the legal system must find ways to define limits for constitutional protections against unreasonable searches in the face of increasingly gray legal areas promoted by this technology. The Amazon Echo speaker provides an interesting example of such challenges. We recently got one as a gift, and have quickly integrated it into our everyday lives.  “Alexa, add milk to the shopping list.”  “Alexa, wake me up at 5:30.” “Alexa, play some music.” We do all these things, and much more, every day, while never thinking about the fact that “Alexa” is also always on and always listening to our conversations, so she can always be ready when we call on her to do something. Now, under the law, gathering any data from the Amazon Echo should face the same standard as wiretaps, meaning you need a warrant from a judge based on probable cause of a crime. After all, the Fourth Amendment provides a right of absolute privacy concerning conversations in our homes. But these conversations Alexa is recording may also be sent to the cloud per the terms of the user agreement we “sign” (but never read) to download the Alexa app. In that case, the data has now been voluntarily given to a "third party," which can erase your constitutional privacy protection. So now what? The insidious nature of the new normal created by this technology has tremendous potential for privacy invasions, such that there must be effective jurisprudential and legislative means of addressing these issues. While the debate and tinkering over just how best to address this issue will continue for some time, we should all pay more attention to the way these connected devices in our homes will and do operate, so we can make the best decisions about how we conduct our lives. It’s not about having something to hide. It’s all about making sure that the things we do in our daily lives can’t be wrongfully manipulated against us in ways that ultimately make them worse.

This blog is directed to those men and women who have worked around products containing asbestos and who were exposed to the various diseases that are caused by that exposure, as well as the families of those workers who may have contracted asbestos-related diseases as a result of having been around their loved ones as they brought these asbestos particles home from work. The majority of the people who suffer from asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, are in the trades and labors. One of the most problematic and dangerous effects of asbestos is mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which may originate in the protective lining that covers the organs in the abdomen and chest. Unfortunately, there are around 4,000 people diagnosed each year in this country with mesothelioma. This thing called mesothelioma is not limited to any one race or gender, nor is it limited to young or old. It covers all the bases. The primary risk factor for contracting mesothelioma is the individual’s exposure to asbestos. Although some in the scientific field believe that even a single exposure to asbestos may cause serious medical problems, as a general rule, those who are most at risk are the individuals who have repeated exposures to asbestos for long periods of time. In addition to the people who suffer from “meso” who worked around asbestos products, their family members may also be at risk. Others who have been diagnosed with “meso” may have been exposed at their home or place of employment during renovation projects. The mesothelioma symptoms often don’t occur until 20-60 years after exposure to asbestos. The average latent period is 32 years after the initial exposure according to the National Institute of Health. In other words, a mesothelioma victim is often times exposed to asbestos 20-60 years before the diagnosis of mesothelioma is made. Symptoms of mesothelioma may be a painful cough, shortness of breath and weight loss. If you have those symptoms, then you’ll need to see an appropriate doctor. A competent physician suspecting that you may have some disease of the lungs or heart will, in all likelihood, order chest x-rays, CT Scans and perhaps biopsies. If you are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, then you would, in all likelihood, be provided with treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. The purpose of chemotherapy is basically to shrink the tumor before surgery to make it easier to remove all the cancer, or to shrink the tumor before radiation therapy so the treatment area is smaller, thus subjecting the patient to less radiation. Sometimes after surgery, a doctor may feel that radiation therapy is necessary in an effort to try to kill any cancer cells that may have been left behind. The purpose of the surgery and the radiation therapy is to attempt to prevent the cancer from coming back. When arranging your treatment with your mesothelioma doctor, you should be prepared to ask the doctor a number of questions, including the following: What type of mesothelioma do I have? What is the treatment that you are recommending? What is my prognosis? Are there medications available to me as opposed to surgery and radiation? What will my lifestyle be like from this point on? How much will this cost? Are there any clinical trials that I can be put in to further my chances for a better life? Finally, after you’ve met with your doctor, considered the type of mesothelioma that you are suffering from, decided on the treatment options and looked at insurance coverages and other ways to pay for the treatment, you may ask if there are any government or non-profit organizations that could help. The answer is yes, and you might want to contact the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by calling 1-800-MEDICARE or 1-800-633-4227; the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213; the Veteran’s Health Administration at 1-800-827-1000; the American Cancer Society, Patient Navigator Program, at 1-800-227-2345; Cancer Care at 1-800-813-4673; or the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.  All of these governmental agencies and non-profit organizations can be found at various websites, such as www.webmedicalcare.gov, www.medicare.gov, www.ssa.gov, www.va.gov, www.cancer.org, and www.cancercare.org. Finally, if the diagnosis of mesothelioma has been made, in addition to the medical, governmental and non-profit care that you will need, you may also need the help of one of the lawyers at our firm who can conduct an in-depth interview to determine whether you have a claim that will result in a monetary recovery as a result of your asbestos exposure that brought about the mesothelioma. There is plenty of blame to go around and there are still massive funds for compensation to asbestos victims!

“In the depths of disappointment, what is really missing is…GRATITUDE.” (Brendon Burchard) Honestly, that quote is a tough pill to swallow when life seems to be down on you. When you are sad, tired, angry, hurt, etc.; how in the world are you supposed to feel grateful?  It feels so much better to be the “victim”.  Or does it?? Now, I am by no means saying that I practice “turning bad situations around” all of the time.  However, as I get older I find myself doing it a lot more frequently than I ever have.  When I started practicing the art of being grateful for uncomfortable situations, I began to take more ownership.  We can’t always control situations that we are faced with, but we are in control of how we deal with them.  Not many of us were happy with the cold and snowy weather, but be grateful that we were walking in that snow instead of lying six feet under it.

Did you know that there are a number of problems involving products that are currently affecting citizens throughout the country? Some affect the elderly, and some involve those who recently had surgeries in our local hospitals. One area of product liability/medical malpractice that our firm has taken an interest in are the injuries involving warming blankets that are used in most of the hospitals in the United States. Some of these warming blankets have been linked to severe joint infections patients suffered after knee or hip surgery. In fact, lawsuits have been filed claiming that the Bair Hugger warming blanket that is manufactured by 3M has exposed hospital patients to contaminated air from the operating room causing sepsis and MRSA. The Bair Hugger warming blanket is a product that helps patients to maintain their normal body temperature during hip and knee replacement surgeries. The system works by forcing warm air through a hose into a special blanket that is draped over the patient. Unfortunately, this system allows warm air to accumulate and escape below the surgical table and can cause contaminants to become airborne. It may also create a current that deposits bacteria from the operating floor back into the blanket and the surgical site. It seems that during surgery, warm air passes over the patient’s skin, escapes from the sides of the warming blanket, dips into dirty air near the floor, and then rises, along with any bacteria that might be carried into the surgical site. As a result, patients have a greater risk of developing post-surgical infections, such as MRSA, sepsis or deep joint infections. If any of you reading this blog have experienced  or have loved ones who have experienced serious infections after knee, hip or joint replacement surgery, this may be the cause and you may want to look into it further.

The bouts of warmer temperatures we’ve had throughout the winter, no doubt, had us anxious for spring. It’s always exciting when the Pittsburgh Pirates head to Florida in February because you know baseball season is just around the corner, but until the first pitch of the regular season is thrown, have you ever considered going to a hockey game? There’s still time. The Ohio Valley is lucky in that we have the Wheeling Nailers. A part of the community since 1992 and originally known as the Wheeling Thunderbirds, the team provides great family-friendly entertainment at an affordable price on numerous weekends from October to April. The Nailers are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. In addition to competitive hockey, the club always has some fun promotions going on. This season, the Pirates’ Clint Hurdle spent some time in Wheeling meeting hockey fans as did former Penguin Pascal Dupuis, former Steeler Merril Hoge and former Brown Earnest Byner. Recently, Justin Martin and John Godwin from Duck Dynasty stopped by WesBanco Arena to sign some autographs, and those are just a few of the promos. Some upcoming promotional events include Hockey Fights Cancer Night on March 25; Pups & Pucks Night on April 2; and Fan Appreciation Night on April 7. And speaking of fun at Nailers games, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Justice, the Bordas & Bordas Legal Beagle. Justice is a big Nailers fan and loves cheering on the team. You can find Justice hanging out in the arena, sometimes with Spike and Buck. Justice loves to have his picture taken, so if you attend a game, don’t be shy about asking Justice to pose for a photo. He gets really excited when the picture makes Facebook and Twitter. Of course Justice will be on hand with his friends for Mascot Night on March 24. So whether you’re a die-hard hockey fan or are just looking for an entertaining evening out, consider a Wheeling Nailers hockey game. There’s a little bit of fun for everyone!