Articles Posted in In The News

South Carolina consumers should look out for a new email scam that is trying to take advantage of last year’s Department of Revenue security hacking scandal.

The scammers are targeting people who signed up for the free credit report monitoring service provided by DOR in the wake of the 2012 security breach. The e-mails purport to be an “Identity Theft Alert” or “Credit Report Update..

But the real goal is to coax recipients to open the e-mail and click on an embedded link. Once this is done, confidential information might be compromised – leading to consumer injury and loss.

Columbia, S.C., May 18, 2012 — South Carolina motorcycle accident lawyer Bert Louthian said May’s National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month is a good time to raise awareness among Palmetto State motorists that motorcycles have the same rights and privileges as any other vehicle on the road.

“Too often, drivers don’t pay enough attention to the motorcycle on the road with them – or else they fail to respect the bike’s presence – and the result is a wreck that can be catastrophic for the motorcycle rider and, in many cases, their passenger,” Louthian said.

“Motorcycle safety is a two-way street. Motorcyclists should wear helmets at all times and practice defensive driving. This month, we also need to make sure that car, bus and truck drivers know that they have a duty as well. They must share the road responsibly with their two-wheeled counterparts..

Columbia, S.C., April 24, 2012 — South Carolina nursing home abuse and neglect attorney Bert Louthian today hailed a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) program launched recently to combat the use of antipsychotic medications with nursing home residents.

“The excessive and inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes and other elderly care situations is a longstanding problem, and it’s good to see the federal government’s primary medical care program for the elderly take steps to put an end to this kind of abuse,” said Louthian, a partner in the South Carolina personal injury firm, Louthian Law Firm, P.A., which is based in Columbia.

The “National Initiative to Improve Behavioral Health & Reduce the Use of Antipsychotic Medications in Nursing Home Residents” is meant to raise awareness of antipsychotic misuse, improve regulatory oversight and train nursing home workers on non-drug treatments for aggressive and agitated dementia behaviors, according to McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living online journal.

Columbia, S.C., March 29, 2012 — Columbia car accident attorney Bert Louthian said today that stricter law enforcement and educational campaigns suggested by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) should be pursued to fight an increasing number of deaths attributed to speeding over the last 10 years.

“As a society, we should address speeding and the destruction it causes the same way we have worked against drunk driving and for the use of seat belts to save lives,” said Louthian, a partner in the Columbia personal injury firm, Louthian Law Firm, P.A.

The GHSA said this month that there has been progress in “nearly every other area of highway safety,” over the last 30 years, but speeding has continued to be a factor in about a third of traffic deaths each year.

Columbia personal injury attorney Herb Louthian, a partner at Louthian Law Firm, P.A., believes the cost for South Carolina taxpayers to fight the new Voter ID requirement will exceed $1 million. As a board member of Common Cause, Louthian explains that with a high-cost, Washington, DC, attorney being used by the state, as opposed to using existing legal staff on hand for the state’s legal matters, the cost could become excessive.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed the voter ID bill into law in May requiring voters to show photo identification to cast ballots in person. Critics see the law as an attempt to keep the poor, who often do not have a state-issued id, from voting.

Under the federal Voting Rights Act, no state can impose a “voting qualification or prerequisite to voting” that could be deemed discriminatory. As a result, the South Carolina attorney general’s office must argue before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Washington that the law is meant to prevent fraud and is not an attempt to unfairly restrict residents from voting. Attorney General Wilson decided to bring in an out-of-state attorney. The attorney’s rate is $520-an-hour.

South Carolina’s poor performance in health care received renewed attention in United Health’s 2011 America’s Health Rankings. South Carolina was ranked 45th of 50 states for population health.The rank represents a drop from 2010 when the state was 40th. High rates of obesity, poverty and disparities in health care access led to the state’s poor showing.

The rankings, generated by using national data from the CDC, FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examined rates of smoking, drinking, high school graduation, and preventable hospitalizations, in addition to community factors and infant mortality rates.

While South Carolina did better than average in some categories, with good scores on binge drinking and child immunization, the state scored below average in almost all other factors. South Carolina ranked 47th in obesity, with 32% of the population considered clinically obese.The state also ranked poorly in mental health, prenatal care, number of primary care physicians and infant mortality.

“For weeks, lawmakers have haggled over the costs and benefits associated with making changes to truck driver regulations,” said Louthian, who represents clients in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits involving commercial motor vehicles such as trucks, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers and semis.

“But you can’t put a price on a human life,” Louthian said.” If changes to the law can prevent fatigued driving among truck drivers, then my firm stands fully behind it..

Preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Transportation show that more than 1,500 people were injured in South Carolina truck accidents in 2010. Information on South Carolina truck crash fatalities for 2010 is currently unavailable, but there were 82 deaths in 2009, USDOT statistics show.

Bert Louthian, a Columbia attorney who focuses on False Claims Act cases, today repeated his support for a federal whistleblower protection law that was approved by a key Senate committee last week.

“The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act is a necessary and appropriate piece of legislation that will close many loopholes and extend the original law’s protection to such federal workers as airport baggage screeners and research scientists,” said Louthian of the Louthian Law Firm, P.A., a South Carolina law firm that represents clients in qui tam claims as well as a wide variety of personal injury actions.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act on October 19, indicating it has bipartisan support, according to the Washington Post.