Mitri Shatara

On Thursday, September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died peacefully under medical supervision. At age 96, she had been on the throne for 70 years. She was a symbol of stability during the decline of the British empire and disarray in her own family.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the age of 99, he died on April 9, 2021. It was just a few days before he would have turned 100.

Queen Elizabeth II may have met more people than anyone else in history because she went to so many public events. Her picture was one of the most used in the world. It was on stamps, coins, and banknotes.

The World Sends Their Regards

In Canada, where the British monarch is the head of state, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised her “wisdom, compassion, and warmth.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, which was once the “jewel in the crown” of the British empire, tweeted, “She personified dignity and decency in public life. Pained by her demise.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said she was a “stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States.”

But her thoughts and feelings were mostly a mystery. Not much of her personality was shown to the public. As a horse owner, she didn’t seem happier than when it was time for the Royal Ascot races. She never got tired of having her beloved Welsh corgi dogs with her.

She Had One Of The Longest Reigns Ever

During her 70-year reign as head of state for the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, more than a dozen U.S. presidents and nine popes came and went. Her life went from Model T cars to cars that drive themselves.

Only three other kings or queens have been in charge for more than 70 years. She follows in the footsteps of France’s Louis XIV, Liechtenstein’s Johann II, and Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej.

After her father, King George VI, died in 1952, when Elizabeth was 25 years old, she became queen. She filled in for him when his health was getting worse.

As queen, Queen Elizabeth II did something new when she went to Ireland in 2011 to show peace and friendship. It was the first time a British monarch had been to Ireland since 1921.

She lived long enough to see more than 40 countries that used to be British colonies get their independence. She also saw Britain leave the European Union.

Her death will have a vast and unpredictable effect on the country and the monarchy.

The palace said she died at Balmoral Castle, her summer home in Scotland. When her health worsened, members of the royal family rushed to her side.

When officials brought the news that the queen had died to the wrought-iron gates of her London home, Buckingham Palace, people outside wept.

Soon, many people came, even though it was raining, and they left dozens of colorful bouquets at the gates.

Queen Elizabeth II was a dignified, reliable person who ruled for longer than any other British monarch.

She Brought The Monarchy Into The Modern World

She helped bring the institution into the modern world by removing court rituals and making it a little more open and accessible, all under the watchful eye of a media that was getting increasingly intrusive and often hostile.

Even though the country she ruled sometimes had trouble finding its place in the new world order and her own family often didn’t live up to public expectations, the queen remained a symbol of stability.

Queen Elizabeth II also tried to get past class differences, and even hardened republicans had to respect her for that.

It was announced that her 73-year-old son Prince Charles became king automatically and will be called King Charles III.

Camilla, Charles’s second wife, will be called the Queen Consort.

In a statement, Charles called his mother’s death “a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” adding: “I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”

Her Health Was In Decline

In February, two weeks after she had been on the throne for 70 years (since 1952), the palace said she had tested positive for COVID-19.

During an audience in mid-February, the queen told her guests that she had trouble “moving,” which led to “ongoing mobility” problems that kept her from making some appearances, like the State Opening of Parliament on May 10.

She had only missed this important role as head of state twice before because she was pregnant.

This was the first time she officially asked Charles to stand in for her, with his oldest son, Prince William, by his side.

In October, Queen Elizabeth II spent a night in a London hospital for tests. The palace later said that she was having “episodic mobility issues.”

She kept up virtual meetings with diplomats and politicians from Windsor Castle, but public duties became less common, though she made a few appearances in the U.K. In June, she marked her Platinum Jubilee.

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

Resources:

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/obituary-elizabeth-queen-who-moved-with-changing-world-2022-09-08/
https://apnews.com/article/queen-elizabeth-ii-health-update-b2578aa91c3fef9c5d6ad4a557bf63e4
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/queen-elizabeth-ii-the-endearing-and-enduring-royal-dies
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/09/08/queen-elizabeth-ii-dies-britain-longest-reigning-monarch/6353505001/

Last week, a former inmate at a California jail was recently awarded a $480,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit because staff didn’t get her to the hospital fast enough when she was in labor.

Documents from a meeting show that the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved Sandra Quinones’s proposed settlement.

At the time, she was six months pregnant and held at the Orange County Jail.

The meeting recounted the complaint filed in April 2020. The complaint alleged the wrongful death and infliction of emotional distress in the death of her child.

Quinones was released from jail in April 2016, and she sued for delayed transportation during labor.

According to the lawsuit against Orange County, California, Quinones had to wait two hours for help after her water broke, and she pushed a distress button in her jail cell to call for help.

Her water broke unexpectedly, and she said in a lawsuit that she called for help in her cell for hours before anyone came.

She pressed a button in her cell to ask for medical help, but no one came to help her for two hours.

To add insult to injury, the jail staff stopped at Starbucks on the way to the hospital, the 2020 complaint says.

Quinones had to wait in the back of the police van while bleeding and in labor.

The complaint says that instead of calling an ambulance, jail staff “decided to take Quinones to the hospital on a non-emergency basis.”

The document says Quinones gave birth at the hospital, but the baby died soon after. This left her with “severe and extreme post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.”

The lawsuit says that the jail staff’s actions or lack of actions hurt Quinones and caused her baby to die.

It also said that the county didn’t train its employees well enough.

Lawyers for Orange County tried to get the case thrown out, saying that the plaintiff didn’t have enough facts to back up her claim and that the lawsuit was filed more than two years after the statute of limitations.

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

When negligence causes a fatality, the family members can seek compensation for wrongful death damages. The experienced attorneys at Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys understand that losing a loved one is a devasting experience. We are here to fight for you so you can grieve. Call our Wrongful Death Lawyers for a free consultation at 1-800-229-7989.

References:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/08/29/pregnant-inmate-labor-baby-died-starbucks-stop/7927949001/

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/california-inmate-says-her-baby-161329357.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/26/us/inmate-childbirth-settlement-orange-county/index.html

Reese Hamsmith, Trista Hamsmith’s 18-month-old daughter, passed away in the fall of 2020 after ingesting a button battery that came loose from a remote control.

Since then, Trista has started Reese’s Purpose, a foundation that educates parents on safety issues.

She’s been working as an advocate to make sure that no other child dies in the same way.

Her work is starting to pay off.

President Joe Biden recently signed Reese’s Law in the middle of August.

Because of that, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will soon require companies to put warning labels on button and coin cell batteries that are sold separately.

They will also need to package them in a way that keeps children from opening them.

“I am thankful to get this done and have changes made to protect kids in the future,” Hamsmith stated. 

Button batteries are small, round, and very common.

They power:

• watches
• toys
• remote controls
• musical greeting cards
• key fobs
• tea-light candles

…and much more.

A recent study compared the number of emergency room visits by children connected to batteries over the last three decades. The study shows that it has more than doubled over the previous twenty years.

The report, published in Pediatrics, shows the following data: 

• 1990 – 2009, About 68,000 children under 18 went to the ER because they swallowed or put batteries in their mouths, noses, or ears. This equates to one emergency room visit due to a battery about every 2.6 hours.  

• 2010 – 2019: More than 70,000 children were brought into the ER. This is more than the previous 20 years combined. This equates to one emergency room visit due to a battery about every 1.25 hours. 

When button batteries were involved, most of the children were under age 6. 

Although ear and nasal insertions occurred, investigators found about 90% of emergency department visits were for ingestions.

Due to a chemical process that happens when button batteries are swallowed, they are much more dangerous than other small objects. Parents are often not aware of this, according to Dr. Mary Beth Howard, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Howard, who is not a part of the recent study, explained that “Button batteries and lithium batteries are particularly dangerous. When they come in contact with body fluids, a current is generated, and that produces a small amount of sodium hydroxide, which is also known as lye. It’s highly corrosive, and it can burn a hole through tissue. You can imagine that a hole in the esophagus, the stomach, an ear canal, or the nasal septum is a serious injury that can cause illness and even death in some cases.”

Prevention efforts like those outlined in Reese’s Law will help avoid ingestion. If a parent or caregiver suspects a child has ingested a battery, it is critical to seek immediate medical care. 

Dr. Kris Jatana, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a study author, said that if you think a child older than one has swallowed a button battery, give them two teaspoons of honey and take them to the nearest emergency room.

Honey can be protective and create a dense physical barrier to the esophageal tissue to slow the rate of injury.

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

Button batteries can be extremely dangerous and cause fatal or life-altering injuries if ingested. When products are not used as intended, there can be safety and health risks. But, if you find yourself injured due to a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation. Call our defective product attorneys at 1-800-229-7989 for a free consultation.

References:

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/08/29/button-batteries-ER-visits/5251661779548/

https://consumer.healthday.com/8-29-child-er-visits-for-swallowed-button-batteries-have-doubled-in-a-decade-2657916203.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/kids-er-visits-button-batteries-rcna45294

The federal government is ending its giveaway of Covid-19 at-home tests.

A senior Joe Biden administration official said Sunday that the last tests will be sent out Friday, Sept. 2, because of insufficient congressional funding.

The stockpile of tests is being quickly depleted.

The source said that officials want to have enough on hand in the event of a fall surge.

The giveaway includes tests mailed at no cost to recipients who request them at Covidtests.gov.

The source said that unless there’s a surprise round of additional funding from Congress, the giveaway will end on Sept. 2.

The difficult decision was made to preserve our limited remaining supply due to the lack of funding.

Due to the chance of facing a new rise of infections in the fall, The White House needed to ensure there would still be a limited supply of tests available. 

The Administration has been clear about the urgent COVID-19 response funding needs.

They’ve warned that Congressional inaction would force unacceptable tradeoffs and harm our overall COVID-19 preparedness and response.

The consequences will likely worsen over time.

Additional funding could be approved by Congress as part of the annual budget process this fall to replenish the stockpile of tests.

“If Congress provides funding, we will expeditiously resume distribution of free tests through covidtests.gov,” the source said. “Until then, we believe reserving the remaining tests for distribution later this year is the best course.”

The Administration issued a warning in May that another wave of 100 million coronavirus infections and a sizable number of fatalities could occur this fall and winter.

The surge will be primarily driven by new omicron subvariants that have shown resilience.

People aren’t testing for the Coronavirus as much as they once were, and many have likely had it without realizing it.

Many experts believe that many Americans have been reinfected at this point in the pandemic.

Efforts to provide additional pandemic funding stalled on Capitol Hill earlier this year as lawmakers couldn’t come to a deal on a budget or resources for the funds. 

Republicans want to repurpose money Congress has already approved.

But Biden and congressional Democrats want up to $22.5 billion in additional.

They’ll use the additional funds for more vaccines, tests, and therapeutics.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s current chief medical adviser, thinks the Coronavirus will be a seasonal occurrence like the flu.

Even when the government stops distributing tests on Friday, most Americans will still have free testing available, or they can be reimbursed through private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.

More than 92% of Americans are covered by one of these programs.

Through its Covid-19 test website, the federal government has provided citizens with an estimated 600 million tests.

When the omicron version peaked in January, the first tests were released.

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

References:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/biden-administration-end-free-home-covid-19-tests-friday-rcna45192

https://sports.yahoo.com/biden-administration-stop-sending-free-015639852.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11157027/Biden-administration-SUSPEND-sending-free-home-COVID-tests-week.html

Moderna, a pharma giant that makes a COVID-19 vaccine, is suing Pfizer and Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech.

It says that its main competitors copied its technology to make their vaccine and that Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot “has the same exact mRNA chemical modifications” as theirs.

Moderna said on Friday that Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine Comirnaty breaks patents that Moderna filed for Spikevax’s technology several years ago.

The company filed patent infringement lawsuits in a U.S. district court in M.A. and a German court.

The two-shot vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer are based on mRNA technology, a brand new way to make vaccines.

Four vaccine alternatives, including several that would have avoided Moderna’s novel course, were tested in clinical trials by Pfizer and BioNTech.

In the past, most vaccines were made using parts of a virus or a virus that had been killed to stimulate an immune response.

With proprietary mRNA technology, the vaccine uses messenger RNA made in a lab to send genetic instructions to direct our cells to produce a protein or part of a protein that activates an immune response.

Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had only been around for ten years. Still, it was already a leader in the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology that made it possible to make the COVID-19 vaccine so quickly.

The typically lengthy approval process was finished in just a few months, largely thanks to mRNA vaccines.

“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” the CEO of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, said in a news release.

Two of the first groups to make a vaccine for the new coronavirus were Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech working together. This led to a windfall of revenue for the companies.

In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine to Pfizer/BioNTech. A week later, Moderna also got emergency use authorization for the vaccine.

Moderna’s only commercial product, the COVID vaccine, brought in $10,4 billion, while Pfizer’s vaccine brought in about $22 billion this year.

Pam Eisele, a spokeswoman for Pfizer, said the company had not thoroughly reviewed Moderna’s lawsuit. Still, they were surprised because their vaccine is based on technology that both BioNTech and Pfizer created.

She also said that the company was sure of its intellectual property and would fight to defend itself against the claims.

In October 2020, Moderna promised not to enforce its COVID-19-related patents as long as the pandemic continued.

Moderna revised its commitment in March of this year, as the global effort to combat COVID-19 reached a new stage and vaccine availability was no longer a barrier to access in many regions of the world.

Moderna said it would keep its promise not to enforce its COVID-19-related patents in low- and middle-income countries. Still, it expects rival companies like Pfizer to respect its intellectual property rights.

Moderna is not trying to get the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine taken off the market or stop future sales. But they are seeking monetary damages.

Jacob Sherkow, a law professor at the University of Illinois College of Law specializing in biotech intellectual property issues, says that if the company wins, the royalty is usually a “high single-digit” percentage of sales.

Analysts on Wall Street think that the fight will go on for years.

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

Businesses have to abide by specific laws, including patent laws. Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys can help with business torts that involve injury or disparagement to a company’s reputation, fraud, or breach of contract that affects shareholders and their families. If you need more information about how our attorneys can help, call us for a free consultation at 1-800-229-7989.

References:

https://apnews.com/article/moderna-covid-vaccine-lawsuit-pfizer-c1c25964c5ac3d945be0831363683d49

https://www.reuters.com/legal/moderna-sues-pfizerbiontech-patent-infringement-over-covid-vaccine-2022-08-26/

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/08/26/1119608060/moderna-sues-pfizer-over-covid-19-vaccine-patents