According to a company spokesman, U.S. health inspectors visited an Enfamil baby formula factory run by Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. as part of an investigation into the cause of bacterial infections that killed one infant and have made another ill. A full investigation is expected to take several weeks, but the company expects some initial results could be released in just a few days.

The investigation came after a 10-day-old infant in Missouri died after testing positive for  Cronobacter, a bacterium that has sometimes been linked to rare illnesses in newborns and has been found in milk-based powdered baby formula. So far no link has been established between any specific formula and the infant death. Nonetheless, retailers such as Walmart have pulled a certain lot of 12.5-ounce cans of Enfamil Newborn from store shelves after the death of the infant.

Investigators visited two separate facilities, one in Michigan where the product was manufactured and one in Indiana where some records were kept. The investigation, a coordinated effort by the Federal Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, involves testing samples of the baby formula, distilled water and the environment to which the babies who have been exposed. Cronobacter infections are not regularly reported to the CDC, and the agency officials say they on average receive four to six reported cases a year.

It is good to see federal regulators moving quickly on what will hopefully be an isolated incident of illness and if not, then swift action will mitigate the extent of the contamination. But with illnesses reported in Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma, the possibility remains that the recall and investigations continue.

If you or a loved one believes your child has been exposed to the Cronobacter bacteria, contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris as you may have rights at risk.

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is seeking U.S. approval for a third use of its new anticlotting pill, Xarelto. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the company is asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve the clot-preventing drug for patients with acute coronary syndrome where the narrowing or blockage of a blood vessel suddenly reduces blood flow to the heart muscle, causing unstable chest pain or a heart attack.

The drug was first approved eight weeks ago for use in patients who suffer from an irregular heart beat known as atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem. That’s when the heart’s upper chambers flutter irregularly, reducing blood flow through the heart and increasing the risk of clots and stroke. It’s estimated that more than 2 million Americans have the condition.

The drug is part of a newer class of anticlotting drugs and is seen as a viable alternative to the traditional blood thinner warfarin, which is also sold under the brand name Coumadin.

Johnson & Johnson is not the only pharmaceutical company seeking to expand in this part of the drug market. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Pfizer Inc both applied for FDA approval of their Eliquis for preventing strokes and blood clots in atrial fibrillation patients.

How the FDA responds to these growing requests will be telling as recent stories have focused on the fallout from rushing through an approval that is based on inconclusive science or compromised research. The pharmaceutical injury attorneys at Lord & Faris always want patients to have the most effective medicines at their disposal, but only after sufficient review by the agency to ensure only the safest drugs make it into the marketplace.

If you or a loved one has been injured after taking prescription medication, contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris for a free consultation as you may have a claim.

Despite the upbeat nature of the holiday season, Minnesotans can’t escape the news that home prices in the state continue to drop. Between September and October prices in Minneapolis dropped 2.8 percent after showing some strong gains during the summer buying season. Overall prices in Minneapolis are down 8.4 percent for the year.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, some of the decline can be attributed to a typical seasonal slowdown in the sale of homes, but that overall the housing market remains anemic at best. Sales of previously occupied homes are barely ahead of 2008, the worst year for sales in 13 years.

Prices are also expected to continue to decline once the banks resume foreclosures which have stalled for the year while the industry faces investigations related to lending practices. Meanwhile, high unemployment and weak job growth have deterred many potential home buyers and others simply can not meet the newer restrictive lending requirements.

The struggle facing Minnesotans in this economy and in this housing market is the same struggle facing millions of Americans. So if you and your family realize you just simply keep up with your bills now may be the time to ask for some help from professionals who know the law and know how to help struggling families get back on their feet again.

The experienced bankruptcy attorneys at Lord & Faris are just those kinds of professionals. Our team will sit down with you and help you decide whether filing for bankruptcy is a necessary step forward. If it is, then we will advocate on your behalf with the court and your creditors for a resolution that is fair and straightforward.

These are tough economic times for this country and the court system may not always seem like a system designed to help the average Minnesotan. Let us help.

The Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter has had its operational license placed on conditional status for two years after a yearlong investigation uncovered a history of abuse by staff members of at least two mentally ill patients. The hospital was also fined $2,200 the highest amount allowed by state law.

The abuse included isolating the two patients for extended periods of time and wrapping their faces in mesh rags, and forcing one to sleep on a concrete slab for 25 nights. Those incidents occurred in late 2010 and sparked a larger investigation that uncovered evidence that staffers covered up abuses and repeatedly violated isolation and restraint policies.

A doctor still employed at the security hospital is among the staff members aware of the abuse but did nothing about it. In this case the doctor knew that a patient’s mattress had been removed for nearly a month, but despite the fact that he is a mandatory reporter, the doctor did not notify superiors of the suspected maltreatment.

The hospital houses 220 of the state’s most dangerous, mentally ill patients who have been civilly committed by judges. In recent years the institution has been besieged with cash and credibility issues.

Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson said that the abuse cases were first investigated at a time when state regulators began to document a chaotic hospital environment where staff lacked proper training and were given little direction on how to care for the state’s most dangerous patients.

The investigation uncovered a pattern of willful violations of state law. Some residents remained in “protective custody” for extended periods of time without deciding an end-date for that treatment or how the resident was supposed to achieve a goal that would lead to his release.

The details emerging from this investigation are truly troubling and show the need for rigorous oversight in all our institutions. If you have a loved one you believe has been mistreated contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris for a free consultation.

With the horrible stories that littered the past year of massive Ponzi schemes and related financial fraud, it is especially discouraging to hear that trusted professionals like accountants and lawyers may have not only known about some of these activities, but in some cases, benefited financially from them. But that is exactly what is happening in Florida.

Disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein was convicted of running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme while in charge of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in prison in connection with the charges, but in a deposition for related civil charges, Rothstein said that his partners not only knew about the scheme, they benefited financially from it as well. His law partners have previously denied any knowledge of any illegal activities and have accused Rothstein of pointing fingers at them to try and decrease his prison sentence.

Rothstein’s scheme involved selling purported investments in fake legal settlements to wealthy individuals. Rothstein estimated during his deposition that he personally spent about $200 million in money fleeced from this fraud.

While there is no way to ensure that people in positions of power like Rothstein will never abuse that power, it is good to see the justice system at work, both criminally and civilly, taking care of individuals that can tarnish the reputation of an entire profession. It is these kinds of lawyers that give the rest of us a bad name.

Thankfully most lawyers don’t fall prey to these kinds of impulses, but when they do someone needs to be there to help pick up the pieces from the devastation left behind. If you or a loved one thinks you have been defrauded by a trusted individual like an accountant or attorney, contact the experienced trial attorneys at Lord & Faris for a free consultation.

The state of Minnesota is cracking down on unscrupulous lending practices as the housing market recover sputters along. In its most recent action, the Minnesota Department of Commerce fined Mortgage Connection Inc. $40,000 and revoked the company’s state license for illegally taking advance fees to modify mortgages. The Department of Commerce also barred the company’s owner, Augustus Odoom, from residential mortgage origination and servicing in the state.

According to the state, Mortgage Connection had charged 36 Minnesotans who who were looking to modify their mortgages more than $2000 in advance fees. In the state of Minnesota it is illegal to collect advance fees for those kinds of services.

The company can avoid the fine if it refunds those fees to consumers within 30 days.

The enforcement comes at a time when more than 14 million American homeowners are in foreclosure or delinquent on their mortgage payments, and when mortgage fraud perpetrated by lenders and other predatory businesses have forced record numbers of Americans into personal bankruptcy.

This is a good first step but both the state and the federal government are going to have to do more to address the fallout from the mortgage crisis. There can simply be no sustained and genuine economic recovery in most Americans continue to struggle to pay their bills and more and more find themselves with no other option than to file for personal bankruptcy.

If this story describes you or a loved on, contact the Minnesota personal bankruptcy attorneys of Lord & Faris for a free consultation. We can work through the process with you and help you take the necessary steps to get your finances back in order, including helping you pursue a legitimate mortgage modification of necessary. Without a strong advocate in your corner you could fall victim to a scam like the one stopped by the Department of Commerce. Let us be that advocate for you.