As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Oracle Corporation alleging that the Bay Area software maker defrauded the government in a software contract.

Oracle Headquarters at Redwood Shores near San Francisco

The lawsuit claims that Oracle defrauded the U.S. federal government out of hundreds of millions of dollars, which was discovered once a whistleblower came forward regarding Oracle’s actions.

The contract or agreement at the heart of the lawsuit was in place from 1998 to 2006, between Oracle and the General Services Administration.  Under the terms of the agreement the software maker was to extend its commercial discounts to government customers, but the suit alleges that the company misrepresented its sales practices and polices.

The lawsuit was filed under the False Claims Act.  The Act allows normal citizens to bring fraud lawsuits on behalf of the federal government.  According to the San Francisco paper, the suit was originally brought by Paul Frascella, senior director of contract services at Oracle.

Bloomberg Markets magazine is publishing the results of a six month investigation into whether giant life-insurance companies have found a way to not pay benefits to the families of troops killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The report comes out in the magazine’s September issue, but the word is – it’s not pretty.

Marines clear a house in Al Anbar

Here is the scenario: a U.S. soldier goes to war in Iraq or Afghanistan.  And, because he is responsible and trying to lookout for his family, he buys a life-insurance policy that the insurance companies are just too happy to sell.  Then the unthinkable happens.  And the insurance company keeps the money for the beneficiaries of the policy in an investment account telling the family that they will pay 0.5 percent interest.

But, here is what they are not telling the family – the family could beat that interest rate at any bank across the country in an annuity or money market account that is FDIC backed.  Further, the money is being kept in the insurance company’s corporate investment account.

The bottom line: the insurance companies involved with this scheme have found a convenient way to make money off the deaths of our troops without giving their families all the facts.

Over the past year the NFL has had to deal with several controversies including their policies and procedures regarding traumatic brain injuries and concussions or MTBI.

We here at San Francisco Personal Injury Law Answers have reported on those issues – see Traumatic Brain Injury & NFL.  But now it appears that the National Football League has another issue on their hands: whether or not the Browns hid the risk of staph infections from players.

According to the Baltimore Sun, former NFL center LeCharles Bentley has filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland Browns over a staph infection he contracted while using the team facilities for rehabilitation.

The lawsuit claims that Bentley was not made aware that numerous other players had contracted staph infections in the past from the same facility.

Bentley is accusing the team of fraud and negligent misrepresentation in the suit.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George announced last week that he is retiring and therefore will not seek re-election this fall.

California Supreme Court Building in San Francisco

Justice Ron George has been Chief Justice of the Court for the last 14 years and has served on the California Supreme Court for the last 19.

The 70 year-old Chief Justice has written 50 volumes worth of legal opinions but will most likely be remembered for the 2008 opinion that legalized same-sex marriage as well as his ruling that upheld Prop 8.

The Chief Justice was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in 1991 as an associate justice.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until mid-September appoint the a successor.

Let’s say you suffer a personal injury of some sort – an auto or car accident, a trucking accident, a fall, or even a concussion or head injury – and let’s also propose that like so many working families out there, you don’t have health insurance.  What do you do?

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge from Marin

Well, if you live in San Francisco you get access to health care through the city’s Health San Francisco program.  This program was enacted in 2006 and helps folks all over the city get health care when they are sick or injured.  But the program was recently challenged by business groups who claimed that it was too burdensome on businesses.

The case was Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. San Francisco, 08-1515.  And it went all the way to the Supreme Court.  But today the Supreme Court denied the appeal and rejected the challenge to the health care law.

The ruling is good news for personal injury victims, working families, and San Francisco.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal and others, personal injury and wrongful death victims, as well as those who suffered economic damages due to the BP oil spill may have a little easier time seeking punitive damages and damages for pain and suffering against BP.

Deepwater Horizon before the blowout and spill

This is because the House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill that would essentially repeal parts of the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.  The Act allows shipowners – like those of the Deepwater Horizon – to limit their liability when certain conditions are met.  When the Act applies, the liability of a shipowner or operator is limited to just under $27 million.

The bill approved by the House Judiciary Committee would lift the liability limit and also allow injury victims to seek noneconomic damages such as pain, suffering, emotional distress and other types of damages not provided for in the Act.

And this has greater significance for all the companies involved, especially if, as many legal experts believe, injury victims from the BP spill decide to opt-out of the escrow fund and seek recourse through private lawsuits in the courts, which is their option and choice.

Whether or not injury victims decide to opt-out of the escrow fund may be influenced by whether or not the Limitation of Liability Act is repealed and how the escrow fund is perceived by injury victims as addressing their cases.

As the damages to the environment, the fishing industry, and an entire way of life pile up in the gulf, the company that owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon – Transocean Ltd. – has attempted to shield itself from potentially billions of dollars of liability through a law that caps that liability at $27 million.

Well, the federal government has requested in a motion that the judge reject Transoceans attempts at limiting liability in this matter.

At the same time, there are ongoing investigations by government officials regarding violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 an criminal investigations of the oil companies involved in the spill.

The United States Assistant Attorney General made very in the government’s motion that Transocean is trying to use the law to avoid paying states and the US damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon’s explosion.

According to the New York Times, and other media reports, personal injury attorneys have filed over 100 lawsuits against BP as well as other companies involved in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf oil spill as seen from space

The attorneys for the injury victims – both personal injury victims and those that have suffered financial injuries – have moved to have all lawsuits involving the oil spill to be consolidated in federal court in New Orleans.  In the meantime, however, courts and judges throughout Louisiana and Texas have already held hearings regarding the cases.

Attorneys anticipate that the number of lawsuits will rise dramatically in the coming days, weeks, and months as damage from the spill is discerned.

To date, there are about 130 lawsuits related to the explosion and the damage from the spill that followed including lawsuits for personal injuries, financial damages, and wrongful death actions.

The explosion that caused scores of personal injuries among oil workers on the Deepwater Horizon and killed eleven people has also been dumping thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico causing lasting injury to sea life as well as the lives of Gulf fishermen.

Deepwater Horizon

But the question is, how much oil exactly is being spilled into the Gulf?

According to the New York Times, the official estimate so far has been about 5,000 barrels a day.  But that estimate is coming under fire from environmental groups as well as scientist.

The criticism is that the method that was used to make the estimate is inappropriate for spills of this nature and that better scientific methods and technologies exist but BP has failed to utilize those technologies.

Now, the amount of oil that the spill is sending into the Gulf matters a lot – a whole lot – especially where future liability for the environmental and economic damage is concerned; the greater the amount of oil, the greater the damage, which means the greater BP (or whoever the ultimate responsible party turns out to be) will end up paying.

Right now, Congress is taking up legislation to increase the cap on civil liability for the spill.  According to the Times, BP has indicated that measuring the amount of oil, or the plume as it is referred to, is impossible at this time.  But scientist have asserted that BP is simply refusing to use well-known scientific methods or techniques that would give a more precise figure.

But according to BP, their worst case scenario, if the leak accelerates is 60,000 barrels a day not 5,000.  And 60,000 barrels a day is much more in line with what some have claimed is currently being pumped into the Gulf.

To put this into perspective, 60,000 barrels a day means that an amount of oil the size of the Exxon Valdez spill is going into the Gulf every four days – we are on day 25.

As a San Francisco Injury Attorney, I see clearly how important access to quality health care is for personal injury victims as well as everyone.  Without adequate insurance and access to care even a seemingly common injury – like a herniated disc from a car accident or fall – can become financially devastating.

San Francisco Area Hospital

And here at San Francisco Injury Law Answers we have written about the need for health care reform as well as the benefits of reforms enacted by Congress.

However, according to the online news publication Politico, some senators are concerned that insurance companies have began to focus their efforts and attention on weakening the new reforms and even finding ways of gaming for the system.

For instance, under the new law, 85 percent of group premiums must be spent on medical costs and 80 percent of individual premiums must be spent in this manner.  But what some suspect, is that insurance companies are going to re-categorize administrative spending as medical spending.  This would make it appear that the insurance companies are spending more on medical care for consumers when they are not.

But if the reforms are not properly implemented or weakened they will fail to provide the greater access.  And this will in turn increase overall costs making health care available for fewer individuals, which ultimately means tax payers will once again end up paying for a greater share of health care costs as those costs continue to rise.  This is an unsustainable cycle.

It is in everyone’s best interest – consumers, personal injury victims, and tax payers – to make sure that the reforms implemented are followed and not weakened.