Month: January 2019
Know the household items that could contain asbestos
You’re probably aware of the need to beware of dislodging asbestos in your home, particularly if the house is older. And you may know that working in building and construction trades involving asbestos-containing products is dangerous. Yet there are also risks of asbestos exposure posed by several consumer and household products. Heightened concern about such
The dangers of silica dust have long been apparent
During the Great Depression, thousands of men found jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel in West Virginia. About three-quarters of them were African-Americans. “To these men, going to West Virginia was like going to heaven – a new land, a new promised land – and when they got here, they found that they had ended
Women and mesothelioma diagnosis: 3 things to know
Mesothelioma has long been known as a deadly occupational disease affecting men who were exposed to asbestos while working in building and construction trades. Symptoms of mesothelioma resulting from such exposure often don’t appear until after a long latency period of 10 to 50 years. But mesothelioma is by no means a disease that only
Can the police perform a blood test on an unconscious driver?
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s implied consent law, which is somewhat similar to that of Tennessee and many other states. In both Wisconsin and Tennessee, drivers are deemed, by virtue of driving on the state’s roads, to have consented to chemical tests for intoxication. In
Opioid overdoses overtake vehicle crashes as top cause of death
According to a new report by the National Safety Council, the U.S. has reached a new, alarming point in the opioid epidemic. For the first time in history, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the country is no longer motor vehicle wrecks. Opioid overdose has overtaken traffic crashes, with Americans having a statistical 1 in
6th Circuit: Tennessee’s cap on punitive damages unconstitutional
In 2011, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Civil Justice Act, which set limits on non-economic damages and punitive damages in civil lawsuits. Punitive damages are those meant to punish wrongdoing. Punitive damages were capped by the act at twice the amount of compensatory damages or $500,000, whichever is greater. When Tamarin Lindenberg sued Jackson
Safety concerns: Will self-driving cars be able to keep up?
The closer American consumers get to an autonomous automobile market, the more they may want to pay attention to the safety concerns with these vehicles. Americans remain skeptical these cars will be able to meet the safety standards they enjoy in their manual cars. Fifty-two percent of respondents to a 2018 survey said they were
Can police search my vehicle during a DUI stop?
There is a certain amount of panic that comes with seeing police lights flashing in your mirrors. There is the hope that the officer is after someone else. Once you realize you are getting pulled over, the process is fast and slow at the same time. On one hand, the time the officer spends in
10 years after coal ash spill, cleanup workers are sick and dying
Just before Christmas in 2008, over 1.5 million tons of coal ash escaped from an unlined containment pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired power plant. It poured into the Clinch and Emory rivers and flooded 300 acres of land. The ash came in the form of a thick sludge that contained toxic substances
Limits dropping, consequences rising for DUIs in other states
Tennessee has some of the toughest DUI laws in the nation — but other states are working to crack down on drunk driving, too. This could affect you when you travel to other states, and it potentially could indicate how Tennessee may deal with the issue in the future. Changes to DUI laws are often