PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Haitian Assistance / Toyota Recall / Genetic Testing

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  TOPIC ALERT

  Haiti Earthquake (continued, 1 expert)

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  EXPERT ALERTS

  1.  Law: Toyota Recall: Product Liability Lawsuits
  2.  Law: Legal Trends and Issues in Genomics and Personalized Medicine

HAITI EARTHQUAKE (continued)

We've added the following to items posted previously at http://budurl.com/haitiexperts and http://budurl.com/haitiexperts2

1. ELIZABETH DURSO BRANCH, who focuses on child-related issues as a partner at the family law firm of MCCURLEY ORSINGER McCURLEY NELSON & DOWNING, LLP: "The desire to act swiftly to help victims of the Haitian earthquakes has resulted in unintended, possibly criminal, consequences. This was most evident in Idaho-based New Life Children's Refuge's attempt to take 33 children out of the country to establish an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, despite the fact that not all the children were orphaned. There was no true urgency to remove these children from Haiti. While Port-au-Prince is devastated, there are other physically safe locations within the country to set up an orphanage or refugee camp. The group may have had good intentions, just far too little guidance." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@androvett.com Phone: +1-800- 559-4534 (2/11/10)

EXPERT ALERTS

1. LAW: TOYOTA RECALL: PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWSUITS. JAMES SOKOLOVE, founder and chairman of SOKOLOVE LAW, headquartered in Wellesley, Mass., is an expert source with over three decades of product liability experience and is available to provide commentary and background on Toyota's recent recall: "Toyota's recall of over 8 million vehicles has made it the company everyone wants to sue -- with over 40 class-action lawsuits and at least 13 individual lawsuits pending. While Toyota's reputation is damaged and its legal team is working overtime, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Toyota will face increased scrutiny both from a brand and legal perspective, as angry consumers look to exercise their legal rights." News Contact: Kerry Hall, khall@webershandwick.com Phone: +1-617-520-7032 Web site: http://www.sokolovelaw.com/ (2/11/10)

2. LAW: LEGAL TRENDS AND ISSUES IN GENOMICS AND PERSONALIZED MEDICINE. DANIEL B. VORHAUS, attorney at ROBINSON, BRADSHAW AND HINSON in Charlotte, N.C., is monitoring the latest legal trends and issues in genomics and personalized medicine: "Genetic testing and genomic sequencing of individuals is an emerging medical and consumer field and, as a result, has created a number of associated legal questions with its rapid growth. The knowledge and products that allow researchers and businesses to incorporate individual genetic variation into the development of genetically tailored drugs (pharmacogenomics), improve health outcomes (personalized medicine) and encourage healthy lifestyles and behaviors (consumer genomics) have created as many questions as they have answered. How an individual's genome contributes to their medical and other conditions, and how individuals, their families and their doctors will access and utilize that information, are emerging, but so far, are unanswered questions. As a result, there are a number of legal issues, especially those involving privacy and intellectual property, which must be considered in this emerging field." News Contact: Michael Henry, mhenry@wrayward.com Phone: +1-704-926-1364 (2/11/10)

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PRNewswire -- Feb 11